BLACK LIBRARY: ‘NEW 40K’ READING LIST (UPDATED JANUARY 2021)

After decades of remaining more or less static, these days the Warhammer 40,000
setting is evolving before our eyes, and many of the new and upcoming novels from
Black Library are helping to shed light on these new developments in the lore. It’s
not always clear how the various stories fit into the ongoing timeline, however,
and Black Library as usual doesn’t seem inclined to provide anything in the way of
an official reading order. I’ve put together this reading list to try to fit
together where all of the recent books go in the ‘new 40k’ timeline – it’s entirely
unofficial, and I can’t guarantee that I’ll have got everything right, but
hopefully it will be a useful resource to anyone interested in keeping up with
Warhammer 40,000 fiction.

NOTE: until such time as BL produces an official resource, I’ll do my best to keep
this reading list up to date with new releases as and when they’re published. This
version of the article was updated in January 2021.

A couple of caveats. Firstly, very few 40k stories are given specific dates so it’s
tricky to know exactly when the events they cover take place. I’ve grouped things
into various headings for the purpose of clarity, but take all of this with a small
pinch of salt. Secondly, while I’ve done my best to put this together as accurately
as possible, I may have got some things wrong and/or missed off a few stories here
and there (I’ve read lots of recent BL books, but not all of them).

Essential Novels
I’ve added this section in as an extra (in the January ‘21 update) – feel free to
skip ahead to the more detailed section where I talk about each title and link out
to reviews, interviews etc., but if you just want a recommended reading order of
the key novels dealing with events on Terra and the Indomitus Crusade then here’s
what I would suggest:

Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne by Chris Wraight

Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain by Chris Wraight
The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley*
Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion by Chris Wraight
Dawn of Fire 1: Avenging Son by Guy Haley
Dawn of Fire 2: Gate of Bones by Andy Clark
Knights of Macragge by Nick Kyme
Watchers of the Throne: The Regent’s Shadow by Chris Wraight
Indomitus by Gav Thorpe
The Heretic Saint by David Annandale
Dark Imperium by Guy Haley
Dark Imperium: Plague War by Guy Haley
Dark Imperium: Godblight by Guy Haley
Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work by Guy Haley
The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley*
* Yes, The Devastation of Baal is included twice in this list on purpose. See later
on in the article for more details of why (TL;DR due to Warp/time shenanigans it
spans quite a wide range of time).

If you’re interested in seeing how the rest of the recent Blood Angels stories fit
alongside The Devastation of Baal, then here’s a recommended reading order just for
these novels:

Dante by Guy Haley

Mephiston: Blood of Sanguinius by Darius Hinks
The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley
Mephiston: Revenant Crusade by Darius Hinks
Astorath: Angel of Mercy by Guy Haley
Darkness in the Blood by Guy Haley
Mephiston: City of Light by Darius Hinks
More Detail
While the lists above are all about novels, for this main (and slightly more
detailed) section I’ve added in some of the Games Workshop background books and a
few audio dramas as well. I’ve also gone a bit further back in time to begin with
the events of the Gathering Storm (i.e. the end of the old setting). Here’s how
I’ve broken it up:

The Gathering Storm

The Era Indomitus
The Aftermath/Filling in the Gaps
Other Perspectives
What Else?
One final caveat: the majority of these stories are written from an Imperial
perspective, so for the most part that’s what I’ve focused on in this article.
Check out the ‘Other perspectives’ section for…um…other perspectives.

The Gathering Storm

The point at which the old ‘5 minutes to midnight’ 40k setting started to change
was when Games Workshop started building up to the Great Rift, the huge Warp storm
which has split the galaxy in two. Big events included the fall of Cadia, the
troubled birth of Ynnead (the aeldari god of the dead), and the miraculous
resurrection of Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines. For the sake of
ease I’ve referred to this whole era as the Gathering Storm.

The Gathering Storm background books

The only place to get the full details of these events is in these three Games
Workshop background books – Fall of Cadia, Fracture of Biel-Tan and Rise of the
Primarch. They’re not currently available from GW so they’re hard to find, but a
quick online search should give you the gist if you just want a summary. Given that
they’re not novelised, a summary should probably be enough to give you the context
you need for the rest of the stories to make sense.

Cadia Stands by Justin D. Hill

This offers a ‘boots on the ground/grunt’s eye view’ perspective on the fall of
Cadia, told from multiple Imperial Guard viewpoints and reflecting the chaos and
confusion as the Cadians reel from Abaddon’s invasion.

Read my review of Cadia Stands or my Rapid Fire interview with Justin.

Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne by Chris Wraight

If you want to see what life is like on Terra from an Inquisitorial viewpoint, this
is the book to choose. It’s largely set just before the opening of the Great Rift,
so this is less about finding out what happened and more about giving interesting
context to the time period as background to a great story with some fantastic
characters – namely Inquisitor Crowl and Interrogator Spinoza.

Read my review of The Carrion Throne.

Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain by Chris Wraight

The sequel to The Carrion Throne, this continues the story of Crowl and Spinoza on
Terra in the immediate wake of the Great Rift. Once again the big picture is
loosely there in the background, but this is more about the next steps in an
ongoing mystery lurking beneath the surface of Terra.

Read my review of The Hollow Mountain or my Rapid Fire interview with Chris.

Dante and The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley

These two books focus on the Blood Angels in the build up to the Great Rift, and
are well worth checking out. Dante is split between the Chapter Master’s origin
story and his actions during the Shield of Baal campaign, while The Devastation of
Baal (the first Space Marine Conquests novel) deals with the tyranid invasion of
Baal itself, which takes place just as Cadia is about to fall. If you wanted to try
and be as chronologically-correct as possible then you could read Dante before the
Gathering Storm background books.

The Devastation of Baal is trickier to pin down in terms of the chronology,

however, but here’s how I understand it. Narratively speaking, the book starts
before the Rift opens and then covers the immediate aftermath on Baal. From the
perspective of the Blood Angels then, when the book ends it’s only just after the
Rift has opened. However, due to some complicated Warp-related time jiggery-pokery,
from the perspective of Imperium Sanctus (i.e. Terra, the Indomitus Crusade etc.)
it’s a fair few years after the start of the Indomitus Crusade.

Technically speaking then, The Devastation of Baal probably also fits into the
timeline at some point after the events of the Dark Imperium books (now that
they’re being adjusted to take place earlier on in the crusade) and The Great Work…
but for the sake of ease I’ve included it here.

Read my reviews of Dante and The Devastation of Baal, or my Rapid Fire interview
with Guy talking about The Devastation of Baal.

Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion by Chris Wraight

Also set on Terra, this takes a different approach to The Carrion Throne and shows
the same time period through the eyes of the Imperial Chancellor, a Sister of
Silence and a member of the Adeptus Custodes. It also features a BIG battle which
takes place roughly simultaneously with the tail end of Rise of the Primarch.

Read my review of The Emperor’s Legion or my Rapid Fire interview with Chris.

The Era Indomitus

As Guilliman leaves Terra and sets off to liberate embattled Imperial worlds, the
Indomitus Crusade kicks off the ‘Era Indomitus’, which for the purpose of this
article I’m using as a catch-all for all the books that take place on or near
Terra, involve some part of the Indomitus Crusade, or generally have a decent
impact on the wider 40k narrative. Until recently the crusade itself was only
covered in the Dark Imperium books, which take place towards the end of the
crusade, but we’re slowly finding out more about this period (with more on the
way).

Avenging Son by Guy Haley

The first book in the brand new Dawn of Fire series, this effectively takes place
as the Indomitus Crusade begins. If you haven’t already read Dark Imperium, this is
definitely the place to start with the Era Indomitus stories. There’s lots about
Guilliman and masses of great new lore, but also all sorts of interesting arcs
featuring the Imperial Navy, the Inquisition and the Administratum.

Read my review of Avenging Son or my Rapid Fire interview with Guy.

The Gate of Bones by Andy Clark (January 2021)

This one is book 2 in the Dawn of Fire series, and promises to portray the next
steps in the early stages of the Indomitus Crusade. The book’s synopsis suggests
that it’s going to take place (at least partly) on/on the way to Gathalamor, but
we’ll find out more about what happens once it’s published.

Knights of Macragge by Nick Kyme

One of the most interesting Space Marine character arcs in post-Great Rift 40k is
that of Cato Sicarius, and this book explores what happened to the heroic captain
of the Ultramarines’ 2nd Company after he and his ship were lost in the Warp after
being sent by Guilliman to ensure the safety of Ultramar. It’s hard to know exactly
where this fits in the timeline, but somewhere around here feels like the right
place for it to go. Ideally, read Assault on Black Reach, Fall of Damnos and Veil
of Darkness first.

Read my review of Knights of Macragge or my Rapid Fire interview with Nick.

Watchers of the Throne: The Regent’s Shadow by Chris Wraight

The sequel to The Emperor’s Legion, this takes a similar approach and features two
of the three main characters from its predecessor. The Regent in the title refers
to Guilliman, and the Primarch’s absence – and the void left behind – is very much
at the core of this excellent, politics-heavy story.

Read my review of The Regent’s Shadow or my Rapid Fire interview with Chris.

Indomitus by Gav Thorpe

This takes place within the first decade of the Indomitus Crusade, detailing a
crucial conflict between the Ultramarines of Fleet Quintus and the Necrons. So far,
this provides the best viewpoint on the events relating to the Pariah Nexus.

Read my review of Indomitus or my Rapid Fire interview with Gav Thorpe.

Ephrael Stern: The Heretic Saint by David Annandale

While I haven’t read this yet, I’ve included it here because as far as I’m aware
it’s the Black Library story which ties in the closest to the Psychic Awakening arc
that’s been taking place recently in the main game. Also Ephrael Stern is cool!

Read my Rapid Fire interview with David Annandale talking about The Heretic Saint.

Dark Imperium, Plague War and Godblight by Guy Haley

For a long time Dark Imperium and Plague War were the two main books set in the
current 40k timeline. They’re focused on Guilliman’s battles against the forces of
his brother Mortarion, and as well as telling great stories they give a lot of
information about Guilliman, Cawl the Primaris Marines and the state of the
Imperium (and I’m assuming Godblight will do the same).

The first two novels were originally set at the tail end of the Indomitus Crusade,
but no longer! There are new editions of books 1 and 2 on the way, alongside the
long-awaited book 3 – Godblight – and Haley has confirmed that their timeline has
been adjusted so that they now take place during the crusade, rather than at its
conclusion. We’ll know more about what else (if anything) has changed when the new
editions are released, and I’ll try to update this with more information as and
when I have it – including the cover of Godblight when it’s revealed.

Read my reviews of Dark Imperium and Plague War, or my Rapid Fire interview with
Guy talking about Plague War.

Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work by Guy Haley

With this book Haley turned his attention fully to Belisarius Cawl, combining story
threads from his Dark Imperium books, the Horus Heresy and the ongoing story
(mostly told by LJ Goulding) of the Scythes of the Emperor. Personally, I would say
this is an essential read once you’ve tackled the two Dark Imperium books.

Read my review of The Great Work.

The Aftermath/Filling in the Gaps

In the wake of the Great Rift, there are a few good stories which don’t necessarily
fit into the Era Indomitus arc but which carry on individual character arcs from
earlier. These are all character-focused stories which don’t cover too much of the
grand sweep of galactic events, but are well worth checking out.

Cadian Honour by Justin D. Hill

Two of the characters from Cadia Stands – Minka Lesk and General Bendikt – return
in a story about how the Cadians are trying to cope with the loss of their world
and the impact Cadia’s fall has had on their identity.

Read my review of Cadian Honour or my Rapid Fire interview with Justin.

Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness by Gav Thorpe

I’ve included these two audio dramas here because they feature a few key characters
from the Gathering Storm stories, namely Inquisitor Greyfax and Yvraine, with a
little bit of Guilliman and Eldrad Ulthran in the mix too. Of all the stories I’m
including, these are the closest to direct follow-ons from the Gathering Storm.

Read my reviews of Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness.

Our Martyred Lady by Gav Thorpe

If you’re a fan of Inquisitor Greyfax, this four-part audio drama is the next step
in her story after Eye of Night. It also heavily features Saint Celestine, and has
brilliant performances from Katherine Tate (Greyfax) and Emma Gregory (Celestine).
I wouldn’t say it was essential to the ongoing story, but it provides a good look
at the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition post-Great Rift.
Read my review of Our Martyred Lady or my Rapid Fire interview with Gav.

Mephiston: Revenant Crusade and City of Light by Darius Hinks

I haven’t actually read either of these, but as Darius points out in this interview
Revenant Crusade is set post-Great Rift, after the events of The Devastation of
Baal. Meanwhile the synopsis for City of Light specifies that it’s set “deep in
Imperium Nihilus”. If you want to continue exploring the Blood Angels, these seem
worth having on your list (see the Blood Angels list earlier for where they fit in
the timeline).

Darkness in the Blood by Guy Haley

Another one I haven’t read yet, but I do know that it’s set after the events of The
Devastation of Baal. Technically speaking, if you want to read this in
chronological order then go for it in between the second and third Mephiston novels
but after having read Astorath: Angel of Mercy.

Read my interview with Guy Haley talking about both Darkness in the Blood and
Astorath: Angel of Mercy.

Spear of the Emperor by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Life in Imperium Nihilus on the wrong side of the Great Rift is pretty grim, which
this fantastic book demonstrates to great effect. It’s a story about a Space Marine
Chapter stretched too thinly and on the brink of defeat, but it explores loads of
interesting ideas along the way.

Read my review of Spear of the Emperor or my Rapid Fire interview with Aaron.

Other perspectives
The vast majority of what I’ve mentioned so far has shown events from an Imperial
viewpoint, but there are a few books which take a look from different perspectives
as well. These are all set after the Great Rift has taken place.

Shroud of Night by Andy Clark

One of the earliest post-Great Rift novels to be published, this entertaining A-
Team-esque Alpha Legion story features a couple of big-name characters in the
background, but is mostly a small-scale special forces sort of story. Want to know
what a tight-knit squad of Alpha Legion make of Primaris Marines and the state of
the galaxy? Check this out.

Read my review of Shroud of Night.

The Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight

The Death Guard are the antagonists in the Dark Imperium books, but here they’re
the disgustingly brilliant protagonists of a story which explores what life is like
for the ‘bad guys’ in the wake of the Great Rift. It’s a relatively small scale
story, but well worth investigating for a brilliant take on Chaos Space Marines.

Read my review of The Lords of Silence or my Rapid Fire interview with Chris.
Ghost Warrior and Wild Rider by Gav Thorpe
Gav Thorpe’s Rise of the Ynnari series currently extends to these two novels and a
few accompanying short stories, and as the title suggests it focuses on the Ynnari,
the newest sub-faction within the fractured Aeldari race. Yvraine, one of the key
characters in the Gathering Storm, features heavily.

Read my review of Ghost Warrior or my Rapid Fire interviews with Gav about Ghost
Warrior and Wild Rider.

What else?
If you’re still looking for more, there are all sorts of other Black Library
stories set post-Great Rift, including the other Space Marine Conquests novels,
John French’s The Horusian Wars series, and various standalone novels. Robbie
MacNiven’s Blood of Iax and The Last Hunt feature Ultramarines and White Scars
respectively; Rachel Harrison’s Mark of Faith is a brilliant Sisters of Battle
story; Rites of Passage by Mike Brooks is the first novel to explore the Navigator
Houses; Celestine: The Living Saint makes a nice companion piece to Our Martyred
Lady. I’m sure there are others, but these should give you plenty to be getting on
with!

If you really want the full picture you could always go back a little further, to
the events detailed in the Shield of Baal and War Zone: Fenris background books and
accompanying BL stories, and/or check out Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Black Legion books
for in-depth context to the crucial character of Abaddon (although they take place
long before the ‘present’ 40k timeline).

***

I hope that was useful! It’s clear that in the few years since the 40k narrative
was moved forward there have been A LOT of books released, some of which fit
relatively neatly into a single timeline while plenty more are a little more vague
in terms of where they fit. If you want to know as much as possible about the
‘current’ 40k timeline then I would suggest reading all of these, but hopefully
this article will help you to pick out exactly what you’re interested in checking
out. As I mentioned earlier, I’ll do my best to keep this updated as and when new
books are released!

As always, let me know if you’ve got any comments, questions or suggestions – drop
a comment below or find me on Twitter!

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