Top 10 Warhammer 40k novels to understand the lore

My top 10 (plus a view more) books that you need to read to understand the new 40k lore of the Dark Imperium and the universe in general.

Otherwise you can get the books here;

Honourable mentions to read anyway:

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[Gamrnathan]

10. Storm of Iron - 2:31
11. Word Bearers - 5:06
06. Lucius the Faultless Blade - 7:19
08. Lukas the Trickster - 8:38
07. Fabius Bile Primogenitor - 10:56
05. Shroud of Night - 14:15
09. Talon of Horus - 16:49
04. The Emperors Legion - 17:59
03. The Lords of Silence - 20:13
02. The Devastation of Baal - 22:31
01. Dark Imperium - 24:28

Honorable Mentions:
Eisenhorn Trilogy - 0:40
Uriel Ventris - 4:19
Ciaphus Cain - 28:32

[complexi]

Storm of Iron was my VERY FIRST Warhammer 40K Book!
Definitely an excellent intro to 40K.

[negawan]

Yuss. Storm of Iron was my first 40k book. This is an awesome list and I'll try to get them all.

[veo]

Great list. One of the few on YT that has all bangers.

[TheLegPumpkin]

The Word Bearers omnibus is what got me into 40k and shows how grimdaark the chaos forces can be and has never got the praise it deserves.

[emperorofhistory]

As a man who was away from 40K for a few years, and slowly getting back into it the last couple of years, I am behind on the lore (still reading stuff published the past five years as well as old stuff I never got to before), so this list is solid gold.
A couple things other people have told me in regard to the new lore:
Dante and Shield of Baal should be read before Devastation of Baal (as should the Swallow BA novels...which I haven't yet) as well as Flesh Tearers by Andy Smillie.
And someone told me that the SMB series anthology Architect of Fate is a tie in to the Lords of Silence in particular as well as the Dark Imperium novels as it discusses Chaos plots that don't come into fruition till after the 13th Black Crusade.
All that said, I am still really hoping for a novel, or two or three, that will go back to explain the Gathering Storm and 13th Black Crusade.
Am I alone in being pissed off that that lore is only available in now OOP lore books?

[OGDoomGuy]

Your only suggesting Chaos books...HERESY!

[amrufm]

Eisenhorn series and Gunts Ghost was really really good.... I did it as a marathon over several days.... What a roller coaster of emotions

[floridaman]

(clock ringing ireggularly)" -Uber Aemos. 999.M41 (Maleus)

[Vikn]

Ive only read one full warhammer book. I read a ton; I just try to keep my reading to series with exclusively literally origins, (Sanderson, Kim Stanley Robinson, S. A. Corey, Follet, etc) for whatever reason...idk exactly why I've felt compelled to do so. Same reason I never read the Mass Effect or Elder Scrolls books (if the latter even exists)...

But after reading this one particular Warhammer book, I'm really excited to read more (probs sticking with mostly the novels that are more well reviewed, initially at least). That one book I read is Helsreach. BT are probably my favorite faction so it was a natural start. How does it stack up to these? In quality, not necessarily the understanding it provides.

[jayblack]

"The First Heretic" works really well in terms of understanding the early tremors of the warp's inevitable temptation of the Emperor's Primarchs...

[TheMaxim]

Nice. Thanks to you I’ve picked up most of these lol

[paulgrant]

Would have chucked in Draco as well, just because its a bloody good read ..

[mcelroyguy]

Josh reynolds is awesome. He got me into age of sigmar, I want to read his 40k stuff so bad.

[pspicer]

This is hugely helpful, - thanks. Quick question ... Does the order in which these are read matter? Should these be read in the order you presented in the description or the order you presented in the video? Thanks again!

[floridaman]

Who will kill Abbadon? Who authored that first act, one so vile it damned an entire species, and birthed the end of empires. Yes, I think the only one to slay Abbadon will be the second Kane.

[floridaman]

Plague War was a dichotomy; one of faith and humanist perspectives. Both The followers of Chaos and the faithful of the imperium are blinded by their dogmatic perspectives. Conversely, Those who adhere to the Imperial Creed are quick to dismiss any portent as coincidence.