[saintjon]

If you're a fan of awesomeness and violence try to check out the Deff Skwadron comics. I am collecting 40K Orks atm and Deff Skwadron sums up pretty much everything you need to know about Orks.

[wildwook]

I have both Heldenhammer and Empire, but haven't yet read them.

I have just started reading the Sigmer books. Heldenhammer is enjoyable if you like adventure with "blood & gore." Great adventure though. The most interesting part about the storey is the identification between many comments and situations that suggest a lead-in to the Warhammer 40,000 millenium.

[Rob B]

FWIW, here's a newbie's view of a Warhammer 40K novel, Nick Kyme's Salamander (http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/576.html):
Kyme’s novel centers on the Third Company of Salamanders just as their captain is killed. While the novel is very much a military SF/Space Opera hybrid, Kyme also focuses on the smaller issues. Not the least of which is the jealousy and infighting of these Salamanders when a member of their own takes up the leadership role upon the captain’s death. From that point, the Third Company is set on mission to find Scoria, a planet long-thought to be lost that may hold some secrets about the very existence and beginning of the Salamander clan of troops.

Of course, all doesn’t go quite according to plan. Along the way, the Salamanders encounter what initially seems to be an abandoned ship floating in space. Unsurprisingly (and we might not have a novel as fun as this turned out to be) the ship is not so abandoned. The Salamanders wind up having to battle some giant insect-like creatures (chitin) and come gun-barrel to gun-barrel with another troop of Marines. Although contentious between military factions are commonplace in military SF, Kyme handles the ego swaggering between the Salamanders and Marines quite well. He infuses these scenes with ample amounts of tension, which help to keep the pages turning. From finding and ancient near-holy artifact on the ‘abandoned’ ship, the Salamanders head out to Scoria.

[Michigan]

I've never read any of the Warhammer 40000 books but whenever I see them at Borders the kid in me screams that I have to try one because they look so freakin awesome. I am a little worried that they may be too juvenille for me though. Anyways, anyone think it matters if I just picked up a random omnibus? Is it safe to start anywhere?

[DurzoBlint]

I've never read any of the Warhammer 40000 books but whenever I see them at Borders the kid in me screams that I have to try one because they look so freakin awesome. I am a little worried that they may be too juvenille for me though. Anyways, anyone think it matters if I just picked up a random omnibus? Is it safe to start anywhere?

I think you could start anywhere you wanted to the Omnibii really do a good job of telling the story linearly (is that a word?). I would start with Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts. Not juvenile in any form. Good action and storytelling. Just grab Vol. 1 and you should be set.

It seems to me that the majority of the omnibii are the best way to go as you get the complete storyline in one edition (Gaunt's Ghosts are the exception tot he rule as there are several volumes).

I did read Eisenhorn by Abnett and while there was some action I found it a bit of a drag. But that is just my opinion as I had read other more action packed volumes and was expecting the same.

My opinion is for the money you get a lot of good stories for about the same price as a big paperback book. you can't lose.

[PeterWilliam]

Anyways, anyone think it matters if I just picked up a random omnibus?

I strongly encourage, and endorse, such behavior.

[Rob B]

I think you could start anywhere you wanted to the Omnibii really do a good job of telling the story linearly (is that a word?). I would start with Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts. Not juvenile in any form. Good action and storytelling. Just grab Vol. 1 and you should be set.
I'm reading the first omnibus (The Founding) now. I'm about 100 pages into it and I am enjoying it so far. I've a feeling these Gaunt novels are going to be fun.

[AlvinFlummox]

I'm reading the first omnibus (The Founding) now. I'm about 100 pages into it and I am enjoying it so far. I've a feeling these Gaunt novels are going to be fun.

You'd be correct in thinking that they're going to be good! I've read the first two omnibuses a couple of times, and am waiting eagerly for the third omnibus (The Lost) to come out in April.

As far as I can remember, you don't need to have an intimate knowledge of the WH40k universe to understand the books either, so they are definitely a good starting point for anyone!

Have you read enough to have a favourite character yet?

[Michigan]

Well I have recently started The Founding and it seems interesting enough. My main problem is I don't know anything about the 40K universe and there isn't much back story about the world or the politics. All the backstory so far from the flashbacks is just about Gaunt, which helps some I guess. I guess I got used to it with Erikson, maybe it's the same idea here.

[DurzoBlint]

Well I have recently started The Founding and it seems interesting enough. My main problem is I don't know anything about the 40K universe and there isn't much back story about the world or the politics. All the backstory so far from the flashbacks is just about Gaunt, which helps some I guess. I guess I got used to it with Erikson, maybe it's the same idea here.

The Warhammer universe is huge, and from the books that I have read (around 15 or so) they don't ever really get down and tell you the history. The Eisenhorn trilogy also by Abnett goes into the history a little bit more than Gaunt's books but, again it is a vast universe that it is hard to get it all in there let alone half of it. With Gaunt's series I think you just have to know that there is a long history and the majority of it really doesn't play into the story being told.
If you want to know more here is the wiki entry -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperium_(Warhammer_40,000)