10 more books every Warhammer fan should read

At the start of the year, we gave out a list of the books every Warhammer 40,000 fan should check out to get lost in the endless conflict of the grimdark far future. While we're not quite at the end of the year yet, we're near enough to that point where we can look at some more of the Black Library's best to keep our bookshelves full. If you want to see the first list, you can do so here, mostly so you don't blast the comments of this list saying we've forgotten Eisenhorn, the Horus Heresy, and the like.

10. Trollslayer - William King

Keen-eyed readers may have noticed that this list's title mentions Warhammer books, not just those set in the 41st millennium. That means we can head to the Old World and Mortal Realms in this list, and what better way to kick off than with one of Warhammer's most famous series. Gotrek and Felix are two of the Old World's most well-known names and for good reason. King's kickoff to their adventures is action-packed and keeps you hooked for a 12-book saga waiting ahead.

9. Godeater's Son - Noah Van Nguyen

Often, Warhammer is pretty clear-cut in who the goodies and baddies are. The Imperium or servants of Sigmar might not be the pure heroes of other IPs, but when compared to Chaos, they're as innocent as a puppy chasing a butterfly. This isn't the case in Godeater's Son, which shows that there's a bit of nuance in how the Mortal Realms perceive their gods, and the lack of perception from the gods which can doom their people. To Heldanarr Fall, it is Sigmar who proves arrogant and cruel, while the powers of Chaos seem the more righteous with each test. It's one of the best books to get into Age of Sigmar, even if it does flip a lot of Warhammer tropes on their head.

8. The Lion: Son of the Forest

I'll tell you right now that I'm a Dark Angels fan and player through and through. The Lion's return sparked a fire in me that made me come back to Warhammer as a wargame as well as just for the lore. The Lion: Son of the Forest feels like key reading for anyone who wants to know what the primarchs are like following their return, as well as see a fresh take on the Emperor's first legion of Space Marines.

7. The Book of Martyrs - Danie Ware, Alec Worley, Phil Kelly

The Adepta Sororitas are one of the factions in the Imperium where it seems like the memes far overtake their actual representation in the lore. The "nuns with guns" might be great poster girls for the Imperium, but if you want to find out what they're all about, this book of three stories by three different authors shows different orders of the Adepta Sororitas and give a good introduction to anyone wondering if red, black, and white are their colours.

6. Nagash: The Undying King - Josh Reynolds

Outside of the Emperor, Sigmar, and the Chaos gods, there are few other figures in the Warhammer universes who has the power to change an entire setting. One of them is Nagash. If you want an insight into the Realm of Death, the servants of Nagash, and more of a sweeping view of the conflicts of the Mortal Realms and how they can affect wide swaths of territory at once, then you'll want to pick this up. It's worth remembering that unlike in Warhammer 40,000, where everything that isn't the Imperium or Chaos is booted under one Xenos label, the forces of death are an incredibly important faction that can at times be good or evil depending on which way the winds of magic blow.

5. The Lord of the End Times - Josh Reynolds

Mentioning Warhammer and the End Times in the same sentence is a quick way to get a chorus of boos, but I do think any fan wondering what happened to the Old World should pick this up. The End Times consists of five books, and The Lord of the End Times is the last, but if you want to see the mess that was the rushed business decision of blowing up the Old World, you might as well give them a look. Less of a recommendation on quality, unfortunately, and more of a recommendation for an interesting moment in the lore the likes of which we'll probably never see again.

4. Voidscarred - Mike Brooks

It's not that Xenos-focused books are a rarity in the Black Library range. After all, there's so many books that you could easily spend a good amount of time pouring through the novels dedicated to any faction. However, Xenos don't always get the love they deserve. Particularly the Aeldari, in my opinion. It's refreshing then, to not only ditch the trope of them being stuck on a dying Craftworld and have Brooks deliver a pirate romance set in the grimdarkness of space, but also have one that reads as a fun, compelling adventure.

3. Gloomspite - Andy Clark

Goblins are often depicted as goofy little guys. Sure, they're trying to pry off your kneecap with a rusty knife, but you can't hate them for their feeble attempts because they're just so adorable. This isn't the case in Gloomspite. Clark makes the invasion of a horde of the mushroom-addled green freaks a living nightmare, and a reminder that even if they might make for cuddly plushies, goblins are as deadly as every other faction in Age of Sigmar.

2. Ravenor - Dan Abnett

Hello Dan, good to see you again. While Ravenor might be considered somewhat of a sequel, considering it follows on from events covered in the Eisenhorn books, it's a standalone trilogy, and therefore can make it onto this list as another recommendation. I'd also put the Bequin books on here, if not for the fact it seems Games Workshop is competing with George R.R. Martin on seeing who can end their series the slowest on that front. Ravenor captures the essence of the Imperium. How it functions, how it ticks, and the greater cast focus allows you to get more attached to your roster of characters compared to Eisenhorn's first-person perspective. If you've got the patience to dig into eight books as an introduction, you should really just pick up the Eisenhorn, Ravenor, and Bequin books at once.

1. Assassinorum: Kingmaker - Robert Rath

A world on the brink of secession from the Imperium. A maddened monarch. Three assassins who can bring the whole conspiracy crashing down on its head. Rath doesn't just set the knights vs assassins story kick off guns-blazing, letting tension build to a brilliant crescendo, and reminding us that 40k might offer constant war, but the moments between conflict can be some of the most interesting. It's also very nice to see two characters that could easily be personality-lacking killing machines in Raithe and Sycorax actually developed as people. It might not be the best introduction, but it's a book that you don't need to know a lot about 40k to get involved with.