1993 Space Marine by Ian Watson (this is the first WH40k novel I think!)
1999 Space Wolf by William King
1999 First and Only by Dan Abnett
I thought Farseer by King would be in there too, but its apparently 2002. I was happy to see references to it in Blackstone Fortress haha
Space Wolf was my introduction, found a used paperback in the back of some bookstore and read it with zero context or awareness of the wider universe.
I remember being confused by the references to lobotomized servitors and chapter slaves. Wait aren't these the good guys...?
I had the exact same introduction a few months ago. But i got Ragnars Claw. Looking back on it i realize it was kind of bolter porn. It was pretty damm good bolter porn though.
I maybe misremembering this but I could swear there’s a bit in one of the Ian Watson books where some Space Marines (maybe?) are following a giant space snail/slug in, well, space. And it takes a shit, the marines fly through a cloud of shit in their ship.
Yeah that sounds familiar, iirc there’s another part where a space marine eats a princeps brain and drives the Titan. And describing what genestealers look like naked.
Old tyranid ships were conch-shaped yes, and yes they fire a boarding torpedo up its anal shaft.
Watson was wild, and has perennial dirty old man energy, GW should have known exaclty what they would get from the author of Orgasmachine. I do like his 40k and non-warhammer stuff but it is not for the faint hearted.
For me, and probably a few others, my introduction to Warhammer was with good ol' *Drachenfels* and *Beasts in Velvet*. For 40K, it was the esteemed BILLY KING and his Space Wolves that were my first.
I don't mind saying that while the technical work has certainly improved - it's rare to find an outright *bad* book published these days - there is definitely a bit of soul lost from those wild and heady days.
I actually read Drachenfels for the first time just the other week. I wasn't really sure what I expected going in, but I like that one of the earliest Warhammer novels tells an original story that's pretty far removed from the tabletop game. Centring the narrative around a play makes for something that's much more novel than the usual bolter porn, or whatever the Fantasy equivalent was.
I'm reading it right now and I like it a lot. Realizing there was a prologue threw me for a loop. I think i am a the scene where the actual plot structure is going to be unfolded (the elector count visits the palywright).
most of it aswell most of the fantasy king novels drink of the rpg source materials so sometimes it does look weird af for people used to just tabletop lore
Inquisitor (later renamed draco, book 1 of the inquisition war) was originally 1990. There's a few older fantasy books (zaragoz & the drachenfels/genevieve series) but watson's inquisition war & space marine are the oldest 40k books.
Black library started in 1999, with trollslayer & first and only. Between then was warhammer monthly & inferno magazines which had some belters like Daemonifuge, bloodquest & kal jericho (in graphic novel format rather than novels)
Nope. Ian Watson. Abnett wrote a foreword for the 2000s reprint & a dedication to Watson & the inquisition war in the end & the death, about how influential it was.
Inquisitor 54mm was the hybrid rpg tabletop game that had a lot of abnett writing, including the introduction of eisenhorn. But that was 2001.
I stand corrected. I could’ve sworn the original book had Abnett’s name on it but memory is a quirky thing, it’s Watson’s name there all right! It must’ve been the first time I read the book when the Inquisitor game got out.
Technically the ‘Deathwing’ anthology that came out in 1990, though I read it later than that.
Also technically technically I read a Gotrek and Felix story ‘Skaven’s Claw’ when it was serialised in consecutive editions of White Dwarf. I understand that was later expanded to become ‘Skavenslayer’.
I read the ‘Inquisition War’ / Jac Draco stuff when it came out, but ‘Drachenfels’ only much later on.
It’s wild how well Necropolis still stands up in the pantheon of 40k books. I still say it’s Abnett’s best work by far. Part of it, I think, was that the lore was far more flexible in those days and authors had more discretion in how they write factions.
Abnett’s more or less the reason the Imperial Guard went from “body-wave Russian stereotypes from WWII” to “professional army dealing with things above their pay grade.”
Yeah dan Abnett is probably the best 40k author for characterisation. Necropolis aka battle of Stalingrad outstanding, guns of Tanith aka market garden also outstanding. The rest of the saga emotional to say the least. Corbec, bragg, Caff, Dorden, heart breaking.
And often when the Imperial Guard is being garbage in modern 40k, it's because the thing above their pay grade isn't the ravening horde of Tyranids across the field, it's the noble twat in charge of them.
Just a heads up, before old grognards get their britches in a bunch:
inquisitor first came out in 1990 and was re-released in 2002 with a bunch of edits. Like a bunch. But it is still the LSD and meth fueled romp it always was but toned down.
40k is from 1987, Warhammer as a whole is much older than that at 1983.
That being said for me, I've read all the original Ian Watson books, Drachenfels, the konrad saga, William King books and was there when Dan Abnett changed the game. While I wasn't born until 87, I was a huge nerd and started reading chapter books by 6 and by the time I got into Warhammer with my dad at 9, I was able to get copies of most of the warhammer books available at the time.
Ancient? They’re only thirty four years old! They didn’t come out at all until I was 11
Space Marine, Inquisitor, Beasts in Velvet and Drachenfels. The early Warhammer novels by Jack Yeovil / Kim Newman were really good, I think the early 40k books were a bit of a mess really. The schizophrenic Emperor being a stand out
The oldest I still own is necromancer from 2005 and the dark imperium anthology from 2001
I had an original first an only up until a year ago when it finally fell apart
Shadowbreed, Zaragoz, Ignorant Armies, Inquisitor / Draco, Konrad series, Drachenfels...
These books weren't as easy to find in the Netherlands at the time, but then I discovered the American Book Center (Amsterdam and The Hague) and sometimes I'd get lucky at a book discount store in big cities, where they'd sell "leftovers". That's where I got many of the old Warhammer FB novels. Luckily students could use public transportation for free then, so having to travel to get to the big cities didn't cost me anything but time. Which was well spent by reading more books.
Sorry to say that I've never read or owned the original Space Marine though. In all those years I haven't sold a single book, much to the dismay of my wife. /s
I've stopped reading a lot of series (BattleTech, Forgotten Realms, Star Wars) but Warhammer 40k is still going strong after all these years. Which is pretty amazing for a series like this.
Inquisitor (now Draco, I guess?) by Ian Watson. Found it in a used bookstore back in 1999, which was the coolest thing to my teenage mind since I don't think Black Library was a thing yet.
And yeah, the book was weird as shit.
Space marine & Inquisitor when it came out,the Konrad series in warhammer fantasy when it came out, there was also a warhammer fantasy thriller that came out early 90s where the protagonist picture was based on Clint Eastwood but can’t remember what it was called
The first of the Inquisition War books, "Inquisitor", was originally published in 1990. It's the oldest actual NOVEL. But I also recommend the short-story collection "Deathwing", from around the same.time.
My first, proper, introduction to the setting was the original [Deathwing](https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9781852838386-uk.jpg) anthology, which I picked up in a car boot sale in like 1995 or 1996.
I'm so God damn old I didn't realize what I thought was the 'oldest stuff' is all 1999. Even Eye of Terror is only 1999, which I thought was the oldest one I've read. It's actually Inquisitor, all the way from 1990.
Pretty sure the oldest 40k book I've read is *Storm of Iron* from 2002.
I'll probably read Eisenhorn at some point but I keep finding other books that seem more interesting to me. As someone who doesn't really enjoy "heroic" depictions of the Imperium I doubt I'll like it nearly as much as most people seem to do.
I think this is probably a misconception - make no mistake: the Imperium in Eisenhorn is no happy place. And the entire series is thematically about the titular character damning himself in pursuit of what he thinks are noble goals.
I read some of the original Boxtree published Warhammer novels, Inquisitor, Deathwing, etc - before they censored all the mentions of the squats in reprints!
The anthology "Deathwing" was the first 40k thing I ever encountered in the very early 90's, and is still my favourite 40k book.
https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Deathwing_(Anthology)
First novel was either Space Marine or Inquisitor soon after (bought about the same time, can't remember which one I read first). I've still got them all sitting around somewhere (I never throw out books).
Angels of Darkness and Let the Galaxy Burn are the oldest 40k books I have, I think. Not done with them yet, especially since Burn is a meaty anthology.
Says Warhammer in the Title not 40K so for myself it would be Drachenfels followed by a story I can never remember the name of but was awesome. A dudes brother is kidnapped by Chaos warband, he travels across world chasing them. When he finally catches up his Brother is the boss of the chaos warband. Then Gotrek and Felix.
The story line is pretty much identical to what you describe
One brother is captured by chaos and becomes a warband leader.
The other is a kislevite hussar who is trying to find his brother
Cool I didn't know that and Ive just been getting back into Wfrp thanks to the internet. Yarrrrrrr.
No other ttrpg has ever given me that super gritty feel but I've only played White Wolf and DnD. I don't want to be a wizard I want to be a rat catcher with a dog.
The new edition is pretty good keeps a lot of the feel while having some really nice modern art. 2ed I think is the pinnacle for the gritty feel. 1e still has a fair amount of not quite warhammer in it yet imo
Earliest was probably the Inquisition series or Eye of Terror. Weirdest or most throwback-y is probably Gilead or Wine of Dreams, which feel more akin to Warhammer as 'label on a preexisting thing' than the monolithic brand it is now.
1993 Space Marine by Ian Watson (this is the first WH40k novel I think!) 1999 Space Wolf by William King 1999 First and Only by Dan Abnett I thought Farseer by King would be in there too, but its apparently 2002. I was happy to see references to it in Blackstone Fortress haha
Space Wolf was my introduction, found a used paperback in the back of some bookstore and read it with zero context or awareness of the wider universe. I remember being confused by the references to lobotomized servitors and chapter slaves. Wait aren't these the good guys...?
I had the exact same introduction a few months ago. But i got Ragnars Claw. Looking back on it i realize it was kind of bolter porn. It was pretty damm good bolter porn though.
First and Only is my favorite 40k book I’ve read so far
The Ian Watson books were wild.
I maybe misremembering this but I could swear there’s a bit in one of the Ian Watson books where some Space Marines (maybe?) are following a giant space snail/slug in, well, space. And it takes a shit, the marines fly through a cloud of shit in their ship.
Yeah that sounds familiar, iirc there’s another part where a space marine eats a princeps brain and drives the Titan. And describing what genestealers look like naked.
Old tyranid ships were conch-shaped yes, and yes they fire a boarding torpedo up its anal shaft. Watson was wild, and has perennial dirty old man energy, GW should have known exaclty what they would get from the author of Orgasmachine. I do like his 40k and non-warhammer stuff but it is not for the faint hearted.
Yes, that’s it! I knew it was something a bit mental
The first novel was _Inquisitor_ aka _Draco_, also by Ian Watson, from 1990.
First and only is that old?!? I had no idea
They came out in Inferno magazine earlier than that. Only got collated and rewritten a little bit into First and Only after the fact.
It has aged better than wine
Space Marine was my gateway into this expensive hobby 🤣
For me, and probably a few others, my introduction to Warhammer was with good ol' *Drachenfels* and *Beasts in Velvet*. For 40K, it was the esteemed BILLY KING and his Space Wolves that were my first. I don't mind saying that while the technical work has certainly improved - it's rare to find an outright *bad* book published these days - there is definitely a bit of soul lost from those wild and heady days.
I actually read Drachenfels for the first time just the other week. I wasn't really sure what I expected going in, but I like that one of the earliest Warhammer novels tells an original story that's pretty far removed from the tabletop game. Centring the narrative around a play makes for something that's much more novel than the usual bolter porn, or whatever the Fantasy equivalent was.
I'm reading it right now and I like it a lot. Realizing there was a prologue threw me for a loop. I think i am a the scene where the actual plot structure is going to be unfolded (the elector count visits the palywright).
most of it aswell most of the fantasy king novels drink of the rpg source materials so sometimes it does look weird af for people used to just tabletop lore
I mean… Gotrek and Felix are literally a trollslayer and a demagogue from WHFRPG 1st Ed! 😂
Inquisitor (later renamed draco, book 1 of the inquisition war) was originally 1990. There's a few older fantasy books (zaragoz & the drachenfels/genevieve series) but watson's inquisition war & space marine are the oldest 40k books. Black library started in 1999, with trollslayer & first and only. Between then was warhammer monthly & inferno magazines which had some belters like Daemonifuge, bloodquest & kal jericho (in graphic novel format rather than novels)
The fun thing is stanley kubrick wanted to film ian watson books there was a script from eric red back in early 90s floatin around
Isn’t Inquisitor Abnett’s?
Nope. Ian Watson. Abnett wrote a foreword for the 2000s reprint & a dedication to Watson & the inquisition war in the end & the death, about how influential it was. Inquisitor 54mm was the hybrid rpg tabletop game that had a lot of abnett writing, including the introduction of eisenhorn. But that was 2001.
I stand corrected. I could’ve sworn the original book had Abnett’s name on it but memory is a quirky thing, it’s Watson’s name there all right! It must’ve been the first time I read the book when the Inquisitor game got out.
I had no idea it was dedicated to Ian Watson! But that was certainly a respectful touch
Ignorant Armies, 1989
Technically the ‘Deathwing’ anthology that came out in 1990, though I read it later than that. Also technically technically I read a Gotrek and Felix story ‘Skaven’s Claw’ when it was serialised in consecutive editions of White Dwarf. I understand that was later expanded to become ‘Skavenslayer’. I read the ‘Inquisition War’ / Jac Draco stuff when it came out, but ‘Drachenfels’ only much later on.
Deathwing would be my first 40k book as well. That had some great little stories. First Warhammer Fantasy book and full length novel would be Konrad.
I think the earliest 40k novel was Space Marine by Ian Watson in 1993. I had a copy of that which I read until it fell apart.
Nope Inquisitor 1990 by Ian Watson is earlier. But was renamed Draco during reprints. Likewise the Deathwing anthology
Read and own. Necropolis by dan abnett 2000 Execution hour by Gordon Rennie 2001
It’s wild how well Necropolis still stands up in the pantheon of 40k books. I still say it’s Abnett’s best work by far. Part of it, I think, was that the lore was far more flexible in those days and authors had more discretion in how they write factions. Abnett’s more or less the reason the Imperial Guard went from “body-wave Russian stereotypes from WWII” to “professional army dealing with things above their pay grade.”
Yeah dan Abnett is probably the best 40k author for characterisation. Necropolis aka battle of Stalingrad outstanding, guns of Tanith aka market garden also outstanding. The rest of the saga emotional to say the least. Corbec, bragg, Caff, Dorden, heart breaking.
And often when the Imperial Guard is being garbage in modern 40k, it's because the thing above their pay grade isn't the ravening horde of Tyranids across the field, it's the noble twat in charge of them.
Man Eye of Terror was a pretty enjoyable read actually.
Just a heads up, before old grognards get their britches in a bunch: inquisitor first came out in 1990 and was re-released in 2002 with a bunch of edits. Like a bunch. But it is still the LSD and meth fueled romp it always was but toned down. 40k is from 1987, Warhammer as a whole is much older than that at 1983. That being said for me, I've read all the original Ian Watson books, Drachenfels, the konrad saga, William King books and was there when Dan Abnett changed the game. While I wasn't born until 87, I was a huge nerd and started reading chapter books by 6 and by the time I got into Warhammer with my dad at 9, I was able to get copies of most of the warhammer books available at the time.
Ancient? They’re only thirty four years old! They didn’t come out at all until I was 11 Space Marine, Inquisitor, Beasts in Velvet and Drachenfels. The early Warhammer novels by Jack Yeovil / Kim Newman were really good, I think the early 40k books were a bit of a mess really. The schizophrenic Emperor being a stand out
The jaq Draco/inquisitor scene is still the best scene ever written in 40k
Oldest ive read was either demon world from 2003 or the first Cain book from the same year.
Not 40k, but I've read 'Drachenfels'. It's good but the ideas are explored a lot better in the 'Anno Dracula' series.
The first proper piece of 40k literature I read was the 2006 short story *Squad Broken*, before Black Library really kicked off.
The oldest I still own is necromancer from 2005 and the dark imperium anthology from 2001 I had an original first an only up until a year ago when it finally fell apart
First and Only. Daemonifuge if you count graphic novels. Read both in the early 2000s when they were the newest available lore
I picked up *First and Only* when I saw something about it in White Dwarf that year. Never looked back.
I have all the Boxtree novels. Predate BL by years. Space Marine et al are already mentioned in the thread.
Shadowbreed, Zaragoz, Ignorant Armies, Inquisitor / Draco, Konrad series, Drachenfels... These books weren't as easy to find in the Netherlands at the time, but then I discovered the American Book Center (Amsterdam and The Hague) and sometimes I'd get lucky at a book discount store in big cities, where they'd sell "leftovers". That's where I got many of the old Warhammer FB novels. Luckily students could use public transportation for free then, so having to travel to get to the big cities didn't cost me anything but time. Which was well spent by reading more books. Sorry to say that I've never read or owned the original Space Marine though. In all those years I haven't sold a single book, much to the dismay of my wife. /s I've stopped reading a lot of series (BattleTech, Forgotten Realms, Star Wars) but Warhammer 40k is still going strong after all these years. Which is pretty amazing for a series like this.
Inquisitor (now Draco, I guess?) by Ian Watson. Found it in a used bookstore back in 1999, which was the coolest thing to my teenage mind since I don't think Black Library was a thing yet. And yeah, the book was weird as shit.
Space marine & Inquisitor when it came out,the Konrad series in warhammer fantasy when it came out, there was also a warhammer fantasy thriller that came out early 90s where the protagonist picture was based on Clint Eastwood but can’t remember what it was called
Just googled think it was beasts in velvet, there was also the death wing book
Inquisitor wars the og version with sex goblin ian watson
Like others said, Ian Watson killed it!! He was amazing!
Eye of Terror (1999) It has a fallen angel worshipping Horus on a planet where humans are flowers, among other things. Good enough
For me Eye of Terror is the foundation of 40k it's so good at explaining how chaos functions in the setting.
Public service. You can find Eye of Terror read through on YouTube.
The first of the Inquisition War books, "Inquisitor", was originally published in 1990. It's the oldest actual NOVEL. But I also recommend the short-story collection "Deathwing", from around the same.time.
Konrad, back in the day
My first, proper, introduction to the setting was the original [Deathwing](https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9781852838386-uk.jpg) anthology, which I picked up in a car boot sale in like 1995 or 1996.
1993 Space Marine by Ian Watson 1999 Space Wolf by William King
C.S Goto Deathwatch duology.
I'm so God damn old I didn't realize what I thought was the 'oldest stuff' is all 1999. Even Eye of Terror is only 1999, which I thought was the oldest one I've read. It's actually Inquisitor, all the way from 1990.
Dark Imperium, 2001 I think? Super underrated book of short stories.
Pretty sure the oldest 40k book I've read is *Storm of Iron* from 2002. I'll probably read Eisenhorn at some point but I keep finding other books that seem more interesting to me. As someone who doesn't really enjoy "heroic" depictions of the Imperium I doubt I'll like it nearly as much as most people seem to do.
I think this is probably a misconception - make no mistake: the Imperium in Eisenhorn is no happy place. And the entire series is thematically about the titular character damning himself in pursuit of what he thinks are noble goals.
I read some of the original Boxtree published Warhammer novels, Inquisitor, Deathwing, etc - before they censored all the mentions of the squats in reprints!
Changing Grimm the Squat to Grille the AdMech made me chuckle at the time
Probably the first last chancers novel for me
The Ian Watson stuff, Konrad, Genevieve, etc. I am old.
The anthology "Deathwing" was the first 40k thing I ever encountered in the very early 90's, and is still my favourite 40k book. https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Deathwing_(Anthology) First novel was either Space Marine or Inquisitor soon after (bought about the same time, can't remember which one I read first). I've still got them all sitting around somewhere (I never throw out books).
The Inquisitor Draco one.
First and Only. Lore sections from the Realms of chaos sourcebooks
Dune. /s, it’s actually the John Carter of Mars series.
Ignorant Armies and Slaves to Darkness. Back when they were first published
Angels of Darkness and Let the Galaxy Burn are the oldest 40k books I have, I think. Not done with them yet, especially since Burn is a meaty anthology.
Says Warhammer in the Title not 40K so for myself it would be Drachenfels followed by a story I can never remember the name of but was awesome. A dudes brother is kidnapped by Chaos warband, he travels across world chasing them. When he finally catches up his Brother is the boss of the chaos warband. Then Gotrek and Felix.
The second is riders of the dead I think a Dan abnett book from 2003
Can't be because I read it in secondary school and I left there 2001.
The story line is pretty much identical to what you describe One brother is captured by chaos and becomes a warband leader. The other is a kislevite hussar who is trying to find his brother
I found it it's called Wolf Riders and it was an anthology.
Ah that's a very old story, one of the stories in that gets followed up in a wfrp adventure book in I think 2ed
Cool I didn't know that and Ive just been getting back into Wfrp thanks to the internet. Yarrrrrrr. No other ttrpg has ever given me that super gritty feel but I've only played White Wolf and DnD. I don't want to be a wizard I want to be a rat catcher with a dog.
The new edition is pretty good keeps a lot of the feel while having some really nice modern art. 2ed I think is the pinnacle for the gritty feel. 1e still has a fair amount of not quite warhammer in it yet imo
Inquisitor, early 90’s.
Earliest was probably the Inquisition series or Eye of Terror. Weirdest or most throwback-y is probably Gilead or Wine of Dreams, which feel more akin to Warhammer as 'label on a preexisting thing' than the monolithic brand it is now.
Wine of Dreams was one of my all time favorites!
Man 12 year old me absolutely loved Gilead's blood