How to read Warhammer books? And where to start?

When you hear Warhammer, most fans think of miniatures, dice, and battle boards. But people rarely think of the deep literary side of the Warhammer world – and we owe that to Black Library. This publishing house from Games Workshop started in 1997 and has been bringing not just novels, but also short stories and comics to the worlds of Warhammer Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, and Warhammer 40,000 ever since.

The name “Black Library” draws from the fictional Aeldari library hidden in the Webway labyrinth – a place full of forbidden knowledge. And just like that library, the publisher opens a gateway to stories that take you further than the gaming mat.

The world of Warhammer is vast. It’s full of doom, betrayal, religious extremism, and heroes. But above all, these are often brilliantly written military sci-fi or action fantasy stories. Diving into Black Library books is worth it, even if you aren't planning on playing wargames.

Overview of main series and Czech editions

Gaunt's Ghosts

Dan Abnett's saga follows Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his Tanith “First and Only” regiment. A number of titles have been released in Czech – for example, First and Only, Honour Guard, or Necropolis. Recently, Warmaster and Anarch were added as well.

Eisenhorn

Another famous series by Dan Abnett follows Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn in his fight against Chaos and heresy within the Imperium. The novels Xenos, Malleus, and Hereticus are available in Czech.

The Horus Heresy

A monumental series that maps Horus's betrayal and the fall of half the Primarchs to the service of Chaos. You can find the cornerstones of the story in Czech, for example, Horus Heresy.

Gotrek and Felix

The iconic fantasy duo – the Dwarfen Slayer Gotrek and his human companion Felix – travel across the Old World in search of an honorable death and great adventures. Volumes like Trollslayer or Skavenslayer have been released in Czech.

How to read Black Library books?

Black Library books are a vast universe – and it’s logical that every newcomer asks: “Should I read them chronologically?” The answer is: not exactly.

Reading in chronological order

The world of Warhammer 40,000 has a history spanning tens of thousands of years. Some series, like The Horus Heresy, take place 10,000 years before the current era. Others, like Gaunt's Ghosts or Eisenhorn, are already set in the 41st millennium. If you wanted to read across the entire universe strictly by timeline, you would constantly have to jump between authors, genres, and styles – and you would often lose the natural rhythm of the stories.

How to approach it practically

Most readers therefore recommend:

• Read series as a whole – for example, Gaunt's Ghosts works best when you go volume by volume in order of release. The same applies to Eisenhorn.
• Large cycles have their own order – The Horus Heresy already has over sixty volumes, and it pays to stick to the official recommended chronology of released parts.
• Standalone novels like Dark Imperium or Ciaphas Cain can be read anytime – they have a self-contained story and don't require knowledge of the wider lore.

What about fantasy and Age of Sigmar?

It’s similar in Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar. Series like Gotrek and Felix have a clearly connected line of adventures, and it’s good to stick to the order. In Age of Sigmar, it’s more about standalone stories set in different Mortal Realms, so the order doesn't matter as much there.

Black Library is not read chronologically across the entire universe. The best way is to pick a series, start with the first volume, and stick to its order. Once you finish it, you can smoothly move on to the next one.

Three pillars of Black Library: Dan Abnett, Gav Thorpe, and Graham McNeill

Warhammer 40,000 wouldn't be such a rich universe today without the authors who breathed literary life into it. Among the most active and essential creators of Black Library are Dan Abnett, Gav Thorpe, and Graham McNeill – a trio behind dozens of books and series that define how we perceive the world of Warhammer today.

Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett (*1965, UK*) is one of the most famous authors of modern military sci-fi and a long-time collaborator with Games Workshop. He studied at Oxford and began his career as a comic book writer – he wrote for Marvel, DC, and 2000 AD, where he worked on series like Judge Dredd. In Black Library, he became famous for the Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn series, as well as essential contributions to The Horus Heresy cycle. Besides Warhammer, he is behind the novels Riders of the Dead or Fell Cargo and wrote his own original sci-fi series Triumff.

Gav Thorpe

Gav Thorpe (*1970, UK*) started at Games Workshop in 1993, where he participated in creating rules for Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer 40,000. He gradually moved to writing and became one of the most prominent Black Library authors. His most famous works include the novels Angels of Darkness or the Last Chancers series. He also focuses on Warhammer Fantasy, for example with the book The Curse of Khaine. Thorpe is also known as a lecturer and author of reader guides, and he likes to share tips on how to write in such a vast fictional universe.

Graham McNeill

Graham McNeill (*1971, Scotland*) started as a game designer at Games Workshop before fully committing to writing. In Black Library, he became one of the main creators of The Horus Heresy saga – his novels False Gods, Fulgrim, or A Thousand Sons are among the most popular. In addition, he wrote the entire Ultramarines series, including the books Nightbringer and Warriors of Ultramar. Outside of Warhammer, he worked on the sci-fi horror trilogy Dark Waters and created the novel I, Mengsk for Blizzard, set in the StarCraft universe.

author Karel Krajča