Delving into the Warhammer 40K universe is a bit overwhelming. There are almost 400 novels to choose from, and that’s on top of the vast array of video games and the TTRPG that started the franchise. Fortunately, the best Warhammer 40K novels give you a few points of entry that are newcomer-friendly and that lead to a mountain of stories to enjoy.
Best Warhammer 40K novels as of 2025
Warhammer 40K has been around for over 30 years and has attracted fans like Henry Cavill and Ed Sheeran. Since then, it’s grown beyond its miniature TTRPG roots and into a sprawling multimedia franchise. Unfortunately, you can’t just start with any novel, as most are part of a series that references past works. So, our list is intended to point beginners in the right direction and help them find the best Warhammer 40K novels to get started with.
The Uriel Ventris Chronicles: Volume 1
The Uriel Ventris Chronicles: Volume 1 collects the first three novels in Graham McNeill’s fan-favorite Ultramarines series, Nightbringer, Warriors of Ultramar, and Dead Sky, Black Sun, along with bonus short stories that expand on the adventures of Space Marine Captain Uriel Ventris. If you’re new to Warhammer 40K fiction, this is one of the best places to start.
Across these stories, we follow Uriel as he takes command of the Ultramarines Fourth Company, one of the largest and most powerful factions in the Warhammer universe, and heads across various campaigns, each time dealing with a very different enemy.
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The Eisenhorn Trilogy
Written by Dan Abnett, the Eisenhorn Trilogy follows the career of Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn of the Ordo Xenos. Unlike the near-godlike power of the Space Marines, Gregor is very human, aside from his cybernetic modifications and Warp powers, which draw telepathic energy from a parallel dimension. Along with his kill team, Eisenhorn is tasked with rooting out heretics and daemon threats to humanity. He’s also constantly battling the pull of Chaos, a corrupting force of negative psychic energy and disorder.
Beyond this trilogy from a New York Times bestselling author, you’ll see Dan Abnett’s name pop up on just about every “best Warhammer 40k novels” list, because he’s simply one of the greatest. This is also an excellent starting point for beginners. You don’t need a ton of pre-knowledge about the lore or the universe going in, since the story does a solid job of filling you in as you go along.
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Gaunt’s Ghosts: The Founding
Gaunt’s Ghosts is another legendary Warhammer 40K series by Dan Abnett, and for many fans it’s the definitive look at life in the Imperial Guard (the regular human soldiers of the Imperium). They’ve got firepower, numbers, and strategy, but they’re nothing like the superhuman Space Marines. These are ordinary men and women thrown into the meat grinder of endless galactic war. The whole Gaunt’s Ghosts series is long, but the Founding gives you the first three novels and a few short stories for a reasonable start.
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Ciaphas Cain
The Warhammer novels have a lot of darkness to them, but it’s not all grim and dim. Sandy Mitchell’s Ciaphas Cain injects some refreshing, lighthearted comedy into the universe with the main character, a Commissar in the Imperial Guard. Though technically tasked with keeping morale high and rooting out cowardice or heresy, unlike the usual iron-fisted commissars, Cain is a coward himself. He’s just trying to stay alive, which is really a more realistic take.
Along with the witty, self-deprecating memoir recounts of his adventures, you’ll also meet his indispensable aide, Jurgen (a malodorous but fiercely loyal sidekick), who’s almost as iconic as Cain himself.
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Space Wolf: First Omnibus
If you love Norse gods, you’ll love this space-viking action novel. This is another Space Marine chapter in the Warhammer 40k universe, although very different from the Uriel Ventris Chronicles. You’ll find out there are numerous factions, and this is one of the more entertaining ones. This novel from William King draws heavily on Nordic lore. The story follows the youngest Wolf Lord, Ragnar Blackmane, from his feral upbringing on the icy, death-world of Fenris, through a near-death experience and his recruitment into the fearsome Space Wolves chapter, to his legendary battles against the dark forces of Chaos.
The Space Wolf: First Omnibus includes three novels: the first, Space Wolf, was published in 1999, followed by Ragnar’s Claw and Grey Hunter.
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How we picked the best Warhammer 40K novels
There are tons of great Warhammer 40K novels to choose from, but as previously stated, we geared this list more towards beginners. We focused on stories that are easy to jump into for new readers, providing a solid taste of the universe, mythos, factions, and lore without feeling too overwhelming. Still, longtime readers weren’t entirely excluded from our picks, since most of the reads are good enough that longtime fans can enjoy coming back to them.
