The Black Library Readers’ Hall of Fame is Goonhammer’s long-term, reader-participation initiative to recognize those novels that have “cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance” to the Black Library.
Through the votes of readers as well as our community panel of community voices, we’ll examine the entire history of the Black Library, induct the latest winners, and vote for the next round’s candidates every other week.
Welcome back to our biweekly initiative, the Black Library Readers' Hall of Fame. As the Black Library itself began to grow and prosper in the wake of its founding in 1997, it reflected this health through an increasing number of offerings. Whereas in the beginning we had to group together years in order to be able to assess the right amount of books, now we're having the opposite problem. In 2003, there were twenty-one novels published- far too many for any one article to cover.
As a result, and with an approach we'll see going forward, we're breaking the years in half so that every book gets a fair turn in the spotlight as we consider it for inclusion in the Hall.
As always, before we get to the books up for voting, let's take a moment to recognize the winners from
our previous installment!
The Envelope Please
Three books got a lot of support but couldn't quite get over 50%.
Dan Abnett's The Guns of Tanith,
Graham McNeill's Nightbringer, and
Zavant by
Gordon Rennie were knocking on the door to greatness, but fell just shy of it opening.
Nevertheless, two books planted their flag on the hill with no room for debate.
AJ, The Paladin Journal: "Counter brought to life an unknown chapter, gave them a great background and culture, and told one hell of a freaky story. I think that's what Ben always does best and this book is a love letter to the absolute grimdark weirdness of 40k when it is fully embraced and given life. Sarpedon is also a 'cult classic' character in the fandom now and I love seeing tabletop conversions for him."
Michael, Track of Words: "We all know that the Imperium is very much 'the good guy by virtue of everyone else being even worse', but 40k does have a tendency to be a bit black and white. Space Marines = good, Chaos Space Marines = bad. Not so with
Soul Drinker, which introduces a proud chapter of Space Marines and forces them to take a rare, alternative path. You don’t get books like this from the Black Library any more, and that’s a shame - the grey areas between order and chaos have so much scope for storytelling. While Counter’s writing doesn’t always age that well,
Soul Drinker stands the test of time for some great characters and a wild, compelling concept.
Chris, Warhammer Nutters Facebook Community: "One of my favourite books. Ben gave them such a different take on a chapter being loyal and also a bit naughty and not giving a shit too."
Jay, Goonhammer: "There's a reason that Darth Vader is one of the most iconic and recognizable (and dare I say beloved?) characters of Star Wars, and that's because we're a sucker for a good villain. Whereas before the Chaos Space Marines tended to serve as foils and antagonists, here they received center stage. One of the fun and interesting things about the Black Library is watching things they didn't think they'd do eventually come into being. A book like
Storm of Iron shows the health and increasing success of the Black Library, that it could take chances like these- and see them pay off."
Michael, Track of Words: "I
f you were only ever going to read one Graham McNeill novel, it would surely be Storm of Iron. Not because it’s necessarily his best-written book, but because it just captures the feel of 40k so perfectly. And because while Uriel Ventris might be his best-known character, Honsou is unquestionably his best character. Looking back now, it’s certainly a child of its time - in the post-Heresy era of the Black Library, McNeill’s Iron Warriors are on the whole a little less characterful than what you might expect from a contemporary story - but that doesn’t take away from its impact. You like 40k novels with bad guys as protagonists? You’ve got Storm of Iron to thank for that."
AJ, The Paladin Journal: "I cannot talk enough about how good this book is. Phenomenal writing and you really get the sense that Graham went all-out for this one. Great twist at the end too. McNeill gave the absolute centre-stage to Chaos Space Marines, which we had not seen until this point, and that was a breath of fresh-air that helped set this book apart. It would lead to more classics such as
Anthony Reynolds’ Word Bearers novels and
Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Night Lords trilogy, among others."
Graham McNeill, author: "One of the most (for the time) distinctive aspects of this novel was that Chaos won, which I think was a first... Many a Games Workshop fan has told me that they began collecting Iron Warriors after reading
Storm of Iron and plenty of the Games Workshop retail guys have mentioned that many of the Chaos players that frequent their stores have Iron Warriors armies thanks to
Storm of Iron. All of which is the most sincere form of compliment imaginable.
1"
Next up, the books of the first half of 2003
2.
Reminder: this is not a knockout competition. You can vote in as many books as you feel are worthy of inclusion- every book that ultimately gets enough votes will be inducted!
The Ballot: The Class of 2003 (January to July)
Image credit: Games Workshop
Warhammer 40,000
Image credit: Games Workshop
Book:
Angels of Darkness, by Gav Thorpe
Synopsis: "Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain Boreas and his men protect the recruiting world of Piscina V, watching over those who will be the next generation of Dark Angels. But when the Chapter’s greatest secret – the existence of the Fallen, warriors who turned against their brothers ten thousand years before – comes to light, Boreas’s own past interrogating one of these traitors comes back to haunt him with tragic consequences."
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Crusade for Armageddon, by Jonathan Green
Synopsis: "Battle-weary Marshall Brant of the Black Templars returns with his crusading force to find his homeworld, Solemnus under savage attack from marauding orks. Now Brant swears a blood oath to avenge his lost brothers, his home planet, and the honor of the Chapter by hunting down the ork leader responsible--and follows a trail to Armageddon, a world synonymous with war..."
Note: Book one in the Black Templars series.
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Daemon World, by Ben Counter
Synopsis: "Deep within the twisted hell-storms of the warp lies the daemon world of Torvendis, a planet damned by the dark powers of Chaos. Savage battle has raged for so long that the very bedrock of the planet is formed from strata of crushed bodies. The arrival of a mysterious stranger threatens to upset the balance of power currently held by Lady Charybdia, princess of Slaanesh, precipitating a bloody revolution. But are the stranger's motives as straightforward as they appear or do the fickle powers of Chaos have one last trick to play?"
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Shadow Point, by Gordon Rennie
Synopsis: "Despatched to form an alliance with Dark Eldar, whose lieutenants represent the Gothic Sector's only hope against the evil Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler, Captain Sempar of the Imperial warship Macharius seeks to stop the Chaos hordes."
Note: Book two in the Gothic War series.
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Warriors of Ultramar, by Graham McNeill
Synopsis: "The Ultramarines are the epitome of a Space Marine Chapter. Warriors without peer, their name is a byword for discipline and honour, and their heroic deeds are legendary. The Great Devourer is descending on the world of Tarsis Ultra, a world under the protection of the Ultramarines. Captain Uriel Ventris and his warriors - allied with their barbaric cousins from the Mortifactors Chapter - rally the forces of the planet to defend against the tyranids. But to defeat the xenos horrors, Uriel may have to turn his back on the Ultramarines' teachings and embark upon a dangerous and unorthodox mission."
Note: Book two in the Chronicles of Uriel Ventris.
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Warhammer Fantasy
Image credit: Games Workshop
Book:
Blood & Steel, by C. L. Werner
Synopsis: "Enter the dark and dangerous world of the ruthless bounty hunter Brunner, as he hunts down the Old World's fugitives without respite or mercy! Allowing nothing to stand in his way, Brunner battles against goblins, vampires and all other manner of dark creature in order to catch his quarry and claim his reward. But lurking in the shadows is the mysterious Krogh, a rival bounty hunter with a grim reputation who will stand for nothing less than Brunner's demise."
Note: Book two in the Brunner the Bounty Hunter series.
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Blood Money, by C. L. Werner
Synopsis: "In the Old World few are feared and hated as much as the bounty hunter. Their world is one of treachery and deceit, where words are cheap and life even more so. Survival depends upon a unique blend of intelligence, animal cunning and brute force, with pain and the promise of pain maintaining their aura of fear. Brunner is one such man, a ruthless individual who will stop at nothing to catch his prey and claim his reward."
Note: Book one in the Brunner the Bounty Hunter series.
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Giantslayer, by William King
Synopsis: "Separated from their friends during a vicious battle, Gotrek Gurnisson and Felix Jaeger are magically transported to the storm-wracked isle of Albion. Strange and dangerous creatures stalk the island and omens tell of a great evil that is rising - an evil that might destroy the entire world. With the aid of the natives of Albion and the mighty high elf mage Teclis, Gotrek and Felix must stop the secrets of the mysterious Old Ones from falling into the hands of servants of the Dark Gods."
Note: Book seven in the Gotrek & Felix series.
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Honour of the Grave, by Robin D. Laws
Synopsis: "Anjelika Fleischer and her companion, Franziskus, make their living by looting the battlefields of the Empire, scouring the fields for lost trinkets and gold, until they become caught up in the intrigues of the Kopf brothers, who are searching desperately for their lost brother."
Note: Book one in the Anjelika Fleischer series.
Image credit: Games Workshop[/caption]
Book:
Mark of Damnation, by James Wallis
Synopsis: "Having dedicated his life to fighting the corrupt powers of Chaos, Hoche is invited to join the Untersuchung, a covert group that shares his mission, and when Hoche makes a shocking discovery, he is drawn into a showdown that could change his destiny."
[poll id="65"]
Good luck to all, and we’ll be back in two weeks to announce the winners- and move on to the next group of books!
The Banner of Glory
Finally, here’s a look at all of the current members of this most prestigious Hall!
Footnotes
- From his own website, here.
- Best guess on at least one of them, which every source I could find listed the date of publication as "January 1." That's usually a placeholder date, but since there is no limit to the number of books each week that can hypothetically get voted in, it won't matter if it's with this group or the ones for the latter half of the year that we'll post in two weeks.
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