Best 40k introductory audio book?

[Tupinamba]

Hi guys. I´m mostly a fantasy player/reader, but I´ve always had an interest in 40k fluff and have some very superficial knowledge and would like to make the following question to the community.

Which of the 40k audiobooks do you think would be the best introduction to the universe, in terms of being well written and for people who don´t know all the differences between marine chapters, primarchs etc. etc?

Also, I sympathise more with IG and Eldar than SM, but am open to a good story with the astartes too.

[Sqallum]

It depends. You can get Audio for just about any Horus Heresy book. If you want to start there I suggest Horus Rising, False Gods and the beastie that is Galaxy in Flames. For normal 40k universe I would suggest Malediction, an nice mix between Imperial Guard and the Dark Angels. Hope this helps.

[shadowhawk2008]

There are two audio product types from BL - audiobooks and audio dramas. The former is a dramatic reading of a short story/novella/novel. The latter is a story with dramatic reading, often lots of different voice-actors (particularly all the Heavy Entertainment produced ADs for BL), and has a ton of special sound effects, sometimes created just for the audio drama.

I'm not much help in the audiobook department since I've only listened to one - Prospero Burns - and didn't like the story at all, and Gareth Armstrong's narration/voice-acting didn't particularly work for me either.

For audio dramas - Eye of Vengeance by Graham McNeill (Space Marine Scouts v/s Dark Mechanicus) and Malediction by C Z Dunn (Dark Angels and Imperial Guard) would be my recommendations. Also, you absolutely should get Thorn and Talon by Dan Abnett (Inquisition). It is a 3-story collection featuring two of the most badass 40k Inquisitors - Eisenhorn and Ravenor.

If you are into the Horus Heresy already, then Raven's Flight by Gav Thorpe (Raven Guard after the Dropsite Massacre) is absolutely amazing, as are both the Garro titles by Jim Swallow.

[Son of Sanguinius]

I'd recommend Throne of Lies, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

Aside from my opinion that he is BL's best author at the moment, Throne of Lies gives you great descriptions of warp travel, Chaos Space Marines, and assassins, as well as good transitions between the intimate and grand scales that make the 40k universe fun.

[stormblade]

Throne of Lies gives you great descriptions of warp travel, Chaos Space Marines, and assassins, as well as good transitions between the intimate and grand scales that make the 40k universe fun.

I don't think somebody who hasn't read that NL trilogy and is not a NL fan would enjoy that- I know I didn't. The whole drama seemed to be composed of one torture scene and some boring dialogue and I think it's one of the more boring ones overall.

Just my opinion of course.

Also, you absolutely should get Thorn and Talon by Dan Abnett (Inquisition). It is a 3-story collection featuring two of the most badass 40k Inquisitors - Eisenhorn and Ravenor.

This, everything else fails in comparison as far as 40k (and 30k) audio dramas go.

I also liked Waiting Death (it's about Starken so it's IG)

The audio books are more or less HH so not 40k, I think that there is a Gaunt's Ghosts novel (Salvation lost) which is 40k and in audio format.

[shadowhawk2008]

Throne of Lies could have been a lot better if it hadn't been so ambitious and if it hadn't used the same approach as the beginning of Soul Hunter - Talos gets a vision and then First Claw goes off to do something about it. Not to mention that the female voice-actor on it didn't impress either, hardly any variation in the voices. The one good thing (that I can remember about it) is the last and final scene with Talos and a certain.... recording device.

[Tupinamba]

Hi guys, thanks for the fast and helpful answers.

I´m looking more for 40k stuff, not 30k, as I don´t feel familiar enough with the universe to start already with the revisions... Later on I´ll definitely give HH a try.

The Inquisition novels seem very interesting. Are they pre-40k too?

Cheers

[shadowhawk2008]

The ones by Ian Watson? Nope, they are 40k. The Dan Abnett novels? 40k. The Dan Abnett audios? 40k. Of course, the Ian Watson trilogy is considered to be pretty subpar by the community in general and as I haven't read them I can't say. But, the Dan Abnett stuff is pretty good. I did find the third Eisenhorn/Ravenor novels alike to be massive letdowns though, definitely not a good end to either trilogy. And this would be the right time to catch up with those anyway as Dan's third Inquisition trilogy, touted as Ravenor versus Eisenhorn (the former used to be the latter's acolyte), and is titled Pariah (the first novel). Good times.

[Tupinamba]

I´ve listened to the Thorn and Talon trilogy and loved it. But they were quite short, sadly.

I´ll try out Malediction now and hope it´s equally good.

Cheers!

[Tomxj]

I was going to suggest the Thorn and Talon storys, but seems like you beat me to it They're brilliant introductions to the world and setting.

I also really liked Throne of lies, the ending is really well done.
Waiting Death is worth a listen just for Strakens erm... words of "inspiration" to his platoon.

Tom j

[narrativium]

The short audios being released now as mp3s, and soon as CDs, might appeal to a newcomer. 'Bloodspire' by C Z Dunn doesn't require an abundance of background knowledge.