Why Gaunt's Ghosts Is Still Warhammer 40,000's Greatest Gateway Drug

Warhammer 40,000 has rarely been in a better time, as it has become much more open to fans of all forms. The push for new games, a better use of social media accounts (seriously, check out their Facebook and Youtube pages if you get even a second) and transparency has earned more goodwill than Games Workshop has seen in decades. New fans can start practically anywhere, with the new novels following the slowly advancing timeline or those of past eras. People have always suggested certain series over others to get into it, depending on the factions they are most engaged by. However, even with that in mind, I would still argue that Dan Abnett's long-running saga is still the ultimate gateway into the grim darkness of the far future. Why? Specifically, because it has run for so long.

Barring the likes of Ian Watson's Space Marine or the like, Gaunt's Ghosts is one of those sagas which has run from the start. It effectively marked the point where the game moved from the last vestiges of the Rogue Trader era into the more modern incarnation it's recognised for today. With First and Only's release in 1999, it was published at the tail end of the Third Edition and with it came more serious storytelling, deeper lore and detailed depictions of figures. While the bolter porn and bizarre humour was still present, it was shaping up into being less of a parody than a varied setting. First and Only reflected this in many ways, as it was simultaneously open to new readers but lacked inherent universal detail.

Think about it for a moment, what do you actually need to know when reading First and Only, just going from the events of the book itself. Very little in all honesty. The space marines are largely a background presence, only showing up briefly or having the odd passing mention in places. The Emperor is outlined as a god venerated by the Imperium, but it doesn't go into the nitty-gritty of his entombment. Chaos? That's introduced as a fantasy element, with daemons, corruption and its worshippers which the Imperium opposes. For the sake of the story, that's all that you need to know. This is the real brilliance of the story, as it keeps things at a human level: It explains as much as it needs to keep the plot moving, and no more, ensuring that events are kept at a Guardsman's eye level.

On the surface, skipping so much information might seem like a crime as it's bypassing immense amounts of what would make the setting so great. However, it instead works this in its favour. It's offering the reader glimpses into the overall setting, small details and highlights of its nature. It tells you just enough to make you understand, but doesn't swamp you with details. Heldane? He's a psyker and an Inquisitor. What are those? A psyker is a psychic, a telepath in his case, and an Inquisitor is a member of His Hallowed KGB. It skirts by on atmosphere and letting the reader put two and two together when needed, and in doing so it was given the freedom to more aptly explore elements the bigger setting would overlook. By doing this, it means the novel has the freedom to explore the smaller details of the setting which would be otherwise overlooked.

The Tanith First and Only themselves were an oddity as they were not supported by any major Imperial Guard Astra Mmilitarum IMPERIAL GUARD regiment on the tabletop. They had no models, no standing, no written history outside of the novel, and the same went for the Jantine Patricians and Vitrian Dragoons. The details we were given of their homeworlds showed just how heavily humanity's varied cultures were across the galaxy, from forests which re-arranged themselves at night to cities of glass pagodas. It was used to give the Imperium more of a face, show how people reacted to war in this era, and contrasted with what people would expect of a far future empire. This was only further enhanced by the inclusion of things like the Men of Iron and STCs, showing the techno-barbaric nature of humanity as it rebuilt itself on scraps. That's the big point here, all of this was shown to the reader rather than dumping exposition on them. In doing so, there was more time to explore the characters as well, from Gaunt's surprisingly controlled nature as a Colonel-Commissar to the likes of Larkin.

Now, we have spent much on only the first novel here so far, but there's a good reason for that: It's easy to pick up, read and gain investment in, all without greater understanding of the setting. People could certainly look up those details and see the greater meaning behind them, but that wasn't required reading. This was how it started, and how much of the series - barring a couple of odd moments - would continue from there on. Whether it was the Imperial Navy or the hierachy of the Guard itself, more of the inner workings would be displayed detailing the overall nature of humanity. However, what helped substantially was how Gaunt's Ghosts proved to be a rare series where the bad was dropped, but it retained everything good. First and Only worked well as an introduction, but it did suffer from a liberal use of archetypes, a few overt character cliches and shallow one-shot villains. Ghostmaker would try to overcome this with more limelight moments to flesh out the Tanith's numbers, and the series would truly hit its stride with Necropolis. Even the more static characters would be given more human moments, and revelations to better flesh them out.

Each novel would confront a very different form of warfare, from sieges to infiltration efforts to all-out trench warfare. It ensured the reader that they were never fully comfortable with a single style of story, and quite often it would seem as if Abnett would intentionally oppose what had been written before. The Ghosts' victory at the end of The Founding arc was directly followed by a disgraceful loss, and the odd optimism of early books would heavily contrast with those of later stories. The likes of Traitor General and The Armour of Contempt, in particular, were seemingly written to undercut all previous elements, and keep things fresh rather than allowing anything to become overly familiar. This allowed every book to feel new despite its connections and would be just as open to old hands as new ones. Something which seemed to carry over into the style of the stories themselves. Foreknowledge was certainly a bonus, but it never fully relied on readers keeping fully up to date with events.

Like the overall setting, the series would rely on the reader being told enough to keep track of things at the time. Like many Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, you didn't need to know everything, and you would be told enough to keep track of them. Forget about one side character? Something would be added to remind you of their role and nature in the regiment. Did the exact events of a past book slip your mind? There would be some moment of recollection to let fans catch up with things. It meant that most novels could be approached from a fresh perspective without any serious issues or feelings of being lost.

Now, you certainly can't start with any book in the series as some don't lend themselves well to new readers. Guns of Tanith, for one, is a difficult tale to fully pin down without prior familiarity due to its style and structure. However, many others would easily lend themselves well to fans and update new readers. As a point of curiosity, I tested this myself with a friend unfamiliar with the setting; lending them Traitor General, The Armour of Contempt, and then Salvation's Reach. Because they so frequently and easily updated details or covered prior events, said fan was able to keep track of developments between books and new twists. Why is this important? Because it meant the series could often get away with people starting in later arcs or more recent publications, rather than working through twelve prior books to understand what was going on. Instead, it would tell a good story the reader would follow, and make them want to go back and read those other stories.

However, perhaps the greatest reason that the Gaunt's Ghosts series remains the best gateway for fans is due to how it handles characters and tone. The saga makes it clear from the start that almost anyone can die. The Tanith are constantly under-strength, constantly losing people and a few big twists make it clear that named characters will be bumped off. It doesn't do so gratuitously, or to the point of making you feel nothing for their deaths, but it more easily separates it from inherently less grim and dark settings. Characters would develop, change and alter over time, but sometimes that would be for the worse or would mislead you into thinking they had some immunity to death for a time. This was only further enhanced by something fans have nicknamed "promotion from within", where characters would be established long before becoming promenant. MkVenner is perhaps the greatest example of this, and through it you could constantly have lesser characters coming more and more to the forefront. Thus easily covering for those who died.

There is certainly more that could be said about Gaunt's Ghosts - and, once again, there are still great sagas which also serve as an excellent way to get into Warhammer 40,000 - but there is a very good reason why this is deemed a flagship series. The fact it can keep gaining fans almost a decade after its release and four major arcs only prove that, when many others barely reach a fraction of its length. Even with the series edging toward a finale, it wouldn't surprise me if it keeps serving as a lightning rod for new fans to take note of the lore for decades to come.

If you disagree or have your own views on this, or you want to cite another one you would suggest in its place then please leave a comment. Everyone has their own views after all, and this is just mine.