Quick note since I’ve done a bit more research during my proofread: this is a very naive “first impressions” post. It serves purely as a teaser for people that can’t tell from WH40k lore veterans if it’s for them or not, which is the boat I was in. Every “how to get started” article was filled with winks and nods and already made me feel too far behind to catch up. I intentionally wrote this trying to ignore all of that.
NOT the wargaming, just the books
Sorry, I’m just not into the wargaming.
I searched around for how to get started with WH40k books and found this helpful post which seems like a reasonably authoritative source. My apologies if you have your own recommended way to get started, but I’m getting started with the Ultramarines, specifically the bits written by Graham McNeill.
One of the first things I learned about WH40k is that so much has been written that there are a lot of omnibuses. The Chronicles of Uriel Ventris (Volume One) is one such collection. It contains three short stories and three novels, taking place in chronological order. The first novel in it was written in 2002, which means we have plenty of foundational lore to lean on and refer to. I’m worried that’ll work against it, but we’ll see.
Oh, and this is not a review or a recap or anything like that. It’s just my first impression of WH40k via one recommended starting point, which might be helpful in deciding if you’re interested in reading 1200 pages just to dip a toe in.
Let’s get the front matter out of the way
I don’t know if it’s in every WH40k book, but the front matter of this book includes a truly phenomenal summary. It has some really fantastic image-provoking language, so I’ve selected my favorite bits.
Regarding the Imperium’s God-Emperor:
He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that He may never truly die.
On the common man:
To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable.
And this absolute banger that I’ve seen referred to countless times:
Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.
It just so cleanly sets the stage: there is only insanity here.
A note on Camp, because it feels applicable
We’re all familiar with the concept of “camp.” We say something is campy when it appeals to a very particular audience in all the right ways. For a long time I knew how to use the word but not really what it meant, exactly? So let’s cover that, because camp is fun and interesting.
Susan Sontag’s Notes on “Camp” (Wikipedia - Full Essay) is what I always refer back to for this. Not because I know it by heart or I’m some kind of expert or anything, but it’s a very succinct and smartly written essay that greatly clarifies the word (or over-complicates it, up to you). So, the parts that have stuck with me, from memory:
Camp is not a value or quality judgment. It’s simply an aesthetic and the feeling that comes with it to certain people. Something is campy when it applies an aesthetic in a way that makes you feel like it knows what you know. And because it knows what you know, it can take itself deadly serious while being something that is entirely, obviously, on its face not deadly serious.
So far, my hot takes on Uriel Ventris and his Ultramarines:
WH40k is pure camp by my measure, and it’s working for me.
The Imperium (or maybe specifically the Ultramarines) is a take on the logical conclusion of Crusades-era religion carried into far future sci-fi. And it’s so fun! They pray, they (and their weapons!) get blessed, they recite catechisms that have their own catchy names, they have shrines to the Emperor on their landing vessels and Emperor churches and priests on their battle cruisers, “praise the Emperor” this, “crush the Emperor’s enemies” that. Just silly fun.
I assumed they were the Ultramarines because they are ultra marines, but no! That is not nearly cool enough for this universe! They hail from the planet Ultramar, and are therefore Ultramarines. I laughed out loud when Ultramar was revealed to me. Love it.
There are Space Marines that serve the Imperium but there are also traitor legions which follow other gods (?!) and the traitor legions don’t just return fire, they return traitorous fire. Sections written from the perspective of one of the Ultramarines is always a good time, partly because of this.
Technology and progress are clear, but also everything feels very unscientific and out of the past.
A far future where the internal workings of technology are effectively lost usually means dystopian futures where technology becomes a highly prized rarity, but with WH40k and the Ultramarines you just get “machine spirits” powered by the God-Emperor Himself which is way more fun. This includes actions like biometric readings being reduced to “allowing the spirit within the machine” to confirm an identity. HA.
Even medicine gets the “in the future but also back in time” treatment, so they talk about evil vapors and spirits infecting the body. But they still use salves and medicine to treat it effectively, so we skip the “if only we hadn’t lost that technology” drama.
You also get people (Space Marines, specifically, I’m not sure how many others are like this) that live to be hundreds of years old! How? I have no idea! That’s part of the magic!
Oh, and servitors! Rather than improving computing and building amazing AI, in this universe we just made the computers out of people! Lobotomized humans are hard-wired directly into electrical systems that they receive commands from and control. This makes the “computers” really good at complex human tasks, like tracking and destroying targets with a turret. It just costs people, but there are plenty of those.
All told, the grim dark future has surprised me, but also…what else could I possibly have been expecting?
Never forget: the common man is always fodder. Bloody fodder. Repeatedly and constantly. Beatings for all, blood everywhere.
If sci-fi relates to fantasy in that you use metal, machines, and technology to build a magic system, then we’ve come full circle with WH40k and re-made fantasy using sci-fi. I’m sure this is a well-known existing genre because it has to be, but for me in this moment it’s new and just delightful.
I worried the book might lean a little too heavily on action sequences to fill pages, but what’s keeping me in this is the interesting characters and the palace intrigue. I didn’t really expect that here; I thought it’d revolve more around solving difficult and mysterious problems related to war and violence, but we have some really cool and quirky people.
The end result is a wide open universe. There’s so much space (ha) for all kinds of shit. You want future shit? We have that. Old-timey shit? Yep, that too! Common man drama? Got it. Superheroes overcoming the odds and kicking ass? Yessir! The only requirement for inclusion in this universe seems to be adherence to what I suspect is effectively the thesis of WH40k:
Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.
In conclusion, I’m really enjoying it
It feels very much like someone was originally just trying to do something campy and fun with the universe and against all odds it took on a life of its own. It really is just fun.
I thought I’d be wandering into a lore so deep that I wouldn’t enjoy any of it, but so far this book has been very approachable and I’m pretty well sold. In fact, I already picked up the Eisenhorn Trilogy so I can see what else there is on offer.
