The Founding

It would be hard to over-rate this book - Gaunt and his Ghosts have stared in over 15 novels over two decades, and continue to delight readers time and time again. The protagonists are so lifelike, with passions and desires and motivations all their own, that whenever one dies (yes, Abnett is not afraid to kill popular characters if it makes sense in the story), it feels like you've lost a friend or acquaintance, rather than it being just words on a page. I highly recommend any fan of SF/military fiction pick up The Founding; it opens you into a whole galaxy of stories and war.

This is a superb anthology of the first 3 Gaunts Ghosts books, there is true horror and despair in these books, they don’t call it the grim, dark future for no reason and there is only war.... nice to leave the Astartes to one side and see what the human imperium has to endure in the name of the God Emperor

Gaunt’s Ghosts is one of the flagship series of the Warhammer 40,000 novel-verse. There’s fifteen or so of them now, chronicling the adventures of the titular Ghosts, a regiment of guardsmen, regular humans, trying to make their way in a universe filled with demons, super-human cyborg warriors, psychotic orcs, condescending, murderous space-elves and all sorts of other creatures with attitudes that range from grudging tolerance to apocalyptic hostility. Into this mix step a gang of soldiers with very little in the way of armour, armaments, or chances for survival. They’re the Imperial Guard, humanity’s first line of defence against all the horrors of a hostile galaxy - and they tend to be led by people who see guardsmen as fungible assets, to be thrown at the enemy until they overwhelm by sheer force of numbers, stepping over piles of their comrades on the way.

Not so the commander of the Ghosts. Gaunt is a blend of political and military, a colonel of a regiment, but also a Commisar, a political officer whose job is to ensure loyalty to the undying God-Emperor who sits at the centre of humanity’s empire in this grim-dark future. Stereotypically, Commissar's do this by shooting a few of their more recalcitrant men in the head, but Gaunt, at least, seems unwilling to waste lives, and seems reluctant to kill his own men. This omnibus edition of the first three books in the series shows us Gaunt at various points: in childhood, in training as a Commissar, as part of another regiment, whilst raising the Ghosts as a regiment, and in the aftermath, as they and he work together to, if not save the universe at ;east try to prevent it getting any worse. And from this we see Gaunt grow. He’s clever, and focused, and driven, and has a surprisingly dense core of morality at his heart. This is a man who appreciates loyalty, and truth, and has a genuine conviction in the divinity of his Emperor, and in the necessity of the Guard to help keep humanity safe. But Gaunt is also ruthless, when he needs to be, willing to make sacrifices in order to achieve his goals (though unwilling to make the same sacrifices if they’re meaningless). There’s a growing hard-edge to Gaunt, a willingness to do what he feels needs to be done over the years, as tragedy takes friends and colleagues. But at the same time, there’s a heart, a willingness to stand by his men, to take risks with them, to do his best to keep them alive, even as they all walk into the cannon-fire together. The blend of compassion, ruthlessness, personal courage, tactical acumen, loyalty and a razor-sharp intelligence help embody Gaunt, and the complexity of his character is at the heart of what makes these stories so readable.

It’s not all about Gaunt, of course. This omnibus includes a variety of short stories from Ghost engagements on multiple worlds, and uses that as a framing device, showing us the perspective of different key personnel in the Ghosts. From the gentle Trooper Bragg, whose inability to hit anything with a weapon gave him both the sobriquet “Try Again” and a penchant for carrying around massively heavy weapons, to the slitheringly lethal Major Rawn, willing to stab you in the back and the front simultaneously ands powered by an engine of internal fury, to Colonel Corbec, hearty, bluff and well aware of his role as Gaunt;s counterpart, the Ghosts all have their own personalities; they aren’t all just faceless numbers, but given to us as individuals with their own backstories, needs and desires. That helps us care about them and the stakes they’re working for on the page, and we can feel more as they live and die around us, on battlefields filled with horrors and heroism in equal measure. My only complaint would be the lack of women in the Ghosts, though this looks like it could be resolved in later volumes.

The stories themselves? Well, this is Warhammer 40,000. The baddies tend to be, really, pretty bad. Here we see ravening cultists, corrupt aristocracies, warped creatures that used to be men, daemonic machinery, and all sorts of other nastiness. There’s less grey here than you might expect, at least initially; though Gaunt and his Ghosts aren’t always the best of people (and the Ghosts are driven by the tragedy of being the last survivors of their world), they are pretty much always better than the enemies they face in this volume. For example, Rawne’s scheming and black marketeering seem pedestrian in the face of literal teleporting demons that can rip you limb from limb, or quiet, whispering horrors that slowly turn men mad. And it’s all wonderfully described, in prose that carries the screams of battle and the punch of laser fire in its wake, telling us tales without a wasted word, whilst also managing to describe this horror of a gothic nightmare future with every necessary detail to make it feel intensely alive, a lived-in space that is real, from the gothic-cathedral ships plying the space lanes, to the charnel-house of a billions strong hive-city under siege. The universe is real here; you can step through the page, and follow the crump of artillery shells and the sound of crisp-commands soaked in blood, to stand beside Gaunt and his Ghosts at the edge of the world, saving a humanity which will never know or care about the sacrifices that they’ve made.

Overall, I’d say this is a very well done piece of military science-fiction, which benefits from being wrapped into the dense lore of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It avoids glorifying the conflicts the Guard take part in, and lets us see them as humanity doing its best to survive, to do the right thing, and to make things better. In a world populated by larger-than life aliens, and super-human Space Marines, the genuine humanity of Gaunt and the Ghosts is refreshing, and their trials and tribulations are the more compelling because of it. I was gripped from the first page, and if you’re looking for some good military sci-fi, an entry point into the 40k world, or both, I’d say this would be a great place to start.

Thanks to netgalley for a chance to read this!
This is an excellent warhammer 40k book, based around gaunts ghosts, the first and only infantry regiment from tanith. You follow them during the sabat crusade, as well as learning more about their origins.
I love the writing style and the plot. Things are well paced and the book keeps the tension high the whole time. Overall, an excellent read and excellent starting point for warhammer.

This omnibus contains the first three installments in what is, quite possibly, the warhammer 40k universe's most iconic series.

It is a fantastic starting place, possibly the best, for anyone new to the universe and wary as to where to begin.

Highly recommended for lovers of military sci-fi. Abnett is a true master of storytelling and his character work is top notch.

My husband reads a lot of Warhammer and suggested this for me. It was a big undertaking and I am glad I gave it a shot but this is definitely not for me. In saying that the author writes well and gives incredible detail on the characters and the military. He focuses more on the feelings of the characters that come up during a battle which is refreshing. I would definitely suggest this to other Warhammer 40k book fans.

Good entry point to the Warhammer 40k universe. Interesting military fantasy in a complex, multilayered world filled with warring factions and races. A bit heavy on the military equipment descriptions and could use some character development, but all in all quite enjoyable.

The ‘Gaunt’s Ghosts’ series by Dan Abnett is one those series that fans LOVE with all the capitals and heart emojis you could wish for. I used to have a friend who was in the same work book club as me who was always trying to get us to read them, that despite the fact that the favoured books of the other members were serious, romantic dramas with a MESSAGE about how terrible some people’s lives are.
I don’t think there is a message in ‘First and Only’, which is indeed the first of the ‘Gaunt’s Ghosts’ books, but definitely not the only one, there are like fifteen or something. If there is a message it’s something about honour and male bonding and the importance of keeping your weapon clean. This is an archetypal Military SF book. It’s violent as hell and packed with guns, brawls, dying comrades, fat lazy officers and determined grunts.
The themes are borrowed from a thousand WW2 movies from the 1950s, but the structure is interesting. It’s basically a string of short stories loosely tied together by a plot. It reads a lot like the arc of a modern TV show – each section has its own story but they build together into a narrative whole. Those cliched military themes (blood, sacrifice, inter-service rivalry, R&R in lawless fleshpots) are bolstered with healthy doses of intrigue, betrayal, arcane sorcery and pseudo religious phraseology.
I was sceptical going into it, but it wasn’t long before I was a convert. The action screens (of which there are MANY) are blisteringly good and the development of the plot works really well. Part of me wants to compare it to Paul Verhoeven’s movie adaptation of ‘Starship Troopers’, and there are a lot of similarities, but there’s one crucial difference. In his take on intergalactic war and the space marines, Dan Abnett plays it absolutely straight. There’s no tongue in his cheek, but rather an absolute belief in the characters and situations he is writing about. Yes, it’s all nonsense, and I’m sure he knows that, but my word does he present it with conviction and it’s incredibly engaging as a result.

‘Ghostmaker’ is the second of Dan Abnett’s Grant’s Ghosts books set in the Warhammer 40k universe. You can read my review of the first book, ‘First and Only’, here on SF&S. The good news is twofold, ‘Ghostmaker’ is just as good as its predecessor and it works as a standalone book. In case you’re not familiar with it, Warhammer is a fantasy tabletop war game, 40k is the SF variant. Originally launched in the 1980s by British gaming company Games Workshop, the games have continued to be incredibly successful and have spawned video games and numerous books and comics.
Like the first book, this is told in a series of long sections about the battles the Ghosts (a battalion of tough as nails space marines from a doomed planet) fight in the ongoing war against the Chaos. Again, there is a story arc that runs through the book, this time focussing very much on the origins of the Ghosts and in particular Commissar Gaunt’s relationship with one of his generals, Rawne, and his young assistant Milo. The book also introduces the series’ first female character, the psychic Inquisitor Lilith, who is investigating suspected witchcraft amongst Gaunt’s men. The flashbacks to the Ghosts’ origins on their home planet of Tanith work well. They allow Abnett to flesh out the back story, whilst also reminding existing readers or educating new ones on some of the key events from the first book.
‘Ghostmaker’ continues with the solid worldbuilding of the first book. It gives some of the individual Ghosts more of a role, and there’s a great section on the sniper Mad Larkin. It’s the rivalry between Gaunt and Rawne that takes centre stage though. There’s a real tension between Gaunt twin roles as a charismatic, caring commander and as the man who robbed the Ghosts of the chance to fight alongside their loved ones.
Aside from that it’s more of the same, but that same is great. Bloody skirmishes on weird alien worlds, bravery against impossible odds and interstellar sorcery. It all adds up to a furiously enjoyable pulp sci fi adventure. Pacy, imaginative and completely engaging. I can’t wait to read the next one.

The third of Dan Abnett’s Warhammer 40k Gaunt’s Ghosts series is just as action-packed and grimly entertaining as the first two. The trademark carnage and noble valour is in place, but the structure is different. Instalments 1 and 2 were episodic, effectively short story collections with a story arc that held them together. ‘Necropolis’ is a more standard novel, telling the story of the desperate battle for a city in a narrative that flows through the whole book.
This time the Ghosts are pitched against a new foe, an alien species called the Zoican. They’re also fighting alongside (and often with) a bunch of allies with less honourable intentions than our heroes. The Zoican may be new, but they’re still part of the Chaos, the standard enemies in these books. They’re dark, otherworldly and decidedly evil. It’s the interplay between the various anti-Chaos factions that’s most interesting though, with the politics and intrigue ramped all the way up this time around. Commissar Gaunt spends as much time dodging figurative knives in the back as he does literal laser blasts in the face.
There are also, refreshingly, a lot more women this time around. The previous books were decidedly male, the only exception being the Inquisitor Lilith in ‘Ghostmaker’. Abnett wisely changes that dynamic here, using the city setting to write about the lives of ordinary people, and especially women, for the first time. He introduces a strong new character, the determined gang-girl Tona. She’s feisty, foul-mouthed and great fun to read, making a nice counterpoint to the stern Ghosts. There are plenty of other female characters beyond her, including a doctor and a regiment of female warriors who the Ghosts initially turn their noses up at.
As always, the action is fast and furious, the bravery unrivalled and the mix of hard military sci fi and occultism as entertaining as ever. It’s another blisteringly good read from Abnett and definitely recommended for fans of this kind of thing.