Picked up a new Codex and a new Army, or revisiting an old force in a new edition? Welcome to Start Reading 40k, our guide to the best novels of the Black Library for each faction slugging it out in the Grim Dark Far Future. Each article will cover our top picks for reading about the armies you’re putting down on the table, so whether it’s inspiration, background or the deepest darkest lore secrets you’re after, we’ve got you covered. Let’s get reading!
The Blood Angels are among the most famous of all the Chapters of the Space Marines. In-universe, they are one of the original twenty Legions of the First Founding, and their history is intimately connected with the life and most crucially the violent, fated death of their Primarch. In a mechanical sense, they’re one of the Chapters which has long enjoyed an independent existence in the rules, stretching back to Codex: Angels of Death back in 2nd edition. Their combination of Renaissance aesthetics with sinister vampirism and a striking colour scheme has made them enduringly popular on the table.
Unsurprisingly, this has translated into several Black Library novels being written about them. Let’s take a look at what’s out there for the Sons of Sanguinius.
Dante, The Devastation of Baal, and Darkness in the Blood – Guy Haley
Despite being three books about Blood Angels all written by Guy Haley these aren’t marketed as a trilogy. Nevertheless they are one, and they’re pretty much the definitive modern take on the Blood Angels. Dante focuses on its title character, telling the story of his ascension through the Chapter, interwoven with the story of the Chapter immediately prior to the Devastation of Baal. The Devastation of Baal, as its title suggests, is about the coming of Hive Fleet Leviathan to the home world of the Blood Angels, and the titanic battle that erupts as a result. It also links the past to the present, as the battle takes place immediately before the emergence of the Cicatrix Maledictum, while Darkness in the Blood follows on after the integration of Primaris Space Marines into the Blood Angels and explores what comes next for the Chapter in its new place on the Imperium Nihilus side of the rift.
How much time you have for these books is going to depend entirely on your tolerance level for Haley’s writing; in particular, The Devastation of Baal is very heavy on the Proper Nouns of the Blood. If you can get past that, and young Luis Dante drinking his own piss (yes, really), there’s a lot to like here if you’re inclined towards Marines of the Dracula variety, and Haley works in some weighty themes that really get to the heart of what the Blood Angels are in the 41st Millennium.
The Mephiston Series – Darius Hinks
Mephiston features heavily in both The Devastation of Baal and Darkness in the Blood, but those books aren’t about him, they’re about the Blood Angels generally. The Chief Librarian also has his own series, starting with Blood of Sanguinius and continuing through Revenant Crusade, and City of Light. The first takes place pre-Great Rift, while the second and third occur afterwards.
As you’d expect from a series focused on Mephiston, these lean into the weirder, more gothic aspects of the Blood Angels, not least the unique existence of Mephiston himself. There’s plenty of bolters and chainswords, but also massive psychic energies being thrown about the place, malign Warp storms and religious manias, and plenty else besides. At its core the series explores the twin Flaws of the Blood Angels, the Red Thirst and the Black Rage, and Mephiston’s quest to understand them and why he alone has been able to overcome the Black Rage.
Blood Rite – Rachel Harrison
We’ve reviewed Blood Rite previously on this website, and its merits remain as true now as then. The above two series aren’t especially long, but nevertheless they’re trilogies of full novels, so they take a bit of reading. If you’re looking for a faster entry to the Blood Angels and what their deal is, then Blood Rite serves that purpose. Clocking in at a mere 110 pages, it’s short and punchy, but Harrison serves up an excellent short-form Blood Angels story which captures the essence of the Chapter. Plot-wise it’s simple stuff, good Space Marines fight bad Space Marines, but the quality is in the characterisation. A perfect way to get to know the best of the Chapters.
Further Reading
If you want to go deeper on reading about Blood Angels, there’s a variety of other books out there focused on them. Back in the mid-2000s James Swallow wrote the Rafen series, which has now been collected into an omnibus edition including both the novels and the short stories. This is very much an earlier era of Black Library books, and it’s fair to say that the series’ critical reception is mixed at best, but if you’ve got a Red Thirst of your own for more Blood Angels stories it’s out there.
Additionally, both Lemartes and Astorath have their own books, Lemartes: Guardian of the Lost and Astorath: Angel of Mercy respectively. Both are decent Black Library fare, the latter more than the former, though inessential unless you’re a Blood Angels completionist. Confusingly there’s also Mephiston: Lord of Death by David Annandale, which isn’t part of the Hinks series, and just exists on its own. I haven’t read it and so can’t comment on it – let us know if you have.
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