Bloody Books Reviews -Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide (by Guy Haley & Gav Thorpe)
Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide (by Guy Haley & Gav Thorpe)
Well, my initial trepidation about this surprising tome was but at ease when I got to the Introduction and was greeted by the following sentence: “Welcome to the most terrible of futures.”
I can honestly say I never would have expected to open one of these Dorling Kindersly Ultimate Guides and had that be the opening line, because whilst it is true to the setting it’s also very, very on the nose. I should probably clarify that - If you are not familiar with the venerable DK Ultimate Guide series, they are essentially large-format hardback books (although very occasionally in softback as well) that serve as primers for a film or tv show, sometimes even a videogame. I personally own several still that have been released as companions to various Star Wars films, 2 editions of a Transformers one, and a very, VERY good guide to Conan the Barbarian.
This 40k Ultimate Guide first pinged my radar earlier this year when doing one of my periodical checks on Amazon to see if they had any books up for pre-order that GW had not put up yet, and I was intrigued, especially as it made use of the Bobby G miniature for the cover. So of course I put a pre-order in
Now I had seen some pictures posted by folks who had received their copies ahead of me and I was a tad worried as it looked like being mainly pictures of the miniatures. This is in fact the majority of the content, but the context is important here. Firstly, it’s a big book. 336 pages which is about double the average Ultimate Guide. Second, it’s co-written by Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe, a pair who have been essential parts of building 40k over the last 25 years with substantial word counts between them across magazines, games and books, and they bring their talents to bear here by providing some excellent descriptive material around the miniatures being showcased. Most are presented in closeup shots, but there is a decent amount of 1:1 pictures (handily labelled as such) including a two-page spread at the end of the book that puts a bunch of minis together at actual size to demonstrate the scales. Even for someone with as much time in the hobby as myself, It was a neat thing to see.
There are a few other things worth pointing out: the first 9 pages might be the most concisely written introduction to not just the setting of 40k but Warhammer in general. Props for having the section on The Imperium be titled A Dying Empire. And there are some frankly wonderful pieces that look at the history of a particular miniature or faction. Marneus Calgar, the four cult Traitor Legions and the Tyranids were the standouts for me here.
Is it perfect? No. I had to chuckle at how several minis show up in prominent photos yet have either been officially discontinued (like the Stalker AA-tank) or whose statuses are up in the air (such as Imperial Navy flyers). But honestly these got a wry chuckle more than anything.
Would I recommend this book? I think yes. It’s a chunky tome, and even wizened old Longfang that I am, I feel like I got my money's worth out of it. It’s very well presented, and honestly? The fact that Warhammer 40,000 has reached the point of cultural awareness to get one of these is kinda cool.
-Dawfydd