Gaunt's Ghosts


Gaunt's Ghosts is a series of military science fiction novels by Dan Abnett, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It was inspired by the Sharpe series of books written by Bernard Cornwell.
As of 2019, the series spans 16 novels which document the efforts of the Tanith First, a highly skilled yet unappreciated light infantry regiment of the Imperial Guard, during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. The protagonist is Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, one of the few political commissars of the Imperium to be officially awarded command of a regiment.
Although Gaunt is the primary character, the perspective from which the novels are told shifts regularly to encompass a wider view of events – it is usually told from the Imperial point of view, though the perspective is occasionally seen through the eyes of antagonists. Elements of the series later reappeared in other series by Abnett, including the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, and has resulted in two spin-off novels, Double Eagle and Titanicus.
The series began as a continuing set of loosely connected short stories in the Black Library magazine Inferno!. The next short piece, entitled "Vermilion Level", was written out to novel length as First and Only and published as the Black Library's first original novel. The original short pieces subsequently appeared as flashback-chapters in Ghostmaker, the second book.
There are also ancillary novels devoted to minor characters in the main series and a mock "historical book" about the war in which the books take place, as well as merchandise such as badges, T-shirts, and special editions of the books themselves.

Publication history

The novels fall into a series of four-story arcs, of which three have been completed while publication of the last is still ongoing.
  • The Founding :
  • * First and Only, originally published 1999 –
  • * Ghostmaker, originally published 2000 –
  • * Necropolis, originally published 2000 –
  • The Saint
  • * Honour Guard, originally published 2001 –
  • * The Guns of Tanith, originally published 2002 –
  • * Straight Silver, originally published 2002 –
  • * Sabbat Martyr, originally published 2003 –
  • The Lost
  • * Traitor General, originally published 2004 –
  • * His Last Command, originally published 2005 –
  • * The Armour of Contempt, originally published 2006 –
  • * Only in Death, originally published 2008 –
  • * The Iron Star, originally published 2008 –
  • The Victory, Part 1
  • * Blood Pact, originally published 2009 –
  • * Salvation's Reach, originally published 2011 –
  • The Victory, Part 2
  • * The Warmaster, originally published 2017 –
  • * Anarch, originally published 2019 –
After November 2002, the first five novels were reprinted with new cover art by Adrian Smith; Smith has since drawn every cover illustration to date, with the exception of The Iron Star which used a stock image of the Tanith regimental badge. Previously, cover artwork had been created by a variety of artists.
The Founding and Saint story arcs have been released as hardcover omnibus editions, with paperback editions which were released in February and August 2007 respectively. The publication of The Iron Star took the form of a 1,200-copy limited edition novelette which was only available for purchase at the 2008 UK Games Day and the 2009 Games Day in Germany.
A prequel novel, titled The Vincula Insurgency, was released in June 2022.

Synopsis

The series follows the exploits of Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his regiment of scouts and recon specialists, the Tanith First-and-Only, as they serve in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Their battles are normally against the forces of Chaos, although they briefly face orks on Typhon Eight. Up until Guns of Tanith the Ghosts are mainly pitted against heretical rebels armies, but on Phantine and in most of the campaigns following it they face the well-trained and elite Blood Pact. By the end of Only in Death, the Ghosts have been serving in the Crusade for roughly twelve years.
Each novel begins with an extract from a fictional book called A History of the Later Imperial Crusades, which briefly explains the situation in which the Ghosts have been deployed. These extracts are written in a past tense, implying that they were written after the Sabbat Worlds Crusade ends, and do not normally refer specifically to the Tanith First.

''First and Only''

First and Only is the first novel in the series, introducing Gaunt, his regiment, and the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. While deployed in the theatres of Fortis Binary and Menazoid Epsilon, the Ghosts become embroiled in a plot by an ambitious general officer to supplant Warmaster Macaroth as supreme commander of the Crusade force.

''Ghostmaker''

Ghostmaker is a collection of short stories originally printed in the short fiction magazine Inferno!, published by the Black Library. Through a series of vignettes, Abnett details the fall of Tanith and the founding of the Ghosts, followed by particular episodes focusing on the lives of some of the noteworthy members of the Ghosts, including Gaunt, Col. Colm Corbec, Maj. Elim Rawne, Sgt. Ceglan Varl, and Privates Larkin, Caffran, and Milo. The book also establishes the Ghosts' rivalry with the "Royal Volpone" guard regiment and their commanding officer, Colonel Sturm, which plays out in the subsequent novel Necropolis. After the fall of Tanith, the book is focused on four main theatres of operation:

Voltis City, Voltemond

Voltemond is described in Ghostmaker as a temperate world, similar to Earth, with extensive marshlands around Voltis City, the planetary capital, which was under Chaos control before the events of Ghostmaker. The chapter begins with the Tanith First "Gaunt's Ghosts" saving the Ketzok 17th "Serpents" artillery regiment from an ambush by Chaos Space Marines. The Tanith are then ordered to infiltrate and assault the main water-gate and sanitation outfall of Voltis to mine the walls and form a breach for an assault by the Royal Volpone 50th storm troopers, known as the "Bluebloods". The assault on the water-gate is repelled when the traitors open the floodgates and flush the Tanith out; however, Sergeant Cluggan leads a successful attack on the sanitation outfalls, creating a breach for the armoured assault. As the Ghosts withdraw, General Noches Sturm of the Royal Volpone and his adjutant, Major Gilbear, both of whom were disdainful of Gaunt and his "low-born" soldiers, order the Ketzok to bombard the Tanith as they fall back to their base. Three hundred men, including Sergeant Cluggan, are killed and another two hundred wounded. Gaunt almost faces a court-martial when he punches Colonel Ortiz, the Ketzok commander, but is let off when Ortiz claims that his injuries were caused by his Basilisk artillery vehicle's recoil. He proceeds to level a threat at General Sturm.

Fortis Binary

Fortis Binary is described as a forge-world, a planet-wide factory that fell to Chaos. First and Only describes how the Ghosts manage to sabotage a Chaos ritual after Lord Militant General Hechtor Dravere orders them on a suicidal attack on an enemy trench line. This marks the first demonstration of the hatred that Colonel Draker Flense, the commander of the Jantine Patricians who suggested that Dravere give the assault order, has for Colonel-Commissar Gaunt.

Menazoid Epsilon

A death world on the edge of the Menazoid Clasp, Epsilon was the site of three shrines to Chaos, designated Primaris, Secundus and Tertius by Imperial tacticians. Beneath Shrine Target Primaris was a Standard Template Constructor, a relic from over ten millennia before the events of First and Only, which made Iron Men, a pattern of robotic warriors; the traitorous General Dravere, assisted by the mutated, radical Inquisitor Heldane, Colonel Draker Flense and his Jantine Patricians attempted to seize power and overturn the commander of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, Warmaster Macaroth, using the Iron Men. However, the machine was corrupted by Chaos and Commissar Gaunt destroyed it, despite the psychic puppetry of the Inquisitor, who died after his "instrument" – Imperial Agent Fereyd, the man into whom Heldane had extended his consciousness – was explosively killed. Colonel Flense also attempted to get his revenge on Gaunt and the Ghosts, as Gaunt had field-executed Flense's father, General Aldo Dercius, many years previously. The Jantine shock troops annihilated the Tanith Seventh platoon commanded by Sergeant Blane, but were themselves killed to a man by Gaunt's allies, the Vitrian Dragoons. Gaunt stabbed Flense to death beneath Target Primaris, before escaping along with his men.

Monthax

The jungle world of Monthax is the setting for the end of Ghostmaker, when Gaunt and his men encounter the alien Eldar as they struggle to wipe out a Chaos infestation. The Ghosts have to co-operate once again with the Royal Volpone 50th, and with an inquisitor who had accused Brin Milo of witchcraft. They discover an ancient portal leading to one of the Eldar's craftworlds, self-sustaining cities in space, which the inquisitor, Lilith Abferquan, closes after the alien Farseer guarding the portal dies. At the end of this battle, the Ghosts lost an excellent leader, Sergeant Lerod.
Aside from these battles, Ghostmaker is interspersed with short stories in other war zones such as Blackshard, Caligula and Oskray Hive which are used to develop individual characters; for example, the character and leadership qualities of Dermon Caffran are displayed in his actions at Oskray Hive, where he commands an infiltration force which causes the fall of the enemy stronghold, and continue to be exhibited upon his promotion to Sergeant in His Last Command.