Dan Abnett is the English novelist and comic writer behind some of Warhammer 40,000’s best-loved fiction, including the Gaunt’s Ghosts series and the Eisenhorn novels. If you’ve heard 40k fans argue about which Black Library books are actually good, his name comes up first.
Who he is
Daniel P. Abnett was born in Rochester, Kent, on 12 October 1965, and studied English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He’s been writing professionally since 1988, splitting his career between comics and novels.
His comics work covers 2000 AD, Marvel (and Marvel UK), and DC, often alongside frequent co-writer Andy Lanning. Over at 2000 AD he created Sinister Dexter, one of the magazine’s longest-running strips.
- Born 12 October 1965 in Rochester, Kent, England
- Educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford
- Writing professionally since 1988
- Long-running collaborator: Andy Lanning
His Warhammer 40k work
Abnett writes for the Black Library, Games Workshop’s fiction imprint, and his Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy novels and graphic novels now run to several dozen titles. They’ve sold over two million copies, which for tie-in fiction is a serious number.
Gaunt’s Ghosts follows Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith First and Only, a regiment of scouts and sharpshooters ground down by a long, ugly crusade. It’s military science fiction first and 40k lore second, which is a big part of why it travels so well.
Eisenhorn goes the other way. Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn hunts heresy across the Imperium, and the trilogy tracks how far he’ll bend his own principles to keep doing it. It’s the book people hand to newcomers who want 40k without the bolter-porn.
- Gaunt’s Ghosts: a long-running Imperial Guard series following the Tanith First and Only
- Eisenhorn: an Inquisitor trilogy, plus the later Ravenor and Bequin books
- Also wrote the Eisenhorn novel Malleus and the Eisenhorn vs Ravenor sequence
- Several dozen Black Library titles across 40k and Warhammer Fantasy
Beyond the Black Library
Abnett’s comics résumé is genuinely deep. At Marvel he co-created Guardians of the Galaxy, Death’s Head 2, Battletide and Knights of Pendragon, and wrote Punisher, War Machine, Annihilation: Nova and various X-Men titles.
At DC he’s best known for relaunching Legion of Super-Heroes in 2000. He also released his first original fiction through Angry Robot in 2009, and in 2003 he picked up the National Comics Award for Best Writer in Comics Today.
Why he matters to 40k readers
Plenty of Black Library authors write serviceable tie-ins. Abnett writes books that hold up if you strip the Space Marines out, and that’s rare. His prose is tight, his characters carry real weight, and he’s good at making the Imperium feel like a place rather than a ruleset.
He’s also one of the main reasons 40k fiction has a reputation outside the hobby. Eisenhorn in particular gets recommended to people who’ve never rolled a dice.
Key facts
- Dan Abnett was born on 12 October 1965 in Rochester, Kent, England
- He’s written several dozen Warhammer novels and graphic novels for the Black Library
- His 40k and Warhammer Fantasy books have sold over two million copies
- Gaunt’s Ghosts and Eisenhorn are his best-known 40k series
- He co-created Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and 2000 AD’s Sinister Dexter
- He won the National Comics Award for Best Writer in Comics Today in 2003
FAQ
What order should I read the Eisenhorn books in?
Start with Xenos, then Malleus, then Hereticus. After that you can move to the Ravenor trilogy and the Bequin books, which share the same corner of the setting.
Does Dan Abnett write anything outside Warhammer?
Yes. He’s written extensively for 2000 AD, Marvel and DC, and released original fiction through Angry Robot from 2009.
Is Gaunt’s Ghosts a good starting point for 40k fiction?
It’s one of the best. It focuses on ordinary Imperial Guard soldiers rather than transhuman supersoldiers, so you don’t need much background knowledge going in.