First and Only

Gaunt's Ghost, Book 1

By: Dan Abnett

Narrated by: Toby Longworth

A Warhammer 40,000 audiobook.

In the Chaos-infested Sabbat Worlds, Imperial Commissar Gaunt must lead his men through as much in-fighting amongst rival regiments as against the forces of Chaos.

Listen to it because: First and Only was one of the first books published by Black Library and is the most read Warhammer 40,000 novel ever, an absolute classic. This story begins the saga of Colonel Commissar Gaunt and the Tanith First and Only that has since grown into a multi-novel epic. It all starts here.

The story: For a thousand years, the Sabbat Worlds have been lost to the Imperium, claimed by the dread powers of Chaos. Now, a mighty crusade seeks to return the sector to Imperial rule. And at the forefront of that crusade are Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith First and Only - better known as Gaunt’s Ghosts. Trapped in the grinding trench warfare of Fortis Binary, the Ghosts find themselves drawn into a conspiracy to assassinate the crusade’s leader, Warmaster Macaroth.

With enemies all around them and no one to trust, Gaunt and his men must find a way to save the warmaster and prevent the Sabbat Worlds Crusade from falling into anarchy - even if it means waging war on their supposed allies.

©2019 Games Workshop Limited (P)2019 Games Workshop Limited

spectacular

It was so good that I did not want to finish it because then there would not be anymore of i5

A MUST read for anyone new to Warhammer

You’re about to have a fething good time reading this. I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come to audiobook!

great start

this book grips you all the way , with a fabulous voice performance, and many good characters

Human in the spotlight

This is a great book that shows the inside working of the Imperium though the ending want me wanting more

great all the way

had me in the edge of my seat. I would recommend to anyone for the ghost first and only

First and Best

Everyone says that this book was good, never bothered with it though. Gotta say I should have read it sooner! What a fantastic story.

Another great book from Dan Abnett

Awesome book, Dan Abnett and Toby Longworth kill it again. Audible needs all of the Gaunts Ghost series now.

slow build up but eventually worth it

(SPOILERS)

At first this novel failed to capture much of my interest. For some folks this novel is the magnum opus of 40K books, because it was the first Black Library book and likely the first 40k book said people have read.

I've read other 40k books before it, so when comparing this older one to some of the more recent and amazing titles such as The Lords of Silence or The Infitine and The Divine, this was a bit on the... simpler? I guess is the word? side of things.

A simple "Brothers in arms" story of imperial guardsmen and their trustworthy, caring, and humane commisar. For a while it was battles and guardsmen rivalry shenanigans with a bit of a Mcguffin and "evil inquisitor" thrown into the mix about halfish way through. It was until about 3/4ths into the book when the big secret (SPOILER) of the mcguffin was finally revealed to be a fully intact (but chaos corrupted) STC able to create none other than the Men of Iron. This instantly made me appreciate all the prior events of the story and build up it was working for. The finale alone put the story as a bigger part of the universe of 40k.

Toby Longworth does a great job narrating, but his voice acting isn't perfect. A lot of his voices end up sounding the same from book to book. Not bad, but not amazing.

All in all, a pretty good 40k book, and a good start for anyone wanting to get into the novels.

Excellent

well written and well read. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.

sounded like they left the ending of the story out

it sounded like the book just ended mid-sentence without the actual ending being recorded. unfinished