Back in early 2025, we held our annual Reader’s Choice vote so you could pick your favourites from a selection of classic Black Library novels – with the winners set to get brand new printed editions at the next Black Library Celebration. Wouldn’t you know it, just shy of a year has gone by, and the time has come for our winners to be announced – so let’s hear it for your Reader’s Choice champions of 2025.
Grudge Bearer by Gav Thorpe
Competition was fierce among the classic Old World books, but when the dust settled and all the taller factions had finished knocking seven bells out of each other, it was the ever-dependable Dwarfs who claimed the top spot with Grudge Bearer by Gav Thorpe. This centuries-long epic follows a new king as he struggles against the evils of the world on a quest for revenge – settling grudges against his family along the way.
From Black Library: “When his father dies, Barundin, prince of Zhufbar, becomes king of that realm and lord of one of the mightiest outposts of the ancient and powerful dwarf empire. Over the centuries that follow, he sets out to right many of the wrongs done to his people, fulfilling ancient grudges and bringing death to his foes as he wages war against his father's killers and strives to protect Zhufbar from the dark forces of Chaos.”
Deathwatch by Steve Parker
The Deathwatch are some of the most fascinating Space Marines to read about, as these normally disciplined Angels of Death are forced into the greatest clash of personalities many of them will ever have faced. We’ll get to witness one of their best tales all over again, as Deathwatch by Steve Parker is crowned the Reader’s Choice novel for Warhammer 40,000.
From Black Library: “When they first came together, Talon Squad were a disparate group of Space Marines from various Chapters. Under the auspices of the Deathwatch, trained in an ironclad Watch Fortress, they become a kill-team. Alien hunters, expert in xenos extermination, their first mission under the mysterious Inquisitor Sigma is a deadly one. Of all the enemies the Deathwatch face, the genestealers are amongst the fiercest, the most invidious. Led by Brother-Librarian Karras, Talon Squad must penetrate the bowels of a genestealer lair and put the abominations to the flame, or face the consequences of an entire planet's extinction.”
These winning books will be up for pre-order in their new physical paperback editions soon. And there’s plenty more to look forward to in this month’s Black Library Celebration, which kicks off on Monday 9 March. Check in with us all week as we reveal new novels and give you the chance to vote on your next Reader’s Choice books, for release in the far-flung mists of 2027.
