Warhammer 40,000

“So let it be war, from the skies of Terra, to the galactic rim. Let the seas boil, let the stars fall. Though it takes the last drop of my blood, I will see the galaxy freed once more. And if I cannot save them from your failure, Father, then let the galaxy burn.”- Horus Lupercal (The Horus Heresy). 

When first getting into such a large and expansive universe can seem daunting, with there being over 400+ books, over 12 video games, and then the classic table top with there being 11 factions and over 33 playable armies with hundreds of miniatures that can take dozens of hours to construct and paint. But in the same vein, it is one of the most addictive franchises with the books and series keeping one on the edge of their seat waiting to see the fate of the universe. While in the games you are a desperate holdout of astartes doing everything in their power to save the world from falling to the arch-enemy of chaos, or are a rogue trader on your way to discover the truth of your family and of the Imperium, while in another you are commanding ships and fleets to wage war against the enemies of humanity. Meanwhile on the tabletop you command your hand crafted armies across countless worlds, with untold millions under your command, as you are the bulwark against the terror. 

Despite the seemingly hopelessness of this universe, there is always that glimmer of hope in all of the stories, the novels themselves are mastercrafts of writing with you feeling the weight of each decision being made. The characters are some of the most well written characters in any fictional universe, with even the most despicable and evil of them being three-dimensional. This being the case, readers understand what motivates each character, and see their actions as justifiable. This leads to a gray area in stories where neither side seems to be the “good guys” or the “bad guys” with the reader becoming conflicted on who they should root for. This style of writing adds to the charm of the universe where there is no good or bad guy, just varying levels of   justifiability of every action taken. Again this leads to characters that might be in the moral right but are still the antagonist while the protagonist might be doing something despicable but in their mind makes sense. 

 Overall Warhammer is one of the most well written, expansive, and depressing yet hopeful universes ever created, where the reader might want to cheer on humanity, yet feels conflicted as they genocide an entire world of an alien species. With the characters feeling real and sympathetic while others might be despicable in their actions but there is a twisted logic behind what they are doing. Because many readers may find characters that they love while those same characters are despised by others, leading to this interesting dynamic with readers where each story may mean something different to each person, meaning that there are many different interpretations of the stories in this universe.