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Gaunt's Ghosts (Novel Series)

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I need help with the formating of the Omnibus section here.
{{stub}}The '''Gaunt's Ghosts (Novel Series)''' is a [[Black Library]] series written or edited by [[Dan Abnett]] following the adventures of the [[Tanith First and Only]] [[Imperial Guard]] Regiment battling to free the [[Sabbat Worlds]] system from the forces of [[Chaos]]. The series is one the most successful lines of the Black Library, with 13 Novels, a Short Story Anthology, two spin-offs and two faux-Historical Background books as of the end of 2011.
The '''Gaunt's Ghosts Series''' written by [[Dan Abnett]] follows == Books in the adventures of a regiment of the Imperial Guard lead by Colonel-[[Commissar]] [[Ibram Gaunt]]. It is one of the more successful series of the Black Library with 12 novels published as of October 2009.==
<center><gallery Heights="165" Widths=The Founding=="150">File:Firstandonlynew.jpg|[[First and Only (Novel)|''First and Only'']] (1999)File:Ghostmakernew.jpg|[[Ghostmaker (Novel)|''Ghostmaker '']] (2000)File:Necropolisnew.jpg|[[Necropolis (Novel)|'The Founding'Necropolis'' is the first larger story arc of this series]] (2000)File:Honourguardnew. It comprises the first three novels, jpg|[[Honour Guard (Novel)|''Honour Guard'']] (2001)File:Gunsoftanithnew.jpg|[[Guns of Tanith (Novel)|'First And Only'Guns of Tanith'' ]] (19992002)File:Straightsilver.jpg|[[Straight Silver (Novel), |''Straight Silver'']] (2002)File:Sabbatmartyr.jpg|[[Sabbat Martyr(Novel)|'Ghostmaker'Sabbat Martyr'' ]] (20002003)File:Traitor_General.jpg|[[Traitor General (Novel) and |''Traitor General'']] (2004)File:Hislastcommand.jpg|[[His Last Command (Novel)|'Necropolis'His Last Command'' ]] (20002005)File:Armourofcontemptcover. These novels were rejpg|[[The Armour of Contempt (Novel)|''The Armour of Contempt'']] (2006)File:Only-printed death.jpg|[[Only in Death (Novel)|''Only in a second edition which also featured new coversDeath'']] (2008)File:IronStar. jpg|[[The Iron Star (Short Story)|''The three novels were later reprinted in a single omnibus edition under the title Iron Star'']] (2008)File:Blood-pact.jpg|[[Blood Pact (Novel)|''Blood Pact'Gaunt's Ghosts]] (2009)File: The FoundingSabbat-Worlds-Anthology.jpg|[[Sabbat Worlds Anthology (Anthology)|''Sabbat Worlds Anthology'' in 2003]] (2010) File:Salvations-Reach. The Founding also contains the short novel "In Rememberance" which explains Warmaster Macarothjpg|[[Salvation's Reach (Novel)|''Salvation's decision to allow the populace of Vervunhive to join existing Guard regiments they fought alongside during the defense of Vervunhive and tells us of the ultimate fate of Vervunhive.Reach'']] (2011)</gallery></center>
The arc tells the early years of the [[Tanith First and Only]], up to the victory on the [[Hive World]] [[Verghast]] and the influx of new recruits they receive from the survivors of Vervunhive.:{| border="0" cellpadding="2" alignOmnibus volumes ="center" style="border-collapse:collapse" valign="top"!colspan=7|The Founding.|----|[[ImageFile:FirstandonlyGGTheFoundingOmni.jpg|thumb|center|150pxright|center|Cover illustration made by Kenson Low. ISBN 1-84154-101-X]]|[[Image:Ghostmaker.jpg100px|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration made by Martin Hanford. ISBN 0-671-78410-2'''The Founding''']]|[[Image:Necropolis.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration made by Martin Hanford. ISBN 0-7434-1159-5]]|-|[[Image:Firstandonlynew.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Second Edition illustration made by Adrian Smith.]]|[[Image:Ghostmakernew.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Second Edition illustration made by Adrian Smith.]] |[[Image:Necropolisnew.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Second Edition illustration made by Adrian Smith.]]|[[Image:GGTheFoundingOmni.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Released in 2003, '''The (softcover) Omnibus edition.]]|}===Founding''' incorporates the first three stories of the series; ''First and Only===First '', ''Ghostmaker'' and Only begins on ''Necropolis'' into the Forge world of Fortis Binaryfirst story arc, where Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt leads concerning the Ghosts in disrupting an important Chaos ritual.The book then follows early days of the Ghosts as they become involved in a plot by Lord High Militant General Dravere that has the potential Tanith First and Only up to destroy the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Gaunt also faces the machinations of Colonel Flense induction of the Jantine PatriciansVerghast into their ranks, who carries a long held grudge against forming the iconic image that would persevere until the Commissarthird story arc.
Interspersed within this story are flashbacks to almost two decades earlier, which have a profound impact on the events of the present day.
===Ghostmaker===
===Necropolis===
==The Saint==
'''The Saint''' is the second story arc, comprising the novels '''Honour Guard''' (2001), '''The Guns Of Tanith''' (2002), '''Straight Silver''' (2002), and '''Sabbat Martyr''' (2003). The four novels were reprinted in an omnibus edition under the title '''Gaunt's Ghosts: The Saint'''.
This arc deals with events that lead to the reincarnation of the [[Saint Sabbat]] during the [[Sabbat Worlds]] Crusade.
:{| border="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" style="border-collapse:collapse" valign="top"
!colspan=6|The Saint.
|----
|[[Image:Honourguard.jpg|thumb|center|150 px|center|Cover illustration for '''Honour Guard''' by Martin McKenna. ISBN 1-84154-151-6]]
|[[Image:Gunsoftanith.jpg|thumb|center|150 px|center|Cover illustration for '''The Guns of Tanith''' by Adrian Smith]]
|[[Image:Straightsilver.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration for '''Straight Silver''' by Adrian Smith]]
|[[Image:Sabbatmartyr.jpg|thumb|center|150 px|center|Cover illustration for '''Sabbat Martyr''' by Adrian Smith]]
|-
|[[Image:honourguardnew.jpg|thumb|center|150 px|center|Second Edition cover illustration by Adrian Smith.]]
|[[Image:Gunsoftanithnew.jpg|thumb|center|150 px|center|Second Edition cover illustration by Adrian Smith.]]
|[[Image:GGSaintOmni.jpg|thumb|center|150 px|center|Softcover, illustration for '''The Saint''' by Clint Langley]]
|}
===Honour Guard===
The Tanith First and Only are in conflict on the Shrine World of [[Hagia]] against the cultist army, [[The Infardi]]. After the failed taking of the city of Holy Doctrinopolis Gaunt is tasked with the recovery of certain holy relics from the Saint Sabbat Shrinehold as a Psychic beacon has been ignited, drawing Chaos forces to the world to reinforce it. It is now a race against time.<sup>4</sup>
===Guns of Tanith===
The novel begins with the Tanith First training to take part in the airborne assault on Cirenholm, a dome-city perched above Phantine's toxic Scald. The archenemy's elite Blood Pact have captured the city, which the Imperial forces plan to use as a staging ground for their campaign to reclaim Ouranberg, one of Phantine's largest cities and a major source of promethium. After the Ghosts successfully infiltrate the Blood Pact's defences and prevent a distasterous loss for the Imperium, Lord-General Van Voytz re-considers his approach on the Ouranberg invasion.
A number of Ghosts are hand-picked to form specialist kill-teams, placed in a regime of additional jump-training and covertly deployed into Ouranberg prior to the invasion. Codenamed Operation Larisel, their mission is to kill Sagittar Slaith; the Chaos commander of the Blood Pact holding Ouranberg. Doing so will break the morale of the Chaos worshippers and enable the Imperial forces to recapture Ouranberg with greater ease. The task is made more daunting with the prospect of thousands of Blood Pact troopers and loxatl mercenaries standing between them and their target. However, the rest of the Tanith First face their own trials as they await deployment; a great unease is brewing between the Tanith and the Verghastite soldiers, and a crime case involving several Ghosts highlights this divide.
The Phantine XX Fighter Corps introduced in The Guns of Tanith appear in a spin-off novel - titled Double Eagle, also by Dan Abnett.
===Straight Silver===
Still under the command of Van Voytz, the Tanith First is deployed as part of the Imperial Expeditionary Force to Aexe Cardinal, where a deadlocked land war has been raging for forty years between the Aexe Alliance (a handful of loyal nation-states) and the Chaos-corrupted Shadik Republic. Warmaster Macaroth insists that the Aexe Alliance is to remain in command of the campaign, with strained success. The Alliance employs methods of warfare considered obsolete and inefficient according to the modern standard tactics of the Imperial Guard.
Gaunt is quickly frustrated with the brutal strategies and lack of reliable intelligence[[File:GGSaintOmni.jpg|right|100px|thumb|'''The Saint''']]Released in 2007, and disagrees with '''The Saint''' incorporates the deployment of second story arc involving the scout-specialist Ghosts as grunts in the trenches. Van Voytz and Count Golke - the Alliance/Imperial liaison - negotiate with Alliance Command and agree to a compromise: one half novels ''Honour Guard'', ''Guns of the Tanith First is sent to the northern Montorq forests to scout the area'', ''Straight Silver'' and ''Sabbat Martyr'', while the other is redeployed to the Seiberq Pocket - which detail the most dangerous section reincarnation of the war zone - where they are tasked with infiltrating the Shadik lines and destroying the enemy's newly-developed siege gunsbeati, Saint Sabbat.
Straight Silver is the first novel in which the Tanith First does not see a campaign through to its conclusion: after successfully taking out the siege-guns in the Seirberq Pocket and repelling a Blood Pact flanking manoeuvre in the Montorq Forest, the Ghosts are withdrawn from the front lines and redeployed to Herodor.
===Sabbat Martyr===
At the request of the reincarnated Saint Sabbat, the Tanith First-and-Only is summoned to the remote and tactically insignificant world Herodor. The Civitas Beati, a holy city dedicated to the Saint, is under assault from a legion of Blood Pact, led by Enok Innokenti. While the Ghosts prepare to defend the city alongside the local PDF force, Gaunt learns the truth of the situation: the woman posing as the reincarnated Saint is Sanian, an esholi whom the Ghosts encountered on Hagia. Utterly convinced that she is Sabbat, Sanian has clearly lost her mind. Lord-General Lugo - whose career has been unstable since his disgrace at Hagia - plans to use her as propaganda, and does not care that she is an imposter; he believes that he will be forever remembered as the man responsible for a miracle in the Sabbat Worlds. As far as untold thousands of pilgrims, Imperial and archenemy troops are concerned, Sanian is the true Saint.
However, things take a strange turn when Sanian actually does become the host for the Saint's spirit, after Sabbat's true incarnation perishes in the assault. Innokenti deploys nine specialist assassins to the Civitas Beati under the cover of the invasion. Their purpose: kill the Saint and shatter the morale of the Imperials. With the Imperial fleet all but destroyed and surrounded by an enemy who has multiple advantages over them, the Ghosts face one of their most daunting challenges yet.
The title Sabbat Martyr is a reference to the psychic message experienced by a number of Ghosts in Honour Guard. Ultimately, it is Corbec who becomes a martyr in Sabbat's name, as he gives his life defending her from the final assassin.
==The Lost==
'''The Lost''' is the third story arc, comprising the novels: '''Traitor General''' (2004), '''His Last Command''' (2004), '''The Armour of Contempt''' (2006), and '''Only in Death''' (2007).
:{| border="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" style="border-collapse:collapse" valign="top"
!colspan=5 |The Lost.
|----
|[[Image:Traitor General.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration for '''Traitor General''' by Adrian Smith. ISBN 1-84416-113-7]]
|[[Image:Hislastcommand.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration for '''His Last Command''' by Alex Boyd. ISBN 1-84416-239-7]]
|[[Image:Armourofcontemptcover.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration for '''The Armour of Contempt''' by Cos Koniotis.]]
|[[Image:Only-death.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration for '''Only in Death''' by Clint Langley. ISBN 1-84416-662-7]]
|[[Image:The-lost.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration for '''The Lost (Omnibus)''']]
|}
===Traitor General===
Lord-General Noches Sturm, the disgraced senior officer relieved of command during the siege on Vervunhive when caught attempting to desert, is captured by the forces of Chaos while en route to a military tribunal. His memories are bound by a mind-lock, preventing him from revealing vital information about the Crusade. As enemy psykers work hard to remove the mind-lock, the Imperial forces move quickly to stop Sturm jeopardising the entire Sabbat Worlds Crusade.
By request of Van Voytz and on his own free will, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt leads a hand-picked team of Ghosts to Gereon; a Chaos-held world where Sturm is undergoing an agonising ordeal to recover his memory. The insertion team is tasked with rescuing Sturm if he has not yielded the critical intelligence, or killing him if he has done so and betrayed the Imperium. The group links up with the loyalist resistance on Gereon in order to locate Sturm and evade the heretical forces pursuing them. With countless fanatical soldiers and foul warp-beings standing between the rescue team and their target, Gaunt and his men must not only fight for their lives, but also resist the corruption of Chaos that threatens to overwhelm them.
Traitor General introduces Eszrah ap Niht, a partisan of the Gereon Until. From this novel on, Eszrah becomes a major character within the series. It is also the first appearance of Mabbon Etogaur, a former commander in the Blood Pact who returns in the Victory arc.
===His Last Command===
After sixteen months of fighting as part of the Gereon Resistance, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and his team escape the Chaos-held world and return to Imperial territory. Instead of praise and acknowledgement of their actions, the Ghosts are met with deep mistrust and abuse. Saved from execution in Camp Xeno on Ancreon Sextus by Junior Commissar Nahum Ludd, Gaunt and the Ghosts are briefly re-united with Lord-General Van Voytz before facing trial by the Commissariat. However, half-way through the hearings all charges are dropped and the Ghosts are prepared to return to active duty. Gaunt is shocked to learn that the Tanith First has been disbanded and merged with an under-strength regiment; the 81st Belladon. Furthermore, Gaunt is relieved of command status and once again a simple field commissar, but separated from his men.
[[File:The Ghosts are sent to join the 81st/1st Recon - the merged 81st Belladon and the Tanith First, led by Colonel Lucian Wilderlost. jpg|right|100px|thumb|'''The regiment is taking part Lost''']]Released in the campaign to capture the ancient step-city Sparshad Mons2009, occupied by '''The Lost''' incorporates the Blood Pact and disturbingly warped nocturnal predators. The situation in third story arc of the Mons is grim; desertion is highseries involving ''Traitor General'', morale is low''His Last Command'', and most ''The Armour of the Imperial soldiers are inexperienced grunts. Gaunt is deployed to another section of the step-city Contempt'', and attached to ''Only in Death'' which concern a regiment from Fortis Binary, accompanied by Ludd and Eszrah Night. The situation deteriorates rapidly special mission deep behind enemy lines as well as the Blood Pact launch a counter-assault against exhaustion of the Imperial forcesregiment due to being stretched to their limits for so long.
His Last Command introduces troopers from the 81st Belladon, several of whom become key characters in the series. The title refers to both Gaunt and Wilder. When informing Gaunt of his demotion, Van Voytz tells him that the Tanith was "[his] last command". Wilder issues his last command to a platoon of Belladon soldiers participating in a suicidal rearguard for the rest of the regiment, which Gaunt assumes leadership of.
 
===Armour of Contempt===
The Fifth Crusade Army, led by Lord-General Van Voytz, finally advances to reclaim Gereon from the forces of Chaos after over two thousand days of brutal occupation. The majority of the Crusade force is deployed to assault the coastline fortifications known as K'ethdrac'tt Shet Magir, an action which the newly-inducted Dalin Criid participates in as part of an RIP (Retraining, Indoctrination and Punishment) detail. Half of the novel follows Dalin's experiences in basic training and his struggle to survive in the chaos of the battlefield.
 
The recently re-instated Tanith First is excluded from this part of the invasion and is one of a number of scout/recon regiments inserted deep into the mainland behind enemy lines. As the Ghosts liberate a country town called Cantible, Gaunt is ordered by the Commissariat to make contact with the loyalist resistance in the Gereon Untill, and leads a small team out into the wilderness to do so. Along the way they see the devastating effect of Chaos occupation on the world. However, it becomes apparent that certain individuals have their own agenda for re-taking Gereon.
 
The storyline of The Armour of Contempt shifts at regular intervals, between the perspectives of Dalin Criid and the rest of the Ghosts. The novel draws its name from a fictional book called The Spheres of Longing written by Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor, the main character of another series written by Dan Abnett.
 
===Only In Death===
On the fortress-world Jago, Lord-General Van Voytz addresses the Tanith First personally. He 'asks' the Ghosts to secure an empty stronghold to the east of Elikon, the central Imperial bastion on the planet. It is clear from the start that Gaunt resents these orders. After six days of marching through Jago's desert-like terrain and enduring dust-storms, the Ghosts reach their objective: Hinzerhaus, dubbed the house at the end of the world.
 
As they attempt to secure the fortress, the Ghosts make numerous discoveries. There is no water source on site, the maps that they have been given of Hinzerhaus are inconsistent and incorrect, and strange echoes fill the halls. Many of the men become convinced that the place is haunted. These findings only cause more issues when the Blood Pact attempt to storm Hinzerhaus, and the Ghosts are forced to mount a defence against a superior foe. At the same time, strange apparitions begin to eat away at the courage and morale of the men...
 
The title of the novel is part of an old Imperial proverb; only in death does duty end. The beginning of each chapter opens with an extract from Commissar Viktor Hark's field journal, which is written in a font which resembles handwriting. This style changes slightly at points when Nahum Ludd scribes on Hark's behalf.
 
==The Victory==
:{| border="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" style="border-collapse:collapse" valign="top"
!colspan=5 |Blood Pact.
|----
|[[Image:Blood-pact.jpg|thumb|center|150px|center|Cover illustration for '''Blood-pact''' by . ISBN 978-1-84416-693-0]]
|}
===Blood Pact===
After the gruelling events on Jago, the Tanith First is removed from active service for the first time since its founding and sent to Balhaut to perform garrison duties. Two years on, however, the Ghosts are becoming restless from the lack of combat and purpose. A number of them go as far as committing crime to amuse themselves. Ibram Gaunt himself becomes increasingly idle and distracted, but remains confident that the Tanith First will return to the front again soon.
 
Events turn as Gaunt is summoned to Balhaut's Commissariat headquarters. A senior officer of the arch-enemy has been captured, and refuses to speak to anyone but Gaunt. The Inquisition is attempting to secure custody of the prisoner so that they may handle him their own way. The prisoner insists that he wishes to help the Imperium, but this claim is met with speculation by Gaunt. However, he is forced to protect the prisoner and go to ground in the city when a Blood Pact insertion team storms the facility in an attempt to silence the prisoner. With heretical witchcraft influencing the populace and a determined hunter pursuing them, who can Gaunt turn to for aid? And what information does the traitor general know that prompts the enemy to openly assault an Imperial stronghold?
 
The plot of Blood Pact somewhat mirrors that of Traitor General, with Etogaur Mabbon in place of Noches Sturm, but differs with the assassination squad holding the upper hand over their target's captors. The novel also provides greater detail of Gaunt's past tour on Balhaut during his service with the Hyrkan 8th, before the founding of the Tanith First-and-Only.
 
===Salvation's Reach===
Salvation's Reach is the thirteenth book in the Gaunt's Ghosts series and is due to be released in October 2011.
The Ghosts of the Tanith First-and-Only have been away from the front line for too long. Listless, and hungry for action, they are offered a mission that perfectly suits their talents. The objective: the mysterious Salvation’s Reach, a remote and impenetrable stronghold concealing secrets that could change the course of the Sabbat Worlds campaign. But the proposed raid is so hazardous, it’s regarded as a suicide mission, and the Ghosts may have been in reserve for so long they’ve lost their edge. Haunted by spectres from the past and stalked by the Archenemy, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and his Ghosts embark upon what could be their finest hour… or their final mission.<sup>13</sup>
==Notable Regiment Members==
See [[List of Gaunt's Ghosts Characters]]
==Related Articles==*[[Black Library (BL Publishing)|Black Library]] ==Sources==*<sup>1</sup>: [[First and Only (Novel)]]*<sup>2</sup>: [[Ghostmaker (Novel)]]*<sup>3</sup>: [[Necropolis (Novel)]]*<sup>4</sup>: [[Honour Guard (Novel)]]*<sup>5</sup>: [[Guns of Tanith (Novel)]]*<sup>6</sup>: [[Straight Silver (Novel)]]*<sup>7</sup>: [[Sabbat Martyr (Novel)]]*<sup>8</sup>: [[Traitor General (Novel)]]*<sup>9</sup>: [[His Last Command (Novel)]]*<sup>10</sup>: [[The Armour of Contempt (Novel)]]*<sup>11</sup>: [[Only in Death (Novel)]]**<sup>11a</sup>:Chapter 1*<sup>12</sup>: [[Blood Pact (Novel)]]*<sup>13</sup>: http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/salvations-reach.html{{GGnav}}
[[Category:Novels]]
[[de:Gaunt's Ghosts (Romane)]]
[[fr:Les Fantômes de Gaunt (Série)]]
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