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Adeptus Custodes books and Siege of Terra reading order

Where to start with the Emperor's golden guard in Black Library fiction, and how to read the Siege of Terra series in order, from the Solar War to the aftermath.

The Adeptus Custodes are few on the page, and that is part of their weight. Black Library rarely gives them a book of their own, yet when it does, the story tends to sit close to the Throne: the last wars of Unification, the hidden war beneath the Imperial Palace, the long watch over Terra ten thousand years later. This guide collects the Custodes-focused books in our catalog and then lays out the Siege of Terra, the series in which the war finally reaches the Palace they were made to guard.

None of the Custodes books require each other. Read them in the order below if you want the in-universe chronology, or pick one by era. The Siege of Terra is different: it is a single continuous story and should be read in sequence.

EXTERNAL LINKAdeptus CustodesEvery book in the catalog filed under the Emperor's personal guard.

The Custodes before and during the Heresy

These four take you from the end of Unification on Old Earth to the middle years of the Horus Heresy. Valdor and Master of Mankind are the two full novels with Custodians at the centre; the other two are shorter and can be slotted in wherever you like.

Valdor: Birth of the ImperiumChris Wraight · 741.M30The earliest point on the timeline (741.M30): Constantin Valdor, captain-general of the Legio Custodes, at the close of the wars of Unity, when the Thunder Warriors face an uncertain place in the new Imperium. A natural first book if you want to know who the Custodes were before the stars.

Blood GamesDan Abnett · 006.M31A Dan Abnett short story set in 006.M31: the Custodian Amon Tauromachian is sent into the hives of Terra to test the loyalty of a troublemaker while half the Imperium is in rebellion. A compact look at how the Custodes police the Throneworld itself.

Master of MankindAaron Dembski-Bowden · 010.M31The essential Custodes novel. Aaron Dembski-Bowden follows the Ten Thousand, the Sisters of Silence and the Mechanicum as they fight for the webway beneath the Imperial Palace (010.M31). If you read only one book from this list, read this one, ideally before starting the Siege.

The Silent WarVarious Authors · M31An anthology of the shadow war around Terra: Malcador's agents and spies, and Rogal Dorn preparing the Sol System for Horus. The catalog files it under the Custodes and the Sisters of Silence; good for filling the gap between Master of Mankind and the Siege.

EXTERNAL LINKSisters of SilenceThe null-maidens who fight beside the Custodes in most of these books.

After ten thousand years: the Custodes in the 41st Millennium

Chris Wraight returns to the Custodes at the end of the 41st Millennium, when the Great Rift forces the guardians of the Palace to ask whether they can still serve only by standing still. The two Watchers of the Throne novels are a duology and go in order.

The Emperor's LegionChris Wraight · ~999.M41Watchers of the Throne, book one. With the Cadian Gate fallen, the Custodian Valerian and Aleya of the Sisters of Silence face a threat moving on Terra for the first time since the great Siege. The best entry point to the modern-day Custodes.

The Regent's ShadowChris Wraight · ~999.M41Watchers of the Throne, book two. Guilliman has left Terra for the Indomitus Crusade; the Custodians hold the Palace while the Sisters rebuild on Luna, and a different kind of enemy surfaces in the slums. Read after The Emperor's Legion.

EXTERNAL LINKWatchers of the ThroneThe series page with both novels in order.

Auric GodsNick Kyme · ~999.M41A standalone Nick Kyme novel after the Great Rift: Shield-Captain Cartovandis leads a band of Custodians to a world overrun by cultists. Lighter on politics than Wraight, heavier on action; read it any time after the Watchers duology.

Siege of Terra in reading order

The Siege of Terra closes the Horus Heresy. Its series page on the site follows publication order, which is also the intended reading order: full novels carry the main story, and three novellas sit between them as side chapters. The Custodes rarely lead a volume here, but the whole war is fought at the gates they guard. Read the novels without skipping; the novellas can be taken in place or saved for later.

EXTERNAL LINKSiege of TerraEvery volume of the series in reading order.

The Solar WarJohn French · 014.M311. John French opens the series with the battle for the Sol System itself: before Horus can set foot on Terra, he has to break the fleets and bastions Rogal Dorn has arrayed against him.

The Lost and the DamnedGuy Haley · 014.M312. Guy Haley takes the war to the ground: the bombardment begins and a vast land war opens outside the Palace walls, with Mortarion and Angron among the attackers.

The First WallGav Thorpe · 014.M313. Gav Thorpe sets Dorn against Perturabo in a war of attrition centred on the Lion's Gate space port.

Sons of SelenarGraham McNeill · 014.M314. Novella. Graham McNeill sends the Shattered Legions crew of the Sisypheum down to Luna. A side story; it can wait if you want to stay on the walls.

SaturnineDan Abnett · 014.M315. Dan Abnett's first Siege novel: Dorn, outnumbered and unable to defend everything, looks for the one stroke that could change the war. One of the high points of the series.

Fury of MagnusGraham McNeill · 014.M316. Novella. Magnus the Red comes to Terra looking for a missing part of himself inside the Palace. Pairs well with Master of Mankind.

MortisJohn French · 014.M317. John French again: the Titans of Legio Mortis against Legio Ignatum at the Mercury Wall, while a few people inside the walls try to push back the warp's influence.

WarhawkChris Wraight · 014.M318. Chris Wraight gives Jaghatai Khan and the White Scars a desperate counter-offensive for the Lion's Gate space port after the Inner Walls are breached.

Echoes of EternityAaron Dembski-Bowden · 014.M319. Aaron Dembski-Bowden on Sanguinius and the last defenders at the Delphic Battlement, the walls of the Sanctum Imperialis.

Garro: Knight of GreyJames Swallow · 014.M3110. Novella. Nathaniel Garro in the burning Palace, guarding Euphrati Keeler. Rewarding if you have followed Garro through the earlier Heresy books.

The End and the Death: Volume IDan Abnett · 014.M3111. The finale begins. Dan Abnett's three-volume The End and the Death is one story split across three books; read them back to back.

The End and the Death: Volume IIDan Abnett · 014.M3112. The second volume continues directly from the first. Avoid the back-cover blurb of volume three until you get there.

The End and the Death: Volume IIIDan Abnett · 014.M3113. The conclusion of the Siege and of the Horus Heresy as a whole.

Era of RuinVarious Authors · 014.M3114. An epilogue anthology about the aftermath, with stories of Custodians, sorcerers and Imperial Army soldiers living past the end of the war. Read last.

What next

If the Custodes are what drew you in, the shortest route is Master of Mankind, then the Siege, then the Watchers of the Throne duology, which picks up the same Palace ten millennia later. If the Siege was your goal, the Horus Heresy era page on the timeline shows which earlier books lead into it.

EXTERNAL LINKHorus Heresy on the timelineThe era that the Siege of Terra brings to a close.

The Custodes before and during the Heresy

After ten thousand years: the Custodes in the 41st Millennium

Siege of Terra in reading order

What next

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