Ibram Gaunt

Ibram Gaunt

Gaunt's Ghosts is a series of novels written by Dan Abnett. It is a military science fiction series set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

The series spans thirteen novels which document the efforts of the Tanith First-And-Only, a highly skilled yet unappreciated light infantry regiment of the Imperial Guard, during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. The protagonist is Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, one of the few political commissars of the Imperium to be officially awarded command of a regiment.

Although Gaunt is the primary character, the perspective from which the novels are told shifts regularly to encompass a wider view of events - it is usually told from the Imperial point of view, though the perspective is occasionally seen through the eyes of antagonists. The series alludes to other series by Dan Abnett, such as Eisenhorn and Ravenor, and has resulted in three spin-off works.

The series began as a continuing set of loosely connected short stories in the Black Library magazine Inferno! (issues 4, 8, and 30). The next short piece, entitled "Vermilion Level", was written out to novel length as First and Only and published as the Black Library's first original novel (the book line up until that point consisting of reprints of novels from the pre-Black Library days and anthologies of short fiction taken from Inferno! magazine). The original short pieces subsequently appeared as flashback-chapters in Ghostmaker, the second book.

There are also ancillary novels devoted to minor characters in the main series and a mock "historical book" about the war in which the books take place, as well as merchandise such as badges, T-shirts, and special editions of the books themselves.