So I’ve heard some descriptions of the 40,000 lore from a podcast I watch, and it sounds incredible, but there’s an awful lot of options to start from, with people recommending many different book series and youtube summaries. Is there a simpler approach, like just going into one standalone book to ground yourself before a bigger series? Or from a game to a tie-in book of some kind? Many thanks.
I started a few years ago, got hooked by the novella I got as an extra in the Mechanicus game. So I started to look where to start, just as you, and ended with this Horus Heresy Spoiler-Free reading order (kind of overwhelming, tbh). You could start with the first 3, then choose your own path (or not, no need to push yourself). Iirc the first book tells you how everything started and ended, and all those books are just deep dives in the point of view of a main character/legion/faction.
Fast forward to 40k: Einserhorn novels are great too.
Happy reading!