Gaunt's Ghosts is a series of military science fiction novels by Dan Abnett, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It was inspired by the Sharpe series of books written by Bernard Cornwell. As of 2019, the series spans 16 novels which document the efforts of the Tanith First, 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. Elements of the series later reappeared in other series by Abnett, including the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, and has resulted in two spin-off novels, Double Eagle and Titanicus. 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. Publication history The novels fall into a series of four-story arcs, of which three have been completed while publication of the last is still ongoing. The Founding (omnibus, 1008 pages, October 2003, , 768 pages, May 2006, , 2020, ): First and Only, originally published 1999 – Ghostmaker, originally published 2000 – Necropolis, originally published 2000 – The Saint (omnibus, hardcover, October 2004, , paperback, 1027 pages, August 2007, , 2020, ) Honour Guard, originally published 2001 – The Guns of Tanith, originally published 2002 – Straight Silver, originally published 2002 – Sabbat Martyr, originally published 2003 – The Lost (omnibus, paperback, 1024 pages, March 2010, , 2020, )