Getting into Warhammer 40k

I picked up Space Marine on Steam since they were practically giving it away, and I love it. Not just that I can shove a chain sword through an orks face, but the universe itself is amazing.

So I ask you, fellow giantbombers, does anyone have any suggestions on where the best place to try and get into the lore/stories of the 40k Universe would be. Books, Wikis, anything really. Not necessarily going to start getting into the table top game, but learning about the universe is something I want to try and do.

As for books:

Read the Eisenhorn series by Dan Abnett and if you like it, you can follow it up with the Ravenor series, also by Dan Abnett. You can read the Gaunts' Ghosts series if you're interested in the goings-on of an Imperial Guard regiment. It's also written by Dan Abnett.

Read books by Dan Abnett is prettyy much what I'm saying. There's other writers who are good, but he's pretty much the best one 40k's got.

And here's Lexicanum, 40k's unofficial encyclopedia:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page#.TzN0h_m2p8E

You're looking to walk down a dark road my friend.

http://www.giantbomb.com/warhammer-40000/62-227/

If you're looking for books about the regular-ass Imperial Guardsmen of 40K, I'd suggest checking out the Gaunt's Ghosts series. If you're interested in some pre-41st millennium stuff, you could check out the Horus Heresy series.

Any books by Dan Abnett or Aaron Dembski-Bowden are great. I'd pick up the Dawn of War games - DoW1 is still great fun, and runs brilliantly on most PCs that aren't ancient hulks, but 2 is much stronger from a storytelling perspective. Lexicanum is a great resource for reading about different shit in the universe, and it's easy to lose hours following links to different articles (I once spent a day just working my way through Space Marine Chapters). The Bolter and Chainsword (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com) is a great community as well, and is a good resource for info and articles on the universe, plus some fantastically painted miniatures. I'd also be happy to answer any questions you have about the lore - I've been involved in the 40K universe since 2nd edition (~20 years), and while I don't play, I do know quite a bit about the background and the fiction (indeed, I've got several 40k stories being considered for publication with Black Library at the moment). Edit: doing this on my iPad and it's appearing as a big block of text regardless of how I try and format it...so apologies for that.

Games Workshop.

I'd suggest reading a few short stories to become more familiar with the lore in general. I've read "into the maelstrom" a couple years ago, you could probably check that out.

The horus heresy series paints a good picture of the universe though it's before things get really grim, some of the books are better than others but as people have said Dan Abnett is good, Aaron Dembski-Bowden writes some good stuff (Helsreach really portrays space marines and the black templars in particular well) and if you're in it for more ultramine action and space marine day to dayness look into Graham Mcneil's Ultramines series of books.