Book Review: Ciaphas Cain, Defender of the Imperium
Spanky Harrison here, happily surprised to be able to bring you a review of the latest Ciaphas Cain omnibus, “Defender of the Imperium.”
This book was a treat for me, as I always love omnibuses (omnibi? whatever) because they’re like three or four books in one! I also love the Ciaphas Cain series. It’s always been a refreshingly humorous take on the Warhammer 40k setting.
Yep
For those not familiar with Commisar Cain, you’re missing out. Ciaphas Cain is at least as big a hero as Ibram Gaunt, and has faced, and bested, just about every foe to humankind at least once. He has stared down alpha level psykers, Hive Tyrants, Ork Warbosses, and just about anything else you can think of. The great part though, is that he doesn’t do this out of a sense of duty, or unshakeable faith in the Emperor, or even bravado… He just wants to live.
All of his epic exploits and unforgettable heroics are the sole result of circumstance, and Cain’s unstoppable drive to survive. That’s not to say that he’s a coward, far from it. Cain spends most of his adventures thoroughly terrified, but just like our old friend the Kwisatz Häagen-Dazs, he knows that “Fear is the mind-killer” and keeps his focus. Of course, no one else beyond the reader, Cain, and the Inquisitor editing his memoirs actually know this, and Cain likes to keep it that way, since a heroic reputation can be quite useful to staying alive. (Though it also gets him into trouble from time to time.)
Anyway, Cain is a great character, and the books are presented as his memoirs being edited by Inquisitor Amberley Vail, who often inserts little footnotes, or excerpts from other “historical works” to help fill in parts of Cain’s usually self-centered narrative. The contrast between Cain’s fairly self-effacing tone in his memoirs, and the over the top bombast and adoration of the “public” histories is hilarious, and is also used as an excellent vehicle for foreshadowing by the author, Sandy Mitchell.
This particular omnibus contains three full novels, and two short stories, and totals about 764 pages. It leads off with “Sector 13”, a short story that sees Cain fighting against insurrection on the agri-world of Keffia with the 12th Valhallan Field Artillery. It follows up with the first full novel of the omnibus, “Death or Glory”, which recounts Cain’s exploits against the Ork’s during the first siege of Perlia. Here we get to see just what a fellow like Ciaphas will do when cut off and surrounded hundreds of miles from friendly lines. Next we have “Duty Calls” which covers one of the many instances where Cain gets tangled up with the Inquisition on Periremunda. After that we get the other short, “Traitors Gambit” in which Cain battles the machinations of the Tau. Then we get “Cain’s Last Stand” to finish things off, a story that occurs near the end of his career during the 13th Black Crusade.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed the entire thing, and I honestly can’t think of anything particularly bad to say about it. If you like 40k, and don’t have some kind of stick up your butt about how 40k is “serious business”, you should be reading the Ciaphas Cain series.
~No seriously, you should. 4.5/5 stars. It’s not gonna win the Hugo award, but if you’re reading for entertainment, you can’t do much better. Go get it today.
