Customer Reviews

Death or Glory (Ciaphas Cain Novels)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was worth waiting on. The Ciaphas Cain novels are the only books in the Black Library that have any real humor built into them. It was a pleasent suprise to read a Cain novel that had nothing to do with the 597th, because by the time he is attatched to the 597th, he is already a living legend. This book is the story about the campaign that cemented Cain's status as a hero of the Imperium, so those of us who have read the other three novels will not be all that suprised by the ending, but Death or Glory is a great book to read. As always, i really enjoyed seeing how Cain's atempts to look out for #1 end up making him a legend. Another big plus is the length of the novel; i thought that the 2 books before Death or Glory were just too short. I also liked the twist of Cain being forced to cooperate with the PDF forces for him to survive, since he seems to hate every PDF member he has ever come across. Like the first reviewer stated, I do really enjoy the quotes at the beginning of each chapter, so it was a little bit of a letdown that they were not included in this book. I would give this novel a 5 star rating, but because there are no quotes, and there was no way for the ending to hold any suprises, I am going to give Death or Glory 4.5 stars.

Sandy's writing is probably of the same caliber as most popular sci-fi writer's today, but let's face it, if you're reading this kind of material it's not because you want to delve into the inner working of the human mind or plumb the depths of life's inherent bias, it's because you want to be entertained.

All of the Caiphas Cain novels to date have done that and this one is no different.

Other reviews have done a fair job of describing the style and even plot of the book, so I'll focus on how it extends the series. If you've been paying careful attention while reading the previous 3 novels, you'll have realized that Sandy has been building up to some tremendous event far off in Cain's future. The back story in this novel really serves to tease and tantalize (sp?) us as to that event (already revealed to be related to the 13th Black Crusade). Whether we'll actually ever get to experience that event is clearly in doubt (since the premise of the series is that it is based on some memoires written several years before that ultimate adventure), but the tidbits Sandy drops in this installment only make you want the next novel all the more.

This fourth book in the Ciaphas Cain series by M. Mitchell follows the infamous Imperial Commissar and his aid Jurgen, turning back the clock to an adventure early in his career, so technically it's a prequel to the others. It's set in Games Workshop's dark gothic Warhammer 40K universe.

As I have mentioned in reviews of the previous works in the series, M. Mitchell's protagonist pays homage to George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman. The writing style is playful, humorous, and peppered with the editorial comments by Cain's Inquisitorial associate, Amberley Vail of the Ordo Xenos.

At its heart, it is the story of a journey. In their flight from an unplanned crash-landing, Cain and Jurgen collect a supporting cast of capable misfits: Sergeant Tayber, Lieutenant Piers, and one of the more interesting, Fleicia the dedrite-tailed and somewhat irreverent Mechanicus Adept. They go on through a comedy of errors and competence to fulfill the story of "Cain the Liberator," the escapade that first brought him to the attention of important Imperial authorities.

The characters are well written, and have a depth roughly equal to their total screen time. The setting feels realistic and true to the atmosphere of the 40K universe. M. Mitchell writes excellent action scenes, specializing in close, hand-to-hand combat and the not inconsiderable chainsword skills of Commissaar Cain. However, as much as he attempts to make Cain the self-serving coward, the Commissar tends to do the right thing regardless. His style of leadership and his dealings with others may stem from a desire to further his "undeserved and inflated" reputation - or fear - but regardless of the motivation, it still tends to be spot on. As bravery can be defined as doing the right thing in the face of fear, the charge of cowardice seems a bit far-fetched at times.

In short: this is a fun, light-spirited read that will resonate especially well with 40K fans. I was entertained throughout, and M. Mitchell's writing skills continue to improve. However, if you like this, I highly recommend reading its "progenitor," the Flashman series.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his malodorous gunner Jurgen escape from a disastrous space battle when they jettison in a life pod. However, they end up crash landing on the planet Perlia, behind enemy lines. While fighting off orks, they must try to join up with their military comrades. Problem is that there is A LOT of desert to travel through, not to mention hundreds of thousands of barbaric orks in their way.

They stumble across some scattered troops as they pass devastated towns. Cain's happy since it should put more bodies between himself and the orks. But quite a few civilians tag along as well, which means Cain and Jurgen find themselves within the heaviest fire of the conflicts.

**** The latest Cain adventure is compiled by Vail once again. This episode is during Cain's early years and he is still a bit wet behind the ears. There are no hilarious, but serious, quotes at the beginning of each chapter (I missed them very much.) and there are a few too many pointless footnotes. Yet I still found the tale to be humorous and well written as always. Author Sandy Mitchell has a winner with this series and I hope he releases another Cain novel soon! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I enjoy all of Sandy Mitchel's Ciaphas tales. They add something human to the often inhuman 40k Universe.

This book was not quite five stars, because somehow Cain is a little less self serving than in the previous books, but it is a terrific story with a lot of fun.

I have to say that Jurgen rocks the house. If you like any of the Ciaphas Cain novels, you'll definately like this one. I just hope that the author keeps up the series, because I love reading about Commissar Cain.

I actually read Duty Calls before this one, and I'd thought I had ruined this book for myself, but the story more than stands on its own, and thus far I'd have to say, it's my favorite of the series. I don't want to give anything away, but it was just the kind of story I think any fan of the "overwhelmed but steadfast fighters" might like, the only real problem being that in the end it felt like it was over too soon, and some things, a little too predictable.

A very interesting book written from the personal perspective of its titular character, Ciaphas Cain. Only drawback is that the reader requiers a good bit of knowledge of the Warhammer 40k lore to be able to fully enjoy it. For example, the reader needs to have some basic knowledge of what a commisar does in the warhammer 40k universe in order to fully appreciate the irony of Cain's way of thinking.

Definite entertainment...flawed only by a well used cliche strategem very familiar to miltary Sci-Fi fans. You will see it a mile away once the scenario surfaces....Don't want to ruin it for anyone else ..and besides its still a darn good story. Cain fans will be pleased.As usual the commentary adds to the fun.

While it is interesting to have a book an earlier look at Cains life, the lack of a good plot and repetitive fight scenes make this the weakest of the series.

The book is by no means bad, and for any fan of the series I recommend reading it. However, the plot is literally Cain just fighting Orks to get back to his unit. Not only that the ending is pretty weak in my opinion. There is also a couple unanswered questions.

It gives you a good perspective on just how tough the orcs can be, and some of the fights are pretty impressive, but I would certainly recommend any of the other 3 over this.

First a warning this book takes place about ten years before "For the Emperor" so there is no Colonel Kasteen and Valhallan 597th but the novel takes place after one of the short stories and Jugan is around in all his fragrant glory. Second for all the fans of the quotes that have appeared at the beginning of each chapter I'm afraid those have gone.

As for the story without giving anything away it is the usual Cain story where our Commissar spends all is time trying to get out of the line of fire only to somehow ending up in even bigger trouble and fans of the novel should have no trouble guessing some of the ending. But this novel does have something for every one there is humour as well as some combat stuff as well as well as showing some background to Imperium society that usually is not the kind of thing that turns up in the standard 40k novel.

All in all I would give it a solid four stars not the best book in the series but a good 40K novel with humour and action and I will be quite happy to but the next one in the series.