Ciaphas Cain Vainglorious

[Nagashsnee]

Forget about Dan Abnett, the HH, the dawn of fires and all the online arguments they have spawned and lets all settle in with what at this point is a love it or hate it series (tho i guess ignore is also an option) Ciaphas Cain Vainglorious.

 

Non spoiler review, this this is a Cain book, if you have read the previous ones you all know what I mean, all the catchphrases are here ( and if i only knew, of course if i knew...etc), all the staples of the Cain books pop up (Tanna! Veil! Jurgers and his erotic data slate collection!).  Now i eat all the above up with a spoon so i loved it, i love the fact that Cain gives a everyman look at the Imperium, the Guard and all the rest. I love that in all his books the stakes are end of the world high, but in 40k BL books end of 1 world is low low stakes and i love that too. 

The book sports a fun supporting cast of Adeptus Mechanicus but also to my surprise Astarte's and a standard but fun Cain plot that i found to fun and energetic.

 

The true highlights of the book for me tho was a close look at early stage Forge Worlds and Imperial settlement types. We get too see a forge world in its infancy and our told the long term plans to grown it, as Adeptus Mechanicus player this was all great stuff, it was also fun to see unit name dropping done right (i.e. Cain fights x thing has no idea what it is but describes it in  away that we do and some time latter a character who would know will say something like 'oh you bested a pair of Ironstriders? Impressive'.

 

 

One thing i REALLY liked in this and other Cain book, is how the competent members of the various Imperial bodies all expect everyone to also be competent and do things like read the briefings/check their emails/keep up on memos. And Cain always getting caught out because he never ever does.  They CCed you for a REASON CIAPHAS! 

 

Spoilery parts ( nothing major just want to talk about 1 or 2 aspects of the books that reveal plot elements)

Spoiler

I loved loved loved the fact that they immediately think the sabotage is either chaos or genestealer cults. It makes perfect sense due to the region and Cains experiences and i love when characters act like normal rational humans. I also loved the Drama queen necron lord and the fact that he monologued his way to a early grave.   

 

I also appreciate that while some members of the priest hood might have fallen to the necron ploy the majority acted like they had a brain and that the skitarii were portrayed as teched up humans, who while heavily modified are still HUMAN soldiers. with all its ups and downs. Logical Astartes are always nice to see.  

 

 

Negatives, the ending wrapped up a little too neatly too easily but then again it IS  a Cain book. Otherwise that's it, the book was 100% was it said on the cover.  The fact that it sold out before i could buy a copy is anoying but not the authors or his works fault, will have to wait for the soft cover to put on the self. 

 

8/10 While fun and hitting all the right spots the book took no risks and really stayed in the Ciaphas Cain safe zone. Will 100% buy and read the sequel. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by Nagashsnee

[Burni]

Thanks for the review, glad its a solid Cain book, its next on my list (they finally released Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising on ebook in the UK so have been re-reading that for the first time in 15+ years).

 

I didn't love the last Cain novel, it was decent but in the lower half of the series for me. Glad this one seems to be a good one - looking forward to it!

[Felix Antipodes]

This just arrived yesterday, so will be up next for me as well (Cain always jumps to the front of the to-be-read pile for me) along with the anthology.

[Taliesin]

Book sounds great. See if I can find a copy, its probably sold out.

[Nagashsnee]

2 hours ago, Taliesin said:

Book sounds great. See if I can find a copy, its probably sold out.

Find a book to buy? From BL? Madness! It sold out on the day super fast, i wasnt expecting it for a non limited Cain book and got caught off guard. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by Nagashsnee

[Sothalor]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, given how stale Choose Your Enemies felt at times.

 

That makes me extra-sad that the shipment for my local store got contaminated by some kind of oil product and the Cain books were melted into sludge. My store manager was not happy about that.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Sothalor

[Misterduch]

 

Just finished the book on audible. 

 

In terms of the cain series, I'd rate it a solid 8/10 ( for context, books 1 trough 6 I consider to he more or less 10/10's )

 

Biggest gripe of mine is that the book sort of spoils itself in the first 5 minutes, but I don't mind it that much in the end. I certainly would recommend this book over Choose your enemies and Emperor finests tough, which I would rate as 6/10 and 7/10 ) 

 

 

[Aramis K]

Finished the ebook. 

 

Solid Cain entry, but in some ways it's literally filler - it fits into the middle of the Cain timeline and doesn't really change anything or bring anything new.

If only I knew how it was going to turn out... except, I totally did.

 

I enjoyed it, but wanted some more significance.

 

Spoiler

Nor was there much character risk, of Cain getting found out - Cain was competent and straight heroic throughout, however he explains it. And everyone respects him for it. Not much of the coward or chancer or anyone who didn't like him.

 

I did like this though, after the Necron lord has done some solid villain monologue:
 

Quote

 

An awkward silence descended, like one of those moments at a formal reception when you’ve both run out of conventional platitudes to exchange, and are wondering how to go and find someone else to bore without appearing to be rude.

‘Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?’

 

 

Vainglorious - it's the Necron, not Cain. 

 

Anyway, sudden desire to go buy a Cargo-8 for some reason.

 

 

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Good to hear Mr Mitchell is still on form.  I just picked it (and Anthology) up on Audible (the voice actors have done a great job with the rest of the series, IMHO), so they're in my "next up" list

[grailkeeper]

I enjoyed it. Whoever said you are getting what you expect was bang on the money.

 

It was my first time reading a cain book on kindle. The footnotes were painful to read compared to on paper. Didn't help that a lot of them were very repetitive. 

One spoilery gripe

Spoiler

I wish the inquisitor hadn't talked about Cains prior experience with Nectons at the start. It spoiled the twist.

 

[DarkChaplain]

The footnotes on ebooks are really annoyingly handled, yeah. In print, you actually have them at the bottom of the page, like, y'know, footnotes. But at least the audiobook editions weave them in directly, thanks to the multi-narrator format. Having a voiced Amberley cutting in to interrupt Cain's waffling is worth gold. Especially when she's just being pedantic again or trying to deny Cain's comments on her as if she's offended by his suggestion.

Edited August 24, 2023 by DarkChaplain

[grailkeeper]

That does sound good.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I've just finished it (and the Anthology), and rather enjoyed it. As has been mentioned, it follows a similar vein/pattern to all of the other books, but the look at the Adeptus Mechanicus was interesting, as well as the ultimate antagonist.  

 

On 8/25/2023 at 12:46 PM, grailkeeper said:

That does sound good.

I have all of the Cain books in audiobook format, and highly recommend them - I really like Stephen Perring's and rendition of Cain (to be honest, all of the voice actors in the series are great). I got mine via Audible - not only are they way cheaper than Black Library, but they often crop up in their 2-for-1 and £2.99 sales.

[Valkia the Bloody]

I also finished this as well as the anthology.

And I enjoyed myself with both.

Does it do anything new? No.

Is it fun while it lasts? Yes.

After all:

It is Caiaphas Cain.
You get pretty much what it says on the tin.
If you like his adventures, then you will like this, if you do not, this will not change your mind.
Also, the story is nothing really new, but something new would have been hard in with these characters in the constraints of the setting. It is not as if they could encounter a completely new and original villain.

 

And I agree, the footnotes are a pain, at least on my Kindle. With the Kindle App on my Ipad, it works much better.