Fantastic

A great story with a fascinating character and quirky 'editorial notes'. Fantastic performance from the reader as well!

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Cain is a bright light in the darkness of 40k

This was a lot of fun to read the first time round and even more fun to listen to as an audio book. The blend of serious and comedy is done very well and is never in your face. 

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, as he mentions himself frequently throughout the series of his memoirs, is a coward with more luck than any hundred people put together. If you have read the Flashman Papers then you'll have a good idea of what to expect coming into the Ciaphas Cain books.

Ciaphas, along with his trusty aide, Jurgen, and the newly formed, mixed gender regiment of the Valhallan 597th are sent to the planet of Gravalax to deal with insurrection caused by the Tau (a race of blue-skinned, technologically advanced humanoid aliens).

Personally, although I enjoyed this very much, I felt this featured far too much talking, world-building and political back and forth to ever reach the five star rating I desperately wanted to give it. That being said, it's not dull, just not as explosive as I know the Cain books can be.

When the author puts their foot down on the accelerator, though, it gets very exciting, very fast. Almost like that plodding ascent up a roller coaster before the downward rush when you reach the peak.

The character/world building done is essential, I just feel there was too much of it. You certainly get a much better knowledge of the Warhammer 40k universe as a whole from this book/series than you do others and, for that reason alone I'd say it's hands down one of the best places to start.

As is usually the case with 40k novels, the action is fast-paced, dark, painful and hellishly exciting. Cain is one of the most endearing characters for me as far as Warhammer universe goes as he is the sort of hero that I love to read about. The kind that hates being thought of as a hero and is only their by a mixture of luck, fluke and skill. With every passing victory, his fame grows and he finds himself thrust into more and more deadly situations. Makes for the perfect character. You just can't help but feel sorry for the sort of chap who does everything within his power to avoid danger but inadvertently finds himself rushing towards it instead.

It's told in first person narrative and features footnotes explaining certain aspects that your unknowledgeable 40k reader would not know. Another reason for it being a perfect starting point in the Warhammer universe.

The narration was split between three narrators. The male voice told the bulk of the narrative where one female voice read the footnotes (as they were added by Inquisitor Amberly Vale upon editing Cain's archive) and the second female narrator was given the unenviable role of reading the extracts from Jennitt Sulla's 'Like a Phoenix From the Flames'. Unenviable because of her painful love obsession with adjectives. At least five to every sentence! 

All in all it's a great blend of styles that makes for a wonderful opener in a wonderful series.

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Very engaging

Brilliant performance, well read and voiced of the story such as it is, but they do insist on pronouncing Ciaphas wrong.

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Brilliant

Brilliant. A wonderfully refreshing take on Warhammer 40K. Great story with twists and turns. Great characters you'll grow to love. Brilliant.

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Please do the rest of the series GW!

Such a fun and engaging 40k book! Really hope they do the rest of the series!

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Pure joy!

Warhammer 40,000’s grim setting meets Blackadder in a story that entertains as much as it intrigues. The brave coward Ciaphus Cain quickly endears himself to the listener with his rogueish charm, while the Inquisitor’s commentary enhances both his and her own characters. I loved the framing of the story as part of a memoir with footnotes and passages from other texts and was supremely immersed in the experience.

The performances were very strong as well. All three narrators embodied the spirit of the novel superbly and brought life to Sandy Mitchell’s playful prose. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is inherently ridiculous in its scale and the sheer bleakness of life within it. Mitchell takes that and paints in a healthy streak of black comedy that brings the whole setting alive. Highly recommended.

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just great

well told well written story with less stereotypical characters
and a meaningful femal representation compared to other reads.

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Flashman of the Future

🗡🗡🗡🗡Flashman of the Future, I am sure Ciaphas Cain has been compared to the rogue military man of the Napoleonic era countless times, and its no secret that the author has been inspired by him, but I can honestly say For the Emperor was the equal or greater to the famous anti-hero series. Ciaphas is a commissar, a political officer responsible for the discipline and morale of the regiment to which he is assigned,  although Cain is more interested in using his position to maneuver himself out of dangerous situations (although not always successfully). We are introduced to the Commisar as he attached to a new regiment, composed of two Valhallan (an ice world) regiments that have suffered heavy casualties thanks to an incursion of Tyranids that decimated their respective units, and have now been amalgamated together, his first job - stop them killing each other. Instigating a range of sweeping changes, he gets them under control (with the knowledge that a competent regiment is more likely to keep him alive). They end up on a "mud ball" planet who are playing too nicely with the Tau (Alien race) - it's a delicate situation as the Imperium is at war with several other races in the region and for now the Tau are playing nice, but its tense. All hell breaks lose over a misunderstanding and there is civil war between Imperial loyalists and Tau sympathisers and the Guard is in the middle - so is Cain. To compound the issues, the Inquistion turns up and its not just the Tau they are interested in... The characters in this book are what make it, Cain is brilliant, but the supporting cast are great as foils to his barbs and banter, notably the ever loyal Jurgen, the Commisars aide, who is ever ready with a cup of Tanna or a Melta gun and it helps that he is a psychic blank. Amberley Veil is the mysterious Inquisitor and romantic interest for the Commisar, and we get a great insight into her personality from the footnotes of the story, where she inserts edification to Cain's memoirs. Its a great story, the Audible was brilliant and skipped along with exciting action scenes. 🗡🗡🗡🗡 4 blades, classic of the 40k genre can't wait to read the rest!

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Fantastic

I am new to the whole 40k world but this story was great if the rest In the series which I heard there is 6 others the. I can’t wait to hear them

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Brilliant

awesome story from the 40k universe. I love the series and hope to see more of them turned into audio format.
I was impressed by the quality of the voice acting and am delighted by their use of multiple actors, it really help to bring the story to life.

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