Ciaphas Cain novels - the comedy of 40K?

[Dragonlv8]

I absolutely love these books. The short story in the Omnibus about the Slannesh cult in that Mansion place is amazing, I had to put the book down due to laughter the first time I read it.

[FeralOni]

i re-read the Ciaphas Cain novels quite frequently, they make a nice change in between reading several HH or Tanith 1st novels in a row

[imperialsavant]

I really love all the Cain novels.
Apart from the stories themselves the footnotes from Amberly & the extracts from Jenit Sulla & others are just so clever.
It is also interesting that Caiphus himself does not recognise just how much he inspires others around him to be heroic & Amberly does.
More Cain!!!


Incidently I also enjoyed his 2 Inquisitor novels & the sexual tensions between two of the characters.

[theirkin]

sandy mitchell takes his cues from the harry flashman series, written by george macdonald fraser. one of the main gimmicks of that series is how flashman is always embroiled within momentous historical events, and throughout he peppers his books with cultural references that would be amusing to someone from the period he's writing about. i assume that mitchell, devoid of a historical audience to wink at in that kind of pretentious, meta way, instead chooses to do so through references to a modern reader.

all the same, i love it. it's awesome, even if he does need to shake up his formula already.

joe

[Primarch Scooter]

I find the references pretty funny myself. I've read all the Cain books and have enjoyed every one of them, as they all have good humor that seems to be uncommon in the grim darkness of the future.

[betacentauri]

i really loke this series the best. everything else is too grimdark for me -.-"

[plawolf]

I think Sandy made a good choice when he broke with the Valhallans in Cain's last stand and The Emperor's Finest as it was getting a little samey. This break was not only refreshing in itself, but also made it a refreshing return to form when Cain was again joined with his old Valhallan comrades in The Last Ditch.

The only tiny niggle I have with the series so far is that it gets a little predictable that Cain will emerge miraculously unscathed no matter the situation. And no, loosing a few fingers or getting a bump on the head does not really count in my view.

I think it would be a really good think for the series if during one of the stories, Cain is actually seriously injured for once.

[Bedroom General]

I love these books. I'm a fan of Harry Flashman, and this certainly continues the tradition. Sandy Mitchell's sense of humour "Sodallagain" as the name of a planet and "Eyor Dedonki" the philosopher, etc is a constant joy. Commissar Cain and Jurgen absolutely rock as a team. Special characters...Come on GW!
Btw, though the Cain stuff is brilliant, its still not as good as...
Storm of Iron
Should be a movie by Peter Jackson and David Cronenberg
I can dream can't I?

[dawfydd]

I wasn't sure about Cain at first (comedy? In my Grim/Dark!), but they've just been great. I always get a sense of Blackadder when reading them (never a bad thing...)

[Turner]

I love these books, and how it always seems to go back to genestealers. Problem in the sewers? Yeah ok I can see it being stealers. Planet being invaded by a hive fleet and now your running for your life through the streets? Well how about if genestealers pop out of the alley ways! Riding in a limo to the planet's capital and your attacked by the mob? No no, it's just genestealers, first gen, but genestealers none the less. Even the brothal houses are infested with genestealers! Can't a guy catch a break? Probably, but here's some genestealers!