Caves of Ice

Ciaphas Cain: Warhammer 40,000, Book 2

By: Sandy Mitchell

Narrated by: Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory

Book 2 of the Ciaphas Cain series.

When Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his regiment of Valhallan Guardsmen are deployed to the ice world of Simia Orichalcae, his expectation of an uneventful tour of duty is suddenly interrupted.

Listen to it because:

While his Valhallan regiment are happy on an ice world, Cain's biggest concern is freezing to death...until orks start attacking, and then an ancient threat emerges from the depths. Stuck between two enemies, Cain needs to stop playing the hero and actually be one.

The story:

On the ice world of Simia Orichalcae a spate of mysterious disappearances is causing unrest amongst the mine workers, and, as senior officer of the Astra Militarum, Commissar Ciaphas Cain is nominated to investigate. Unbeknownst to him, the planet is right in the path of a major ork incursion, and, as the savage greenskins attack, a malevolent evil begins to stir deep in the ice caves.

Written by Sandy Mitchell. Narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory.

©2019 Games Workshop Limited (P)2019 Games Workshop Limited

Black Adder for 40k.

The novel is a part of a set of books by author Sandy Mitchell. The story revolves around the rakish commissar Ciaphas Cain and his trusty sidekick Jurgen.

No Cain novel or audio drama have been bad in my experience.

The book is written as a historical account being investigated by and inquisitor published for instruction within her order. There is a great deal of humor in the novel, yet it succeeds in maintaining drama and character as well.

Really any of the Ciaphas Cain stories could be listened to in any order, they are all enjoyable as either stand-alone or series.

Good read.

The style and pace were just right. Ciaphas Cain is a character you can get behind pretty easily.

good but not as good as the first.

the story was ok but I was hoping for more of a continuity of the previous novel in the way of maybe an overlying plot...? I dunno, maybe I'm just reading the wrong series. also did they change the voice actor they had for Cane?

One curious piece of direction causes distress

The Cain novels are well-loved by the Warhammer community, and for good reason; they're a reliably delightful read (or listen, as the case may be). This is a solid such example.

Unfortunately, someone seems to have given an instruction to Penelope Rawlins to read the number ahead of each and every footnote in the entire book. If they were reading from a modern ebook version of the text, that might be practical, as Black Library numbers each one uniquely. In the original printing, however, each page begins the count anew: what this means is that you'll hear Amberly Vail say "One:" about a hundred or so times throughout the book. This decision is doubly curious because these numbers were ignored entirely in the previous book.

It's not a significant barrier to enjoyment, but it's an odd choice that sticks out a bit.

A great sequel

It is a great sequel to the first novel and has the same dry humor.