For the Emperor

Ciaphas Cain: Warhammer 40,000, Book 1

By: Sandy Mitchell

Narrated by: Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory

On an Imperial outpost world on the fringes of tau space, the renowned Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his fractious regiment of Valhallan Guard, newly created from the remnants of two devastated units, find themselves in the middle of a war.

As the Astra Militarum struggle to contain worldwide civil insurrection, can the wily Commissar Cain identify the real villain before the planet is lost to the Imperium forever?

©2018 Games Workshop Limited (P)2018 Games Workshop Limited

We need more!

This book is simply amazing! Can’t wait to buy the next one “hint hint audible.”

CI-CI-CIAPHIS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM

An amazing book that has it all. Action, comedy, literally everything. Well worth the listen/purchase.

A great introductory story to Commissar Cain

I listened to the audio book on my 2 hour long drive to and from my job and I was always looking forward to the next opportunity to listen to more. Cain's stories are a bit more light hearted and witty when compared to the grim dark novels you typically find in WH40k setting, but that doesn't make them any less serious or engaging. There is still a lot of action that goes along with the politics. I found the pacing to be very good between action and exposition. I liked the characters as well and felt like they all had good chemistry with each other.

Also the performances from the narrators were spot on and made the characters seem all the more real. I highly recommend this for anyone who is interested in WH40k novels and need a place to start or are interested in the stories of Commissar Cain. However like most novels it assumes you have at least some precursory knowledge of the races, weapons, vehicles, etc. If you are a complete newbie you might be spending some time scouring the wiki to fill in the gaps.

Definitely moving onto the second novel.

great military/sci-fi story

not a masterpiece, but definitely one of the more digestible 40k titles I've ever read.

a good one

Ciaphas Cain is as distinct and awesome a hero as Eisenhorn or Ravenor. I hope more of his stuff comes to audio.

Ciaphas is a commissar in the Imperial Guard. He is a great reluctant hero type. His focus in on his own survival yet that survival can depend on his reputation as a hero, so in spite of himself he ends up taking on risks and being an effective leader. It creates a nice mix of gallows humor and action.

The book is framed as his own account of events with occasional footnotes and additions by an Inquisitor he worked with later on, as though she has gone through and arranged his account for filing in the Inquisition's records.
I thought it could get annoying but it ends up helping for getting immersed in the world of the story. The "Inquisitor footnotes" give a bigger picture context of the events Ciaphas is part of and add details in terms of things he was unaware of or uninvolved with but still affected by.
I haven't read anything like this structure before and it actually added to the experience and enjoyment of Ciaphas as a character.

The story includes Tau, Kroot, and Tyranid engagements as well as an Inquisitor team. The plot moves quickly in a satisfying intense way. Stephen Perring and whoever narrated the Inquisitorial additions (she speaks enough they really should include her name) do a great job. Overall it's another solid and well produced Warhammer 40K experience.

If you haven't tried books in this world before this is a decent starting point. You see some of the major factions and get a feel for the usual tone of Warhammer 40K while enjoying the story.