Ciaphas Cain: Choose Your Enemies: Choose Your Enemies (Volume 10)

Product Information

As always, there are hints alerting the careful reader as to what is really going in, but as the memoirs are, if not quite stream of consciousness, definitely overwhelmingly cast in Cain's personality, it's easy enough to miss those hints (as Cain does). Of course, by now I'm fairly certain of what to expect; Humour, action, lots of poking fun at the entire setting and quite a few foot notes by one of our favourite (slightly) psychopathic inquisitor. This book deals with the eldar (the smug and condescending pointy-ears), with Cain and the 597th Valhallan Regiment aiding the local Planetary Defense Force in keeping them from taking over the planet. A much-used word, karma is loosely understood as a system of checks and balances in our lives, of good actions and bad deeds, of good thoughts and bad intentions. The munitions Ironfound produces are vital to the Imperial war effort in the subsector; its safety must be assured at all costs.

Even without the commentary angle, however, the actual fight scenes are geared far more toward spectacle or large scale events over all else. The fact it is set on such an unusual world gives the book more material to offer than were it another hive world or backwater planet, leading to some very interesting culture clashes. Yes, this might not be a bolter porn novel, but when it's based around war, the effectiveness of storytelling in war needs to be commented upon. The taverna is the only place that Kostas and Defne can meet in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic and chilli peppers, creeping honeysuckle, and in the centre, growing through a cavity in the roof, a fig tree.

As a result, while it still offers commentary on a broader event, the story feels far more complete and better executed. And on a sidenote, I'm mad I missed out on the Emeli and Cain history and if anyone knows where that starts if you could just refer me to that installment I would be most grateful. New and familiar characters abound, voiced by a bright mix of performers, including Kat Dennings, Regé-Jean Page, Emma Corrin, Michael Sheen, Kristen Schaal, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Wright, and so many more, including fan-favorite narrators Simon Vance and Ray Porter. With all that said, however, there was no denying that the Ciaphas Cain saga had become somewhat repetative. On a serious note, I feel like if Mitchell had a quick snippet of Cain and Amberley's hinted at hanky panky it would've been incredibly entertaining.

Sling the stories together into a coherent narrative, and the jokes would wear thin, the action repetitive, and the overall story bogged down. However, it does mean that you should not binge them, as the average reader is likely to get bored of the formula rather quickly.As battle explodes across the planet, Ciaphas Cain and his regiment come up against allies and enemies old and new in their fight for victory against the forces of Chaos. Access to the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts, including exclusive series. Sandy Mitchell is one of those authors I keep going back to, because he has the uncanny ability of bringing a breath of fresh air to a depressing setting, even if horrible things happen around the self proclaimed coward Ciaphas Cain claims he is. The ensemble of secondary characters and mixed regimental figures always helped to bolster the stories.