Ciaphas Cain, the galaxy's greatest coward (warhammer)

[cmastah]

Been reading some ciaphas cain stories (did not get a hold of the first novel, but I did get two short stories), and DAMN is it amusing.

There's a hilarious scene where he 'charges' the enemy (he's actually running for cover and swinging his chainsword in a mad frenzy) and his howls of terror are being mistaken for battle cries by the rest of the infantry.

Heheh, there's a funny scene where someone tells him that he's the 'greatest man I've ever met' and Ciaphas thinks to himself 'and you're a terrible judge of character'.

Given the world of warhammer(craft :P), these novels are really funny because while everyone else takes themselves seriously, Ciaphas feels like he's ripped straight out of a reality check. The stuff he fights? Tyranids and other horrors? He's realistically frightened whereas the other marines are exactly as you'd expect from an action/serious novel.

It's been a while since I've read 1st person, but the writer is truly talented.

[Trigger Loaded]

Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!

I've heard it described as if Black Adder was a WH40K Commissar. I've been meaning to look for an omnibus of the series, because it sounds hilarious.

For those who haven't heard, in the Grimdark that is WH40K, Ciaphas Cain is a cowardly commissar trying desperately to survive among the chaos cultists, Tyranids, and Necrons. Unlike many commissars who execute their own men to restore order, Cain believes in letting them live. Because every one he leaves alive is another one he can throw in between him and the horrible flesh-rending soul-feasting death that's always chasing him. Because of this clever cowardice, he often manages to survive such impossible situations. Which, unfortunately, increases his prestige as a commissar capable of surviving impossible missions, thus he gets shipped off to even more impossible missions. And his men love him, since he doesn't shoot them to restore order.

The series basically follows Cain's attempts to get out of a dangerous post, only to find himself waist-deep in an even more dangerous situation, and trying to get his way out of that.

[magnuskn]

Well, with the asides that he still quite often does incredibly brave things (although he denounces himself about most of them as a coward in what is his own secret memoir) and that he is, as mentioned by Amberley Vail, one of the greatest swordsmen the Imperium has known.

[Lord Snow]

And there I was thinking that the orcz are the comic relief of that universe...

Sounds interesting, though. My involvement in the 40k universe has been strictly limited to the video games - Dawn of War (plus expansions) and Dawn of War 2, and that action one where you run around as a space marine and kill people.

I find the universe amusing in it's campy way,with everything being absurdly over the top and completely massed up. I never considered reading a book set in the universe, though, mostly due to my apparent inability to take it too seriously. The RPG seems cool though.

Are the books set in the universe good? like, actually good? Would reading them be advisable to someone with the portfolio I described above?

[Icyshadow]

Considering the universe he lives in, I'd call Ciaphas Cain smart instead of using the word coward.

[Reggie]

Lord Snow wrote:

Are the books set in the universe good? like, actually good? Would reading them be advisable to someone with the portfolio I described above?

Different authors, different foci, different quality.

Some are quite a good read - both the Cain and Gaunt series worked for me; others can be a little tedious, or even blatant dross - the original 'Space Marine' novel was just plain bad. Borrow a couple of different ones by different authors and see what works for you.

Reggie.

[Deadmanwalking]

Ciaphas Cain isn't precisely a coward, at least later in the chronology (he's got a stronger claim to that title early on). He's just...primarily concerned with his own physical well-being, and to a lesser extent his reputation and personal comfort/enjoyment. Well, and the well-being of his soldiers, right after that (though he'd claim that's entirely self-interested).

He's also an amazingly gifted swordsman, a profoundly charismatic leader, and by far the most importantly for us the readers, a hilarious and self-deprecating narrator. And Amberly Vail (who writes the footnotes) is also extremely fun to read.

The most accurate description I've heard of the Ciaphas Cain books was Flashman in space, and that's true to a very large degree, with the extremely enjoyable addition of a narrator it's actually possible to like and even find admirable (despite his cowardice and self-interest).

[cmastah]

Admittedly while reading the first novel (takes place after the first short story), I can't help but notice that he's actually quite cunning. He may not be the bravest man (and by bravery I mean the guys who actually charge at W40K monstrosities), but he REALLY knows how to use his brain, he is one heck of a master manipulator AND he has almost an innate knowledge of human psychology. I haven't gotten too far but DAMN does this guy really know how to think himself outside a box, this novel could NOT have been done in any other way than 1st person either. Some of the editorial notes and notes by 'historians' also tell us that it's possible that he only ever PAINTED himself in such a negative light.

From some of the sections in the novel, I don't know if I'd say he's a master swordsman but he clearly knows how to handle himself.

[Werthead]

Cain isn't a coward at all by our standards, but his cautious tactical appraisals and reluctance to lead from the front are certainly cowardly by the standards of the Imperium. He definitely underrates himself, as Vail points out repeatedly in the footnotes. He's more likable than Flashman, certainly, but there is a similar riff in the fact that eventually his stellar reputation becomes so essential to his survival and identity that he actually can't turn down dangerous missions or run away from trouble because the resulting disgrace would be worse than death.

They're certainly great books. And I have to give a shout-out to Jurgen, Cain's bodyguard who is a cross between Gregor Clegane and Baldrick. Brilliant. Also, General Sulla, the psyochopathic, lunatic general whose crazy and incompetent career seems to have been accidentally launched by Cain's patronage, despite the fact he utterly despises her.

Oh, and the books reference an Imperial treatise on Orks which is called WAAAAGH! AND PEACE, which is the greatest 40K joke ever uttered.

Quote:

Are the books set in the universe good? like, actually good? Would reading them be advisable to someone with the portfolio I described above?

Sandy Mitchell - who writes the CAIN books - and Dan Abnett are both top-notch, good writers. They're both writing excellent SF war stories that just happen to be set in the 40K universe. If they took them out of the setting and used different races/backgrounds, they'd still be as good. Abnett is particularly impressive for mixing his styles, with the GAUNT'S GHOST series being solid military SF (think of the SHARPE novels in space) but his EISENHORN/RAVENOR/BEQUIN trilogy-of-trilogies being more hardcore SF noir, more like someone like Richard Morgan (just with less swearing and no awkward sex scenes).

Paul Kearney, an excellent, top-tier fantasy writer, is also releasing his first 40K novel in May. He should be a superb fit for that universe.