Ciaphas Cain: Duty Calls: Ciaphas Cain: Warhammer 40,000, Book 5

It is a good author for people who just getting into 40k like me. Reveal lots of xenos races, they behaviur and it is later than the rest of 40k stories.Jurgen is the shadow hero!!!

Son loves listening to these tales

As with all of the novels in the series so far, this one is a very good read, full of all the usual good qualities of the Ciaphas Cain novels, the action, the dialogue and the humour. The book marks the return of the series editor, Inquisitor Amberley Vail, first introduced in the original novel. Like many of the Cain novels, this one involves a world under threat from the dreaded Tyranids, as well as some of the forces of Chaos.A good read and definitely recommended, especially if you have read and enjoyed the previous novels.

Good

Excellent!

Sandy Mitchell has gained position as one of my most favourite authors with Ciaphas Cain. Action is fast, furious and... Fun! I have bought every Cain book this far and never been disappointed, not with this one either. Going to buy next one too...

Commissar Ciaphas Cain of the 597th Valhallan, our favorite reluctant hero, stumbles into action. Again. Along for the ride is his personal and odorous aide, Feric Jurgen. Jurgen's gift as a blank comes in handy, as does the huge melta weapon he so loves. This time Cain is assisting local forces on Periremunda to quell widespread civil disorder. Things turn out to be worse than Cain could have ever suspected. Inquisitor Amberley Vail is on the planet, though her presence is supposed to be a secret, following a lead to an ancient xenos artifact that Metheius had absconded with earlier. When it becomes apparent that Tyranids ('Nids) are not only already on the planet, but have already called in their Hive fleet, Cain knows that the frak has hit the fan around him again.Commissar Cain becomes the public face of the Imperial Guard, thanks to the printsheets; something he truly hates to be. As such, assassins begin coming out of seemingly thin air, proving that Cain's troops have even more problems in the forms of genestealer hybrids and Psykers. Since 'Nids are bred for deception and camouflage, the horrors could be anywhere by now. To add to the chaos, The Order of the White Rose (convent of Battle Sisters) is being led by a woman named Enlantine who, to Cain's thinking, is out to prove that they can be psychotic Emperor-bothering harridans of the highest degree. To top it all off, Lieutenant Jenit Sulla is there and still attempting to batter the Gothic language into submissions with her lengthy narrations. How can the wily commissar ever hope to find the easy life he prefers?**** This is the fifth installment of the Cain series, but all of you FNGs (frekking new guys) to the series will not find yourselves lost one bit. In fact, I have no doubts that you will scramble to locate the back list of Cain's saga. Afterwards, you will be eager for the advent of each new Cain adventure, just as I am.Author Sandy Mitchell has done an incredible job of creating the main characters, especially of Cain who has become very real to me. Every time I hear his name I find myself smiling in memory of some sort of humorous situation he had managed to find himself within. Mitchell is to be commended for his achievement of bringing his characters to believable life. BRAVO! ****Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Sandy Mitchell's (Alex Stewart) anti-hero Commissar Ciaphas Cain once again pulls on the great-coat and role of `Champion of the Imperium', in this fifth publication of his memmoirs - well, that is is you choose to ignore the other short stories in other places !As I have said before in reviews of `Cain's' books, I like the character because he is not the all out, gung-ho, let's use an Orcs leg to batter the the Chaos filth to a pulp hero, that many of the other Blacklibrary/Warhammer novel pages seem crammed with. Not so much the anti-hero as the `anti-Gotrek' - which is kind of one extreme to the other (but lovable none-the-less). It would certainly be the only way that I myself would be a hero, though Cain would probably be in my shadow if a Tyranid arrived instead of the postman !The main story - though full of little sub-plots, twists and nasty suprises - is basically about Cain and the 597th, being drafted in to help defend the planet Periremunda from a potential outbreak of Tyranid activity (simply put, space -bugs to those not in the know, but then it is unlikely you'd be reading this if you had never stepped in a Games Workshop shop (?)). And as in the other 4 previous novels, nothing is quite as is seems, and its not long before Cain and crew (don't you just love body-odour challenged Jurgen) start to realise just what they have really let themselves in for. Tyranids, Chaos cults, rogue Techpriests and Inquisitors, assationation plots, all challenging our hero to find new, reasonable and `face-saving' ways to be as far away from the call of the after-life as possible.Once again the characters all act to form, the storyline changing regularly and smoothly with dramatic events - or death avoidance challenges seen though our hero's eyes - and the light-hearted comments from both Amberley and Cain made the novel highly adictive.Whilst I would not really say this is the book people who are new to Warhammer 40K should start with, it is possible to read it on its own, but it does refer back to events in some of the previous novels. References to the `Caves of Ice' Necron tomb and the Orc battle in `Death Or Glory' and others may confuse those that have not read the previous books.I found myself at the end of this book wanting to read more of the adventures of Inquisitor Amberley Vail and her collection of weird and wonderful, rag-tag side-kicks - Mott, Yanbel, Pelton and Zemelda. And personnally I would go out and buy it tomorrow if I knew it existed, which it probably does - in Games Workshops monopoly of 8-adult sci-fi adventure gaming - so plesae don't avalanche me with e-mails on it.It was also a nice touch - though many may have over looked it - that the main adversary and protagonist seemed to be named after a Bond villain, Ernst Stavros ! Though I don't think the Tyranid in the basement would have been as cuddley as a furry white cat ! Still, another excellent page turner, and I'll certainly go out and get the next one in the series. 5 out of 5.

Cain is so far ahead of the others. I would stay close to him. I’m hooked on his ability to survive and his knowledge of the situations.

good book

Sandy Mitchell has yet to disappoint, and doesn’t fail here. The Ciaphas Cain archive is amusing, sometimes slightly repetitive, but this volume, as it happens, is sufficiently different that it makes a fun, guilty pleasure read.

Another great story!

Is this the greatest book ever written? No, of course not. Is it the greatest Warhammer 40K book ever written? Also no. Is it a well written and enjoyable book with very few negatives? Yes, yes it is.The only slight warning I will add goes for the entire Ciaphas Cain series and is this: if you're looking for true "grim dark" 40K stuff, this series isn't it. It has more than a touch or humor and is probably the most lighthearted of all the 40K series.If you can handle a little humor and don't require every character in your books to die gruesome, painful deaths, this book is for you.