"Death or Glory" by Sandy Mitchell

As I have started reading the Ciaphas Cain series, here is the forth installment. 

Summary: This adventure follows our anti-hero Commissar Cain as he is lost and confused behind enemy lines. His unit is sent to a planet infested by an ork invasion. As the transport ships enter the star system, they are attacked by ork vessels. Cain's ship is damaged and in a desperate attempt to avoid death, Cain dives into a lifepod. He and Jurgen spend weeks alone in the tiny craft as the fly toward the battle.

They crash in the middle of a desert with little idea where they are, much less where their unit landed. The first inhabitants they meet are orks on patrol and they work to get their bearings. Cain, eager to regain the protection afforded by his unit, is determined to get out of ork territory. He and Jurgen slowly but surely collect supplies and rally together human survivors in the wasteland so that they can punch through the enemy lines.

We see in this book Cain's skill with civilians more than with soldiers as is typical in the previous books. We also see humans using a lot of ork technology in order to get through it all. 

What I Liked: This is classic Cain, with lots of decisions between Bad and Worse. There is just the right amount of suspense and hope mixed to make it satisfying read.

What I Didn't Like: Of the four Cain books I have read, this was the least exciting. It's a lot of battles and not a lot of investigation. I recall the earlier books having a lot more analysis of the situation, trying to find the traitor and such. In this book the lines are clear, and all that remains is fighting, which I don't find so interesting.

Rating: This is my least favorite book so far in a great series. Hopefully the next books will be better.

Also Read by this Author: Scourge The Heritic, Innocence Proves Nothing, The Traitor's Hand, Caves of Ice, For the Emperor.
A side note, Sandy Mitchell is a pseudonym for Alex Stewart.

Reviewed by: Nick

"The Traitor's Hand" by Sandy Mitchell

This is the third book in the Commissar Cain series. I can't get enough.

Summary: Adumbria is a curious planet that is tidally locked with its home star. This creates three main zones, a hot and bright hemisphere always facing the sun, a cold and dark hemisphere always facing away, and a shadow belt in between. The majority of the population lives in the belt, with small settlements in the desert and tundra regions.

This story is chronologically after the first two books and during the time Cain is with the 597th Valhallans (who happen to be cold climate specialists). A significant time has passed and Cain's unit is urgently being sent to Adumbria in anticipation of a Chaos fleet headed towards the planet. Some of the Imperial fleet arrives before the Chaos cultists and is able to prepare. Unfortunately, travelling through the Warp (the only form of faster than light travel available to the Imperium of Man) is a complicated business and the bulk of the fleet is delayed.

Cain and his regiment originally assume that the Chaos fleet is the danger they need to be ready for, but even as they are deployed on the surface, they realize that a homegrown Chaos thread is already there. As they gather clues, the picture becomes clear as to what the cultists are trying to do on the planet and why the Chaos fleet is headed right for them.

While Cain is trying to maintain his heroic image, an old acquaintance from the Scola Progenium is picking up an old rivalry. Commissar Beije is assigned to the very pious regiment of the Tallarn 229th (who happen to be desert fighters). Beije sees through Cain's legendary reputation and knows him to be the selfish opportunist that he is. He takes it upon himself to bring down Cain during the mission and it is up to our clever protagonist to parry the challenges while simultaneously working to save the planet (and himself) from destruction.

What I Liked: This book has fresh enemies that are at first glance simple, but reveal a more developed identity as the story progresses. I like how it slowly dawns on Cain and his peers what is really going on. 

What I Didn't Like: It has become clear to me that some of the events in this book and previous books reference short stories (The Beguiling, Fight or Flight, and Echoes of the Tomb) I have not yet read. I found them now and will read them before moving onto the 4th book.

Rating: Love it! I am still reading the series.

Also Read by this Author: Scourge The Heritic, Innocence Proves Nothing, For the Emperor, Caves of Ice.

A side note, Sandy Mitchell is a pseudonym for Alex Stewart.

Reviewed by: Nick

"Caves of Ice" By Sandy Mitchell

After finishing the ebook of For the Emperor, I started this one, the second in the Commissar Cain series.

Summary: This story takes place a short time after the first book. Commissar Cain is still assigned to the 597th Valhallans and on a civilian vessel headed for the next mission. Commandeered by the Imperial Guard, the captain of the ship is not excited to be headed toward danger, but time is short and no troop ship is nearby. The regiment lands on Simia Orichalcae, an ice covered planet that reminds the Valhallans of their homeworld. Orks have crash landed and are marching to the promethium refinery looking for good fight and possibly a means to repair their ship.

The 597th dig in to repel the horde of orks and their terrifying war machine called a gargant. The mechanized walker towers over the battle and festooned with weapons, covered in thick armor. The "brave hero" Cain abuses his authority to avoid the battlefield dangers and leads a mission down into the promethium mines, justifying it by ensuring no orks had found a secret entrance into the tunnel network. Not actually expecting to find anything, Cain's team stumbles into a situation more dangerous than the raging battle on the surface. Once committed, Cain's reputation is on the line to resolve the issue.

The Adeptas Mechanicus play a big role in this book and a squad of Stormtroopers gets moment in the spotlight.

What I Liked: This story had more action and higher stakes than the first, because the enemies were less predictable. 

What I Didn't Like: Sometimes the narrator leaves Cain's perspective and follows someone else in order to flesh out the situation. These sidelines are less interesting than Cain's story.

Rating: Love it! I will definitely read the rest of the series.

Also Read by this Author: Scourge The Heritic, Innocence Proves Nothing, For the Emperor.
A side note, Sandy Mitchell is a pseudonym for Alex Stewart.

Reviewed by: Nick

"For the Emperor" By Sandy Mitchell

A friend of mine gave me the push I needed to start reading ebooks and said push involved a lot of Warhammer 40,000 books. Also, other friends have been trying to get me to read this series for a while now. 

Summary: This story follows an officer in the Imperial Guard of the Imperium of Mankind in the Warhammer 40k universe. There is a huge collection of books, movies, video games, role-playing games and table top wargames all based in this setting. Humanity is constantly at war with a variety of aliens and internal threats. The Imperial Guard is the largest force of soldiers that stand between the the subjects of Terra and certain doom. There is one particular office in each regiment called the Commissar. It is the duty of the Commissar to ensure the regiment is loyal to the Emperor and ready to serve Him. Commissars are authorized to summarily execute troops under their command, including other officers.

This story follows the exploits of Commissar Cain, a peculiar individual amongst his cadre. Cain is in many ways a psychopath, worrying only about himself with no regard for the well being of his friends and companions. He is constantly calculating the odds of his survival and makes decisions that will maximize it. Despite this selfishness, he is an exceptionally good officer who achieves great feats for humanity and takes good care of the soldiers under him. In fact, Cain is an interesting case-study exploring the idea that a morality can be built out of rationality. That one need not have good intentions in order to behave as a good person.

Anyway, "For the Emperor" starts when Cain is transferred to a new regiment that was formed out the ashes of the 296th and the 301st Valhallans. Both regiments had been severely reduced in their last major battle and many of the officers had been battlefield promotions. Cain comes in as the most experienced leader among them and helps them take the reigns of the rowdy group so that they may once again be a fit fighting force. They are sent to Gravalax where the aliens called the Tau have established a foothold through trading with the locals. The politics are delicate as a war has not started, but the Imperium fears this Tau incursion will lead to a takeover of the planet. Unfortunately, Gravalax is not an important world and few resources can be devoted to the task. Cain and the other leaders are forced to walk carefully in both their fights and their negotiations to resolve the situation.

What I Liked: This is my first ebook and I should note here that I very much enjoyed reading this way. I admit I am addicted to my phone and waste a lot of time on social media or playing with dumb apps. Reading an ebook means I can fulfill my phone addiction and my reading addiction simultaneously.

As for the story, I really liked the narrative style with Cain telling his stories as an unreliable narrator, but then having annotations added in by more reliable source.

What I Didn't Like: My ebook formats strangely, so the footnotes do not work quite the way I want them to.

Rating: Love it! I will definitely read the rest of the series.

Also Read by this Author: Scourge The Heritic, Innocence Proves Nothing.
A side note, Sandy Mitchell is a pseudonym for Alex Stewart.

Reviewed by: Nick