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Ciaphas Cain
Ciaphas Cain
Series ·
17
books · 2003-2023
By
Sandy Mitchell
Books in series
#1
For the Emperor
2003
Commisar Ciaphas Cain - hero of the Imperium and renowned across the sector for his bravery and valour - is sent to help maintain order on an outpost world on the borders of Tau space. But when the alien ambassador is murdered and the situation quickly spirals out of control, Cain and his regiment of Valhallans find themselves in the middle of a war. As the Imperial Guard struggle to contain worldwide civil insurrection, can the wily Commisar Cain identify the real villian before the planet is lost to the Imperium forever ?
#2
Caves of Ice
2004
Still attached to the Valhallans, Commissar Ciaphas Cain fights orcs and necrons on the ice world of Frigidia.
#3
The Traitor's Hand
2005
Pseudo-heroic Imperial Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his unit, the 597th Valhallans, must defend the planet Adumbria from an invasion of the vile forces of Chaos.
#4
Death or Glory
2006
Yet again, reluctant hero Commissar Cain is catapulted into glory in the fourth story of this tremendously popular series. Escaping from a disastrous space battle, the commissar and his malodorous sidekick Jurgen crash-land behind enemy lines. The only way out is to round up what few troops they can find, and fight their way back to the safety of the Imperial lines. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of barbaric alien orks stand in their way!
#5
Duty Calls
2007
While assisting local forces quell widespread civil disorder, Commissar Cain and his regiment of Valhallans discover sinister forces are at work behind the scenes. With a rioting populace, aliens on the rampage, and the Inquisition poking their noses everywhere, how can the wily commissar ever find the easy life he prefers?
#6
Cain's Last Stand
2008
Audiobook 6 of the Ciaphas Cain Series The Imperium's most unlikely hero is back, reluctantly returning to the front line and hoping his luck will hold out! LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE This entry from the Cain Archives takes the Hero of the Imperium into his greatest – and possibly last – battle. He's an old man in this one, pulled out of retirement for one last mission as the hordes of Chaos close in on the Imperium... THE STORY After a long and distinguished career defending the Imperium from its many enemies, Commissar Cain is enjoying a well-deserved retirement on Perlia, teaching in a schola progenium. But when a Black Crusade threatens the sector, all able-bodied citizens must rise to the defence, including Cain and his cadets. As the forces of Chaos overwhelm Perlia, can the wily commissar prove himself to be a real hero of the Imperium one last time?
#7
The Emperor's Finest
2010
Commissar Cain is called to duty once more, saving a governor’s daughter from a planet over-run by rebels. The uprising hides something far more sinister however – genestealer hybrids! The search for the source of the alien threat leads Cain to a drifting space hulk – a far safer place than beside the obsessed governor’s daughter. But when the Reclamator Space Marines suffer devastating losses at the hands of the Great Devourer, Cain and his trusty aide Jurgen must go it alone. With the tyranids waking and a group of stow away orks on the loose, there are no safe places to run or hide, and Cain must use all his ingenuity and cunning to escape the space hulk alive.
#8
The Last Ditch
2012
Commissar Cain returns to an icy planet to crush a new wave of ork attacks, but inadvertently disturbs a far greater threat which has lain frozen and dormant for centuries in a new hardcover edition. Imperial commissar Ciaphas Cain returns to Nusquam Fundumentibus to crush the ork attacks which have been plaguing the frozen planet. But when his ship crashes into the wastelands outside the capital it disturbs a far greater enemy, one which has lain dormant under the permafrost since long before the Imperium came to this world, and could now threaten the whole sector. Faced with ongoing greenskin raids and keeping an over-enthusiastic novice commissar under control, Cain must rally his men and confront whatever emerges from beneath the rapidly melting ice...
#9
The Greater Good
2013
The new hardback Ciaphas Cain adventure When the world of Quadravidia comes under attack by the insidious tau, only one man can defeat the aliens and save the planet in the Emperor’s the legendary Hero of the Imperium, Commissar Ciaphas Cain. When the aliens call for a ceasefire, Cain expects the worst, and his fears are answered in the form of the dread menace of the tyranids. As a hive fleet approaches Quadravidia, Cain must try to forge an alliance between the Imperium and the tau – but can he truly trust the inscrutable xenos?
#10
Choose Your Enemies
2018
Book 10 in the Ciaphas Cain Series. Commissar Ciaphas Cain returns! After putting down an uprising on a mining world, he finds evidence that the corruption might have spread to other planets, and the forge world of Ironfound could now be at risk… It's been a long time, but the self-styled Hero of the Imperium is back in action! And he's doing what he does best – telling tall tales of his unlikely exploits. Commissar Ciaphas Cain and the Valhallan 597th are in the thick of it again, putting down an uprising of Chaos cultists on an Imperial mining world. Though their mission is a success, they find evidence that the corruption might have spread to other planets, and that the forge world of Ironfound could now be at risk. The munitions Ironfound produces are vital to the Imperial war effort in the subsector; its safety must be assured at all costs. 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.
Author
Sandy Mitchell
Author · 40 books
#11
Vainglorious
2023
Book 11 in the Ciaphas Cain SeriesCiaphas Cain is nearing retirement, but of course his fate leads him into a twisted web of deception, corruption, and an unfortunate amount of mortal peril. This time, it’s the Adeptus Mechanicus throwing spanners into his future plans of heroic rest and relaxation.READ IT BECAUSEThe darkly hilarious saga of a reluctant hero continues – packed with all the action, wit, and hijinks you’ve come to expect from Ciaphas and his comrades.THE STORYWhen the flow of desperately needed weapons for the Astra Militarum slows to nothing from a newly founded forge world, there’s only one man able and (un)willing to investigate… Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium.With Cain’s desperately sought-after retirement on the line, the Imperium’s most reluctant commissar must navigate insidious assassination attempts against his person, legions of mutinous skitarii, heresy within the upper echelons of the Adeptus Mechanicus itself… and a hidden foe, pulling the strings, with an agenda that could threaten the future of Imperial rule in the Damocles Gulf.
#12
Ciaphas Cain
2023
A Ciaphas Cain Anthology
This book brings together 13 uproarious short stories and one novella, focused on Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium. His stories are celebrated as heroic propaganda pieces, but he’s simply trying to stay alive in a hostile galaxy.
READ IT BECAUSE
Ciaphas Cain doesn’t mean to be a hero – he just can’t seem to help it. While trying to escape certain death, he somehow achieves unlikely victory after victory in the wildest and most dangerous warzones of the galaxy, to hilarious effect.
THE STORY
Ciaphas Cain is a true hero. Brave, stalwart, uncompromising, a cool head under fire… or is he? His legend has spread far and wide, but only Cain himself knows the truth behind his long and storied career. Until now. Inquisitor Amberley Vail once more delves into the Cain archive to present a selection of the man’s greatest and strangest exploits. From Cain and the Valhallan 597th hunting down the source of a warp-tainted infection that threatens to overwhelm the world of Lentonia with a starving horde of undead, to his early years with the Valhallan 12th Field Artillery fending off a tyranid invasion on a barren mining world, to the mysterious death of a fellow commissar that sees Cain’s life at risk (once again) as the killer’s attention turns to him…
CONTENTS
This anthology contains the novella Old Soldiers Never Die and the following short stories: \- Fight or Flight \- The Beguiling \- Echoes of the Tomb \- Sector Thirteen \- Traitor's Gambit \- A Mug of Recaff \- The Smallest Detail \- The Little Things \- Last Night at the Resplendent \- The Bigger They Are \- The Only Good Ork \- Three Questions \- Rotten to the Core
#30
The Bigger They Are
2021
A Ciaphas Cain story
A mysterious comet draws Commissar Ciaphas Cain into a dangerous mission, as he faces a foe bigger than any he has ever seen.
READ IT BECAUSE
Enjoy the usual mix of humour, excitement and outrageous, over-the-top action in a new tale of the Imperium's greatest hero (from a certain perspective).
THE STORY
Commissar Ciaphas Cain and the Valhallan 597th are enjoying a rest after dealing with a failed uprising on a peaceful world. Of course, fate intervenes, and a mysterious comet causes catastrophe on a distant island chain. Accompanying the planet's governor as she investigates, Cain find destruction – and danger.
#32
Rotten to the Core
2022
A Ciaphas Cain Short Story
The Hero of the Imperium returns to take on a deviant psyker.
READ IT BECAUSE
It follows one of the 41st Millennium's most loved characters on an unusual mission.
THE STORY
Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his faithful Jurgen undercover a malign psyker seeking to cause chaos by destabilising a key Imperial void station.
#33
Three Questions
2022
A Ciaphas Cain Short Story
READ IT BECAUSE
Despite his best efforts, Commissar Cain always ends up in hot water.
THE STORY
When Ciaphas Cain investigates the mysterious death of a fellow commissar, he soon finds his life in danger (once again) as the killer's attention turns to him.
#1-3
Hero of the Imperium
2007
Enjoy tall tales of adventure and derring-do in Commissar Cain’s memoirs. Tau, necrons and Chaos cultists all fall before the self-proclaimed hero of the Imperium… In the war torn future of the 41st Millennium Commissar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium, is respected by his peers and an inspiration to his men – at least that’s what the propaganda would have you believe. The reality is very different, for Ciaphas is simply looking for an easy life and a way to stay out of peril. However, fate has a habit of throwing him into the deadliest situations, and luck (mixed with self preservation) always manages to pull him through and onto the loftiest of pedestals. To survive Commissar Cain must dodge, bluff and trick his way out of trouble, even if it increases his status beyond his control!
#4-6
Defender of the Imperium
2010
The legendary Commissar Ciaphas Cain, lauded as one of the great heroes of the Imperium, finds himself thrust onto the battlefield again. Cain wants nothing more than to keep out of trouble and get to the other side of his commission in one piece, but the war-torn 41st millennium has other ideas. Confronted with the powers of Chaos and hordes of alien foes, our intrepid Commissar seeks to sidestep danger and talk his way out of trouble. Yet each time he survives his legend only grows, and his life is in ever-greater jeopardy… Defender of the Imperium contains the novels Death or Glory, Duty Calls and Cain’s Last Stand, plus the short story Traitor’s Gambit and a new introduction from author Sandy Mitchell.
