Category: Throwback Thursday

The Outsider by Stephen King

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Thriller, Throwback Thursday12 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton/Simon and Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 22 May 2018)

Series: Standalone/Holly Gibney series

Length: 18 hours and 41 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After years of having it on my to-read list, I finally got around to checking out The Outsider by Stephen King, and boy was it a particularly epic book.

Fans of this blog will know that I have been getting more and more into Stephen King lately, especially as I have been lucky enough to receive copies of his more recent books.  I have so far deeply enjoyed Mr Mercedes, Later, Billy Summers (one of my favourite books of 2021), Fairy Tale, Holly (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), and You Like it Darker (one of my favourite books from the first half of 2024).  These have all been amazing reads in their own way and I really enjoyed the elaborate stories, dark plots, and complex characters that King comes up with.  However, one of my new favourite King novels with a captivating scenario was the fantastic read The Outsider.

Released back in 2018, The Outsider was an intriguing novel that really caught my attention with its unique concept.  I immediately identified it as a book I wanted to read, but I was unable to fit it into my reading schedule back then, which I deeply regret now.  Despite not reading it when came out, The Outsider remained firmly in mind, especially as it had connections to the Bill Hodges trilogy, which I had also heard good things about.  This need to check out The Outsider was dramatically increased after I read Holly last year and was blown away by the elaborate and exceedingly dark story.  As such, I have been looking for an opportunity to enjoy The Outsider for a while, and a recent road trip gave me all the excuse I needed, and boy was I glad that I did.

It is the worst crime to ever occur in the history of Flint City.  A young boy, Frankie Peterson, has been brutally killed, raped and mutilated, his violated body left on display out in the local park.  The Flint City police, led by detective Ralph Anderson, are determined to find the monster responsible for Frankie Peterson’s death, and they soon zero in on a prime suspect, local sports coach and one of Flint City’s most respected citizens, Terrence Maitland.

With unassailable evidence and numerous witnesses placing him at the scene, the police have a watertight case against Maitland, and Anderson orders the public arrest of the coach in front of his family, friends, and the entire town.  However, despite the DNA, fingerprints, and numerous reliable witnesses indicating that Maitland killed Frankie, Maitland insists that he is innocent and has an airtight alibi for the time of the murder, having been in a major public conference in another city, surrounded by unimpeachable witnesses.

Determined to prove that Maitland committed the murder, Anderson and his colleagues attempt to destroy his alibi.  But the further they dig, the more apparent it becomes that Maitland was nowhere near the scene of the crime, and Anderson begins to believe Maitland’s pleas of innocence.  With lives being destroyed all around him and the citizens of Flint City baying for Maitland’s blood, Anderson is forced to figure out how a man can be in two places at once.  But when the situation takes a dark turn, both Anderson and Maitland’s supporters call in unusual investigator Holly Gibney, whose own experience with impossible cases will take them in the darkest of directions.

Well damn, that was particularly awesome.  I knew I was going to love The Outsider well before I read it, but even I was unprepared for how impressive and captivating this novel proved to be.  Featuring King’s typical elaborate storytelling, powerful characters, and unique insights into the human mind, The Outsider was a complex and sinister read that will have you hooked from the very beginning and which gets a very easy five-star rating from me.

King presents the reader with an incredibly, dark, complex and thoughtful narrative that burrows into your head and refuses to leave.  Starting off strong and proceeding into darker and more horror-lined territory, this complex narrative sucked me in almost instantly thanks to the very impressive initial story concept.  Introducing a particularly gruesome murder, The Outsider starts off in crime fiction/legal thriller territory, as King showcases the details of the initial arrest of Terrence Maitland, while also bringing in a few key characters.  These early chapters are cleverly offset by a series of short inclusions that showcase police interviews and forensic evidence for the main investigation, all of which firmly paints Maitland as the killer.  However, events take an outstanding turn shortly into the book, when Maitland reveals an impossibly airtight alibi that flies in the face of the substantial evidence of the police.  The full extent of this alibi is particularly compelling, especially with King name-dropping one of his peers, and it really turns the entire plot on its head.  The subsequent scenes are extremely intriguing, as the reader sees both sides of the case, and find themselves wondering if Maitland committed the crime, is completely innocent, or whether something far more sinister is going on.  I honestly love every second of this first half of The Outsider, and I cannot emphasise just how exceptional and thought-provoking this complex scenario proved to be.

At around the halfway point, The Outsider features a substantial moment that changes the entire tone and focus of the plot.  While I was initially a little disappointed with this, mainly because I was already loving the direction the story had been going up to that point, it helps turn The Outsider into a more typical King novel, loaded with complex horror elements that reflect dark human nature.  The author also deeply enhances the story’s emotional drama, placing several characters in terrible situations, and amping up the desperate tragedy of the plot.  Thanks to the introduction of recurring King protagonist Holly Gibney, the protagonists start to consider a more unnatural solution to the crime and begin to investigate accordingly.  I quite enjoyed the dive into the darker, supernatural side of the story, and the resulting investigation is quite unique, requiring the grounded protagonists to believe in the unknown.  King ensures that the supernatural investigation elements of the book come across in a compelling and sensible manner, and it was intriguing to see how the character’s reached their conclusions.  The case eventually leads the protagonists on an extended trip to Texas, which ends with a series of showdowns.  King keeps the intensity of the plot going all the way to the very end, and readers will be left guessing about who’s going to survive and how the story will unfold.  The chase for the culprit and the big showdown were a very solid conclusion to the entire narrative, and you will come away extremely satisfied with how The Outsider ended.

I really enjoyed how this book came together, and I personally think that this was one of the stronger King novels I have so far had the pleasure of reading.  A lot of this comes down to the initial clever scenario, which King does an extremely good job of setting up.  The whole idea of someone accused of a crime they are innocent of and have a perfect alibi for really makes you think, and King utilises it to perfection, diving into the thoughts of the police, the alleged perpetrator, and the various family members associated with it.  It helped that King once again returned to his favourite setting of a small American town, and he was able to capture the resulting chaos as rumour and fear spread throughout Flint City.  You can really feel the emotional turmoil of all the people in the town, especially the main characters, and it helped to deeply enhance the impact of every scene, especially when you have no idea whether Maitland committed the crime or not.  The way in which the author starts off as a more traditional crime fiction story also works extremely well and helps to drag the readers into the plot with its mystery.  However, the transition over to horror is particularly effective, and the way in which the darkness infecting the plot goes from that created by ordinary humans to something more supernatural, is an effective and powerful part of the book.  This proved to be a particularly haunting and moving read that will keep you up late at night thinking about how you would react in the exact same scenario.

While most of King’s books prove to be standalone reads, The Outsider is connected to the author’s previous Bill Hodges series due to the inclusion of a major supporting character.  I had heard in advance that readers needed to be familiar with the Bill Hodges books to fully appreciate this book, however, I felt that The Outsider stood on its own merits as a standalone novel.  New readers can easily dive into The Outsider’s excellent story without any issues and will become enthralled in King’s complex mystery and his excellent depictions of human nature.  Established fans of the Bill Hodges books will probably get the most out of The Outsider, especially as it is a continuation of King’s unique look at the crime fiction genre, and the return of a key character offers a lot of opportunities for those who loved his previous trilogy.  However, I would say that this is a book that pretty much all mystery, thriller or horror fans can really enjoy, as there is something for everyone here, although some readers should be warned about how dark and graphic this story can get.

I really need to highlight the outstanding character work that King featured within The Outsider.  This fantastic book featured a rich cast of complex small-town characters who find themselves caught up the twisted darkness of a small child’s murder and the subsequent revelations about who was behind it.  King does such an exceptional job of diving into the various mindscapes of the impacted characters, from the obsessed investigating detective who is taking the case personally, to the distressed wife of the apparent killer, and even the confused accused himself.  The complicated mindscapes of all these characters, and more, are shown in exquisite detail throughout The Outsider, and you really grow attached to their powerful personal tales.

While I don’t want to go into too much specific detail about the book’s primary cast here for spoiler reasons, I will say that the way the various characters deal with events and the many dark twists makes for quite a personal and emotionally charged read, and it was fascinating to watch so many characters try to let go of their conventional thinking and try to see the world in a different light.  I also must highlight the intriguing way in which King enhances his cast in the second half of The Outsider by bringing in investigator Holly Gibney from the Bill Hodges trilogy.  Holly, the slightly unusual but brilliant private eye, proved to be a compelling addition to the plot, and it proved very interesting to see her interact with the established cast, especially as Holly has a much more open mind due to her previous experiences.  Fans of the Bill Hodges books will really love seeing Holly return, and her compelling character development since her original appearance in Mr Mercedes proves to be a great part of the book.  I really cannot emphasise just how impressive the various characters, as well as their complex development, is in The Outsider, and you will have to check it out.  Be warned though, no one comes out of this book unscathed, including the reader when they become attached to these great figures.

As I mentioned above, I managed to enjoy The Outsider while out on a road trip, which meant that I listened to the audiobook version of it.  I have had some great success with Stephen King audiobooks in the past, and The Outsider was another impressive example of how this format can enhance the powerful story within.  Coming in with a substantial runtime of nearly 19 hours, listeners do require a bit of a time investment for The Outsider audiobook, but it is well worth it.  I felt that I got a fantastic sense of the story while listening to it, and I love the intense depictions of the characters, the small-town setting, and the dark deeds being done within.

In addition to the great way it brings to the story to life for the reader, one of the big highlights of The Outsider audiobook was the inclusion of veteran actor Will Patton as the narrator.  Patton, who has lent his voice to several of King’s previous audiobooks, does an outstanding job narrating The Outsider.  His softly spoken and measured voice really fits the dark and sinister story contained within The Outsider, and you get an excellent sense of the personal horror and complex emotions that the events of this book unleash.  Patton also does an outstanding job voicing the eclectic and damaged characters featured within The Outsider.  Patton infected many of these characters with his southern accent, which fit the small-town vibe of The Outsider extremely well, and you can really imagine King’s characters a lot better with Patton’s voice behind them.  Highlights for me include his take on the antagonist of The Outsider’s real voice, as well as an entertaining old lady found down in Texas, who steals all the scenes she’s in, especially with Patton’s exaggerated tones.  However, I did feel that Patton overplayed the awkward nature of Holly Gibney when she entered the plot.  Patton made all of Holly’s dialogue, as well as the description of events in the chapters told from her perspective, very subdued and halting, which messed with the flow of the audiobook.  While I know that he was trying to capture Holly’s ethereal and damaged nature with this narration, it was honestly a bit distracting.  Despite this slight annoyance, this ended up being an awesome way to enjoy The Outsider and I can personally guarantee that it is an incredible accompaniment to a long road-trip.

Overall, The Outsider proved to an outstanding and exceptional book from the always impressive Stephen King that I could not get enough off.  Featuring both an incredible mystery and some brilliant dark horror moments, The Outsider is a particularly gripping and intense read that will live rent free in the dark corners of your brain.  Highly recommended and one of my new favourite Stephen King books.

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Warhammer 40,000: Cain’s Last Stand by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer5 Comments

Cain's Last Stand Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 January 2008)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Six

Length: 10 hours and 30 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

I’ve been on a real roll with the amazing Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell (a pseudonym of Alex Stewart) lately, which is easily one of the funniest Warhammer 40,000 series out there.  Amazing books like For the Emperor, Caves of Ice, The Traitor’s Hand, Death or Glory and Duty Calls have all proved to be highly entertaining, and I like the author’s take on a less heroic figure in the martyr-filled grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe.  As such, when in need of a particularly fun read, I made the very easy choice to power through another entry in this classic series last week with the sixth book, Cain’s Last Stand.  This was an unsurprisingly awesome book, and I loved the intriguing story that emerged.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, legendary hero of the Imperium and self-professed fraudulent coward, has done the near impossible and survived decades of brutal service in the Imperial Guard.  Now effectively retired from active duty, Cain has returned to the planet of Perlia, which he helped save from an ork invasion early in his career, and now spends his time teaching Commissar cadets at the planet’s Schola Progenium.  However, the battle is never truly over for Cain, and soon dark forces begin to descend once again.

Half a galaxy away, Abaddon the Despoiler has launched his 13th Black Crusade, determined to invade the Imperium of Man.  While most of the fighting occurs around the fortress world of Cadia, a splinter fleet has broken off and is heading deep into the Imperium, defeating several forces sent to stop it.  When it becomes apparent that this fleet is heading directly for Perlia, Cain is once again forced into action, especially as he knows exactly what they are coming for.

An ancient alien device of devastating power lies hidden on Perlia, one capable of reshaping reality itself, and Cain is one of the few people who knows it’s there.  With no means of escape available and the fate of the galaxy in the balance, Cain is forced to lead the defence of Perlia against the oncoming Chaos tide.  With only a ramshackle army of local soldiers, militia and students from the Schola under his command, the defence of the planet looks grim, especially when faced with a charismatic Chaos lord and his fanatically loyal soldiers.  Worse, a far greater evil has its eyes on Perlia, one that Cain fears above all else.  Can the legendary hero of the Imperium pull out one last impossible victory before he rides off into the sunset, or has Cain finally met his match at the site of his greatest triumph?

Mitchell continues to bring joy to the dark Warhammer 40,000 universe with this epic sixth entry, which I had so much fun with.  Cain’s Last Stand was an excellent read, and I loved the cool and elaborate story that emerged.

I think Cain’s Last Stand might be one of my favourite stories that Mitchell has so far used for the Ciaphas Cain series, especially because it differs from the standard narrative patterns of the series, while also cleverly tying together some intriguing ongoing storylines.  Set further into the future than any of the previous books, you get to see a nearly retired Cain in action, as the series finally ties itself into the events of the 13th Black Crusade (the original version of it, not the darker recent retcon).  I liked how Mitchell takes the reader back to the setting of the fourth book, Death or Glory, and the initial scenes of Cain as a reluctant but capable teacher, were very fun.  The switch from Tyranids to Chaos as the main threat is handled extremely well, and I liked the continued niggle that even worse enemies are lurking around.  The subsequent reveal that the reason behind the invasion is due to the ancient artefact first hinted at in Death or Glory and then expanded on in Duty Calls was great, and Mitchell does an excellent job of tying the various ongoing storylines together.

The second half of Cain’s Last Stand proves to be a very fun planetary invasion arc, especially as Cain works to rally an unusual array of defenders, including untrained militia, under strength garrison forces, and his own students.  The forces of Chaos prove to be excellent foes for this story, and I liked the much more insidious nature of the threat that emerged, especially as there was a slow build to the reveal.  After plenty of action, clever ploys, some touching tragedy, and so much misdirection from the protagonist, the story eventually heads to the inevitable last stand, which cleverly mirrors a similar event from Death or Glory.  Mitchell does a great job of building up anticipation for this event, and it doesn’t disappoint as there are some excellent action sequences and fun revelations that occurred.  I particularly enjoyed the big bluff that leads to the death of a certain enemy, especially as it was a classic Cain antic.  The final reveal about the actual big bad of the story was well handled, and it leaves this storyline open for the future, which I am very excited for.  An overall excellent addition to the series that builds on the prior novels while offering existing fans something new to enjoy.

Mitchell continues to utilise the fantastic writing style that has made the other Ciaphas Cain books so much fun, and I love how it cleverly enhances the narrative of Cain’s Last Stand.  As always, the cool journal format, equipped with entertaining footnotes and in-universe texts from Inquisitor Amberley Vail, ensures that you get a frank and cynical look at events in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and I love the inherent humour that results.  The various action scenes are exciting and fast-paced, and the constant commentary of complaints and annoyance that emerges from the protagonist are very entertaining.  This action and compelling humour are well offset by some of the darker elements of the plot, including some genuinely tragic moments, and you get thrown around the emotional ringer as a result.  This mixture of elements helped to create a much more impactful and complex read, and I appreciated some occasional seriousness to go with the impressive humour.

As with most books in the Ciaphas Cain series, Cain’s Last Stand can be read as a standalone read, especially as the author does a good job of rehashing relevant events from the prior novels.  However, for the full experience, especially when it comes to some fascinating storylines, reading the last two books would be good, and I really enjoyed how the author kept bringing the story back to these prior adventures.  While there was once again some repetition between books as Mitchell reutilises his favourite lines, I felt that the more original story and important connections to previous books ensured that Cain’s Last Stand stood out and got away from some of these minor issues.  An excellently written book that will appeal to both new readers and established fans of the series.

As always, I must give a callout to the outstanding characters featured in Cain’s Last Stand.  This of course includes Commissar Ciaphas Cain, the main protagonist and narrator, whose harrowing adventures we continue to follow.  I’ve talked a lot about the exciting dichotomy of Cain throughout my previous reviews, especially as he can be considered both a hero and a coward, and I loved seeing that occur again in Cain’s Last Stand.  Cain continues to be both a self-serving cad and a peerless commander, and it always fun to see himself plot to survive while discounting his own accomplishments.  His adventures in this book are particularly fun, and the inclusion of the protagonist as a teacher trying to get his methodology of command to Commissar cadets was a great choice from Mitchell and plays nicely on some of his offhand comments in previous books.  This, as well as the return to a planet important to his mythos, ensures that Cain has a lot to think about in Cain’s Last Stand, and I really enjoyed the way his past adventures keep coming back to haunt him.  This was a powerful adventure for Cain, and I always enjoy seeing the protagonist debate his own legacy whilst doing his trademark daring deeds.

The supporting cast for Cain’s Last Stand was also very good, and it provided an interesting mixed of established characters, returning figures, and raft of great new comrades.  This includes Inquisitor Amberley Vail, whose role as the overarching narrator of the book, as well as the person behind the footnotes, ensures that her fun influence is felt the entire way through.  Cain’s faithful bagman, Jurgen, was also a welcome inclusion, and his loyal service and fun interactions with Cain were as great as always.  Jurgen once again showed why he is the true MVP of the Ciaphas Cain series, and you have to love the entertaining contrast between his Baldrick-esque appearance and his impressive abilities.  Other great characters include a favourite character from Death or Glory, an interesting array of fellow teachers from Cain’s Schola Progenium, and other unique comrades for the protagonist.  I particularly enjoyed the class of Commissar cadets who are being instructed by Cain, and it was fun to see the range of different personalities they had.  Throw in a smarmy Chaos warlord whose charisma and influence outweighed his abilities and stature, and you had a great cast for Cain’s Last Stand, and I had a lot of fun seeing Cain interact with them.

I once again had an outstanding time with the audiobook format of this book, and frankly there is no better way to enjoy a Ciaphas Cain novel.  Thanks to the epic and well-cast multiple narrators, readers get an amazing experience when they listen to Cain’s Last Stand, especially as it helps to really capture the crazy nature of the plot.  The main narrators are Stephen Perring and Penelope Rawlins, who voice Cain’s perspective and Inquisitor Vail’s notes respectfully.  Perring once again does an incredible job voicing the main cast of the story, especially Cain and Jurgen, while Rawlins has a lot of fun including her character’s informative, if often sarcastic, comments throughout the plot.  These two main narrators complement each other extremely well, and I always have an awesome time listening to them.  The audiobook also features the talents of additional narrators Richard Reed, John Banks and Phillipe Bosher, each of whom voice fun in-universe texts and pieces of propaganda to liven up the main plot and provide some amusing context for the main story.  I have so much love for how these narrators bring the story together and this proved to be another impressive audiobook to listen to, especially as its great style really fit the fantastic story Mitchell came up with.  With a run time of 10 hours and 30 minutes, this is a very easy audiobook to get through quickly, and I managed to finish it off in no time at all.

Cain’s Last Stand was another amazing entry in the Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell, and I have so much love for this entertaining and fun Warhammer 40,000 series.  This sixth book was a particularly impressive entry in the series, and I loved the complex story that emerged, especially as it brings together several previous adventures from Mitchell’s outstanding protagonist.  A clever, exciting and overall funny book that I could not get enough of, Cain’s Last Stand comes highly recommended and I look forward to continuing this series in the future.

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Warhammer 40,000: Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer7 Comments

Duty Calls Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 22 May 2007)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Five

Length: 9 hours and 37 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

One of the most entertaining authors of Warhammer fiction, Sandy Mitchell, continues to shine with the fifth book in his excellent Ciaphas Cain series, Duty Calls.

I doubt anyone is too surprised to hear that I broke a recent lull of reading by resuming the Ciaphas Cain series.  The Ciaphas Cain books, written by Sandy Mitchell (the alternate penname of author Alex Stewart), are an outstanding series that aims to bring a little humour to the crazy and dark battles of the gothic Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I have deeply enjoyed the first four books in this series, For the Emperor, Caves of Ice, The Traitor’s Hand and Death or Glory, and this honestly is one of the very best Warhammer 40,000 series out there.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium and self-confessed self-serving coward, continues his exciting and deadly adventures when a new dark threat rises to destroy humanity.  After his last harrowing adventure with the Valhallan 597th, Cain is keen for a less deadly experience, and his new deployment to help crack down on civil unrest on the planet of Periremunda seems to be the ticket.  However, nothing is ever simple when Cain is involved.

Upon arriving on Periremunda, Cain quickly finds his life in danger as a series of assassination attempts are made against him.  Realising that his assailants are genestealers, the deadly scouts of the Tyranid swarm, Cain begins to understand the true danger Periremunda is in, as the genstealers herald the approach a Hive Fleet.  But unstoppable hordes of alien creatures are the least of Cain’s worries as he is reunited with his old flame, Inquisitor Amberley Vail.

Ostensibly on Periremunda to help the Imperial Guard stave off the Tyranid invasion, it soon becomes apparent that Vail is there for a darker reason.  Something incredibly important has been hidden on the planet that has the potential to change the entire Imperium.  Forced to assist Vail, Cain and his trusty aide, Jurgen, find themselves thrust into the deadly intricacies of a battle between hidden underground factions.  But with hungry Tyranids all around, deadly assassins gunning for Cain and a mysterious Chaos cult causing mischief, can Cain survive his deadliest encounter yet?

Duty Calls was an awesome addition to the Ciaphas Cain series that builds on several of the prior adventures, while also testing the protagonist in some fun new ways.  I loved the interesting story contained with Duty Calls, and this was one of Mitchell’s stronger additions to the series.

This fifth Ciaphas Cain novel had a great story behind it, although I am sure that prior readers will be familiar with the overall thrust of the narrative, with the seemingly cowardly Cain arriving on a new planet to face one threat, only to discover a much more dangerous enemy hiding beneath the surface that he is forced to reluctantly face and defeat, once again accidentally proving that he is a hero.  While Mitchell does try to break this story premise up throughout the series, this is a recurring story format, which can get a little too repetitive.  However, I think that Duty Calls stands on its own feet and Mitchell does a good job distinguishing it from the previous entries in the series.  The initial hidden threat of genestealers transforms into a massive Tyranid invasion, and it proved intriguing to see the protagonist face off against the ravening alien forces.  Tyranids are easily one of the best antagonists in the entire Warhammer 40,000 canon, and while they lose a little of their fighting ability in the face of Cain’s plot armour, they proved to be a great threat in Duty Calls.

While Mitchell could have probably left Duty Calls as simply a military novel, the inclusion of major recurring character Inquisitor Amberley Vail ensures that Cain is thrust into a much more subtle form of danger alongside the Tyranid invasion.  Caught between warring factions of the Inquisition and Adeptus Mechanicus, Cain is used as a pawn in the resulting shadow war, and there are some great scenes as Cain dodges assassination attempts, hidden Chaos cults, and other unseen dangers, all while trying to work out what the elaborate conspiracy is.  Novels that focus on the plots and conspiracies of Inquisitors are always very cool in the Warhammer 40,000 universe (see my reviews for Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus by Dan Abnett), and Mitchell fits Cain into this intrigue laden story arc extremely well.  It helped that there was some excellent set-up for this in the previous novel, and it was good to get a continuation here.  The resulting combination of storylines comes together really well, and Duty Calls has a really impressive and addictive narrative that will appeal to all fans of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.

As with the previous Ciaphas Cain novels, Mitchell does a great job of balancing the various elements of Duty Calls perfectly.  While primarily a military focused science fiction read, Duty Calls also has some great elements of intrigue and espionage, which ensures extra levels of excitement and danger.  However, I feel that the best part of Duty Calls is the inherent humour that Mitchell produces, which is a real rarity in Warhammer fiction.  Most of this is due to the hilarious and cynical narration of the main character, who pulls no punches when it comes to describing how ridiculous events are and the fact that he’s caught in the middle of them.  Extra humour is also built in due to the contained chronicle format that Mitchell has set the series out in, with the protagonist’s journal entries enhanced by extra documentation, descriptions, references and notes from Cain’s associate, Inquisitor Vail.  Vail’s sarcastic take on Cain’s description of events throughout these extra notes is a lot of fun, and the additional in-universe texts and broadcasts seek to showcase just how ridiculous humanity and the Imperium has gotten in the war-torn future, with over-the-top bits of propaganda and biased historical documents.  All this adds to quite a funny book, and this built-in comedy pairs remarkably well with the more serious parts of Duty Call’s narrative to create a truly addictive and fun read.

I felt that Duty Calls was a strong entry in the Ciaphas Cain series, especially as it builds nicely off the events of the preceding novel, Death or Glory.  Due to the series looking at different time periods of Cain’s career, Duty Calls is set between the second and third books, although it makes a lot of references to the first novel, and the events of Death or Glory, which took place many years before.  While the jumps around the timeline are a little confusing, Mitchell makes it work, and I liked seeing the return of several recurring characters, as well as a continuation of some mysterious storylines from the previous book.  Despite these connections, Duty Calls also works quite well as a standalone novel, and new readers can jump into the series here without too many issues.  Indeed, Duty Calls is a good introduction to both the Tyranids and the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and the Ciaphas Cain books are very much engineered for new Warhammer fans.  I will say that after reading several Ciaphas Cain books in a row, Mitchell’s proclivity for repeating elements from his other novels is a bit more obvious, and you do get a little weary of hearing the same phrases, descriptions and character depictions again and again.  Still, Mitchell ensures that Duty Calls is a particularly entertaining read, so its easy to really get stuck into it, and I deeply enjoyed seeing this unique series continue.

As always, I must mention the great characters featured within Duty Calls.  The most prominent of these is series protagonist Ciaphas Cain, who might be one of the more complex and debated figures in the Warhammer 40,000 canon.  Shown by his own admission to be a coward and a false hero, Cain spends most of the book trying to come up with ways to avoid combat and surviving the inevitable battles that his reputation and own bad luck force him to participate in.  His memoirs are filled with cynical allusions to the methods he utilises to survive, and you can see that Mitchell is trying to emulate classic characters like Flashman or Blackadder.  However, despite the character’s constant assurances that he is no hero, you see time and time again that there is far more to Cain, as he routinely defeats the enemy, often thanks to his own caution, survival instincts and ability to inspire his fellow troops.  I love how you are constantly rooting for Cain, despite his attempts to weasel out of trouble, and his self-deprecation about his actions really makes you feel for him, especially as its apparent that he is just one filled with self-doubt after not being an over-the-top martyr like the other heroes in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  At the same time, Cain also provides a lot of the book’s humour, as you are bombarded with his fun comments and cynical attitude about everyone he encounters.  As such, I really appreciate Cain as a central character in this series, and it is always so much fun to follow him throughout his adventures.

Aside from Cain, there is an interesting array of characters featured in Duty Calls who I had a lot of fun with.  Many of them are recurring from the previous novels, and it was good to see various familiar faces again.  This includes Cain’s faithful aide, Jurgen, who Mitchell portrays in a manner like Baldrick from Blackadder, due to his apparent gormless attitude and poor personal hygiene.  However, in many ways Jurgen is just as much a hero as Cain, often being the one to save the day with his skills and big gun, and he forms a great team with Cain, especially as his Commissar is usually the one drawing the enemy’s attention from his aide’s attacks.  I also really enjoyed seeing the return of Inquisitor Amberley Vail, both as a character in Cain’s adventures and the person publishing his memoirs.  Vail proves to be the perfect foil to Cain for many reasons, and I like how she’s the only person who can effectively manipulate Cain and doesn’t fall for his lies and schemes.  Vail constantly calls out Cain, both in person and through the footnotes she amends to his chronicles, and I love how she has his number, while also clearly caring for Cain as a partner.  Duty Calls really shows just how dangerous Vail can be though, especially as she gets into the fight and makes some tough decisions.  Other interesting characters include several familiar soldiers from the Valhallan 597th, the outrageous members of Vail’s inquisitorial retinue, and a several intriguing antagonists who prove to be great and over-the-top opponents to the sensible Cain.  All these characters added a lot to the impact of the book, and I cannot wait to see how they fit into Cain’s adventures again in the future.

Readers who have seen my previous Ciaphas Cain reviews know that the only way I am going to enjoy this series is through its audiobook format.  All Warhammer novels make awesome audiobooks, but the Ciaphas Cain audiobooks are something particularly special thanks to the use of multiple narrators.  Duty Calls features six separate narrators who add a great deal to the production thanks to their fantastic voices and entertaining takes on the characters and universe.  Most of this narration is done by the superbly talented Stephen Perring, who lends his voice to all the chapters told from Cain’s perspective.  As such, he covers most of the first-person action and adventures of the main character, and his take on the complex Cain and his colleagues is exceptional.  The way he captures the various aspects of Cain’s character through his voice work is impressive, and you really get a sense of the multiple layers surrounding his motivations.  Perring also does a really good job of capturing the other intriguing characters Cain interacts with, including his aid Jurgen, and the eclectic members of the Inquisition that crosses his path.

After Perring, the most prominent narrator is Penelope Rawlins, who provides narrations for the various inclusions written by Inquisitor Vail.  As such, Rawlin’s voice is constantly interjected into the audiobook at various points as she reads out the footnotes, context pages, and personal remarks from Vail, as she attempts to make Cain’s story more readable.  Rawlins has really perfected her Vail voice over the course of the series, and it is always great to have the playful, informative, and often gently exasperated tones of a chronicling Inquisitor come through the plot.  There is also some good contrast between Perring and Rawlins, especially as both voice the character of Vail throughout Duty Calls, and they serve as a winning main team.

The other four narrators, Emma Gregory, Richard Reed, Tara Rawson and Andrew James Spooner are also very fun, even if they are used a little sparingly.  These four narrators’ voice extracts from various in-universe texts, chronicles and new casts that Inquisitor Vail has added to Cain’s manuscripts to give them more context.  These talented narrators go all out in voicing these intriguing and often over-the-top inclusions, and I love the humorous spin their excellent narration adds to them as a result.  Gregory is particularly noteworthy, especially as she once again voices the ridiculously patriotic memoirs of an officer fighting alongside Cain, but all these extra narrators do such a great job.  This excellent and entertaining combination of voice actors and audiobook narrators turns Duty Calls into a real treat to listen to, and I honestly cannot recommend this format enough to anyone interested in checking out the Ciaphas Cain series.

I continue to fall further in love with the Ciaphas Cain series as Sandy Mitchell produces another amazing and fun story in Duty Calls.  Loaded with action, humour, and a particularly complex protagonist, Duty Calls had everything I’ve come to expect from the Ciaphas Cain series, and I deeply enjoyed how Mitchell continues to showcase the Warhammer 40,000 universe in his own distinctive way.  I can think of no better way to highlight just how much of a great time I had with Duty Calls than to reveal that I automatically started listening to the sequel Cain’s Last Stand, the moment I finished it.  Highly recommended to all Warhammer fans and new readers wanting some fun science fiction adventures.

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Warhammer 40,000: Death or Glory by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer9 Comments

Death or Glory Cover 2

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 28 February 2006)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Four

Length: 8 hours and 50 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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After recently getting through awesome Warhammer 40,000 novels like Straight Silver and Sabbat Martyr, I was in the mood for even more fantastic fiction, so I decided to check out the always reliable Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell with Death or Glory.

The Ciaphas Cain books are an outstanding and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 series that shows the grimdark universe in a whole new light.  Written by talented author Sandy Mitchell (a pseudonym of Alex Stewart), the Ciaphas Cain books follow an unlikely hero, Commissar Ciaphas Cain.  Despite being a Commissar, officers who are supposed to be embodiments of duty, discipline and bravery, Cain is a highly practical and fearful man who wants to stay alive in the deadly Warhammer 40,000 universe.  However, his attempts to stay out of the fight usually result in him getting thrust into even more danger which he needs to survive using his trademark cunning and manipulation tactics.  His various adventures have also turned him into a legendary hero throughout the Imperium of Man, something that results in even more trouble for unlucky Commissar.

The Ciaphas Cain books are always a lot of fun to read, especially as Mitchell takes a comedic take to the Warhammer universe.  Loaded with unlikely coincidences, clever humour and over-the-top characters, the first three Ciaphas Cain novels, For the Emperor, Caves of Ice and The Traitor’s Hand, have been extremely awesome and this is easily one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 series.  As such, when I needed something particularly entertaining to listen to, I chose the fourth book in the series, Death or Glory.

Relatively young Commissar Ciaphas Cain is not yet the hero of the Imperium he is fated to become, although he has already started to gain a reputation he doesn’t believe he deserves.  After stopping a genestealer infestation, Cain and the artillery unit he is attached to are ordered to the planet of Perlia, which has fallen under siege by the orks.  Happy to spend the next war far behind the lines with the artillery, Cain is unprepared for the dangers to come.

Upon arriving in the Perlia system, the ship Cain is travelling aboard comes under ork attack and Cain has no choice but to rapidly disembark in an escape pod.  Trapped with his aid, Jurgen, Cain’s pod is shot down before they can be rescued, which results in them crashlanding on Perlia.  Hoping to find sanctuary after a harrowing adventure in space, Cain is horrified to discover that they have crashed into the wrong side of the planet and are currently stuck well behind enemy lines.

Knowing that the only way to survive the ork hordes is to rejoin the main Imperial army, Cain has no choice but to embark on a dangerous road trip across the continent.  However, with thousands of brutish orks in the way, Cain will need help to survive.  Pulling together an unlikely army of scattered troops and desperate civilians, Cain heads off into the desert, hoping to find his salvation.  Their resulting journey will pit them against the full ork army and help turn Cain into a legend known throughout the galaxy.

Death or Glory was another exceedingly fun and deeply captivating entry in the Ciaphas Cain series that once again places Mitchell’s complex protagonist in all manner of trouble.  Action-packed, clever, and filled with excellent humour, Death or Glory was an outstanding read that I could not get enough of.

I really enjoyed the awesome story that Mitchell came up with for Death and Glory, particularly because it was a somewhat fresh take on the usual narrative.  Rather than following Cain as he works with his regiment to stop a hidden threat, Death or Glory shows Cain alone (except for Jurgen) and behind enemy lines on an ork controlled world.  Acting as a prequel to the previous novels in the series, you see the slightly younger Cain attempt to find his way back to safety, only to encounter multiple groups of refugees and scattered soldiers who turn to him for leadership.  The resulting story turns into a hilarious combination of Mad Max, Laurence of Arabia, and Kelly’s Heroes, as Cain leads his band, many of whom are crewing crude ork vehicles, across the ork controlled territories, including a vast desert.  There are several amazing battle scenes that see the humans fight back against the orks in desperate situations, often won thanks in part to Cain’s tactical insight and his unlikely manoeuvres designed to keep him alive.  This is a non-stop story, and you get really drawn into the constant travel, fighting and attempts at survival that emerge.  The orks prove to be great antagonists for the story, especially as Mitchell provides them as a mostly serious enemy.  While they are slightly underpowered in the face of the unbeatable Cain, and you do see the inherently sillier side of them, Mitchell also makes sure to showcase their prowess and brutality, which keeps the stakes high and the story even more captivating.  Ending on a final battle where Cain showcases his unlikely heroism by pure chance, Death or Glory had me hooked with its story the entire way through, and I loved the fantastic scenario that Mitchell came up with.

I have mentioned in previous reviews of the Ciaphas Cain series that Mitchell has an outstanding style that really enhance the story and bring out the innate humour within.  This is once again the case for Death or Glory, as the story is primarily told in the chronicle form from Cain’s perspective.  These unvarnished insights into Cain’s mind paint a vivid and fun picture of the events he was involved in, and you get some interesting insights into his actual motivations.  This fun story is further enhanced by the fact the memoirs have been modified by Cain’s associate, Inquisitor Vail, as she adds in a variety of notes, additional information, in-universe historical texts and footnotes.  Not only are these delightful additions informative and serve as a great way to quickly insert details of the larger war into the plot, but they are also quite funny due to the author’s sarcastic tone.  I love some of the entertaining jokes that emerge in the footnotes, especially as it allows the author to quickly reference certain ridiculous elements of life in the Warhammer universe, many of which are parodies of classic British activities.  These additional notes really change the tone of the entire book, and I love how it allows Mitchell to turn Death and Glory into something far more than a typical war story.

While there is a definite focus on humour in Death or Glory, there is still a ton of action and intense adventure here, as Mitchell draws inspiration from classic desert war movies.  The carnage of the orks is bleak, the battles are hard, and the situation is desperate as Cain and his comrades navigate the desert.  These darker elements play off the humour of Death and Glory extremely well, and I loved the complex narrative that emerged.  I enjoyed how Mitchell kept up the same excellent level of humour and compelling story elements that the previous entries were known for, and there was a strong effort to keep it consistent with the previous books.  You do notice that Mitchell utilises a bit of repetition in his books, with similar lines and descriptions used again and again.  While this is not too noticeable if you take a break in between books, it is very apparent for chain readers.  Still, this is a minor issue that Mitchell does a good job of dispelling in Death or Glory with the more unique storyline.

Like most of the entries in this series, Death or Glory can be read as a standalone novel with no real pre-knowledge of the previous books needed to enjoy it.  Indeed, Death or Glory is set earlier than the other Ciaphas Cain books, so this is a good entry point to the larger series.  There are a few references to the other Ciaphas Cain books, which established fans will enjoy, and Mitchell also provides clever hints at future events Cain will have to encounter.  Death or Glory also serves as a very fun introduction to the ork faction, especially as our protagonist has never encountered them before.  This allows the reader to get a fresh outside perspective on these alien characters, while also including details that hardcore Warhammer fans will appreciate.  As such, Death or Glory proves to be an awesome addition to the series that will appeal to fans of all levels and could easily spark a new reader to fall in love with Warhammer 40,000 fiction.

A recurring highlight of this series is the fantastic characters who populate the narrative, particularly main protagonist Ciaphas Cain.  Cain is a particularly complex Warhammer 40,000 character, mainly because he is both a renowned hero and a self-serving coward who only wants to avoid a fight.  Portrayed as a fun combination of Blackadder and Flashman, Cain is shown to be purely selfish, with his every move calculated to keep himself alive.  However, through accident or something else, his plans often backfire, forcing him into over-the-top dangerous situations that ensure others see him as an amazing hero.  This is on full display in Death or Glory as Cain pulls together a band of survivors that gets far larger and more chaotic the further they get along.  Despite his plan being designed to get himself to safety, many see him as a heroic revolutionary leader, which he is forced to maintain to keep his band of protectors loyal to him.  It is quite fun to see everyone misinterpret his decisions, and several fictional historical texts showcase the process of overexaggerating his deeds in hilarious detail.  However, despite all his protestations to the reader about being a coward, you once again see that there is far more to Cain than he lets on.  Rather than being a terrible person, he is just a sensible and tactically aware figure in a universe where the actions of unachievably brave heroes are constantly lauded.  This has led Cain to completely underestimate his own self-worth, even though he is routinely shown to be an impressive fighter, clever tactician, and caring leader.  I love this complex look at Cain, especially as his self-deprecating account ensures he is even more likeable, despite his selfish habits, and you really get drawn in to his crazy adventures.

Aside from Cain, several other figures were impressive in Death or Glory.  The most prominent, at least from impact on the book, is Cain’s associate Inquisitor Vail.  Despite not actually appearing as a character in the main adventure, Vail’s presence is strongly felt as she is the one editing and presenting Cain’s fictional memoirs.  As such, you are constantly gifted with Vail’s overlying narration and notes, especially as she provides greater context to the story and translates some of Cain’s wilder claims.  Thanks to her sarcasm, as well as her personal insights into Cain’s actual character, Vail provides a fantastic alternate viewpoint of events, and it is always fun to see her call out Cain for his lies and terrible writing style.  The other major character you must talk about is Cain’s aid and reliable bodyguard, Jurgen.  The Baldrick to Cain’s Blackadder, Jurgen is generally shown to be an unhygienic, smelly, and slightly dim companion who is utterly loyal to Cain.  However, despite this appearance, Jurgen proves to be an interesting and likeable figure, and he forms an excellent partnership with Cain.  His skills are well on display in Death or Glory, mainly due to his intimate knowledge about orks, and he once again showed himself to be an unappreciated part of Cain’s ultimate victory.  Throw in a band of intriguing survivors who flock around Cain, including several capable soldiers, a somewhat insane Tech-priest and determined troop of civilians, and Death and Glory had some great characters you can’t help but root for.

I have mentioned multiple times in the past that the best way to enjoy a Warhammer 40,000 novel is in its audiobook format.  Nowhere is that truer than the Ciaphas Cain books, which make excellent use of multiple narrators to expertly adapt the fantastically funny content of the novels.  Death or Glory is an outstanding example of this, as the brilliant production and excellent narrators produced something that I powered through very shortly, even with its nearly nine-hour long runtime.  The intense action, compelling story and outstanding humour is all amazingly highlighted in this format, and I especially loved the four amazing narrators who were brought in to voice the characters.  This includes returning favourites Stephen Perring and Penelope Rawlins, who fulfill their respective roles perfectly.  Perring is probably the most prominent narrator of the bunch as he voices all the chapters told from Cain’s perspective.  Perring is an awesome narrator as he perfectly captures the chaotic characters featured within the book, especially Cain and  Jurgen.  His portrayal of Cain is probably the best, as he expertly showcases the protagonist’s exterior boldness, as well as his interior fear and deep humanity.  Jurgen of course also comes out very well, and I love how Perring captures Jurgen’s unique persona and unquestionable loyalty to Cain.

While Perring voices the main chapters, Penelope Rawlins is just as important as she voices Inquisitor Vail, who writes the prelude, chapter introductions, additional material and footnotes that are scattered throughout the book, providing editorial notes and material to make the story more organised.  Rawlins’ voice is seamlessly worked into the main plot multiple times throughout the course of the audiobook, and I like how well her inclusions work with Perring’s main narration, especially as Rawlins perfectly captures both Vail’s sarcasm and the clear admiration she has for Cain.  This audiobook would not be as entertaining or clever as it is without these clever insertions by Rawlins, and she adds just as much to the production as Perring does.  In addition, Death and Glory brings two new narrators to the series with Joe Jameson and Richard Reed, who voice in-universe historical texts and autobiographies included to provide additional context to Cain’s ramblings.  I was very happy to hear from both familiar narrators, as Jameson lent his voice to the Necromunda novel Fire Made Flesh by Denny Flowers, as well as the Legacy of the Mercenary King series by Nick Martell (The Kingdom of Liars, The Two-Faced Queen and The Voyage of the Forgotten), while Reed narrated The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath, The Twice-Dead King series by Nate Crowley (Ruin and Reign) and Grim Repast by Marc Collins.  I really liked Jameson and Reed’s performances as a result, although both were a little underutilised thanks to the constraints of the narrative.  Still, these four narrators provided some exceptional voice work, and I had an amazing time listening to them throughout the course of this audiobook.  As such, Death and Glory comes very highly recommended in its audiobook format, and there is no better way to enjoy this book.

Sandy Mitchell continues to write one of the most entertaining Warhammer 40,000 series out there with this fourth entry in the epic Ciaphas Cain series.  An outstanding and hilarious novel that I absolutely powered through, I cannot recommend Death or Glory enough, and you will fall in love with this brilliant book.

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Warhammer 40,000: Sabbat Martyr by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer8 Comments

Sabbat Martyr Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 December 2002)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Seven

Length: 10 hours and 35 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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In addition to my review for Straight Silver, I also present a review for the impressive and epic seventh novel in Dan Abnett’s Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Sabbat Martyr.  This was an outstanding and fantastic addition that perfectly followed on from some of the previous books in the series, including Necropolis, Honour Guard and The Guns of Tanith, while also throwing the beloved protagonists into all manner of trouble.

It is a time of miracles in the Imperium of Man.  As Warmaster Macaroth continues his extensive and exhaustive Sabbat World Crusade, the forces of the Imperium are stretched like never before.  However, word has reached the ears of all the faithful in the Sabbat Worlds that the legendary Saint Sabbat has reincarnated on the isolated and pious world of Herodor.  There, in Civitas Beati, a holy city dedicated to her, the reborn Saint awaits the faithful, the pilgrims, and the mighty warriors of the Imperium.

Amongst those summoned to Herodor are the battle tested and weary soldiers of the Tanith First-and-Only, better known as Gaunt’s Ghosts.  Thanks to their previous victories, as well as their involvement in miracles associated with the Saint, the Ghosts and their leader, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt, have been personally chosen by Sabbat to be her honour guard.  However, nothing on Herodor is as it seems, and Gaunt finds himself drawn into deceptive military politics and the manipulated beliefs of the city.  Worse, the forces of the Emperor of Mankind aren’t the only ones who have heard the call of the new Saint.

As Gaunt attempts to establish order in the city, an unstoppable danger appears on the horizon in the form of the infamous followers of Chaos, the Blood Pact.  Lead by the terrible Chaos warlord, Enok Innokenti, the invading forces of Chaos have one mission: find and kill the reborn Saint, and, by doing so, rob the Imperium of hope.  Desperately outnumbered and faced with impossible odds, Gaunt and his ghosts will need to do all they can to save the Saint and the city.  However, the dread Innokenti will have the Saint’s head by any means necessary and has sent nine deadly and corrupt killers to ensure this happens.  Can Gaunt and the Tanith First-and-Only pull off a miracle in the name of their blessed saint, or is this their final battle?

Abnett pumps up the feels and brings together some amazing storylines in this seventh excellent Gaunt’s Ghosts book.  An action-packed and highly intense read, Sabbat Martyr was another exceptional read, and one that I absolutely powered through thanks to its addictive and powerful story.

Sabbat Martyr has a pretty impressive story behind it, especially as Abnett wraps up the Saint sub-series within the larger Gaunt’s Ghosts books, in a big way.  Starting off fairly typically, with the Ghosts arriving on a new world to take care of some riffraff, Abnett quickly sets the scenes and revisits several of the key existing storylines and character arcs.  However, Sabbat Martyr goes in some intriguing new directions as Gaunt and his soldiers encounter what appears to be a reborn Imperial Saint, who has inspired a new bout of religious fervour and devotion in the region.  This proves to be an interesting new angle which ties this book into the larger concerns of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, rather than focusing on the fight of the common footslogger.  I liked this change of focus, especially as it fits with the hints raised in the preceding novels, and the initial intrigues of the novel added a level of uncertainty that worked quite nicely.  A fantastic, extended battle scene ended the first third of the book nicely, especially as it leads to some big revelations and sets the scene for the second half of the book.

The second half of Sabbat Martyr is where things get really interesting.  Abnett cleverly uses the start of this half to quickly extend several great character arcs, which sets some figures up for some dark times, while others are restored in interesting ways.  However, you don’t have a chance to fully appreciate that, as Abnett then launches the reader right into a new phase of war, as deadly enemies literally rain down around the protagonists.  Essentially the entire second half of the book is pure warfare, as the forces of Chaos arrive and harry the Imperial forces on every front, including with an extended space combat sequence.  From there, the enemy arrives on Herodor in force, including the nine promised deadly killers, and all the protagonists are thrust into a deadly battle for survival.

I loved this last part of the book, especially as Abnett knows how to write an exceptional war sequence.  Expertly splitting the story between numerous point-of-view characters, the resulting carnage is epic, with the protagonists forced into intense street fighting to survive.  All these battles are well crafted, and show the protagonists at their most desperate, as they are slowly pushed back with seemingly no hope to win.  I really loved these battles, as well as the simultaneous character arcs that tied into them, and you really get drawn in towards the big climax.  I did think that Abnett slightly rushed this last half, mainly because he was trying to fit in too much at once.  While the nine killers get a good introduction, they weren’t utilised as effectively as they could have been, and their appearances are a little briefer than you would have liked.  Indeed, there is so much potential material in this second half that Abnett could have honestly fit his story across two books and really expanded everything out.  Still all the big battles are very epic, and the big climatic fight sequence proves to be everything you could have wanted.  Abnett wraps everything up with some major tragedy, as multiple character arcs come full circle in a big and emotionally charged way.  As such, readers, especially established fans of the series, come away from Sabbat Martyr shaken while Abnett clearly and decisively ends a major chapter in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series.

Abnett does a really good job bringing this epic story to life, and I deeply appreciated just how dark and intense Sabbat Martyr got in places.  Expertly utilising multiple character perspectives to tell an elaborate story, you really get sucked into the massive carnage that emerges, and I really must commend Abnett for the impressive battle scenes.  Abnett has his methodology set for the Gaunt’s Ghosts books by this point in the series, and I love how smoothly his story unwinds.  The blend of character focussed storytelling and intense action makes for an exciting read, and I really got invested in this outstanding seventh entry in the series.  I did appreciate how Abnett took his protagonists into the much wider realm of faith, saints and holy power that is well established in other Warhammer 40,000 fiction, but not something we’ve typically seen in this series.  It honestly made for a unique change of pace, and Abnett does a great job wrapping ongoing storylines around it.  I also appreciated how several loose ends and antagonists from previous novels got revisited here, including one of the big issues I had with Honour Guard which got nicely resolved here.  This does mean that unlike the other Gaunt’s Ghosts books, Sabbat Martyr is less accessible for new readers, although Abnett does a good job of summarising old storylines where needed.  As such, this proved to be an epic entry in the wider series, and I really enjoyed how this chapter of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books came to an end.

As with all the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, the heart of Sabbat Martyr lays in the extended cast of protagonists from whom the elaborate story emerges.  Abnett has a very well-established cast of characters for Sabbat Martyr, and it was frankly moving to see how this story unfolded for them.  The author does a good job splitting the story amongst the cast, and I appreciated how this book, unlike the previous novel, didn’t overdo the number of primary cast members.  The resulting character arcs and personal stories proved to be very moving and intense to different degrees, and Abnett really got dark in places, especially when it came to bringing certain character storylines full circle.

Now, I won’t go into too much detail about the characters here, because I don’t want to ruin some major parts of the book.  However, I will say that Gaunt is once again a great central figure, and it was intriguing to see him impacted by his fate, as well as the many friendships he’s made throughout the series.  In addition, Gol Kolea gets a nice addition to his story, which I really appreciated, while one of the original Ghosts, Brin Milo, finds himself going on some bold new adventures that tie in nicely to his long-hinted destiny.  The feud between Lijah Cuu and Hlaine Larkin that was such a dark and memorable part of Straight Silver, comes to a great conclusion here, and Cuu really proves to be the ultimate villain of this series.  Agun Soric’s battle with his unusual messages is another highlight, especially as Abnett works in some powerful personal struggles, as well as a very dark ending that will leave you hurting.  All these character arcs, and more, are handled perfectly and all readers, especially those who have enjoyed the rest of the series, will really appreciate how Abnett continues or concludes them here.  However, I may never forgive Abnett for the big tragedy that occurs at the end that ensures the Tanith First-and-Only will never be the same again.

It goes without saying that I ended up listening to Sabbat Martyr on audiobook, especially after how impressed I have been with the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks.  Coming in with a run time of 10 and half hours, Sabbat Martyr was another descent length Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that I just flew through.  This format works so well to tell epic Warhammer 40,000 stories, and I loved how effectively the fight sequences came through in Sabbat Martyr, as you can so easily envision Abnett’s massive action set pieces.  A lot of how effective Sabbat Martyr’s audiobook is comes down to excellent narrator Toby Longworth, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators.  Longworth, the established narrator for all things Gaunt’s Ghosts (as well as Abnett’s other audiobooks like, Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), has long perfected the voices he uses within these audiobooks, and it was great to hear his established tones and voices again.  The narrator really has all the key characters down and love the fitting and effective voice each of them has.  This impressive voice work deeply enhances an already awesome story, and you really get to feel the emotions and actions of each of the characters.  I honestly had such a great time listening to the Sabbat Martyr audiobook, especially in some of the more intense action scenes which swept my imagination away, and this is easily the best format by which to enjoy this amazing book .

With fire, blood and faith, Abnett wraps up a major part of his iconic Gaunt’s Ghosts series in a big way with the epic Sabbat Martyr.  Loaded with war, personal conflict, powerful developments, and some memorable tragedy, Sabbat Martyr was a worthy and intense addition to the series, and one that I couldn’t stop listening to.  I had such an exceptional time with this book, and Sabbat Martyr, and indeed the entire Gaunt’s Ghosts series, is required reading for all Warhammer 40,000 fans.

Sabbat Martyr Cover 2

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Warhammer 40,000: Straight Silver by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer9 Comments

Straight Silver Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 December 2002)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Six

Length: 9 hours and 52 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After having a blast reading and reviewing The Traitor’s Hand, my desire for more things Warhammer 40,000 needed to be sated, so I dove into the exceptional and gritty Gaunt’s Ghost book by Dan Abnett, Straight Silver.

While there are some truly impressive Warhammer 40,000 authors out there, few can match Dan Abnett in terms of quality and impact.  One of the most significant authors of Warhammer fiction, Abnett has produced a great number of books in the franchise over the years, which includes several must-read series for all Warhammer fans.  These include his substantial contributions to the massive Horus Heresy series, as well as the iconic Inquisitor extended series.  The Inquisitor books include his impressive and highly compelling Eisenhorn trilogy, made up of Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus, and which are amongst my favourite literary trilogies.  While I am a huge fan of these novels, probably his most grounded and well-known contribution to the Warhammer 40,000 canon are the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels.

The Gaunt’s Ghosts books are an extended series that follows the members of the Tanith First-and-Only, a weary and battle-hardened regiment of Imperial Guard soldiers.  Led by Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and known for their stealth abilities and the destruction of their home planet, the Tanith First-and-Only have taken up the name Gaunt’s Ghosts and are fighting in the massive Sabbat World Crusades hoping to find a new planet to call home.  This series emphasises the common human soldier and the gruelling realities of war in the grim Warhammer 40,000 future, and it is one of the most compelling series out there.  I have had an outstanding time with this series and all the books I have read, including First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis, Honour Guard, The Guns of Tanith, and the prequel novel The Vincula Insurgency, have been extremely epic and complex, perfectly blending great characters with intense action.  Despite still having several books to go, the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels are one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 series for a very good reason and I had no hesitation diving into the next book of the series, Straight Silver, when I needed something fun to read.

As the massive Sabbat World Crusades gain traction against humanity’s enemies, the Imperial forces finally have the capacity to send aid to the long-isolated planet of Aexe Cardinal.  There the loyalist nations of the Aexe Alliances have been locked in a gruelling 40-year war against the Chaos corrupted Shadik Republic.  Amongst the Imperial reinforcements sent to Aexe Cardinal are the veteran Ghosts of the Tanith First-and-Only, who are ready to make a dent in a new foe.

However, upon arriving on Aexe Cardinal, the Ghosts are surprised to find themselves under the command of the Aexe Alliance rather than their own generals.  Forced to serve the whims of their new allies for political reasons, the Ghosts are soon thrust into the archaic way of fighting that have led the war to linger for decades.  Worse, their new commanders refuse to use the Ghosts to their full potential, and the lightly armoured scouts find themselves fighting in bloody trench warfare.

Forced to endure confined conflict in ill-maintained trenches, the Ghosts find death constantly on the horizon as raids, bombardments, gas weaponry, and their own shattered morale begin to take their toll.  To keep his regiment alive and sane, Gaunt volunteers his troops for the most dangerous missions where the Ghost’s scouting skills can be best utilised.  However, the resulting campaigns will test Gaunt and his troops to the utter limit as the relentless forces of Chaos come crashing down upon them.

Straight Silver proved to be an exceptional entry to this amazing Warhammer 40,000 series.  Featuring some powerful and gritty action that took its protagonists to dark places, this sixth entry in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series was so damn good that I managed to power through it in no time at all.

Abnett did a brilliant job coming up with a particularly intense and dark story that plants the protagonists and the reader into the middle of a gritty warzone.  The main story is initially a little basic, with the Ghosts arriving on a new planet and finding themselves caught up in another long-standing war.  However, the book takes an outstanding turn when the Ghosts, who work best as a scout force, are forced into an elaborate trench warfare scenario.  Thanks to the excellent World War I inspired setting, the Ghosts are figuratively thrust back into the past and are forced to fight an old-fashioned type of war with their lasguns going up against firearms, chemical shells, and fixed lines of trenches.  The constant grim trench battles, raids and fights across no man’s land that dominate the first half of this book are very intense, gory, and pointless, and the reader is swiftly drawn into the unusual and dangerous scenario the Ghosts find themselves in.  Abnett masterfully captures so many aspects of this grim scenario, and you have to appreciate how brutal he makes the battles and the terrible conditions the characters find themselves in.

All these initial battles are expertly shown through the eyes of the many recurring characters of the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and you swiftly begin to feel their despair and the rising tensions within them.  This works well with many of the existing character arcs, as several figures deal with grudges, uncertainty about duty, and growing relationships.  This excellent use of character arcs and perspectives humanises the fight, and you can’t help but get dragged even more into their hopeless situations.  I particularly enjoyed how Abnett deliberately made the antagonists a purely human force, with no named enemy characters serving as the villain.  This helps to reinforce that the true antagonist of the plot is human nature and their ability to wage unforgiving war, as the two opposing armies destroy everything around them.

While Abnett could have kept the characters in the trenches for a while and still had a good book, he chooses to accelerate the plot about halfway through Straight Silver, as the Ghosts are given a chance to prove themselves by going on two deadly missions.  This splits the story, as Gaunt leads half the characters on a series of deadly raids behind enemy lines, while another small group of key characters find themselves away from the fighting as they scout a critical location in the woods.  Naturally both storylines result in deadly chaos for the relevant protagonists, but I loved how they played out.  The storyline with Gaunt was brutal infiltration across no man’s land at its finest, and there are so many shudder-inducing moments as they continuously encounter the horrors of war.  The other storyline is much more a slow burn, as the characters find themselves isolated in the woods and only have themselves to fight with, as the grudges and resentments introduced at the start of the book are refreshed.  While the characters come together when an enemy presents itself, they are still caught up in their raw emotions, and this results in some dark moments.  Both storylines are resolve in an impressive and compelling manner, and the reader will come away enthralled, excited, and a little angry, as one excellent villain gets away with everything again.  You are honestly left wanting more, especially as Abnett throws in some tantalising hints for the future, and the bloody battles and horrors of Straight Silver will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

As with most books in the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, Straight Silver can be read as a mostly standalone read, as many of the key characters and story arcs are expertly reintroduced throughout the course of the book.  While readers will always get more out of Straight Silver if they read the other Gaunt’s Ghosts books first, especially as that will allow them to become more attached to the characters, a new reader can easily pick up Straight Silver and have an outstanding time getting through it.  Straight Silver and the Gaunt’s Ghosts books can also be readily enjoyed by those people with minimal pre-knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  The Gaunt’s Ghosts books exist in their own little pocket of the universe, with the story completely focused on their own struggle as soldiers.  As such, this makes these books perfect entry level reads for those wishing to learn more about Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and anyone with a love for science fiction or military fiction is going to love Straight Silver.

I’m always impressed with the amazing range of characters that Abnett fits into each of his Gaunt’s Ghost novels, as the author tries to constantly capture the entire experience of the regiment in a Band of Brothers sort of way.  Unlike his Eisenhorn books, which had one perspective character, the Gaunt’s Ghosts follow many different protagonists, which allows you to see a massive picture of events unfolding.  This works really well, and I loved the huge range of unique perspectives and personalities that emerged, as well as the different views of the fights and internal conflicts.  I did think that Straight Silver might have featured a few too many different perspectives, as Abnett tried to bring some new characters to the fore.  This meant that several of the established cast from the previous book didn’t have a chance to shine here and were often sidelined, while the newer characters didn’t impress as much in their first big appearance.

There were still a ton of great character arcs going on, and even with less time in the spotlight, many of these characters made the most of it.  Main protagonist Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt gets a good showing, especially as he is forced into conflict with his friend, the highly moral Chief Medic Tolin Dorden, and he is forced to balance his responsibilities as a Commissar with the love he holds for his soldiers.  Newly promoted Sergeant Tona Criid proves to be an absolute badass character, and it was great to see her take command and kick butt.  Sergeant Agun Soric has some great scenes as he slowly comes to realise his latent psychic abilities, while the formerly charismatic Gol Kolea is a hard figure to read about, after suffering a head wound in the previous book and losing his intelligence.  However, the best storyline in Straight Silver involves the mad sniper Hlaine Larkin and the nefarious trooper Lijah Cuu (sure as sure).  Thanks to their interactions in the previous book, the slippery murderer Cuu has a major grudge against Larkin and is determined to kill him, just like he did Bragg.  This results in a deadly game of cat and mouse between the two, as Larkin tries to survive both the enemy and Cuu.  Cuu comes away as such a good villain for this book (even more than the enemy), and you can’t help but hate the guy, especially as there is something slick and scary in his every appearance.  These characters, and many more, helped to turn Straight Silver into an exceptional read, and you really get wrapped up in their unique experiences of war.

I doubt anyone who has every read one of my Warhammer reviews will be surprised that I ended up listening to Straight Silver on audiobook.  All Warhammer books are so much better in this format, and the Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks are a great example of this, especially with narrator Toby Longworth.  Longworth, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, has lent his voice to most of Abnett’s Warhammer audiobooks, and he always does a remarkable job moving the story along and describing the book’s epic battle sequences.  This is extremely evident in Straight Silver, and I very quickly powered through this audiobook because of how good it is.

I especially loved the awesome voices that Longworth came up with for the various characters featured throughout the book, and he goes out of his way to ensure that every figure has their own distinctive and fitting voice.  Many of these voices are carried over from the previous audiobooks, and it was great to get the continuity for each of the recurring characters, so much so that by this point listeners of the other Gaunt’s Ghosts books can figure out who is talking just by hearing their particular tone.  One thing I particularly appreciate is the range of accents that Longworth distributes across the audiobook.  Each group of soldiers, such as the original Tanith troopers, the new Verghastite recruits, and the soldiers of Aexe Cardinal, are given their own distinctive accents, and this cool attention to detail is what makes Longworth such a good narrator.  This was such an epic audiobook; with a runtime of nearly ten hours, most people can power through it, especially when they get caught up in the epic story.

Straight Silver is a particularly epic and impressive addition to the Gaunt’s Ghosts series as Dan Abnett takes his fame regiment down into battle hell.  Loaded with intense moments, a powerful background setting, and multiple engaging character arcs, Straight Silver is an exceptional read, and it is honestly one of the strongest Gaunt’s Ghosts books I have so far read.  An utterly addictive Warhammer 40,000 novel, I can give it no higher honour as a reviewer than to say the moment I finished it, I instantly grabbed the next book in the series, read it, and will be putting up a review for it now.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Traitor’s Hand by Sandy Mitchell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer11 Comments

The Traitor's Hand Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 January 2005)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Three

Length: 9 hours and 6 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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After updating my list about my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels last week, I was keen for more action from this awesome franchise, so I decided to quickly listen to the entertaining and fun novel, The Traitor’s Hand by Sandy Mitchell.

One of the things that I like most about the Warhammer 40,000 franchise is the sheer range of different stories and genres that can be found within it.  For example, one of the most popular series is a particularly funny and amusing series that focuses on a Blackadder-esque Imperial Commissar as he finds himself involved in all manner of over-the-top heroics.  This series is the Ciaphas Cain books, which follows the titular protagonist who has accidently become regarded as a great hero of the Imperium of Man, despite most of his actions being more for self-preservation.  The first two books in this series, For the Emperor and Caves of Ice, were extremely fun reads, and I have been meaning to check out the next book in the series for a while.  As such, when I had my recent Warhammer 40,000 craving, the third Ciaphas Cain book, The Traitor’s Hand, was an easy choice.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium or unrepentant coward?  Constantly forced into the direst of circumstances despite doing everything in his power to avoid them, Cain has built up a reputation he considers entirely undeserved, especially as being known as a hero always seems to get him into trouble.  His latest assignment will test him like none other, especially when he is forced to go up against the great archenemy of the Imperium, the forces of Chaos.

With a Chaos fleet approaching the tidally locked planet of Adumbria, Cain and the soldiers of the Valhallan 597th are rapidly redeployed towards the planet to aid in its defence.  Despite wishing to stay off the frontlines, Cain’s experience and uncanny ability to find trouble forces him to join in the hunt for a Chaos cult hidden throughout the planet that has awakened in advance of the coming fleet.  However, the more he digs, the more he discovers that there is something far more sinister going on within the planet than anyone realises.

As the invading enemy arrives on the planet, it soon becomes apparent that two rival bands of Chaos worshippers are attacking Adumbria with very different goals in mind.  Leading the fight against the enemy, Cain needs to work out just what their objectives are before the world is destroyed in the Chaos crossfire.  However, with deadly enemy forces all around and a rival commissar determined to undermine him, can even the terminally lucky Cain stop them, especially when an old nightmare returns seeking revenge against him.

The Traitor’s Hand was an extremely awesome book from Mitchell that I had so much fun getting through.  Containing the outstanding blend of action, humour and intriguing characters that the Ciaphas Cain series is known for, The Traitor’s Hand was pretty damn epic, and I managed to power through it in about a day of intense listening.

This third Ciaphas Cain novel had a great story behind it that I had a wonderful time listening to.  While it does follow some similar story conventions to the previous books in the series, in that Cain and the Valhallan 597th arrive on a planet to face one foe, only for Cain to inadvertently discover another threat hidden under the surface, I think Mitchell did a good job distinguishing this book from the previous entries.  The introduction of a rival Commissar and alternating bands of Chaos worshippers makes for a great central storyline, and you get really involved in the battle for the planet and the attempts to discover a hidden Slaaneshi cult who are performing dark rituals.  The entire story evolves in a familiar manner, with Cain’s attempts to avoid a fight leading him into darker situations each time, while his keen insights allow him to determine where the true threat to the planet is located.  The big final sequence for The Traitor’s Hand was pretty damn awesome, as Cain leads a small force into a massive battle royale between warring Chaos warbands while also facing a dangerous foe from his past.  While the big bad’s identity was overly foreshadowed, their inclusion was very intense and lead to a gripping conclusion.  I do wonder if this repetitive story structure is going to be sustainable for the series in the future, but I really got stuck into this entertaining and exciting narrative and powered through it so damn quickly.

I absolutely loved the fun style of the Ciaphas Cain books which Mitchell once again uses to tell a fantastic story.  Primarily told from the first-person chronicle perspective as Cain recounts his many adventures, you get to see his insights into events that occur.  While on the surface this appears to be a typical Imperial Guard focused Warhammer 40,000 story, it is a much lighter read, as the book revolves around Cain’s continued attempts to get out of danger only to encounter worst problems.  It is really entertaining to see his excuses and manipulations, especially as nearly every action he does is calculated to avoid danger, which he shamelessly admits to.  The continued increase of stakes, desperate response from Cain and the inevitable lucky escape makes for some fun reading, and Mitchell does an excellent job of layering a strong amount of comedy into a usually dark universe.  This humour is expertly enhanced by the overarching narration of the book, provided by Inquisitor Vail’s editorial notes as she collates Cain’s memoirs.  Vail’s various notes, quotes and included histories of the story provides some much-needed context to the plot, while the entertaining and often sarcastic way they are delivered works extremely well.  I think that Mitchell got the right blend of humour, action, and dark moments throughout the course of The Traitor’s Hand, and I really got engrossed in the hilarious and action-packed story that emerged.  I did feel at times that Mitchell did get a bit repetitive with some of his phrases and lines, which you really notice with an extended read, but this is honestly a pretty minor complaint, and The Traitor’s Hand proved to be an amazing read.

I liked how well Mitchell featured the Warhammer 40,000 universe in The Traitor’s Hand, especially as he once again seeks to showcase the horrors of the franchise from the eyes of a human solider, even one as lucky as Ciaphas Cain.  The various Chaos factions prove to be great villains in this story, and I loved the cool comparisons between the Slaaneshi cult and the Khorne-worshipping warband.  You also get a great insight into the life of the common soldier or civilian, and it was fun to see the various responses many of them have to the reveals about Chaos and their dark designs.

Like most of the Ciaphas Cain novels The Traitor’s Hand can easily be read as a standalone book, and no real pre-knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 universe is really needed.  Indeed, I really appreciated how efficiently Mitchell is able to ease new readers into the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe.  In addition, readers don’t really need to have checked out the prior Ciaphas Cain novels either, as Mitchell does a good job of summarising the necessary key points from these books when needed.  There were some strong references to the Ciaphas Cain short story, The Beguiling, which if you had read would have increased the impact of The Traitor’ Hand to a degree, however, it is also not necessary to have read it first, as Mitchell recaps it very well.  Overall, I felt this was a great piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that many people can get into.

A key highlight of any Ciaphas Cain novel is the excellent character work that Mitchell installs into the story.  This is certainly the case in The Traitor’s Hand, with most of the character work revolving around the protagonist and main point-of-view character, Commissar Ciaphas Cain.  While Mitchell has done a great job setting up this figure in the previous two books, it is always so much fun to see a story through Cain’s eyes, especially as the protagonist bears the duality of being a hero and a coward at the same time.  Fitted with a well-honed sense of survival, Cain is constantly trying to find ways to get out of danger and has proven quite adept at manipulating people to get what he wants.  However, due to bad luck or because he finds himself trapped by his own legend, Cain is constantly dragged into the most dangerous situations possible.  While it would be easy to dislike a character like this, readers quickly become aware that Cain isn’t as big a coward as he believes, and instead he is quite a skilled, brave and caring leader whose “cowardly” actions are often borne by shrewd assessment and tactical awareness.  Throw in his excellent sense of humour, his entertaining insights into the universe, and his vast experiences with the many different things trying to kill humans in the Warhammer universe, and Cain is such a great protagonist to follow.

Aside from Cain, The Traitor’s Hand features a raft of other great characters, each of whom bring a lot to the story.  For example, Inquisitor Vail, despite not appearing in person, serves a big role in the book, editing Cain’s unreliable manuscripts.  I loved her witty over-arching narration and notes throughout the book, and it was fun to have someone constantly calling out Cain for his wilder statements.  I also loved the continued inclusion of Cain’s aid, Jurgen, the man capable of killing anything in the galaxy with his trusted meltagun.  I love how Mitchell sets Jurgen up as the Baldrick to Cain’s Blackadder in this series, especially with his attitude, hygiene and loyalty, although he proves to be a vital ally.  It was also interesting to see Mitchell continue to explore just how vital Jurgen is to Cain’s success, especially due to his status as a Blank, and I love the entertaining team the two characters combine into.  New character Commissar Tomas Beije, an old school rival of Cain’s, serves as a great secondary antagonist for much of the story, and it was entertaining to finally see a character suspicious of Cain’s status as hero, especially as he looks deranged spouting out accusations we know to actually be true.  Finally, the various members of the Valhallan 597th, many of whom were introduced to us at the same time as Cain, continue to grow as characters and serve great supporting roles in the story, and it was touching to see how their relationship to the protagonist has grown over the years.

I have often said throughout my many reviews on the subject that the best way to enjoy a Warhammer 40,000 novel is its audiobook format.  Nowhere is that truer than the Ciaphas Cain audiobooks, which really capture the zany feel of the series through its excellent narration and style.  Most of this is due to the excellent use of multiple narrators, whose mixture of voices creates a particularly epic read (indeed this one of my favourite audiobook series with multiple narrators).  The Traitor’s Hand features four separate narrators, each of whom add so much to my enjoyment of this audiobook.  Each of these narrators has a distinctive role, with the amazing Stephen Perring providing the bulk of the narration in this series, as he narrates the chapters told from the protagonist’s perspective.  Perring serves as an epic centre for this audiobook, especially as he does such a good job capturing the larger-than-life Ciaphas Cain with his acting.  Perring’s take on Cain’s cocky dialogue, as well as his more honest chronicling of events, is impressive, and I love how he captured the various aspects of Cain’s character.  There are some other great voices featured throughout these chapters as well, as Perring assigns fitting and entertaining voices to each of the major characters.  My favourite of these is probably Jurgen, especially as Perring really tries to make him sound as much like Tony Robinson as possible.

While Perring does most of the narration in The Traitor’s Hand, the additional voice actors also add a lot to the story, especially Penelope Rawlins.  Rawlins voices the character of Inquisitor Vail, the Imperial Inquisitor and acquaintance of Cain who is compiling the memoirs for publication.  As such, Rawlins voices the prelude, chapter introductions and footnotes contained in this book to showcase the editorial notes that this character is adding in to make Cain’s ramblings easier to read.  Rawlins serves as a good contrast to Perring, especially as her character’s more serious tones are the direct opposite of Perring’s flippant take on Cain.  I love how seamlessly the production works Rawlins’ voice into the various points of the audiobook where her character cuts into the main story, and you really get into the groove of her explaining key details about the universe and the characters.  Throw in the additional voice work of Emma Gregory and new narrator Andrew Spooner, who give their voices to various in-universe texts that provide additional information for the reader, and you have a strong team who masterfully enhance Mitchell’s brilliant story.  These great actors really help to make this entire audiobook production so much fun to listen to, and with a runtime of just over nine hours, you can very easily sit back and listen to The Traitor’s Hand in one fantastic sitting.

With The Traitor’s Hand, Sandy Mitchell continues to showcase why he is one of the strongest, and funniest, authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  Filled with the series’ trademark humour, intriguing characters and intense action, The Traitor’s Hand was an entertaining audiobook from start to finish that I could not turn off.  An outstanding and highly recommend novel, The Traitor’s Hand was so damn good, and I cannot wait to see how Mitchell continues this amazing series.

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Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday5 Comments

Peace Talks Cover

Publisher: Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 14 July 2020)

Series: Dresden Files – Book 16

Length: 12 hours and 52 minutes

My Rating: 5 out 5 stars

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After nearly four fantastic years, I have officially come full circle with the epic Dresden Files series as I check out the final book I needed to read with the entertaining and compelling entry, Peace Talks.

Back in 2020, I had the very great pleasure of discovering Jim Butcher’s iconic Dresden Files urban fantasy series.  A powerful, action-packed, and intense read, Battle Ground was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020, even though I started with the 17th entry in the series.  I had so much fun with Battle Ground that I instantly went back and listened to the first Dresden Files novel, Storm Front, which cemented my love for the series.  Since then, I have been slowly working my way through the entire Dresden Files audiobook collection, loving every second of it.  There are so many exceptional entries in this amazing series, with some of my favourites including Fool Moon, Dead Beat, Small Favour, Changes, Ghost Story, and Skin Game, just to name a few.  There was frankly not a single book in this series I didn’t love, and I had such a wonderful time with each of them.  I have been on the final stretch of this series for the last couple of months, which ended when I got through the intriguing Peace Talks.

Harry Dresden, professional wizard, White Knight, and supernatural defender of Chicago is adjusting to many of the changes in his life, including a new romance and his duties as a father.  However, things always have a way of becoming even more complicated for Dresden as the sins of his past and his twisted loyalties come back to haunt him, especially when an important gathering of supernatural entities is set to take place in his city.

Ever since Dresden destroyed the Red Court of vampires, the Fomor, an ancient and long hidden kingdom, have been making a play for power.  Their dark exploits have led them into conflict with many supernatural nations, and after years of skirmishes, the Fomor are finally ready to talk peace with the larger supernatural world in Chicago.  Assigned to summit as security for the White Council of wizards, as well as a liaison between the wizards and the Winter Court of Queen Mab, Dresden has his hands full, especially as he expects all hell to break loose.

As the various delegations descend upon Chicago, Dresden is proved right when his vampire half-brother, Thomas Raith, instigates a diplomatic incident that could lead to his death.  Forced to work with Thomas’ sister, Lara Raith, Dresden works to free his brother without starting a war.  But his actions soon draw the ire of several people close to him, especially as his loyalty to the White Council are in doubt.  Worse, an ancient evil has arrived in Chicago, one determined to destroy all chances of peace and bring about untold disaster.  Can Dresden save his brother while preparing for a force capable of destroying everything he has sworn to protect?

Peace Talks is a compelling addition to the long-running Dresden Files series that takes readers on an interesting ride in the lead up to the next big adventure.  Filled with great character moments, intriguing revelations, and some cool world-building, this was a solid addition to the series that I absolutely powered through.

Butcher comes up with a good story for Peace Talks that not only sets up some interesting plot points for later, but also tells its own unique narrative that is hard to put down.  To fully enjoy Peace Talks, you must appreciate that it is primarily a prelude for Butcher’s other 2020 release, Battle Ground, and as such a lot of story elements from it don’t get any real payoff until the second book.  As I’d already read Battle Ground before getting to Peace Talks, I could see where a lot of the hints, character arcs and storylines were going, so I think that gave me a bit more appreciation for what Butcher was doing here.

The story itself is an excellent character-driven narrative that contains a lot of great elements I really appreciated.  Starting off by showcasing the new normal for Dresden as a parent and partner, the story quickly moves along to the introduction of the summit, which brings several recurring characters back into the mix.  As various troubles begin to build on the horizon, the story introduces its major hurdle as Thomas apparently attempts to assassinate the leader of a supernatural nation.  Convinced of his innocence, Dresden reluctantly works with Thomas’ sister Lara to try to free him, resulting in a prison break sequence during a busy event.  Dresden’s determination to save his secret brother even at the risk of war begins to alienate several of his allies, including his grandfather, eventually resulting in an epic confrontation that was the highpoint of the book.  At the same time, the peace conference proves to be an intriguing addition to the plot, as you get to see some compelling interactions from multiple supporting characters, including many who haven’t been in the same book before.  The conclusion of the summit comes rather fast and shockingly, with the major antagonist for the next book arriving and making their intentions clear, and you come away greatly anticipating the chaos to come in Battle Ground.

I loved how Peace Talks came together as Butcher brings his usual charm, sharp writing and entertaining wit to the table in a big way.  Peace Talks features the trademark blend of mystery, adventure, character development, fantasy elements and snarky humour that I deeply enjoy about all the Dresden Files books, and it’s hard not to get caught up in the story.  There is a great focus on intrigue, politics and personal perception in this book, and I liked how a lot of the threats were more subtle and in the realm of future consequences rather than direct action.  Butcher also focused on setting up for the next book, and much of Peace Talks is geared towards providing context and character introductions for the coming war in Battle Ground.  While in some ways this reliance on setting things up for the next book made the events of Peace Talks seem a little less important, it was an overall strong book, and a great entry to the wider Dresden Files series.  While I do think that people should be really starting the series earlier than the 16th entry, new readers could slot themselves into the Dresden Files series here as Butcher continues his accessible style, minus a few references to some short stories.  Peace Talks also features some clever and subtle clues to major twists and big events in Battle Ground which you don’t fully appreciate until you read the following book.  I honestly came away from Peace Talks with an even greater appreciate for Butcher’s long-term writing skills, as well as his ability to expertly telegraph some major events.

I did feel that certain elements of Peace Talks did feel a bit rushed, especially when it came to the big bad who was revealed at the end of the peace summit.  Having already read Battle Ground, I was expecting more buildup for the villain Ethniu in Peace Talks, especially as she hasn’t been mentioned at all in any of the preceding 15 books.  However, she kind of just shows up, kicks ass for a few seconds, and then leaves, making her threats for the next book.  You don’t even get any history for her aside from the fact that she’s a long-dormant Titan who is annoyed at the world.  In hindsight, this is a little weak, and some explanation about who she is, how she took over the Fomor, or her history with the other magical leaders would have been good.  Butcher also failed to really set up any connection between her and Dresden before their fights in Battle Ground, which I think you needed.  This and other rushed bits of character interaction towards the end of Peace Talks weakened the overall story of both books, and it was clear that Butcher was keen to finish Peace Talks off and get into the major war sequences of the sequel.

As with most Dresden Files entries, Peace Talks excelled in the character department, which was a major highlight of the book.  Peace Talks features a huge cast of characters, most of whom are being reintroduced from previous novels so Butcher can feature them in Battle Ground.  As such, Peace Talks is loaded with some compelling interactions and character moments, especially as the protagonist must deal with a range of friends, family and foes who he hasn’t seen in years.

Naturally, most of the character work revolves around protagonist and point of view character Harry Dresden.  Dresden is such a fun character to follow, mainly because of his immaturity, sense of humour, and the lack of fear and respect he holds for powerful beings.  However, while deep down Dresden is still the same loveable rogue we’ve been following for years, he has been experiencing some major changes in his life that have had some intriguing impacts on his personality.  Peace Talks sees him dealing with a lot of these major life events in various ways, and it was interesting to see how much Dresden and his situation has changed since the start of the series.  Much of the book revolves around his changing relationships with certain people, including his new romance with Karrin Murphey, which finally came official in the previous book Skin Game.  This romance is one of the nicest parts of the whole book, and the two characters are just perfect for each other, which twists certain future emotional knives a little deeper.  It was also sweet to see Dresden as a father, even with their complicated relationship and the trauma surrounding them.

However, I think the most dramatic character relationship that was featured in Peace Talks involved Dresden and his mentor/recently revealed grandfather Ebenezar McCoy.  The two of them have been rocky for years, but their emotions finally spilled over in Peace Talks, especially when it came to Dresden’s relationship with Thomas and his plans to raise his daughter.  The anger between the two bubbles over throughout the course of Peace Talks, mainly because Dresden is forced to hide the true reasons for helping Thomas due to McCoy’s hatred of vampires.  The eventual and inevitable confrontation is very brutal as the two are unable to come to common ground and both think they are in the right.  The big fight between them is one of the best scenes in the book, and it simultaneously showed how powerful McCoy truly is while also highlighting how much more skilled Dresden has gotten over the years.  The eventual result is very heartbreaking, showcasing the fact that no one can hurt you more than family, while also containing a fun bit of sneakiness from Dresden.  It will be interesting to see where this relationship goes in the future, but it’s clear this family has some major issue to work out.

In addition, it was also particularly interesting to see Lara Wraith, leader of the White Court and Thomas’s half-sister become such a prominent character again in Peace Talks.  Butcher spent a good chunk of Peace Talks reintroducing Lara as a major character who is going to be a big part of the series going forward.  While this does result in the usual overly sexualised shenanigans that have accompanied Lara since her introduction in the infamous adult-film focused Blood Rites, Lara mostly proves to be a compelling and complex character.  Indeed, there were some moving examinations of her relationship with Thomas that showed just how much she cared for him.  While the differing goals and expectations for Thomas result in some conflict between Dresden and Lara, they prove to be an effective team, with a bit of hostility buried beneath them.  Considering these two are going to be forced to spend a lot of time together in the future, I liked how Butcher built up their relationship here, and it will be interesting to see how it develops in the future.  Overall, I felt the characters featured in Peace Talks were handled really well, and I loved the unique and powerful interactions that emerged.

As with the entire Dresden Files series, I ended up listening to Peace Talks on audiobook, and frankly there is no better way to enjoy one of these epic novels.  Coming in with a runtime just shy of 13 hours, this was slightly shorter Dresden Files book, especially when compared to the other later books in the series.  This shorter runtime allowed me to power through Peace Talks in no time at all, especially as I was once again wrapped up in the silky tones of narrator James Marsters.  Marsters, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, primarily due to his work in this series, is so damn good, and I love how effective he is at telling Butcher’s story.  Marsters honestly gets the tone of each scene perfectly and the way he inhabits each of the featured characters is just amazing.  I once again must highlight how well he portrays protagonist Harry Dresden in this book, and you can really sense the character’s conflicted emotions.  Due to the large cast associated with Peace Talks, Butcher needs fill in quite a few roles, including a ton of recurring figures from previous novels.  I felt that he did a great job voicing all of them, and it was fun to see him dust off a few voices that we haven’t seen in a few books.  Everything came together perfectly with Masters narration in Peace Talks, and this was another epic Dresden Files audiobook that I just loved listening to.

Jim Butcher provides another powerful and intriguing addition to the Dresden Files series here in Peace Talks.  Simultaneously setting up the events for the sequel Battle Ground while also telling a powerful, character-driven tale of betrayal and family trouble, Peace Talks was a great read that proves hard to put down, especially for established fans of the series.  A highly recommended book that leads to bigger things.

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Skin Game by Jim Butcher

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday8 Comments

Skin Game Cover

Publisher: Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 27 May 2014)

Series: Dresden Files – Book 15

Length: 15 hours and 49 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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I was once again in the mood for a guaranteed hit, so I looked no further than Jim Butcher’s exceptional Dresden Files series, with the 15th book Skin Game.

As readers of this blog will know, for the last couple of years I have been having a wonderful time getting through Jim Butcher’s iconic Dresden Files series.  One of the most well-known and impressive urban fantasy series, the Dresden Files follow the titular wizard, Harry Dresden, as he investigates magical crimes and protects Chicago from supernatural threats.  This series is so damn cool, and I have loved the unique combination of mystery, great characters, and intensive world building as Butcher pulls together a brilliant, modern fantasy universe.  I honestly have loved every single book in the Dresden Files series, although I feel that the last few additions I have read, including Changes, Ghost Story and Cold Days are Butcher at his finest, especially as he really built in some elaborate and original stories.  As such, I had no reservations about checking out the 15th book in the series, Skin Game, especially as it had a pretty damn awesome plot behind it.

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s sole practicing wizard and the new anointed Winter Knight, is in trouble.  Trapped on his island in the middle of Lake Michigan with a magical parasite in his head, Dresden has only days left to live.  Salvation soon appears when his boss, Queen Mab, arrives on the island, offering to save him.  However, nothing from Mab is ever free, and the conditions for her help might prove even more lethal.

To pay off an old debt, Mab has loaned out Dresden to one of his most hated and dangerous foes, the fallen angel Nicodemus Archleone.  To further his dark goals, Nicodemus is planning to break into the personal vault of the Greek god Hades to loot several valuable artefacts.  However, Nicodemus can’t do it alone and he hires a group of rogues, thieves and specialists, as well as Dresden, to pull off the job.  If they succeed, they will all come away insanely rich, but if they fail, their souls be trapped forever in the underworld.

As the job proceeds, it quickly becomes apparent that Nicodemus has no intention of letting any of his heist crew live, especially Dresden and his allies.  To survive, Dresden needs to work out how to both counter the many obstacles between them and the treasure they seek, while also finding a way to stop Nicodemus without breaking the agreements that bind the two together.  Can Dresden outsmart one of the most treacherous and deceptive beings in all creation while keeping everyone alive?  Let the games begin!

Wow, what an awesome book.  I am constantly impressed with how Butcher continues to produce outstanding and epic reads throughout this series, and nearly every Dresden Files book is better than the last.  Skin Game was a pretty great example of this, as Butcher produces one of his most entertaining stories yet with so many twists, betrayals and fantastic revelations.

I cannot emphasise enough just how cool the plot of Skin Game is, especially as Butcher comes up with a particularly clever and exciting heist storyline that the narrative is centred around.  After effectively following through from the events of the prior novel, the reader is soon thrust into the new scenario, which sees Dresden forced to work for his old enemy Nicodemus.  This leads to a classic heist scenario, with Dresden meeting Nicodemus’s unique crew, gathering up new members, and pulling together the resources need to break into the vault, even if the target is a much more supernatural than usual.  Butcher also adds in the fantastic dynamic between Dresden and Nicodemus as they plot against each other.  Both knows that the other is planning to betray them at some point, however they are forced to play by the rules in public to preserve the magical bargain between Nicodemus and Mab.  This leads to a great series of betrayals, manipulations and confrontations, as Dresden walks a thin line while trying to stop Nicodemus.  At the same time, several great recurring characters are brought back, which results in some powerful and personal character-driven storylines that I really got invested in.

There are so many great story elements ongoing through the bulk of Skin Game’s narrative, that by the time you get to the main event, the heist, you are extremely hooked.  The heist in question is everything you would hope it to be, as Dresden and his erstwhile crew of rogues, engage in some daring exploits to achieve their goals.  They are some brilliant set pieces, intriguing revelations, and several brutal twists, including one heartbreaking moment surrounding the main antagonist.  Everything leads up to the inevitable betrayal which sees Dresden and Nicodemus finally face off after dancing around each other all book.  I loved some of the scenes that followed, especially as there is a particularly great twist shown through a well-placed flashback that changes your entire perspective of the earlier story.  A subsequent sequence also presents some of the most emotionally charged moments of Skin Game, especially when it comes to one of my favourite supporting characters.  Everything gets wrapped up nicely by the end, and I loved some of the final revelations in the book, especially when you finally understand who was running the true game and why.

Butcher applies his usual excellent writing skills to Skin Game, and I love how effectively he tells this latest powerful and entertaining story; since it is once again told solely from the perspective of the protagonist, you are treated to Dresden’s typically amusing take on the events occurring around him.  This proves to be quite funny at times, although Butcher adds in a good level of drama and highly personal character development which I think balances out the book and ensures Skin Game can hit you at multiple emotional levels.  I love how Butcher experimented a bit with elements of Skin Game’s writing, especially with how he worked in some very clever, and well planned out twists and revelations, which I felt was one of the strongest points of the novel.  Butcher also really amps up the unique action, intrigue and adventure of the story, and I was constantly engrossed with how the story was going.  The depictions of the underworld and its defences were very striking, and I loved some of the unique scenarios Dresden found himself in.   This entire story come across extremely well with the writing, and I enjoyed every second I spent listening to it.

One of the things I have enjoyed getting through the Dresden Files series is how accessible Butcher makes each novel, as any entry in the series can be read somewhat independently from the others.  However, the deeper you get into the Dresden Files, the more the new book references elements from previous novels, while also building on existing storylines and character arcs.  Skin Game is a great example of this, as new readers can come in and have a wonderful time reading it, especially as Butcher does a good job explaining all the key plot points new readers might be unfamiliar with.  However, established fans of the series will get a lot more out of this book, as Butcher continues or concludes several amazing storylines here.  In particular, there are a lot of references to the last two books that featured Nicodemus as an antagonist, Death Masks and Small Favour, as Dresden continues his deadly fight against his old foe, while remembering all the previous battles that have occurred.  Several great character arcs also come full circle in Skin Game, which proves to be quite moving, especially to those readers who have laboured through the rest of the series and are already quite attached to the main cast.  As such, I probably would recommend reading the rest of the series before trying out Skin Game, mainly because you are in for a much more impactful time if you do so.  However, for those who want a fun and moving fantasy heist novel, you can easily dive into Skin Game and have an outstanding time witnessing all the betrayal, lies and deceit.

As always, one of the best elements of this Dresden Files novel was the exceptional character work.  Butcher always excels at creating complex and powerful character arcs that showcase the many different layers of each excellent protagonist and villain, and Skin Game is no exception.  Indeed, Skin Game was one of the best character-focused books Butcher has released, as it features an interesting cast and some deep and intense character arcs that showcase just how much many of the protagonists have changed.

Naturally, most of the focus of Skin Game revolves around protagonist and point-of-view character, Harry Dresden.  The wizard defender of Chicago, Dresden has gone through a hell of a lot in the last few books, which starts to catch up to him in Skin Game.  While he is still his usual flippant and disrespectful self, you can really see the cracks forming in Dresden’s psyche, especially as he balances the many responsibilities and traumas afflicting him.  Not only is his personality being altered by his decision to become the Winter Knight, but he is dealing with so much guilt for some of his recent actions.  This has made Dresden start to doubt himself, and he has trouble at times seeing whether he is still the same good guy he was at the start of the series, especially when some of his friends start to lose faith in him.  However, thanks to the help of those closest to him, Dresden regains a bit of himself as Skin Game continues, although the dark battles along the way once again take their toll on him.  Butcher works in some extremely powerful and emotional scenes around Dresden in Skin Game, especially as he finally gets closure with some other characters, including his daughter (the scene where they finally talk nearly had me in tears).  While Butcher really did amp up the heavy emotion around Dresden here, you still get a healthy dose of the protagonist’s distinctive with and humour, especially when it comes to the outrageous events, he finds himself in.  The unique situation where Dresden is forced to work with one his enemies prove a rich ground for the protagonist’s humour to come out.  It also allowed the reader to see how much smarter and more mature Dresden has become after fighting against all comers for over a decade.  I really loved how Dresden was able to anticipate many of the coming betrayals and pull together a particularly effective counter that shook up everything.  Butcher does such a great job writing Dresden, and it has been extremely fun to see this character once again grow.

Aside from Dresden, Skin Game featured an excellent collection of recurring characters from the previous books, each of whom had their own unique and powerful character arc that Butcher expertly continued with.  This includes Karrin Murphy, the former cop, who Dresden recruits as his muscle for the job.  Murphy is always one of the best characters in a Dresden Files novel, and Skin Game was a great example of this, as she once again serves as Dresden’s unwavering backup and conscience.  Skin Game proves to be a major novel for Murphy, especially as they finally resolved the romantic tension between Dresden and Murphy that had been building since the first book, Storm Front.  I really appreciate how well Butcher kept up the will-they/won’t-they atmosphere of these two characters for so long, and it was great to finally get some closure on that, even if I know I’m going to get my heart broken in Battle Ground.  Skin Game also saw the return of one of Butcher’s best characters, Michael Carpenter, the former Knight of the Cross who has been out of action for several books.  Michael gets back into the fray for this novel, and it was so good to finally see him return to his old ways.  The ultimate good-guy character, Michael is always a reassuring presence in any Dresden Files novel, and the interactions he has with Dresden are some of the most moving in the entire book, especially as he provides Dresden insights and emotional support like no one else can.

While I love Murphy and Michael, probably my favourite supporting character in the book is Waldo Butters.  The nerdy and kind medical examiner has been getting a real glow-up as the series continues, and you finally see how serious he has become by the events of Skin Game, especially after having to hold down the fort during Dresden’s enforced absence.  The events of the last few years have really changed Butters, and some of the interactions he has with Dresden are surprisingly intense, especially as Butters no longer trusts the main character.  Butcher had a lot of fun turning Butters into a magical superhero in Skin Game, and I loved some of the unique magical inventions that Butters uses to face off against forces way outside his weight class.  There is also the major turning point for Butters at the end of the book, where he shows just how noble he truly is, and the universe rewards him in a big way.  In many ways, Butter is the true MVP of Skin Game, and his future storyline looks very bright, especially as Butcher could easily do a whole spinoff series focused solely on him.

Of course, no Dresden Files book would be complete without a great villain, and Skin Game has one of the very best with the return of Nicodemus.  A fallen angel possessing an ancient, evil human, Nicodemus is a particularly suave and dapper figure, who always makes a huge impact when he appears.  Nicodemus falls into the role of heist leader extremely well, and I loved the fun dynamic that emerges between him and Dresden, especially as they both hate each other and known that betrayal is imminent on both fronts.  Some of the confrontations he has with the protagonists are pretty brutal, and you get to see just how dangerous he can be as a villain.  While Nicodemus is mostly his usual calm self for most of the book, certain big events push him over the edge, especially as he makes some big sacrifices.  It was both satisfying and a little heartbreaking to see him so damaged as a result, especially when the truth about the events are fully revealed.  I cannot wait to see Nicodemus return in some future books, especially as he is going to be even more dangerous and desperate.  Throw in a truly entertaining and dangerous group of fellow heisters, old enemies, Dresden’s loveable dog, Mouse, and a fantastic Greek god who proves surprisingly similar to the protagonist, and you have an incredible group of characters who help turn Skin Game into something truly special.

Unsurprisingly, I chose to listen to Skin Game on audiobook, which is frankly the best way to enjoy a Dresden Files book.  Coming in with a runtime of just under 16 hours, Skin Game was a decently long audiobook, although I was able to power through it very quickly, especially after getting caught up in Butcher’s impressive story.  As always, the audiobook format really enhances Skin Game’s presentation, and the novel’s humour, intense action and great characters really come through when read out.  Most of this is due to one of my favourite narrators, actor James Marsters, who has lent his voice to all the books in the series.  Marsters is so damn entertaining as a narrator, and I love how well he inhabits the various characters featured in the book, especially the protagonist.  Each character is given a very fitting voice, whether it be the dapper voice of Nicodemus, the calm tones of Michael Carpenter, or the hilariously British voice of Binder (which always reminds me of Spike).  Not only are these voices entertaining, but Marsters does such a good job of conveying emotion and feeling through his characters, including through the protagonist’s deep narration.  This was such a great way to enjoy Skin Game, and I cannot recommend the audiobook format of this book enough.

Overall, Skin Game proved to be an exceptional and highly addictive addition to Jim Butcher’s always impressive Dresden Files series.  Loaded with an outstanding heist story, amazing characters, and tons of sacrifice and betrayal, Skin Game was a particularly strong Dresden Files book and one I cannot recommend enough.  An incredible read that gets a very easy five-star rating from me.

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Throwback Thursday – Cold Days by Jim Butcher

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday3 Comments

Cold Days Cover

Publisher: Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 27 November 2012)

Series: Dresden Files – Book 14

Length: 18 hours and 47 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  For this week’s Throwback Thursday, I check out yet another exceptional entry in Jim Butcher’s outstanding Dresden Files urban fantasy series with Cold Days.

Readers of this blog will know that I have been having an incredible time getting through the epic Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.  An iconic urban fantasy series, the Dresden Files follows maverick wizard Harry Dresden as he defends the city of Chicago from all manner of supernatural threats.  This series is so impressive, and I have been steadily making my way through out it since 2020.  My previous burst of reading saw me get through four of these amazing books in a row, including Small Favor, Turn Coat, Changes and Ghost Story, and while that momentarily sated my interest in this series, I am still very keen to continue, and I’m hoping to finish it off this year.  I’m already off to a good start as I just knocked off the 14th book in the series, Cold Days, which proved to be another gripping and clever read.

Despite his best efforts, professional wizard Harry Dresden is once again alive, and his troubles are only just beginning.  Forced into a Faustian deal to gain the power he needed to save his daughter, Dresden, now finds himself indebted to Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness and ruler of the Winter Court of the Faerie.  While he’d hoped his murder would get him out of this dark responsibility, Mab had other plans and now Dresden finds himself dragged back to life as the Winter Knight, Mab’s personal champion and hitman.

Determined not to fall under the alluring sway of his new position and power, Dresden finds himself once again thrust into the middle of a conflict outside of his abilities when Mab sets him on his first mission, killing her own immortal daughter.  Grappling with such an impossible task, Dresden returns to his beloved Chicago, only to find even more trouble awaiting him there.  Demonreach, the mystical island in the middle of Lake Michigan that Dresden bound himself to, is under magical siege, and it if falls, billions will die.

With only 24 hours to complete both his allotted assassination and save Demonreach, Dresden soon finds himself under attack from all manner of foes, including manipulative faeries, dangerous beings originating from outside of reality, and former friends with new agendas.  To survive, Dresden will need to reconnect with his old allies and work with them to prevent a dark cataclysm.  But faced with impossible choices and hidden enemies, Dresden soon finds himself unsure who to trust.  Worse, his new powers are working to change him into something primal and dark.  Can Harry defeat both his foes and his own inner darkness before it is too late?

I doubt anyone is going to be surprised to find out that I loved Cold Days.  Butcher did a wonderful job continuing his exceptional series, especially as he presents the reader with a complex and intriguing new adventure, loaded with mystery, sacrifice and surprises.  A gripping read from start to finish, Cold Days gets another easy five-star rating from me, and I had an amazing time getting through it.

At this point in the series, Butcher had been on a real roll, and the last two books, Changes and Ghost Story, had exceptional stories that dramatically shifted the status quo for the protagonist.  This trend continued in Cold Days as Butcher simultaneously reintroduced Dresden back to the world after his death, showed his first adventure as the Winter Knight, and provided some massive detail about the major antagonist that his been hinted about since the start of the series.  I honestly was hooked on Cold Days the second I started it, especially as it begins with a particularly entertaining training montage, before dumping the protagonist right into the midst of complex Winter Court politics.  From there, Dresden is given an impossible task, and his attempts to understand his new mission reveal additional obstacles, including the danger posed by Demonreach.  This swiftly morphs into a classic Dresden Files novel, with the protagonist attempting to solve several concurrent mysteries, while entertaining antagonists try to take him off the board.  A lot of the story involves the always fascinating and manipulative Faeries, and I liked how well Butcher expanded the lore surrounding them.  Naturally, this means that the protagonist must deal with politics, intrigue, and so many betrayals, as he finds himself in the middle of their deadly games.

Once Dresden fully understands the stakes of his new mission, he is forced to make some big decisions, especially as the true antagonists of this book are obscured and hidden.  Everything leads up to a massive and extended final confrontation, which was pretty damn awesome to see, especially as Dresden leads some interesting forces to war and finds himself going up against some big players.  There are some brilliant and well-setup twists at the end of Cold Days that really highlight just how manipulative a certain character is, as well as how good Butcher is at planning ahead with his writing, and the status-quo of the series changes once again.  This entire story was so damn entertaining, clever and moving, and I just flew through it.

As always, I love the excellent first-person style that Butcher utilises to tell his Dresden Files stories, and Cold Days came across in a fun and entertaining way.  Told exclusively from the perspective of protagonist Harry Dresden, you are given a front row seat to the chaotic events of the book as they occur, and I always love the fantastic blend of mystery, action, humour and character moments that result from this.  Cold Days was a particularly good example of this, and it featured an amazing pace, loaded with major set pieces and powerful interactions between the protagonist and other characters.  The action scenes were particularly fun, and I loved how well Butcher was able to enhance the battles with the continuously expanding lore surrounding his excellent series.  Everything about this book was a lot of fun, and this ended up being an impressive entry in the wilder Dresden Files series.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about Cold Days was the intriguing and impressive ways that Butcher provides some massive expansions to his universe.  Cold Days features some major revelations which completely shift the entire perspective of the Dresden Files, especially as you get some reveals about who the true antagonists of previous books were.  The protagonist’s place in this universe is greatly enhanced, as not only does he get some major power boosts but the true responsibilities of certain posts he took on are revealed.  As such, the stakes of Cold Days and the future books in the series are now higher than ever, which I personally enjoyed.  These changes were an outstanding natural progression of story elements from the previous 13 novels, and it was great to get some payoffs to some of the clever hints Butcher has been lacing into the series since book one.  Because of this, I would strongly recommend that readers go back and read the series from the start rather than beginning with Cold Days, as you will get so much more out of it.  At the very least, I think you need to read the previous two novels, Changes and Ghost Story first, as some of the major story elements and character arcs from there are concluded or continued here.  However, if you decide to start reading the series here at Cold Days, you should still be able to follow along, especially as Butcher always ensures that key elements and characters are always succinctly and effectively reintroduced.

I must really highlight the excellent character work featured in Cold Days, as Butcher does an outstanding job featuring a huge cast of fascinating figures, each of whom plays an important role in the complex plot.  Naturally most of this focus revolves around the point of view protagonist, Harry Dresden, who has been going through a real emotional and personal roller coaster in the last few books.  Not only did he recently find out he had a daughter who was hidden from him, but he was forced to accept a deal with Mab to save her, which he then tried to get out of by dying.  Fully resurrected by the start of Cold Days, Dresden is forced to deal with the consequences of his choices.  It was interesting to see the usually moral and independent Dresden under the control of a historically malevolent figure like Mab, and his attempts to understand her motivations and his place in this new regime are a huge part of the plot.  At the same time, his new powers are slowly changing him, and he is constantly forced to fight back against various primal urges.  This results in some very interesting personal moments, especially as Dresden is finally properly reunited with his friends and family.  I loved how emotional and powerful parts of this book get, especially as Dresden comes to terms with some of the darker moments and thoughts that have plagued him over the last few adventures.  As such, this is an important entry in Dresden’s personal story, and I look forward to seeing what other develops occur in the future.  Of course, while this book does get emotional and moving at times, Dresden was still mostly the same funny and disrespectful figure he always was, and much of Cold Days’ humour was derived from him making fun of and picking fights with people way outside his weight class.  I have so much love for most of Dresden’s character traits, even when being turned slowly evil, and Cold Days is so much more entertaining with him as the narrator.

In addition to Dresden, Cold Days featured a great batch of returning figures, each of whose storylines are also expanded on once Dresden returns.  I loved some of the interactions that occurred in Cold Days, especially as we once again got to see the fun sibling relationship Dresden has with his brother, Thomas, and there was finally some movement on the long-simmering romance between Dresden and Karin Murphy.  It was great to also see more of recurring characters Butters, Bob the skull and Dresden’s dog, Mouse, who are all quite entertaining in their own way.  However, I think the most interesting character development occurred around Dresden’s apprentice, Molly Carpenter.  Like Dresden, Molly has gone through a ton of trauma in the last few books, and it was great to see her mostly on her feet in this novel.  Of course, as Butcher is a cruel author, we had to know it wouldn’t last, and some very significant changes occur to Molly in the big conclusion.  Butcher did a great job setting the scene for these changes, and it will be interesting to see how much her personality changes in the next few books.  I still don’t love the constant hints about a potential romance between Dresden and Molly that were featured here; if they ever get together in a future book, it will be gross.

Aside from these familiar figures, Butcher also loads Cold Days up with nearly every Faerie character and figure he had, including several sinister new antagonists.  The Dresden Files books featuring the Faerie Courts and characters can often be quite entertaining and I think Butcher did a really good job of showcasing the intricate figures who make up these courts in Cold Days. Mab was a fantastic, dark and sinister figure for much of the book as Dresden’s new master, and I enjoyed how she cast a big shadow over much of the plot.  While mostly shown to be villainous, Butcher did attempt to humanise her in places, and it was great to finally get some more depth around her.  The rest of Faeries all had their own unique purpose in the story, and you are never quite certain whose side they are on, especially when more revelations come through as part of this book.  All the characters in Cold Days were very impressive and well-written, and I really appreciated how their complex character arcs helped to enhance an already powerful story.

As usual, I ended up enjoying Cold Days on audiobook, which is honestly just the best way to enjoy a Dresden Files novel.  Coming in with a run time of just under 19 hours, Cold Days was one of the longest Dresden Files audiobooks, but I still managed to power through it in one fantastic week.  Butcher’s outstanding storytelling is always deeply enhanced by this format, and you really get the full experience of the action, unique fantasy elements and cool characters through it.  Of course, the epic voice work from long-running narrator James Marsters is a huge factor in this.  Marsters always moves the story along perfectly, and it is hard not to get caught up in the plot when he dives into the cool features and narrative.  I still really love all the unique and enthusiastic voices he brings to the table, and all the characters, be they new or established, came across perfectly here.  I always deeply appreciate how well Marsters can dive into protagonist and point of view character Harry Dresden, and his narration once again pulled out all this character’s pain, inner turmoil, and relentless cheek.  Marsters also has a lot of fun with the various monsters, faeries and other ethereal figures featured throughout Cold Days, and he always ensures these mysterious creatures come across as something inhuman or terrifying.  This great voicework really turns the Cold Days audiobook into something deeply addictive and fun, and I really cannot recommend this format enough.

Look, there was no way I wasn’t going to enjoy Cold Days, as frankly the entirety of the Dresden Files series has been pretty damn impressive.  However, I felt that Jim Butcher did a really good job with this 14th book, as Cold Days features a compelling and emotionally charged narrative that expertly continues some of the most impressive storylines from the last few entries.  Loaded with action, compelling lore expansion, and Butcher’s distinctive humour, Cold Days was an exceptional book that I cannot recommend enough.  I love this series so much and I cannot wait to finish it off this year.

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