Warhammer 40,000: The Greater Good by Sandy Mitchell

On March 29, 2026 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, WarhammerLeave a comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 January 2013)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Nine

Length: 9 hours and 50 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Continue to follow the legendary and complex Commissar Ciaphas Cain into death and danger, with another amazing book in Sandy Mitchell’s awesome Warhammer 40,000 series, The Greater Good.

After recently reviewing the eighth book in Sandy Mitchell’s iconic Ciaphas Cain series, The Last Ditch, I just had to continue following the fun adventures of the Imperium’s most charismatic yet cowardly commissar, Ciaphas Cain. As such, the moment I finished The Last Ditch, I immediately read the ninth book in the series, The Greater Good, which had a very interesting scenario behind it that builds on several previous storylines from the series.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, legendary hero of the Imperium of Man and self-declared fraud, is once again thrust into mortal danger when he is assigned to bolster the defences of the human planet of Quadravidia, against the high-tech attacks of the Tau. Amid the expected brutal fighting against the advanced aliens, Cain is surprised when the Tau not only recognise him amongst the fighting but also single him out to request an unexpected ceasefire right on the cusp of a Tau victory.

Expecting the worst from this unlikely turn of events, Cain is unsurprised when the Tau reveal that an even greater threat is moving towards the sector, a hive fleet of Tyranids. With neither side capable of fighting both each other and the ravenous Tyranids, the Imperium and the Tau agree to an uneasy truce, with both sides agreeing to coordinate their offensive against the incoming hive fleet.

Accompanied by a Tau ambassador, Cain, his trusty aid Jurgen, and the Imperial fleet journey to the vital Forge World of Fecundia, a potential target for the incoming Tyranids. Using Fecundia as a base of operations, the Imperium are hopeful the Tyrands will focus their attack on the Tau controlled planets. However, the chances of Cain remaining out of the fight are always slim, and the commissar soon discovers the existence of a secret facility hidden on the planet, one guaranteed to draw the Tyranids to Fecundia.

Caught between an invading fleet of ravening aliens, and the troubled politics of Fecundia, Cain must rally the defenders for another deadly battle. However, the secrets lurking within the hidden facility look set to doom them all, and Cain must discover just how far the rot goes in Fecundia, before the entire world is devoured.

The Greater Good was another excellent and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 novel from Sandy Mitchell that combines excellent and action-packed storytelling, with a fantastic and humorous protagonist. Featuring an outstanding story, The Greater Good was a ton of fun from start to finish, and it served as an amazing continuation of one of the best Warhammer 40,000 series out there.

I quite enjoyed the plot of The Greater Good, although it did go in some different directions to what I was expecting. From the cover and the official plot synopsis, I assumed this novel was going to feature humans and Tau fighting side by side on the initial planet the book is set, after temporarily setting aside their differences. Instead, the plot is primarily set on a secondary planet of Fecundia, with the only Tau being a controversial ambassador providing some interesting alternative insights. While this was still a fun and exciting narrative, it did run the risk of being a bit too similar to some of the previous Ciaphas Cain novels that focused on Tyranid invasions.

I felt that Mitchell compensated well for this change in direction, by drawing together an interesting read about infiltration, isolated battles and the Imperium’s research in the Tyranids as they attempt to find ways to defeat them. Revisiting key story elements from the previous two Ciaphas Cain novels, the protagonist soon finds himself trapped amid a series of controversial and dangerous experiments that begin to attract the Tyranid hive fleet. After a series of exciting set pieces, including a great extended sequence with the protagonist trapped in an alien filled desert, you reach the final third of the book which primarily takes place in the secret research centre. Unsurprisingly, things go wrong, and Cain and Jurgen are forced into a seemingly hopeless situation as they fight enemies on all sides. There were some good twists here, especially around potential betrayals, and while the culprit is easy to predict, there is an excellent amount of uncertainty and red herrings to keep you guessing. The entire story comes together in an awesome way, filled with Mitchell’s usual excellent fight sequences and humour, and this proved to be a compelling and satisfying addition to the larger series.

Long-term fans of this Warhammer 40,000 series will know that Mitchell has a set format for the Ciaphas Cain books that blends clever character-driven humour with the usual grim action and lore of the universe. This was also the case for The Greater Good, which features the usual chronicle style told from the protagonist’s perspective, bolstered by funny external commentary from a fictional editor, who also adds in some entertaining in-universe texts for some additional context. While this style and certain narrative elements are very familiar, especially if you read a few of these books in a row, The Greater Good was still an awesome novel, and Mitchell did make it stand out by adding in some intrigue with Tyranid infiltrators, as well as some curious looks at diplomacy between the Imperium and the Tau. I quite enjoyed seeing the conflicts that emerged between the various factions of this impromptu alliance, especially as Cain and the Imperial Guard had more issues with their Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marine allies than the Tau. Add to that Mitchell’s usually impressive humour and wonderful action set pieces, and The Greater Good was an overall outstanding novel that I quickly powered through.

While most of the Ciaphas Cain books work well as standalone reads that are very accessible to new readers, The Greater Good stood out as it had more of a connection to the previous entries in the series. There were a lot of heavy references to the events of For the Emperor, The Emperor’s Finest and The Last Ditch, with key plot elements and some returning characters coming into the play during The Greater Good’s narrative. As someone who enjoyed all the previous books, it was nice to see the consequences and aftermath of these prior adventures be utilised in this entry’s plot, and I think that long-term fans will really appreciate it. These references also helped to dispel some of the usual issues this series has with reusing descriptions and thoughts from the previous books. While much of the plot is geared towards established fans, new readers can still easily follow The Greater Good’s plot without too much issue, as Mitchell does an excellent job of recapping these previous adventures. As such, The Greater Good proves to be an amazing overall entry in the Ciaphas Cain series, especially as it remains accessible and enjoyable to readers of varying experiences.

As always, I must give a shoutout to the outstanding cast of this novel, especially as there is an interesting array of unique characters contained within. This includes a great mix of familiar and new characters, with much of the action focused on the titular Commissar Ciaphas Cain, who remains the usual complex rogue we’re so familiar with. It is always fun to see Cain struggle with his imposter syndrome and supposed cowardice, and Mitchell ensures that the protagonist is the main source of the book’s humour thanks to his self-centred narration and hilarious insights into the usual grimdark universe. Cain’s aide Jurgen remains an excellent source of additional entertainment, while Inquisitor Amberly Vail is once again perfect as the overarching editor of the story, providing her sarcastic insights and corrections to Cain’s actions and conclusions. Throw in a captivating combination of new or minor characters, including a frustrated general, a calculating Tau ambassador, some returning Space Marines and a cunning Tech Priest with her own agenda, and the cast of The Greater Good is exceptional and drives the story into some fascinating places.

After hyping up the audiobook versions of all the previous Ciaphas Cain entries, I doubt anyone will be too surprised that I decided to check out The Greater Good on this format. All Warhammer 40,000 novels are damn awesome on audiobook, and The Greater Good is a particularly epic example of this. Coming in with a runtime just short of 10 hours, The Greater Good audiobook is an amazing listen that is easy to get addicted to, especially as the excellent use of several outstanding narrators really helps to enhance and highlight Mitchell’s unique writing style.

The Greater Good audiobook features an impressive six separate narrators, all of whom will be quite well known by Warhammer audiobook enthusiasts. As with the rest of the series, most of the work is done by returning narrators Stephen Perring and Penelope Rawlins, both of whom have a key role in this production. Perring serves as the entertaining and flippant voice of Cain as he recounts this adventure in his own words, while Rawlins is the voice of Inquisitor Vail as she provides her editorial notes throughout the plot and introduces other intermissions. These two have long proven themselves to be perfect main narrators for the Ciaphas Cain books, and they fulfilled their roles in The Greater Good extremely well, full grasping the complexity of their respective characters. The other four narrators for this audiobook, Matthew Hunt, Andrew James Spooner, John Banks and Tara Rawson, have minor but entertaining roles in this audiobook, providing voices for the various in-universe history texts and other books/messages that appear at various parts of the book, which allows for some additional comedy. This mixed narration comes together extremely well throughout the entirety of The Greater Good, resulting in a particularly epic listen. As such, I would once again recommend that potential readers of this Ciaphas Cain novel check out the audiobook version, as there is frankly no better way to enjoy The Greater Good.

With yet another clever, exciting and hilarious take on the epic Warhammer 40,000 universe, the ninth Ciaphas Cain novel, The Greater Good, was an outstanding addition to the series that I had a wonderful time listening to. Utilising his tried and tested writing style, Sandy Mitchell produces another compelling and entertaining read that proves to be highly addictive and a lot of fun to get through. I really enjoyed this excellent entry in the Ciaphas Cain series, and I am hoping to finish off this series by the end of the year.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell

On March 20, 2026 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer1 Comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 February 2012)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Eight

Length: 9 hours and 29 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

The mighty hero of the Imperium returns for another rip-roaring and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 adventure, with The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell, a wonderful Ciaphas Cain novel that proves exceptionally hard to put down.

I have been in a real Warhammer 40,000 mood lately, so I decided to continue my exploration of the franchise by diving back into one of its best and most hilarious series with another Ciaphas Cain novel by Sandy Mitchell. The Ciaphas Cain series are particularly awesome Warhammer 40,000 novels that follow the adventures of the legendary human hero Commissar Ciaphas Cain as he faces down the many horrors the grimdark Warhammer universe has to offer. However, what sets the series apart from other series in the franchise is the fantastic tongue-in-cheek way in which the supposed hero of the series sees himself as a substantial coward concerned more with his own survival, and whose heroic exploits are down more to luck and chance. This results in a fantastic collection of books, each one of which throws the protagonist into danger despite his best efforts, often resulting in a series of hilarious and over-the-top adventures. I have had an outstanding team reading the previous entries in the series, including For the Emperor, Caves of Ice, The Traitor’s Hand, Death or Glory, Duty Calls, Cain’s Last Stand and The Emperor’s Finest, and I have been eager to read the eighth novel in the series, The Last Ditch for some time.

Commissar Ciaphas Cain, famed hero of the Imperium of Man, is at the height of his legendary career, fighting back the many enemies of humanity despite his best attempts to stay out of battle. However, despite his reputation usually landing him in the most challenging of conflicts, Cain’s next mission seems to be relatively straightforward. Once again accompanied by the Valhallan 597^th regiment of Imperial Guard, Cain is tasked with eradicating a simple ork infestation on the frozen planet of Nusquam Fundumentibus. However, not even Cain’s most pessimistic musings of the future can prepare him for the horrors to come.

Travelling aboard a disreputable freighter, Cain and his soldiers are forced to make a deadly crashlanding on Nusquam Fundumentibus, right into the middle of an ork horde. Engaged in a desperate fight for their lives against the greenskins, the Imperial Guard are blind to other threats hiding on the planet, threats that are far more insidious than a group of rampaging orks.

As the conflict continues and several isolated communities on the planet start to go dark, Cain soon becomes aware that something apart from the orks are stalking the citizens of Nusquam Fundumentibus. Something ancient and malevolent lies hidden beneath the ice of the planet, and the new war has finally woken them up. Outnumbered and outmatched, the Imperial Guard need to pull a desperate and no doubt suicidal plan to survive. Luckily, they have a bonified hero to lead the charge, even if he’d rather be anywhere else in the galaxy.

The always outstanding Ciaphas Cain series continues in impressive form, as Sandy Mitchell adds further depth to some of the more entertaining and gripping novels in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. Combining intense action with the protagonist’s unique insights into the grimdark Warhammer universe, The Last Ditch was a brilliant addition to the series that I couldn’t get enough of.

Mitchell once again came up with an outstanding narrative for The Last Ditch that grabs your attention early on and keeps you hooked to the very end. I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about reading The Last Ditch, as it looked like Mitchell was going to rehash the similar ice-world story found in Caves of Ice. However, this book has a very different narrative, while still maintaining all the familiar story elements that make this series to dependable to read. Starting off on a different footing with a fun transport arc that ends in deadly tears, The Last Ditch has an explosive first third (literally), which provided a lot of initial drama and risk.

The Last Ditch’s story quickly dives into even more awesome action, as the protagonist is reluctantly forced into action against the orks, while other dangerous threats lurk beneath the surface. I liked how Mitchell did a good job building up tension in advance of the reveal about the true antagonists of the novel, with the reader knowing that something worse was coming thanks to Cain’s prescient narration from the future, and the author used this time to expand on his new setting. The eventual sequence revealing this enemy had a great horror vibe to it as Cain explored tight quarters underground, and it led naturally into an extended campaign. The rest of the book is a good mixture of connected action scenes, as Cain and the other characters slowly work out just how desperate the situation is and attempt to take steps to address it. This works well as an overarching narrative, and you really appreciate the scope of the situation and the protagonist’s continued accidental heroics as he tries to run away.

All this perfectly leads up to a final big sequence, where the desperate protagonists are forced into a particularly brutal fight with little hope of survival. Unsurprisingly, this requires Cain to engage in another suicide mission, which leads to some of the best action scenes in the entire book. This entire last section of The Last Ditch is a particularly awesome thrill ride which I powered through so very quickly to see how everything came to an end. Readers come away very satisfied from The Last Ditch, which honestly was one of the stronger books in this cool series, and I really enjoyed how Mitchell continues to entertain with his amazing and entertaining Warhammer 40,000 premise.

Mitchell maintains pretty much the same writing style for The Last Ditch he has previously utilised in the other Ciaphas Cain books, which allows for a very impressive light read. It is told primarily in a chronicle/journal format written by an older Cain, which recounts the events of this adventure through the narrow focus of the protagonist’s unreliable memory. This allows for a fun and self-centred take on events that examines Cain’s reluctant action while also loading up the story with some entertaining humour that provides a great satirical look at the usually grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe. This main narrative of action, adventure and supposedly cowardly behaviour is cleverly interspersed with a range of entertaining footnotes, commentary and in-universe texts that have been provided by the account’s patient, if sarcastic, editor, Inquisitor Amberly Vail. This combination of narrative elements not only cleverly provides readers with and informative and light-hearted look at events taking place outside of Cain’s selfish storytelling, but it also pumps up both the humour and the stakes of the plot, especially as you become aware of the planet-wide impacts of the central adventure.

As with all the books in the series, The Last Ditch does work well as a standalone novel that readers can enjoy without any previous knowledge of the other Ciaphas Cain books, or indeed the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe. While this novel is set in the middle of Cain’s personal chronology and makes mentions of several previous adventures, readers should have no trouble following along, with the point of these references made clear quickly through the writing and context. Established fans of the series will also have a lot of fun with this book, especially as Mitchell continues Cain’s adventures with the Valhallan 597^th, and there are a lot of entertaining familiar beats with this newer entry. Like many of the previous books, The Last Ditch does have some repetition issues, with Mitchell reusing a lot of basic story ideas and phrases in Cain and Vail’s descriptions that returning readers will notice. However, I felt that this entry was distinctive enough, especially with a more horror vibe to it, that any readers can come in and easily enjoy it. This allows The Last Ditch to remain an awesome addition to the overall series, and it’s one I personally had an outstanding time getting through.

I also must once again highlight some of the great character work in this novel, especially when it comes to the main character of Commissar Ciaphas Cain. A complex figure and self-professed coward, Cain spends most of the book trying to come up with ways to avoid combat and survive the inevitable danger his reputation and own bad lack force him to participate in. With a very cynical and self-deprecating writing style, Mitchell always tries to emulate classic, comedic and craven military figures like Flashman or Blackadder with his depictions of Cain. However, despite the protagonist’s best efforts to showcase himself as a dishonourable coward, his resultant heroic actions and Inquisitor Vail’s notes help to show the reader that his is somewhat lying to both us and himself, as he continues to be an inspirational figure. This allows for quite a complex and relatively light-hearted read, as you are constantly wondering just how honest the protagonist is being with his observations and descriptions of his actions. This all blends well with Cain’s witty and sarcastic humour, which lightly lampoons the usually serious Warhammer 40,000 universe and ensures that you are constantly entertained as you follow Commissar Cain into danger once again.

The rest of the cast of this novel are also a ton of fun, especially as many fan favourite characters from the previous novels are well utilised here. This includes Cain’s faithful aide, Jurgen, who continues to toe the line between gormless soldier and ultra-effective sidekick, and is a very entertaining inclusion in any of these books. Inquisitor Amberly Vail once again has a big impact, despite her actual appearance in the novel being quite negligible, and her no-nonsense overarching commentary allows for quite an amusing read. The returning members of the Valhallan 597^th regiment were a welcome inclusion, and it is always cool to see the close relationship that Cain has with these soldiers after so many adventures. Throw in a young gung-ho commissar that Cain is forced to school, and a planetary governor trying to stay in control of her planet amongst the chaos of war, and the cast of The Last Ditch was pretty exceptional and continues Mitchell’s habit of showcasing entertaining and complex supporting characters.

I have long extolled the impressive virtues of the audiobook format when it comes to Warhammer 40,000 fiction, as it is just so much fun having the over-the-top stories read out loud. Some of the very best Warhammer books in this format are the Ciaphas Cain audiobooks, due to their elaborate casts and the fantastic way their narrators capture the unique style of the series. This is particularly true for The Last Ditch, which was another absolute joy to listen to, as its amazing narrators perfectly captured both the humour and complex action. Coming in with a decent run time of nine and a half hours, listeners can absolutely fly through The Last Ditch audiobook, which once again features all the awesome elements that the rest of the series had. This includes the use of several different narrators, with the incredible vocal talents of Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory, Toby Longworth and Andrew James Spooner, all adding a lot to the impact of this fun and fantastic story.

Perring is particularly awesome as he voices the main plot of The Last Ditch from the perspective of Cain. Voicing the protagonist’s conflicted memories of the events, Perring perfectly captures the complex personality of the main character, while also providing a fun take on the action and adventure occurring around the protagonist. Perring has a great range of different voices for this part of the book, with each of the characters getting a very fitting tone that showcases their separate personalities, including many recurring voices the narrator used in previous audiobooks in the series. Perring is once again supported by Penelope Rawlins, who voices the character of Inquisitor Amberley Vail as she edits Cain’s memoirs. Rawlins really dives into the sarcastic character of Inquisitor Vail in these supporting parts of the book, providing a calm, indulgently humorous voice that fits the fun feel of the series. Rawlins’s interruptions and inclusions as Vail complement Perring’s narration extremely well, adding some great humour to the plot without ruining the flow of the main story. These two narrators work together extremely well to bring out much of the book’s humour, and I love how they both have kept coming back to this series to ensure some excellent continuity.

While Perring and Rawlins do the main narration, the additional narrators each have a fun supporting role in proceedings. Emma Gregory probably gets the most use of the three as she once again voices the memoirs of an ambitious officer in Cain’s regiment, retelling events in a particularly bombastic way. Gregory deliberately over-acts her part of the audiobook to show off the brash personality of the memoir’s author, and you have to love the pomp and self-importance that Gregory adds to her voice work in these scenes. The other two, Longworth and Spooner, both of whom are well-established narrators of Warhammer fiction in their own right, have a lot of fun with more minor supporting roles in The Last Ditch, and their cool, if short, inclusions added some fun variety to the experience. The overall result was another excellent listen that really enhances the fun and impact of the story and the larger franchise. I honestly think that the Ciaphas Cain series has some of the best audiobooks, and The Last Ditch perfectly showcased how well these books come across in this fun format.

With all the fun action, humour and great focus on a fantastically flawed protagonist fans have come to know and love, Sandy Mitchell continues his exceptional Ciaphas Cain Warhammer 40,000 series with The Last Ditch. A wonderful and deeply entertaining read, The Last Ditch was a joy to read from start to finish and I had such a brilliant time with it. Indeed, I enjoyed The Last Ditch so much that I immediately dove into the next book in the series, The Greater Good, the second I finished it.

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Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks from the First Half of 2025

On July 22, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List13 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday required participants to list their favourite books that take place in a setting of their choosing. While this is an interesting idea, and one I might come back to later, I’m instead going to continue my recent trend of discussing books from the first half of the year and highlight my favourite audiobooks from the first half of 2025. This is a continuation of my Top Ten list from a couple of weeks ago that featured my favourite overall novels from the first half of 2025.

I have a great deal of love for the audiobook format, and it is one of the main ways that I tend to check out books. Each year I enjoy a great number of different audiobooks and use the format to enjoy both recent releases and older novels. I have long been a major fan of audiobooks, and it is amazing the various ways in which listening to a book can enhance your enjoyment. A great audiobook can really bring you into the story, and I find that listening to a book enhances the amount of detail that you can take in. In addition, other features, such as captivating voices, music and sound effects can really make an audiobook something special, and there some great examples of the format I have enjoyed throughout my life. This year alone I have listened to a ton of outstanding audiobooks, includes some of my favourite books from early 2025. Because I love this format so much, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight my favourite audiobooks from the first half of the year.

To pull this list off I had a look at all the 2025 releases that I listened to on audiobook to figure out my favourites. It turns out that I have already gone through quite a few this year so there was a large collection of potential additions to this list, which I was eventually able to whittle it down to the best ten audiobooks. There is a bit of a crossover with my previous Favourite Books from the First Half of 2025 list, but I think there are enough new additions to make this list worthwhile. I made sure to feature only the very best audiobooks on this list, and, in addition to the quality of the baseline novel, I also looked at audiobook production and narration. This includes whether the audiobook has outstanding narration or uses music and sound effects to enhance the plot. Keeping these criteria in mind, I came up with the following strong Top Ten List and associated Honourable Mentions, and all the audiobooks listed below were exceptional listens that come very highly recommended by this blog.

Honourable Mentions:

Warhammer 40,000: Fulgrim: The Perfect Son, written by Jude Reid and narrated by Andrew James Spooner

An excellent and intense Warhammer 40,000 novel perfectly brought to life by narrator Andrew James Spooner.

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Grave Danger, written by James Grippando and narrated by Jonathan Davis

James Grippando continues his fantastic Jack Swyteck legal thriller series, with the audiobook well presented by the always impressive Jonathan Davis

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Badlands, written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and narrated by Cynthia Farrell

Cynthia Farrell ensures this new dark thriller from the legendary team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child really shines with her outstanding narration.

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Warhammer 40,000: Leontus: Lord Solar, written by Rob Young and narrated by David Seddon

A short, but very sweet Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that really pops when read out.

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Top Ten List:

The Devils, written by Joe Abercrombie and narrated by Steven Pacey

Let’s start this list off with one of my top books and audiobooks of the year, The Devils by the master of grim dark fantasy fiction, Joe Abercrombie. An incredible and highly entertaining novel that sees a group of monsters attempt to place a street thief on the throne of Troy in a clever, alternate medieval Europe setting, The Devils was a particularly fun, bloody and compelling novel I couldn’t get enough of, especially on audiobook. Thanks to one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Steven Pacey, The Devils was so much fun to listen to as Pacey perfectly embodied the entire crazy cast of this book. Highly recommended, you are in for an epic time listening to The Devils.

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Warhammer 40,000: Interceptor City, written by Dan Abnett and narrated by Toby Longworth

Unsurprisingly to anyone who knows me, I have a Warhammer 40,000 audiobook on this list with Interceptor City. The long-awaited sequel to Dan Abnett’s classic novel, Double Eagle, Interceptor City was a gritty and enthralling science fiction war story that saw fighter pilots battle it out amongst the massive ruins of a fallen Hive City. A powerful and action-packed novel, Interceptor City becomes even more epic when read out by long-time Warhammer narrator Toby Longworth, who expertly showcases the intense, claustrophobic aeronautic combat sequences. I honestly could have listened to another 20 hours of Interceptor City, and there is no better way to enjoy this epic read.

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Burn to Shine, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter

The dream team of Jonathan Maberry and Ray Porter continues to produce incredible audiobooks, this time with the gripping thriller Burn to Shine. The fourth book in Maberry’s Rogue Team International series (Rage, Relentless and Cave 13), Burn to Shine was another exciting read that pitted the protagonists against high-tech and supernatural threats from their past. Maberry writes an excellent story for this book, and Ray Porter once again effortlessly brings the complex characters and dark tone to life with his narration. A deeply impressive listen from two amazing creatives.

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Sunrise on the Reaping, written by Suzanne Collins and narrated by Jefferson White

One of the more impressive audiobooks I listened to in 2025 was the new Hunger Games novel, Sunrise on the Reaping. Suzanne Collins cleverly revisited her iconic world with a fantastic prequel novel focused around one of her best characters Haymitch Abernathy. This amazing book really hit the readers hard, and I found myself enjoying it even more thanks to the impressive audiobook narration of actor Jefferson White. White proved to be a perfect narrator for a young Haymitch, and I got deeply engrossed in this audiobook thanks to his fantastic voice work. An exceptional audiobook guaranteed to break your heart.

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Midnight Black, written by Mark Greaney and narrated by Jay Snyder

The latest Gray Man audiobook from Mark Greaney proved to be an exceptional piece of entertainment for a long road trip, and I really got engrossed in this gripping thriller while driving around the United States. Once again narrated by Jay Snyder, Midnight Black’s compelling tale of desperation and imprisonment proved to be particularly addictive and constantly exciting, and I couldn’t stop listening to this book at times as I waited to see how everything came together. An impressive new audiobook entry in one of my favourite spy thriller series.

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Four Ruined Realms, written by Mai Corland and narrated by various

One of the first audiobooks of 2025 I listened to this year was the awesome fantasy novel, Four Ruined Realms. The sequel to Mai Corland’s 2024 novel, Five Broken Blades, Four Ruined Realms had a great story that sent the author’s lethal protagonists to an enemy nation to complete a desperate heist mission, with everything and everyone they love on the line. Not only was this a great fantasy story, but the Four Ruined Realms audiobook once again came across as an incredible listen thanks to it’s six outstanding narrators. Jaine Ye, Sophie Oda, Greg Chun, Zion Jang, Roger Yeh and Donald Chang each excelled at narrating the perspective chapters of one of the book’s protagonists, and I like their unique take on each of the characters. Thanks to these six talented narrators, Four Ruined Realms was a real joy to listen to, and this proved to be a great second entry in the Broken Blades series. I’m planning to listen to the recently released third and final book in the trilogy, Three Shattered Souls, on audiobook soon and it’s going to be an outstanding listen, even with one of the narrators stepping away after the tragic ending to Four Ruined Realms.

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Star Wars: Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear, written by Alexander Freed and narrated by January Lavoy

This year Alexander Freed presented the start of a cool new Star Wars trilogy that aimed to show the early days of Emperor Palpatine’s rule and the steps that would lead some key figures to rebellion. The first book in this trilogy, The Mask of Fear, was a compelling and complex read that examined politics and lies in the Star Wars universe. Thanks to the narration of January Lavoy, as well as the cool music and sound effects Star Wars audiobooks are known for, The Mask of Fear proved to a particularly impactful listen, and there is really no better way to enjoy this novel.

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Never Flinch, written by Stephen King and narrated by Jessie Mueller

Stephen King continues to impress in 2025 with his new and particularly powerful thriller, Never Flinch. Bringing back one of his more unique protagonists, Holly Gibney, Never Flinch was a dark and captivating novel of obsession, addiction and murder, that frankly was impossible to stop listening to. Narrator Jessie Mueller was particularly impressive, and I love her outstanding take on the story, as well as her excellent character voices. Easily one of the best books of 2025 that really comes to life on audiobook.

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Open Season, written by Jonathan Kellerman and narrated by John Rubinstein

Another great murder mystery I was lucky enough to enjoy on audiobook this year was Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman. The 40^th book in Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series, Open Season was an outstanding and powerful novel that saw the team of a skilled psychologist and a veteran detective hunt a dangerous killer with a sinister motive. I really enjoyed the awesome audiobook of Open Season, which I powered through on a plane ride, and frankly I couldn’t stop listening to this book at times. Long-time Alex Delaware narrator John Rubinstein was once again amazing in Open Season, and I love his fantastic take on all the characters, including the main detective. Thrilling, exciting and very clever, Open Season was a great audiobook that comes highly recommended.

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Days of Shattered Faith, written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by David Thorpe

The final audiobook I want to highlight on this list is Days of Shattered Faith, which I enjoyed early in the year. The third book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Tyrant Philosopher series, Days of Shattered Faith continued to explore the author’s unique fantasy world where a dangerous empire of perfection-seeking fanatics conquers everything through various despicable, and often repurposed, means. This latest book was an incredible novel of diplomacy, clashing cultures and subtle wars, and I loved the varied storylines explored within. Narrator David Thorpe does an excellent job bringing this varied cast to life, while also capturing Tchaikovsky’s unique tone, and the result was a truly awesome listen that I deeply enjoyed. A wonderful new audiobook entry in one of Tchaikovsky’s best series.

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Well, that’s the end of this latest list. As you can see, there have been some very good audiobooks out in the first half of 2025. It will be interesting to see which books make the cut later in the year, especially as I currently have several major 2025 audiobooks currently sitting on my phone, waiting to be listened to. While I get to that, make sure to let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2025 so far are in the comments below.

Warhammer 40,000: The Emperor’s Finest by Sandy Mitchell

On June 2, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer4 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 7 December 2010)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Seven

Length: 10 hours and 14 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Dive once again into the crazy adventures of the Warhammer 40,000 universe’s most undeserving hero, with the awesome Ciaphas Cain novel, The Emperor’s Finest by Sandy Mitchell.

I was recently in the mood for something familiar and fun to enjoy during a gap in my audiobook listening schedule, and the first thing that came to mind was another entry in the highly entertaining and addictive Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell (a pseudonym of author Alex Stewart). One of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 series, the Ciaphas Cain books chronicle the adventures of the dashing and doubtful hero of the Imperium of Man, Commissar Ciaphas Cain, a man who sensibly seeks to avoid the many, many terrifying dangers of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, but who constantly finds himself dragged into the deadliest of situations, often because of his vastly inflated legend. I have had a wonderful time making my way through the series, with books like For the Emperor, Caves of Ice, The Traitor’s Hand, Death or Glory, Duty Calls and Cain’s Last Stand, proving to be extremely compelling and highly entertaining. As such, I knew well in advance of reading The Emperor’s Finest that I was going to have a brilliant time with it, and Mitchell did not disappoint. The seventh entry in this outstanding series, The Emperor’s Finest, had an outrageous and fantastic plot behind it that throws you into the action right away.

A dangerous and terrible foe stalks several human worlds in the galaxy, and only one man is unlucky enough to face it: Commissar Ciaphas Cain. Despite being relatively early in his illustrious career, Cain has already gained a reputation for heroics and bravery, a combination that conspires to get the Commissar into far more trouble than he wants. However, one of his most dangerous adventures occurs when he is surrounded by the finest warriors humanity has to defend them.

Rescued from an exploding Necron ship, Cain finds himself in the care of Space Marines of the Reclaimers chapter and soon becomes their Imperial Guard liaison as part of a new campaign. Assigned to supress a civil war on the important agricultural world of Viridia, the Reclaimers are keen to engage the enemy, and Cain finds himself reluctantly dragged in their wake, forced to once again play the rousing hero and bring the loyalists of Viridia into line. However, as the Reclaimers begin their bloody work, it soon becomes apparent that the traitors of Viridia are far more deadly than expected, when a nefarious genestealer cult is revealed at the heart of the warring factions.

As the Space Marines engage the genestealers, the defenders of Viridia determine that they must have snuck into the system when a massive, drifting space hulk briefly appeared. Determined to eradicate the source of this unholy threat to the Imperium, the Reclaimers lead an ambitious expedition into the warp to track down the space hulk and obtain its secrets, and Cain is naturally required to follow along. With murderous genestealers and ravaging orks in front of him, and the far more terrifying threat of an ambitious husband-seeking noblewoman at his back, Cain and his trusty aide, Jurgen, are flung once again into the fray and must find a way to extricate themselves from the new dangers all around them. But if anyone can survive the oncoming terrors of the space hulk, it’s the soon to be legend of the Imperium.

Sandy Mitchell continues to delightfully show just how ridiculous and entertaining the Warhammer 40,000 universe can be with this outstanding entry in his Ciaphas Cain series. Featuring an intense plot loaded with some fantastic characters, The Emperor’s Finest takes Cain on a grand adventure filled with action, questionable heroics, and boundless fun.

As with the rest of the books in the Ciaphas Cain series, The Emperor’s Finest features a brilliant and highly entertaining story loaded with funny coincidences, complex characters and highly dangerous situations. Following on from the immediate aftermath of the Ciaphas Cain short story, Echoes of the Tomb, the initial story sees Cain once again thrust into danger, this time supporting the Reclaimers’ attempts to wipe out a genestealer-led revolution on the planet of Viridia. This first part of The Emperor’s Finest is a somewhat typical Ciaphas Cain narrative, with the reluctant Cain dragged into a dangerous situation thanks to his own inflated reputation. This ensures a ton of excellent action and over-the-top scenarios, as Cain jumps from danger to danger, with many of his decisions to avoid trouble resulting in him finding an even worse scenario. Mitchell enhances this fun by also forcing Cain to contend with supporting character, Mira DuPanya, whose entertaining exploits, foppish nature, aristocratic arrogance, and determination to stick with Cain leads to some great moments, including an unlikely romantic subplot with the protagonist.

While this was a great introduction, the plot focus of The Emperor’s Finest changes about a third of the way through into a space adventure, when the Reclaimers set out to find and cleanse the space hulk that initially corrupted Viridia, and Cain is dragged along. This allows for some excellent space adventures, especially when Cain and the Space Marines burst out into ork space, resulting in a great boarding action sequence. Mitchell really leans into some fun interpersonal clashes between the book’s three main characters here, especially as Cain and the always dependable Jurgen find themselves at their wits end with Mira, who continues to be a real highlight of the plot. All this leads to the excellent final third of The Emperor’s Finest, which sees Cain and Jurgen trapped alone aboard the space hulk, facing off against genestealers and orks. A frenetic and fast-paced extended sequence, the space hulk scenes feature some of the book’s best action, and it was fun to see Cain and Jurgen working as an effective team to achieve Cain’s goal of not dying. Mitchell plunks in some really awesome, fast-paced sequences here, and the reader is left hanging on until the end as they wait to see how Cain escapes this time. Everything wraps up with some final fun moments, with Cain once again coming out on top through happy accident, and I was thoroughly entertained with how the self-contained storylines around Mira came to an end.

Unsurprisingly, Mitchell continued to utilise the same writing style that made the rest of the Ciaphas Cain series so entertaining, with the main narrative primarily told in a journal format, written by an older Cain. Filled with self-deprecating humour and his own narrow insights into events, the novel paints a rather compelling and frank picture of events, which Mitchell ensures is loaded with action, adventure, and a certain level of ridiculousness. This main narration is cleverly interspersed with entertaining footnotes, commentary and in-universe texts provided by the account’s editor, Inquisitor Amberly Vail, which ensures that the story becomes even more cynical and humorous, abet with some excellent additional insights into the Warhammer 40,000 universe. I personally found The Emperor’s Finest to be one of the funnier Ciaphas Cian novels, and I chuckled my way through several scenes, especially those where Cain’s greatest threat proves to be an ambitious and heavily armed love interest. I really love Mitchell’s great writing style for these books, which are honestly some of the more light-hearted entries in the larger Warhammer 40,000 canon, and I felt that it helped to turn the already awesome action story of The Emperor’s Finest into a truly entertaining narrative. While the overall general adventure narrative is relatively basic, especially after some of the preceding books that had a little more depth, this was still a great read, and those in the mood for comedy, action and amusing characters in the always grim dark Warhammer 40,000 universe are going to have fun with this seventh Ciaphas Cain book.

As with the rest of the series, The Emperor’s Finest works extremely well as a standalone novel, with no prior knowledge of the rest of the Ciaphas Cain series needed to enjoy this cool narrative. Indeed, as The Emperor’s Finest is set relatively early in the character’s personal chronology, only a couple of the previous books are referenced or mentioned, although the short story, Echoes of the Tomb, set directly before the events of this novel, is discussed a few times. As such, The Emperor’s Children could potentially be used as a good entry point into the larger series, especially as you get some great comedic moments and interactions in this book. While The Emperor’s Finest does suffer from some repetition issues due to Mitchell reusing some phrases, descriptions and broad story arcs, I feel that there were enough unique elements in this book to make it stand out from the rest of the series. This includes the inclusion of Space Marines characters for the first time in a Ciaphas Cain book, as well as the inclusion of some fun new supporting figures who add a lot of humour to the plot. As such, I felt that The Emperor’s Finest was an outstanding addition to the overall series, and one that will appeal to both new readers and established fans of the series.

An always amazing highlight of the Ciaphas Cain novels are the great characters, and The Emperor’s Finest is an excellent example of this, featuring a fun cast of outrageous figures. This includes protagonist and main point-of-view character, Commissar Ciaphas Cain, who is a particularly complex figure in the Warhammer 40,000 canon. Always described by the protagonist himself as a coward and a false hero, Cain spends most of the book trying to come up with ways to avoid combat and survive the inevitable danger his reputation and own bad lack force him to participate in. Written in a very cynical and self-deprecating manner, Mitchell always tries to emulate classic figures like Flashman or Blackadder with his depictions of Cain. However, despite Cain’s own constant assurances that he is no hero, he often proves to be quite a skilled fighter and leader, routinely defeating the enemy through clever strategies or natural talents, and you soon figure out that the character is actually a good Commissar, even if he doesn’t believe it. As such, Cain is a brilliantly contrary character, and it always fun to see him in action, especially in these earlier adventures where even he isn’t sure whether he’s brave or a hero. Throw in the protagonist’s usual witty humour, sarcastic comments and overall cynical nature, which throws some entertaining shade on the entire Warhammer 40,000 universe, and Cain is a brilliant and surprisingly likeable central character that is so much fun to follow.

Aside from Cain, The Emperor’s Finest features some excellent supporting characters, including some recurring figures from the main series. This includes Cain’s faithful aide Jurgen, a seemingly gormless and thoroughly unsanitary soldier, who is also an effective and lethal sidekick and in many ways is the true hero of the series. While some elements of his nature are hidden due to this book being set early in the series’ timeline, Jurgen still has several moments to shine in The Emperor’s Finest, and I love how well he plays off Cian. Another great recurring figure is Inquisitor Amberly Vail, who serves the essential role as the overarching narrator of the book as well as the person behind the footnotes. Despite not physically appearing as a character in The Emperor’s Finest, Vail’s impact on the overarching book is undeniable, and I love hearing her commentary on Cain’s exploits while also calling out all his lies and mistakes. Mitchell also features several stoic Space Marine characters, whose surly presence adds some interesting colour to proceedings, and whose apparently inability to see through Cain is quite amusing.

While Jurgen and Vail are great in their roles as always, I think that new character Mira DuPanya honestly stole the show in The Emperor’s Finest. The spoiled daughter of Viridia’s governor, Mira is shown to be an early thorn in Cain’s side as she decides to accompany him into battle with her troops, despite being unqualified to lead anyone. The early conflict between the two quickly turns into an unconventional romance, which Cain humorously regrets the entire way through, especially when Mira’s true intentions are revealed. Mitchell honestly did a masterful job of portraying Mira in the most spoiled and foppish light, and for once Cain isn’t the most selfish character in the plot. The hilarious interactions that occur between Mira and several of the recurring cast is often comedic gold, and I felt that this character’s presence alone helped to make The Emperor’s Finest one of the funnier books in the series. An overall amazing cast of characters that I couldn’t get enough of.

I almost don’t need to say it at this point, but I of course checked out The Emperor’s Finest on audiobook, which frankly is the very best way to enjoy a Ciaphas Cain/Warhammer 40,000 novel. Once again featuring an impressive cast of entertaining narrators, The Emperor’s Finest had a brisk run time of just over 10 hours, which I honestly flew through because I was having such a fun time with this audiobook. The multiple narrators really help to capture the entertaining and crazy nature of the narrative, with Stephen Perring doing his usual exceptional job leading the narration. His voice work in the main story, as told from Cain’s perspective, is very entertaining, and I love the extremely fitting voices that once again accompany the recurring protagonists of Cain and Jurgen, with Jurgen’s sticky tones being particularly fun. Thanks to its compelling cast, Perring also had some additional interesting voices to feature in The Emperor’s Children, including a group of Space Marines, who Perring gives an appropriately intimidating and booming voice. However, Perring’s most entertaining, if ridiculous voice, belonged to Cain’s new love interest, Mira, upon whom Perring bestows a very grating and overly aristocratic voice, that really fits the spoiled princess persona the character had. I honestly chuckled my way through some of the outrageous dialogue between the two, especially with Perring’s tones making them even more ridiculous.

In addition to Perring, the voice cast of The Emperor’s Finest also features the returning Penelope Rawlins, as well as additional narrators Andrew James Spooner and Helen McAlphine. Rawlins once again does an amazing job voicing Inquisitor Vail’s notes on Cain’s account of this mission, and I loved the sarcastic yet informative tone that Rawlins has long attributed to this compelling figure. Rawlins’s inclusions work perfectly alongside the main narration of Perring, and the way that her subtle and comedic comments are inserted into the flow of the story in this format is always extremely fun. Throw in some excellent work from Spooner and McAlphine, who bring the contextual articles, interviews and exerts from in-universe texts to life in an amusing and striking fashion, and The Emperor’s Finest once again features some outstanding narration that really enhances Mitchell’s already awesome story. I have so much love for how the Ciaphas Cain novels come across on audiobook, and The Emperor’s Finest once again shows why this is the very best way to enjoy this series.

Seven books in and the always fun Ciaphas Cain series remains one of the best Warhammer 40,000 series. Sandy Mitchell did an outstanding job continuing the series with The Emperor’s Finest, which provides even more great action, fantastic comedy, and amazing character interactions. An excellent and captivating read from start to finish, The Emperor’s Finest comes highly recommended, and I can’t wait to dive even further into the series when I get a chance.

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Warhammer 40,000: Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell

On June 5, 2024 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

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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 597^th, 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 597^th, 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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Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks with Multiple Narrators

On August 9, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic of this week’s Top Ten Tuesday looked at books participants have read or wanted to read because of other Top Ten Tuesday posts. While this is a very interesting topic, it’s not one that I felt I could really participate in. However, I did have a couple of audiobook-focused lists I’d been cooking up in the background, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post one here.

My list for this week revolves around audiobooks with multiple narrators. Now fans of my blog will be well aware that I am a massive fan of the audiobook format, and I honestly find it the best way to enjoy a range of cool novels and series. I have so much love for audiobooks, and a great narrator can exceptionally increase how much I enjoy an epic book. In some particularly awesome cases, the audiobook format can feature more than one narrator, and that is what I want to focus this list on. I have had the pleasure of listening to some very impressive audiobooks that feature a large cast of voice actors and frankly the range of voices and talents involved can add an even greater layer of awesomeness to the proceedings. As such, I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to highlight some of the very vest multi-narrator audiobooks I have listened to so far.

To appear on this list, the audiobook in question had to have two or more narrators attached to it, with the second narrator having more than a cameo appearance to it. I actually had quite a few options to include here, but I was eventually able to whittle it down to a satisfying top-ten list, with my typical generous honourable mentions section as well. I think this list came up pretty well, and I really liked some of the books I selected. All the below choices come very highly recommended on audiobook, and their great collection of narrators ensured that this format was particularly epic.

Honourable Mentions:

Caves of Ice, written by Sandy Mitchell and narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory

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Dredge Runners, written by Alec Worley and narrated by Jon Rand, Paul Putner, Emma Noakes, Kelly Hotten, David Seddon and Andrew James Spooner

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Dark Sacred Night, written by Michael Connelly narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

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The Battle For Jedha, written by George Mann and performed by a full cast

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Top Ten Tuesdsay:

For the Emperor, written by Sandy Mitchell and narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory

Let us start off with one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks, For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell. The first book in the acclaimed and hilarious Ciaphas Cain series, For the Emperor is a very entertaining novel that follows the exploits of a cowardly Commissar who has managed to convince everyone that he’s a brilliant war hero. This is an extremely funny read, and it’s audiobook version is greatly enhanced by the use of its three narrators, Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory. All three narrators are extremely good in their roles, and I love how they split the load, with Perring voicing much of the main story, Rawlins voicing hilarious notes from an outside observer, and Gregory voicing several intentionally badly written book excerpts in an over-the-top manner. This unique narration works extremely well and you will fall down laughing as a result. This cast (with a few more additions), lend their voices to the entire Ciaphas Cian series, and I look forward to checking out more entries in this series in the future, especially with this brilliant cast behind it.

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The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman and narrated by a full cast

I had to include the first epic audio adaptation of the iconic Sandman comic here on this list, as it is a particularly exceptional listen. This adaptation features a massive and highly talented voice cast to bring Gaiman’s elaborate story to life, including a cool mixture of celebrities and professional voice actors, who mesh extremely well together to tell a brilliant story. Celebrities, including James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Andy Serkis, Michael Sheen and Riz Ahmed, as well as iconic audiobook narrators like Ray Porter, do an exceptional job bringing their characters to life, and in some cases they are even better than the live-action cast from the Netflix show. I absolutely flew through this adaptation, and the sheer range of great voices involved is so damn epic you won’t be able to turn it off.

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World War Z, written by Max Brooks and narrated by a full cast

Another massive audiobook production that benefits incredibly from an extensive celebrity cast is the adaptation of the awesome zombie novel, World War Z. This large cast works extremely well to bring Brooks’ interview-style story to life, as they each take on the role of a specific character being interviewed. With Brooks acting as the interviewer, each of these actors tell their character’s specific story of the zombie apocalypse in impressive fashion, diving into their charaters and telling their terrifying tales. Honestly all 30+ actors do an incredible job here, but some of the standouts include Alfred Molina as former astronaut (with a decent Australian accent), Alan Alda as a business strategist, Masi Oka as a Japanese otaku who is totally unprepared for the zombies, and Rob Reiner and an almost unrecognisable Simon Pegg as politicians. However, my favourite is easily Mark Hamill, who has several of the best chapters as a jaded former solider caught up in the very worst moments of the war. This cast is just exceptional, and their use in this audiobook turns this into a first-class listen.

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Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh!, written by Nate Crowley and narrated by Kelly Hotten, Paul Putner and Jon Rand

One Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that particularly benefitted from multiple narrators was the impressive and exceedingly fun Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh!. Featuring a fantastic story that dives into the origins of a legendary figure in Warhammer 40,000 lore, this audiobook featured three talented narrators, Kelly Hotten, Paul Putner and Jon Rand. These three narrators switched throughout the book, depending on which unique figure was the perspective character for that chapter. This worked to really immerse the listener in the clever, multi-tiered narrative, and I had an awesome time listening to Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh! as a result. This was one of my favourite books and audiobooks from 2022 and this fantastic narration is a very strong reason for that.

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Doctor Aphra, written by Sarah Kuhn and narrated by a full cast

One thing that Star Wars fiction excels at it is producing high quality and addictive audiobook versions of their novels. This is particularly true for their audio exclusive productions that feature huge casts of talented audiobook narrators, many of whom have lent their voices to previous Star Wars audiobooks. One of the best was probably the impressive Doctor Aphra audio production, which served as a very clever and funny adaptation of several fantastic Star Wars comics. I had an absolute blast with this production and the sheer range of cool voices that were featured throughout really enhanced the clever storytelling and witty humour. While there were several distinctive narrators for this production, the standout was probably Emily Woo Zeller, who voiced the titular protagonist and provided a perfect and fantastic take on the opportunistic archaeologist. A must listen for all Star Wars fans, especially if you’ve had the pleasure of reading the Doctor Aphra comics.

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Engines of Empire, written by Richard S. Ford and narrated by Alison Campbell, Ciaran Saward, Phoebe McIntosh, Ewan Goddard, Andrew Kingston, Martin Reeve and Stephen Perry.

One of the more unique fantasy audiobooks from last year was the awesome Engines of Empire, which told a story of revolution and betrayal in a fresh new fantasy realm. This audiobook featured a huge cast of point of view characters, and the audiobook production seeks to enhance that by featuring a large group of narrators. Each narrator voices the chapter told from a specific character, helping to create a rich and powerful audio tapestry as they capture the personalities of their respective protagonists. This helps to turn the Engines of Empire audiobook into a great listen and I really had fun with it as a result.

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Tempest Runner, written by Cavan Scott and narrated by a full cast

Another excellent Star Wars audio production with a large cast was the excellent Tempest Runner by Cavan Scott. A fun addition to the High Republic subseries of Star Wars fiction, Tempest Runner followed one of the standout villains of the previous books and gives some fantastic context to her actions. Tempest Runner featured an awesome cast of actors, and I loved some of the great performances that emerged. Standouts included Jessica Almasy, who voiced the main character, January LaVoy who voiced a spiteful antagonist, and the leading Star Wars narrators, Marc Thompson and Jonathan Davies, who bring their very impressive skills to the fore again. An outstanding audiobook that makes perfect use of its exceptional cast.

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The Night Fire, written by Michael Connelly, narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

I have had fun with several of Michael Connelly’s audiobooks in recent years, but some of my favourites have to be the Ballard and Bosch books, that bring together two of Connelly’s best police protagonists. One of the things that make these audiobooks so cool are the use of dual narrators, Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin, who do a particularly awesome job in the second Ballard and Bosch book, The Night Fire. The audiobook is evenly split between each of the characters, so Welliver and Lakin split the narration down the middle, with Welliver voicing all the chapters from Bosch’s perspective, while Lakin takes on Ballard’s chapters. This helps to produce a very intriguing and compelling audiobook, with both actors inhabiting their respective role perfectly (unsurprisingly for Welliver, who plays Bosch in the recent television adaption). I absolutely flew through this audiobook and I cannot recommend this format enough when enjoying the epic Ballard and Bosch crossovers.

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The Way of Kings, written by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading

Another great audiobook that benefited from two separated narrators was the massive and iconic fantasy read, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I had a brilliant time listening to The Way of Kings in this format, especially as the audiobook allows for a greater appreciation of all the detail Sanderson chucked in, and the dual narrators of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading definitely helped here. Kramer and Reading split their duties along gender lines, with Kramer narrating all the chapters and interludes told from a male perspective, while Reading does the same for the parts of the book told from the female perspective. This helps to produce a very elaborate listen, especially as both narrators are particularly skilled, and I liked having a variety of voices in this extremely long audiobook. This is such a great way to enjoy this fantatic novel, and you will have an awesome time with these two narrators.

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Dooku: Jedi Lost, written by Cavan Scott and narrated by a full cast

The final multi-narrator audio production I wanted to highlight here is the Star Wars audiobook, Dooku: Jedi Lost. Diving into the past of iconic Star Wars villain Count Dooku, Jedi Lost was an excellent and entertaining listen, that features a brilliant cast of voice actors who bring several fantastic figures from the canon to life. This includes Euan Morton, who breaths great life into the titular Count Dooku, Orlagh Cassidy who has a great take on fan favourite villainess Asajji Ventress, and Jonathan Davis and Marc Thompson, whose respective portrayals of Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda, are pretty damn spot on. I had such a great time with this Star Wars production, and you have to love the dedication and power that the big cast of voice actors really brought to the table.

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That is the end of this latest list highlighting some of my favourite audiobooks that feature multiple narrators. Let me know what you think in the comments below and make sure to recommend your favourite audiobooks with a range of narrators behind it.

Quick review – Warhammer 40,000: Dredge Runners by Alec Worley

On October 24, 2022March 1, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Quick Review, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer14 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 8 August 2020)

Series: Warhammer Crime

Length: 1 hour and 1 minute

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare to dive into the dark and fun world of the Warhammer Crime subseries with the short but incredible hilarious audio drama, Dredge Runners by Alec Worley.

Fans of this blog will be well aware of my current obsession with all things Warhammer fiction, as I have been making an effort to try out a range of their recently released books, all of which have been highly entertaining reads. One of the main things that I love about the tie-in fiction that surrounds the Warhammer tabletop games is the sheer range of different stories that can be told, especially as the various authors associated with this franchise often go out of their way to blend it with other genres and story types. As a result, there are several great Warhammer sub-series out there at the moment, including the Warhammer Crime books, which dive into the criminal underbelly of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and presents the readers with some intriguing and unique adventures.

I have been meaning to check out some Warhammer Crime novels for a while, especially as there are some quite fascinating sounding books already part of it. I love the idea of the grim and gothic Warhammer universe blending with a more traditional crime fiction read, and I know I am going to have a lot of fun with all of them. As such, when I saw that a new Warhammer Crime book, The Wraithbone Phoenix by Alec Worley, was coming out, I thought that it would be a good entry point to the wider Warhammer Crime sub-series. However, I noticed that The Wraithbone Phoenix was actually a follow-up to a previous short story by Worley, Dredge Runners, which was released in 2020 as a full-cast audio drama. Well, I am a reviewer who likes the get the complete picture and considering that Dredge Runners was just over an hour long I figured I would listen to it quickly to get some context before diving into The Wraithbone Phoenix. As such, I listened to the whole of Dredge Runners in one go this morning, and it proved to be quite an amazing and amusing listen.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A Warhammer Crime Audio Drama

Baggit the ratling and Clodde the ogryn fight to survive on the mean streets of Varangantua as powerful enemies close in from all sides.

LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE
Experience the sounds of a crime-ridden city and enjoy the twists and turns of a tale starring some of the more unusual inhabitants of the Imperium of Man.

THE STORY
Baggit is a fast-talking ratling sniper with a greedy eye and loose morals. Clodde is an ogryn, a brute with a core of decency and a desire for a better life. Two abhuman deserters turned thieves, at large in the monolithic city of Varangantua, where only the tough or the ruthless survive. Having landed in debt to a savage crime lord, Baggit and Clodde end up in the crosshairs of the meanest, most puritanical sanctioner in the city. Caught between two powerful enemies, and with innocent lives at stake, the unlikely companions must think fast and hustle hard before death points a las-pistol in their direction…

Unsurprisingly, Dredge Runners turned out to be just as amusing and fantastic as the plot synopsis suggested. I loved the idea of two abhumans, in this case a ratling (a futuristic halfling sniper) and an ogryn (ogre), getting involved in a series of disastrous criminal enterprises after getting caught between the city’s biggest crime lord and a puritanical sanctioner (law enforcement official). Despite its short runtime, Worley achieves a lot with Dredge Runners, perfectly introducing his excellent protagonists and taking them on a wild science fiction thriller adventure that includes hilarious exchanges, failed undercover operations and explosive heists.

Told completely through dialogue (with some sound effects giving off extra context), Dredge Runners’ story draws you in within the first few minutes as the author blends the more outrageous elements of the Warhammer 40,000 universe with a dark but amusing crime fiction narrative. Due to the length, you do not often get the full story of the events taking place, but the subsequent reaction by the characters allows you to imagine the full destructive scope of their actions, and it often proves funnier this way. There is a real focus on humour in this short production, and I was constantly left in stiches at some of the fantastic antics that the main characters get up to as a chaotic team. However, the story also has some real heart to it, especially towards the end when the protagonists are forced to make some tough decisions about their future, and they find their greed crashing up against their moral responsibility to other abhumans. Throw in some memorable and deeply cynical propaganda messages from the city authorities that shows just how corrupt and repressive the entirety of Imperial culture is in the Warhammer 40,000 universe (the one that concluded the story had me laughing hard), and this proves to be an outstanding Warhammer production that I had an absolute blast getting through.

One of the main things that Worley achieved with Dredge Runners is the successful introduction of protagonists Baggit and Clodde, who serve as a fantastic central duo. On the surface, Baggit is a thieving rattling who serves as the team’s leader and plan maker, while Clodde is the muscle, going along with Baggit’s plans and often messing them up by not understanding them. However, there is a lot more to both of them. Baggit is desperate to escape the dark life they currently have in Varagantua and feels a responsibility to Clodde due to their connected past. Clodde, on the other hand, is a rather unique and amusing ogryn character, who has an unusual intellectual side after getting shot in the head (by Baggit). As such, Clodde comes off as surprisingly deep and philosophical, and he is way smarter than he appears, especially when it comes to Baggit’s antics. These two play off each other perfectly, especially with Clodde acting as the group’s conscious, and their eventual attempts to get justice and do the right thing, paints them in a much different light that makes them even more likeable.

I really need to highlight the outstanding way that this audio drama was presented, as the fantastic production melded well with Worley’s great script. Acted out by a full cast of talented voice actors and narrators who tell the entire story through dialogue, this was a really fun Warhammer presentation to listen to, especially as the dialogue was also enhanced by some great sound effects and small bits of music. I was particularly impressed by the voice actors, as each of them gave it their all when it came to their specific character/characters, moulding their voices to fit their distinctive traits and personalities. The cast was led by Jon Rand (Baggit) and Paul Putner (Clodde), who I previously deeply enjoyed in Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh!. These two actors did an outstanding job with their abhuman characters in Dredge Runners, and they play these two humorous figures perfectly, showcasing their different natures while also slowly revealing their outstanding hidden hearts. These two are expertly matched by Emma Noakes and Kelly Hotten, who play the antagonistic crime lord and sanctioner respectively. Noakes and Hotten both bring some outstanding menace to their roles, and I loved hearing these more serious characters attempt to deal with the chaotic main characters. The voice cast is rounded out by veteran narrators, David Seddon and Andrew James Spooner, who narrate some of the fun supporting characters, and I loved some of the unique and compelling voices they brought to the table. This entire audio drama comes together extremely smoothly, and listeners are constantly aware of all the actions going on in the story, especially with the fantastic cacophony of explosions, gunshots and screams that often happen around Baggit and Clodde. I had a wonderful time listening to Dredge Runners in one go, and you will not be disappointed with this excellent audio production.

Overall, Dredge Runners was an awesome and highly impressive Warhammer 40,000 short, that is well worth checking out. Not only did Alec Worley come up with a captivating and deeply hilarious narrative and script for this production but it features an outstanding and talented voice cast who perfectly perform it. As such, Dredge Runners was a particularly epic introduction to the Warhammer Crime sub-series, and I had an outstanding time seeing just how amazing and unique crime fiction in the Warhammer 40,000 universe can be. I am really glad that I chose to check out Dredge Runners first, and I honestly was surprised at just how perfectly entertaining this short audio drama turned out to be. As such, I am giving it a five-star review and I am now extremely excited to see how the next adventure of Baggit and Clodde turns out in The Wraithbone Phoenix.

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