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

Amazon

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.

Amazon

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

On April 16, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Science Fiction2 Comments

Publisher: Tor (ebook – 25 March 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 336 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Prepare for one of the most outrageous and original science fiction novels of 2025 with the fun, heartwarming and very entertaining novel, When the Moon Hits Your Eye by the always fantastic John Scalzi.

John Scalzi is a very entertaining science fiction author who has been providing his unique take on the genre for years. Best known for Old Man’s War and The Interdependency series, Scalzi has also written a range of distinctive standalone science fiction novels that provide interesting takes on the world, as well as satirising certain elements of pop culture. I have had a wonderful time reading novels like Redshirts, The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villian, and all of them proved to be amazing books. As such, I have been making a strong effort to read all Scalzi’s new novels, including his 2025 release, When the Moon Hits Your Eye. A captivating read with a unique premise behind it, When the Moon Hits Your Eye was one of my most anticipated books of 2025, and I am so glad that I got the chance to read it.

Plot Synopsis:

The moon has turned into cheese.

Now humanity has to deal with it.

For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now… something absolutely impossible.

Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and terminal patients at the end of their lives — over the length of an entire lunar cycle, each get their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to pray, to laugh and to grieve. All in a kaleidoscopic novel that goes all the places you’d expect, and then to so many places you wouldn’t.

It’s a wild moonage daydream. Ride this rocket.

Alright, so I knew going in that I was going to love When the Moon Hits Your Eye, primarily because it’s John Scalzi examining what happens when the moon turns to cheese, and that’s such an awesomely wacky premise. However, even with that expectation, I was surprised at how much fun I had with When the Moon Hits Your Eye, especially as Scalzi presents a compelling, thoroughly amusing and genuinely nice book that I ended up powering through in only a couple of days.

This was an extremely enjoyable novel, and I loved the impressive and multi-layered narrative that Scalzi was able to wrap around his original central plot idea. Starting with a couple of great introductory chapters that showcased the people of Earth becoming aware of the makeup of the moon suddenly and inexplicably changing from rock to a cheese-like substance, the book soon evolves into a series of loosely connected stories, set over the course of the first lunar cycle of the new cheese moon. These stories are designed to show the various reactions people in America have to the moon’s sudden change, and Scalzi has fun coming up with a range of great scenarios that only he could imagine. Many of these involve scientists, government officials and astronauts as they explore the more scientific nature of the cheesy moon and how it impacts the larger world, and this forms the core of When the Moon Hits Your Eye’s narrative, moving the overall plot along with new developments.

These main stories are well mixed with much more personal tales of ordinary people who find the unusual world circumstances impacting their lives in various ways as they try to make sense of their new reality. Scalzi really tries to showcase different layers of society with these stories, as he explores how religious people, philosophers, pop scientists, movie producers and even cheese shop owners would react to the unlikely scenario. These resulting ordinary-people based narratives blended extremely well with the core storylines about the official examination of the new moon and provided the reader with an outstanding range of emotions, humour and complex character-driven tales that expertly captured the human experience and examine how people react to the unexpected and the impossible.

Scalzi goes a variety of interesting places as the overall narrative of When the Moon Hits Your Eye continues, and I appreciated how well he set out the crazy lunar cycle. There is a more desperate edge to the second half of this book, especially as the cheese-based moon causes massive problems for the world, but this allows Scalzi to really dive into the emotional heart of the story, especially as he revisits several characters throughout the course of the book to see how these impossible events have changed their perspective and lives. The story comes to a very interesting, if slightly sudden, end, and while I think there was room for Scalzi to possibly provide readers greater closure with some of his character arcs, I felt that his conclusion was fun and fitting, especially with its cynical, if realistic, take on Earth’s future and how it will likely look back at the past.

This ended up being a very fun and moving novel, especially as Scalzi really dove into the human side of the problem and tried to examine the various ways people would either come together and drift apart over something this insane happening. While I’m sure some of book’s science is a little iffy, Scalzi sells the entire event in a realistic manner, and anyone can come into When the Moon Hits Your Eye and follow along with its plot, especially when it comes to the moving character-focused stories. Scalzi has a real talent for creating some elaborate short narratives around interesting protagonists, and the cool range of cool stories set under the book’s big plot event were all quite entertaining and unique in their own way. While some go for outright humour, others try to mirror recent real-world events, while more have much more personal and complex stories that looked at the darker side of the changes to the moon. All feature Scalzi’s realistic and relatable characters, and I felt that the author had a great, if cynical handle, on the modern mindset and the different ways humans would react to a sudden, major event like this.

As for the many cool stories contained within When the Moon Hits Your Eye, I tended to enjoy the more outrageous or outright funny tales, primarily because Scalzi used his imagination to come up with some truly hilarious, if surprisingly realistic moments. For example, one brilliant chapter focused on a Hollywood producer bombarded by moon and cheese focused screenplays, each one more ridiculous then the last. Other highlights included stories following employees of an entitled uber-wealthy who wants to become the first person to eat moon cheese, a poorly received Saturday Night Live taping, and a Vegas-based narrative resulted in a very over-the-top political scandal, all of which made me chuckle. These funnier stories were well balanced by more heartfelt narratives in unusual times, such as the tales surrounding two rival cheese shops that resulted in romance, familial reconnection, and other tales of emotional growth. I personally found myself connecting to a particularly moving story about an aspiring and struggling fantasy author whose writing dreams are eclipsed by the changes to the moon. Throw in several more central plot threads that move the story along in some surprisingly dark ways, including the narratives surrounding a billionaire tech-mogul with delusions of grandeur. These stories all form quite an impressive narrative web, and I really cannot emphasise just how well they came together, nor how entertaining they are both a singular and a joint level.

John Scalzi dives into one of his craziest scenarios with When the Moon Hits Your Eye, an ultra-compelling and fantastically over-the-top novel that I couldn’t get enough of. Smart, moving and oh-so funny, When the Moon Hits Your Eye was a breathtaking novel that brings you laughs, joy, and Scalzi’s brilliant insights into human nature. A highly recommend book for anyone looking for something entertaining or just a little unusual.

Amazon

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

On March 22, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday5 Comments

Publisher: Gollancz/Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 1993)

Series: Discworld – Book 13

Length: 9 hours and 55 minutes (Planer version)/11 hours and 38 minutes (Serkis version)

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Thanks to an excellent road trip, I managed to revisit several awesome entries from the iconic Discworld series by the legendary Terry Pratchett, and it is time to highlight one of the very best books that Pratchett wrote, Small Gods.

I have never made any secret of the fact that I love all things Terry Pratchett, as the Discworld books were the formative series of my youth. A massively popular collection of loosely connected novels set on a flat world carried through space on the back of four elephants atop a giant turtle, the Discworld books present a range of unique fantasy adventures backed with exceptional comedy and satire. This series is so much fun, and I honestly love every single Discworld book, having read them all multiple times, usually while laughing myself silly. Indeed, I am such a big fan of this series that I named my blog after a location in the universe. Despite my overwhelming love for all things Discworld, I haven’t reviewed too many of the books on this blog, with Moving Pictures and The Last Continent previously being the only exception. However, thanks to some great road trips giving me opportunities for revisiting some classics, I have recently published reviews for Guards! Guards! and an additional review for Moving Pictures. I also recently re-listened to the impressive and thoughtful 13^th entry in the series, Small Gods. An outstanding standalone novel that seeks to blend religious commentary with Pratchett’s strong humour and complex satire, Small Gods is one of the more thoughtful and moving Discworld books and is a must read for all fans of the franchise.

Floating through space on the back of a giant turtle, the Discworld is a place of magic, wonders, strange creatures and, unfortunately for the mortals just trying to live their lives, gods. Instead of the wise and beatific beings we hope them to be, the gods of the Disc are a capricious and vain lot, empowered by the belief of their human worshippers. But what happens when a mighty god loses his believers?

The militant nation of Omnia is an empire dedicated to the fervent worship of the Great God Om, an all-powerful being who knows all, sees all and is the only true god in the world. The problem is none of that is true. Instead, Om is a self-obsessed god among many, who barely pays attention to the people fighting in his name. More importantly, he is currently residing in the body of a tortoise, stripped of nearly all his divine power, and the only person who can hear him is a simple novice, Brutha, who isn’t fully convinced that the talking tortoise smiting him with tiny thunderbolts is his god.

Determined to get back on top and find out why he lost his power, Om recruits Brutha as his unlikely prophet. However, Brutha has his own problems as the sinister head of Omnia’s Quisition, Vorbis, has taken an interest in him. Forced to accompany Vorbis on a diplomatic mission, Brutha soon begins to understand that the world is a far bigger place than he realised, and that there is something very wrong at the heart of his nation.

As the tides of history take Brutha and Om into strange new places, the two find themselves encountering unexpected dangers, including dangerous ideas, sinister eagles, rebels determined to prove that the world isn’t round, deranged philosophers and the small gods that lurk in the dark places. To survive, Brutha will need to have faith in his god, but more importantly, Om will need to have faith in Brutha, especially when his own religion is turned against them.

After yet another re-read, Small Gods remains one of my favourite Discworld novels, and this is one of the very best examples of Terry Pratchett’s unique style and imagination. A hilarious, yet thought-provoking read that cleverly dissects religion, divinity and people’s beliefs, Small Gods quickly grabs your full attention and refuses to let go until it’s powerful, terminal end.

I have so much love for the outstanding narrative that Pratchett pulled together for Small Gods, which tells one of the more unique standalone tales in the Discworld series. I must admit, even after many reads, I am still very impressed that Pratchett decided to examine the nature of religion and belief through the lens of a hilarious odd-couple story that evolves into a road trip narrative. Starting off on a very entertaining note with the unsuspecting new prophet of Om, Brutha, encountering his god in the form of a small, battered tortoise, Pratchett does a good job of introducing the nation of Omnia and its place in the wider setting. This proves to be an effective start to the book, and a lot of the early themes and wider issues surrounding the nation of Omnia are well set-up. You also get a great examination of the book’s three main characters, and their compelling early interactions in Omnia sets up a lot of the book’s character-driven narratives. After this excellent introduction, Small Gods’ plot then moves to the bordering nation of Ephebe, which proves to be an intriguing centre of the novel, not only because it has some of the more entertaining sequences, but also because it begins to expand on some of the ideas from the front of Small Gods and you are given a good understanding of both Om’s situation and Brutha’s growth as a character.

The plot of Small Gods takes a powerful turn around halfway through, when Brutha helps further Vorbis’s schemes, only to then attempt to flee and do the right thing. However, thanks to the influence of a rival god and unexpected technology, Brutha and Om are inadvertently stranded in the desert with a helpless Vorbis. The following extensive scenes in the desert are probably the best parts of Small Gods, especially as Brutha begins to think for himself, and the philosophical clashes he has with Om set him up as the protagonist both the reader and the Omnians need. Pratchett really dives into what it is to be human and divine in this section of the book, and I deeply appreciate the rich character development featured within these sections of the plot. These desert scenes become even more impactful when Pratchett throws in a major obstacle for Brutha that threatens to push him over the edge into despair. You really feel for Brutha as he has his crisis of faith, only to maintain his humanity in the last confrontation with Vorbis. The subsequent scene on the metal turtle was very tense, and while I know some people dislike the end of Vorbis, I thought it was a very clever sequence, especially as Pratchett set up the hunting eagle perfectly. Pratchett continues to wrap up the rest of the narrative in a very satisfying way, and while the war sequence might have been a little unnecessary, it allowed some great character arcs to come together and showed how much Om had grown as a god. The final scene with Brutha once again showing his humanity no matter what, ended the book on satisfying and heart-felt note, I appreciated the hopeful tone Pratchett concluded his brilliant story on. An overall impactful and moving narrative that brought together a lot of complex plotlines and character moments and ensured you were hooked the entire way through.

I have always believed that Small Gods was one of Pratchett’s better written books, as he effortlessly blended a complex fantasy narrative that examined religion with his typically brilliant humour and some outstanding characters. Featuring one of his most complex and thought-provoking plots, Pratchett achieves so much with his intriguing inclusions, all without slowing down the speed of the book and keeping the tension and emotional charge of the book on high. Introducing a cool new setting, Small Gods works well as a standalone entry in the larger series that cleverly expands on some previously introduced features, such as the selfish and somewhat stupid gods of the Disc, as well as cool locations like Ephebe (which was previously featured in Pyramids). Due to its lack of major connections to the other entries in the Discworld series, Small Gods is a rather excellent introduction to Pratchett’s style and ability to dive into heavy topics with comedic content. Like all of Pratchett’s books, Small Gods is hilarious, and I love the many different levels of humour contained with the book, that range from obvious jokes at over-the-top situations, subtle witticisms often contain within well-placed footnotes, to clever word or name gags. Some of this humour is so subtle that it often goes over the reader’s head the first time, and you honestly need multiple readings to full appreciate every single joke or gag that Pratchett thought up (I still discover new jokes I previously missed every time I read a Pratchett novel).

However, the thing that ensures Small Gods stands out amongst the other brilliant Discworld novels is the author’s clever and insightful breakdown of religion and godhood on the Disc, which is both fascinating and entertaining. A lot of the book’s powerful messaging, complex themes and some of the best humour, comes out of the exploration of the divine and how it relates to both this crazy fantasy setting and the real world. While Pratchett does provide a lot of jokes about religion throughout the ages, he does it in a very intelligent and delicate way that makes the reader think. Rather than simply dunking on religions and focussing on the negatives, Pratchett instead subtly satirises the institutions, manipulative leaders and unthinking traditions that can often complicate or weaponise religion. A large amount of the plot revolves around Vorbis and the Omnian church violently trying the repress the idea that the world is flat and on the back of a giant turtle. While this is primarily a fun parody of the Catholic church’s suppression of Galileo’s claims about the Earth orbiting the sun (and which is now both funnier and sadder, thanks to flat earthers), it also examines how some people utilise religion as an excuse for violent action and manipulate faith for their own ends, which is a powerful recurring them throughout the book.

At the same time, Pratchett also focuses on a compelling central character with true faith who explores the meaning of religion and how it impacts his people. Seeing a likable character like Brutha recognise the problems in his nation allows readers to reflect and see the flaws in the organised religions Pratchett is parodying, while also appreciating the messages that these religions should strive for. The various complex discussions, personal revelations and jokes within Small Gods allow for a very insightful read that reportedly resonates with both atheists and pro-religious figures (Pratchett apparently received a lot of fan mail from both groups who thought Small Gods was written for them). I personally think that Pratchett’s thoughts and messages were extremely perceptive and layered with a great understand of humanity, and indeed many his compelling criticism or organised religion and how it is weaponised are more relevant now than when Small Gods was written, especially as it could also apply to other traditional institutions that are being abused.

Pratchett perfectly rounds out this incredible writing by featuring some of his very best characters, including several very complex figures who mature and evolve throughout the course of the book’s plot. This includes the main protagonist, Brutha, a simple novice who finds himself the only person left who can hear Om due to his genuine belief in the god rather than in the institutions that surround the religious practices. While initially portrayed as a somewhat dull and unthinking novice, you soon begin to realise that there is much greater complexity within Brutha, as well as the fact that he is a genuinely nice person held back by his simple ideas of life and faith. Thanks to his interactions with Om, who provides greater clarity to his religious beliefs, as well as his experiences outside his insular nation, Brutha begins to evolve quickly as a person, gaining a greater appreciation for the wider world, as well as beginning the understand that the world isn’t quite as black and white as he believed. It was fascinating to see Brutha develop as the book continues, especially as he begins to doubt his faith and rebel against the church and the god that had been his entire life. His interactions with Om were quite entertaining, as the two eventually become a fun duo of equals, although Brutha does get the upper hand over his god in quite an entertaining and refreshing manner. Brutha was also well defined by his relationship with the book’s antagonist, Vorbis, and their discussions about truth prove to be quite defining for Brutha as an inspiration for his rebellion. However, unlike the rest of the cast, Brutha resists becoming the monster that Vorbis wants him to be, and his subsequent demonstrations of faith, reason and humanity, really set him up as one of Pratchett’s best and most likeable central protagonists.

Brutha is well matched by his god, Om, who honestly is one of the best deities featured in the Discworld series. Formerly an all-powerful and arrogant god who didn’t care about his believers, Om finds himself suddenly trapped as a helpless tortoise who must desperately cling to Brutha to survive. Om proves to be quite a fascinating and entertaining figure in Small Gods, especially as Pratchett perfectly portrays him as formerly powerful being who must now rely on the mercy of others. His initial arrogance is very entertaining, and his subsequent wheedling manipulation of Brutha was a great follow-up that worked to keep him in the story. However, it was his eventual co-evolution with Brutha that turned Om into a particularly compelling protagonist. Despite his resistance, his bond to Brutha shapes him and forces him to see the world through human eyes, and the subsequent discourse on philosophy, life and how religion should be as they wander the dessert impacts Om just as much as Brutha. This eventually causes them to reach an interesting and heartfelt religious partnership, and it was fascinating to see the previously selfish Om risk it all to save Brutha, especially when he is confronted by other gods who act the same way he used to. I loved seeing this powerful and positive development in a divine figure, and Om really ended up being a compelling secondary protagonist with some of the best jokes.

While Brutha and Om are the heart and soul of Small Gods, this book would not be as impactful without its brilliant villain, Vorbis. A cruel and unflinching figure, Vorbis is probably Pratchett’s most ruthless antagonist, who utilises the mechanisms of the church to achieve his goals. However, rather than being a purely evil figure, Vorbis is shown to be simply someone who understands human nature and uses this knowledge to achieve his self-determined goals, which in some ways is worse than an obvious villain. Pratchett does an outstanding job showcasing Vorbis’s dark, insular nature, and you come to really appreciate just how sinister he is, especially as his actions inspire other people to do evil things to try and match him. He becomes even more immoral when compared to the very innocent Brutha, the only person that Vorbis occasionally sees as a real threat to his plans due to his legitimate belief, and their various interactions and discussion about the true nature of the world are quite powerful. Pratchett features Vorbis perfectly throughout the book, and his final appearances, where he finally understands his own nature, are very satisfying to behold.

The rest of the cast of Small Gods are also quite impactful in their own way. The blind philosopher, Didactylos, proves to be a fantastic voice of reason in the story, especially compared to the rest of the insane philosophers of Ephebe, and his very simple philosophy and viewpoint on life and truth give the characters, and the readers, much to think about amongst the discussions on religion. Didactylos’s nephew, Urn, came across perfectly as a machine-obsessed proto engineer, whose storylines go in some interesting philosophical directions, especially when he realises what his inventions will be used for. I had a very fun chuckle at the inclusion of Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah, a fun Omnian equivalent to the always entertaining Ankh-Morpork native, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, while the Sweeper, Lu Tze, gets a great introduction as a secret history monk who occasionally changes events for the better. Finally, the zealous Sergeant Simony, who leads the internal Omnian revolution against Vorbis, proves to be a very impressive figure who, despite being a fervent misotheist (someone who hates one specific god), has a belief in freedom and the turtle that matches Brutha’s faith in Om. Simony serves as a very good example of just how far Vorbis can drive someone trying to do the wrong thing to achieve their goals, and I felt that he matched the fervour and faith of the other major characters in some fascinating ways. This cast of characters was overall superb, and I really appreciated how well they complimented each other’s story arcs, as well as the intelligent themes Pratchett was trying to get across.

As with all the Discworld novels, I have enjoyed Small Gods as both a physical novel and an audiobook, and frankly this epic story comes across extremely well in all formats. However, I have a very special place in my heart for the Discworld audiobooks, and the outstanding stories, elaborate characters and impressive and clever humour always comes across extremely well in this format. I have had the great pleasure of listening to Small Gods multiple times over the years, and I want to highlight the two different unabridged version of Small Gods.

The first audiobook version of Small Gods is the original production narrated by Nigel Planer. Small Gods was a particularly impressive example of Planer’s voice work, as he had to come up with unique voices for a range of unusual characters. The Planer version of Small Gods is the one that I grew up with, and it is engrained in my mind as a result, especially as the narrator effortlessly moves through Pratchett’s many complex ideas and plots and brings them out in a fantastic and humours manner. Planer provides all the voices in his version of Small Gods, and he perfectly encapsulated all the key figures of the book with his exceptional narrations. You really get the full range of these character’s personalities and emotions through Planer’s voice work, and I loved his clever takes on Pratchett’s distinctive cast. As such, the Planer version of Small Gods is probably the gold standard for all Discworld fans, and it will always have a very special place in my heart.

There is also a recently released version of Small Gods that is narrated by three brilliant British talents, and which was the version I most recently enjoyed. This new Small Gods audiobook features a runtime of around 12 hours, which is a little longer than the roughly 10-hour long Planer version and provides an interesting new take on the novel. I really enjoyed the voice cast for this new audiobook, as not only do we once again get Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy in their recurring roles, but it also features the primary narration of actor Andy Serkis.

Serkis, who has also narrated a recent version of The Lord of the Rings books that is worth checking out, does an exceptional job in Small Gods, ensuring a very fun experience for all listeners. While there are some tonal shifts in this audiobook that fans of the Planer version may find a little surprising or jarring, for the most part I think Serkis matches and even occasionally exceeds Nigel Planer’s performance, and I very much enjoyed his take on the book. His basic narration of Small Gods matches Pratchett’s style and humour extremely well, and I love how effectively he moves the story along, perfectly capturing the complex tone and energy of the plot. However, it is Serkis’s entertaining voices that were the highlight of this version of Small Gods, as the characters are each given unique tones that fit their personalities in some fantastic ways. His voice for Brutha, the central character, was extremely good, and I loved how well Serkis captured Brutha’s transformative journey and complex personality. Utilising a fitting rural voice for the protagonist, Serkis successfully showcases Brutha’s changing mentality and deep moral roots with his narration, and you can honestly imagine this intriguing figure every time the narrator voices him.

In comparison to Brutha, the voices for Vorbis and the Great God Om were a lot more elaborate by necessity, and I really appreciated the fantastic tones that Serkis choice for these entertaining figures. My favourite was probably the voice used for Vorbis, as the narrator gifted this antagonist a deep, rich and lingering voice that honestly put me in mind of Tony Jay or Alan Rickman with some added oily sinisterness. This impactful voice perfectly fit Vorbis’ menacing personality, and whenever the listener hears the voice, you know bad stuff is about to go down for the rest of the cast. As for Om, Serkis provides him with an unrefined and laddish voice with a Liverpool accent. This interesting voice choice matched Om’s uncaring and selfish personality extremely well, and I liked how well Serkis’s chosen tone for this divine figure played into the overarching theme that gods on the Discworld aren’t as sophisticated as everyone assumes they are. Most of the rest of the voices in Small Gods work extremely well, with Sergeant Simony and Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah having memorable voices as a result. However, I felt that the strong American accents that Serkis assigned to Didactylos and Urn really didn’t work, and failed to match the tone of the rest of the audiobook. While Serkis was probably trying to distinguish these two from the other Ephebian philosophers, their voices honestly grated on me, and I really wish he’d have tried something else. Still, the rest of Serkis’ voice work was amazing, and I cannot emphasise how incredible most of his narration of Small Gods turned out to be.

Serkis’s main narration was perfectly enhanced with the inclusion of Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy in their recurring roles from the new Discworld audiobooks. Serafinowicz provides the voice of Death whenever he appears in this audiobook, which is a lot of fun as Serafinowicz has an extremely entertaining Death voice that captures the anthropomorphic personification in all his skeletal glory. His multiple appearances in Small Gods, leading key character towards the desert of judgement, were very awesome, and I loved hearing Serafinowicz converse with the other characters as Death. The audiobook production team does an excellent job sliding the Death voice into Serkis’s main narration seamlessly, and I love it when Serafinowicz’s voice suddenly appears during dangerous scenes, heralding that someone is about to die, and ensuring there is some great tension as you watch the other characters slowly realise something is very wrong. Nighy, on the other hand, narrates the various footnotes that Pratchett included in his text, providing an extra layer of humour. While there are relatively few footnotes in Small Gods, it is a key role that Nighy perfectly fulfils, and his calm, consistent tones, echoing Peter Jones’s similar role in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio and TV editions really highlighted the subtle comedy of these footnotes. These three exceptional actors come together perfectly and provide an outstanding overall performance that I could not get enough of. This was a truly exceptional audiobook that I think is on par with the previous Planer version, and I would strongly recommend both audiobooks as an amazing way to enjoy Small Gods, especially if you need to listen to something while travelling.

Well, as I am currently just getting to the end of page seven of my review for Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, I think it is a safe assumption to say that I love this amazing book. Easily one of my favourite Discworld novels, Small Gods perfectly blends a brilliant story and amazing characters with Pratchett’s amazing wit and his uncanny insights into compelling real-world issues. An incredible and addictive read from start to finish, Small Gods comes extremely highly recommended and can easily be enjoyed by anyone wanting a clever, funny and heartfelt read, especially on its two audiobook formats.

Amazon

Quick Review – Death on the Tiber by Lindsey Davis

On March 22, 2025 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Murder Mystery2 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 9 April 2024)

Series: Flavia Albia – Book 12

Length: 380 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Those in the mood for a clever murder mystery in ancient Rome look no further than the 2024 entry in the long-running Flavia Albia series with Death on the Tiber by Lindsey Davis.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and one of my favourite ongoing historical series is the outstanding Flavia Albia books by veteran author Lindsey Davis. The Flavia Albia books, which are a sequel series to the author’s long-running Falco series, follow a determined private investigator in ancient Rome who takes on a range of complex cases and murder investigations, often encountering many of the city’s over-the-top inhabitants. I have had an amazing time reading this series over the years, including The Third Nero, Pandora’s Boy, A Capitol Death, The Grove of the Caesars (one of my favourite books of 2020), A Comedy of Terrors, Desperate Undertakings (one of my favourite books of 2022) and Fatal Legacy. As such, I try to read every new Flavia Albia book that comes out, and after accidently avoiding it for much of 2024, I recently finished off the 12^th book in the series, Death on the Tiber.

Plot Synopsis:

Rome is in chaos. The empire of a mobster chief is falling apart following his death. Rivals, fearsome relatives and associates are taking up position to vie for the spoils.

With hideous murders in the streets of Rome, a lone female traveller arrives with an agenda of her own. But when her corpse is dragged out of the river bearing signs of foul play, Flavia Alba is drawn in, concerned about her fellow Briton’s fate.

Alba’s quest to find the killer becomes deeply personal when she discovers a man at the centre of the plot is an old adversary of hers. Will she be obsessed by revenge? Can she let the past go, or will it consume her?

Death on the Tiber was a great addition to the Flavia Albia series that features its own distinctive crimes, while also cleverly tying into several of the author’s previous Falco and Flavia Albia books.

The plot of Death on the Tiber is very compelling, as the protagonist, Flavia Albia, finds herself drawn into the investigation of a murdered tourist pulled out of the Tiber. However, the case becomes personal for Albia when she discovers the victim’s connection to the gangster Florius, an old foe of her fathers, who years before committed unspeakable evils against Albia and who may have finally returned to Rome. Determined to finally hunt down Florius and make him pay for his crimes, Albia begins her investigation and soon finds herself embroiled in a deadly gang war that could tip the balance of Rome’s underworld. Forced to compete with a range of interested parties, including her own vengeful father and uncle, the Roman military and several gangsters and their families who Flavia has previously encountered through her work, the protagonist slowly begins to piece together the events that lead to the victim’s death and the connection to her quarry’s current location.

This proved to be a highly personal and complex entry in the series, and one that I felt served as a love letter to the author’s prior works. A huge range of characters from previous Flavia Albia novels, as well as major figures from the preceding Falco books, are featured throughout Death on the Tiber as the author takes the opportunity to tie together a range of ongoing storylines related to a major antagonist of the Falco books. This allows for quite a fascinating read, especially for those readers familiar with the previous works, and it was awesome to see Davis bring together a compelling cast of returning figures.

The plot moves in some interesting directions as the book nears the end, and Davis adds in a range of compelling layers to the case, including disgruntled mobster wives, a big gang war for the control of Rome, and alternating bands of Roman officials seeking to disrupt events. The conclusion for the book proves to be very emotionally charged, especially as the protagonist comes face to face with her biggest monster and finally gets some closure. The main mystery of Death on the Tiber is also extremely well written and utilised, and Davis does an excellent job tying in a lot of the novel’s leads and investigative plots into the main hunt for the returning Florius. While the reveal of the ultimate culprit behind the killing isn’t especially surprising, the way in which Davis addresses their fate is particularly impressive, and it leads to a very fun final moment in the book. I loved this last little twist, which I honestly think tied the book together very nicely, and it certainly was one of the moments that has stuck with me since finishing Death on the Tiber off.

This ended up being another strong Flavia Albia book as Davis continues to utilise her trademark style in Death on the Tiber. Focused primarily through the sarcastic and cynical Flavia, Death in the Tiber evolves into a twisty hunt for answers, that brings together mystery, criminal intrigue, and the protagonist’s various personal connections. Davis has a very compelling way of writing her stories, and her examinations of Rome through the protagonist’s eyes are often light-hearted, sarcastic, and applying modern mentalities to the ancient society. This results in an impressive read, especially as Davis lays down an exceptional combination mystery and revenge-focussed narrative. While I really enjoyed how well Davis revisited multiple previous books from both the Falco and Flavia Albia series, it does mean that readers do need a bit of pre-knowledge of these earlier works to fully appreciate Death on the Tiber’s plot. Davis does provide some much-needed context at times, which will allow some new or forgetful readers to enjoy this book, but I personally think that people should have at least read the last few Flavia Albia books before Death on the Tiber to really get this book.

Despite the series’ general comedic vibe, Death on the Tiber gets very dark at times, especially as the protagonist is forced to revisit her traumatic history. The author does an excellent job of diving into Flavia’s trauma and pain on the subject, and it was nice for this compelling protagonist to finally get some closure. Davis nicely balances some of these darker moments by including an extensive cast of eccentric characters, many of whom are continuing their storylines from both the Falco and Flavia Albia series, and there are some very fun moments scattered throughout Death on the Tiber as a result. This includes a fun competitiveness with Flavia’s father, Falco, a dive into some other important parental figures in her life, as well as her very strong relationship with her supportive and relentless husband. I personally loved the return of all the various major gangsters Flavia has dealt with over the years, and it was fun to see her try to investigate them after prior experiences. However, two of Flavia’s female relatives end up stealing the show in Death on the Tiber, especially at the end where they showed an ironic sense of justice. An overall great extended cast that served to connect this book to the larger series in some outstanding ways.

With Lindsey Davis’s typical impressive writing and a cool plot laden with mystery and criminal intrigue, Death on the Tiber was an amazing entry in one of my favourite historical fiction series. Entertaining, addictive and very moving, Death on the Tiber had me hooked from the very beginning, and I wish I’d read it sooner. I look forward to continuing the Flavia Albia series this year, especially as Davis has a cool book coming out in April set around the ruins of Pompei with There Will Be Bodies.

Amazon

Da Red Gobbo Collection by Mike Brooks, Denny Flowers and Rhuairidh James

On December 29, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer6 Comments

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 16 November 2024)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 11 hours and 10 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Prepare for da revolution with this collection of brilliant Warhammer 40,000 stories from three top authors, with Da Red Gobbo Collection.

Gosh this has been a great year for Warhammer 40,000 fiction, and the fun is still continuing as one of the best releases of this year just dropped with Da Red Gobbo Collection, which features five brilliant stories from awesome authors Mike Brooks, Denny Flowers and Rhuairidh James. Featuring three novellas and two short stories, Da Red Gobbo Collection focuses on the always entertaining ork faction from Warhammer 40,000 fiction, whose brutal, hooligan-inspired mindset always leads to comedic and outrageous reads.

However, rather than your typical ork novel, the stories in this anthology collection are focused on the ork sub-species known as grots, who are the 40K equivalent of the goblins from the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Small, cunning and cowardly, the grots, also known as gretchin, work as slaves, cannon fodder and scapegoats (scape-grots??) to the bigger orks, generally getting kicked around by their ork masters even if they do the right thing. However, not all grots are content to live under ork oppression, and some even have the courage to fight back thanks to the legendary figure known as Da Red Gobbo.

Da Red Gobbo is a mysterious figure in the grot mythology, who arises whenever the orks push their smaller cousins too far. Able to put aside the typical grot amnesty and selfishness, Da Red Gobbo is an icon for revolution and revolt against the orkish oppression. But who is Da Red Gobbo? Are they really a legendary figure going from ork warband to ork warband spreading the word of freedom, or can any grot put on the cape, hat and goggles and inspire his fellows? Whatever the truth may be, Da Red Gobbo is here to bring a crumping, and nobody, be they human, Chaos worshipper or even the mightiest of orks, will underestimate the grots again.

I had a blast with Da Red Gobbo Collection, especially as I was able to enjoy all five stories on audiobook for the first time. Brooks, Flowers and James have all produced exceptional stories focused on the hilarious figure of the Red Gobbo, and I like their intriguing alternative takes on this unlikely revolutionary and his origin. Thanks to the inherent humour of the ork faction, this was a particularly entertaining and comedic novel, and I frankly laughed my way through the various stories, especially as the three excellent authors created some particularly inventive reads.

The first story in Da Red Gobbo Collection was Da Gobbo’s Revenge by Mike Brooks, which was one of the longer novellas in the collection. Brooks is an outstanding author, and I have read quite a few of his Warhammer 40,000 books recently, including The Lion: Son the Forest and Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives. Da Gobbo’s Revenge was a particularly entertaining read, which is set parallel to Brook’s previous ork-focused novels, such as Warboss, Brutal Kunnin and Da Big Dakka, which have also featured fun narratives of grot revolution and rebellion.

Da Gobbo’s Revenge is a more compact narrative that follows the unlikely hero, Fingwit. The leader of small band of grots that follow a crazed ork mek, Fingwit and his comrades find themselves in deep trouble when their boss forces them to participate in a deadly boarding action aboard an Imperial war vessel. When the mek dies in front of them, Fingwit attempts to lead his fellow grots to complete their boss’s final mission, only to encounter human soldiers, running firefights, and dissent from amongst his fellow grots. However, it’s the actions of an ork taskmaster that finally drives Fingwit over the edge, and he decides that the only way to survive is to become something legendary.

Da Gobbo’s Revenge is a very entertaining and fast-paced novella that provides an interesting initial look into the grot mindset while throwing them into a frenetic adventure. Brooks hits this story with the clever and comedic style he has utilised for his other ork-focused books, and you can really appreciate his clear love for this faction, as well as his attention to detail around them. The only story in this book told exclusively through the eyes of a grot, Da Gobbo’s Revenge fully showcases their sneakiness, their shrewd cunning, and their desire to outdo each other, and the result is hilarious, especially as they manage to outsmart various bigger opponents who completely underestimate them. This over-the-top adventure, while very fun, takes on a more thoughtful manner towards the end once Fingwit decides to take on the mantle of the Red Gobbo to save his friends. Seeing the previously self-obsessed Fingwit become more concerned with the fate of his fellow grots helps to hammer home the significance of the Red Gobbo to these lowly creatures, especially as he inspires them to do something truly special and unselfish. This ending is surprisingly powerful and poignant, especially for an ork/grot focussed Warhammer 40,000 story, and Da Gobbo’s Revenge was a very strong story that serves as the perfect introduction to Da Red Gobbo Collection.

Following hot on the heels of this first excellent entry is the brilliant novella, Da Gobbo’s Demise by Denny Flowers. Da Gobbo’s Demise was another awesome read that I was particularly keen to check out, mainly because I am a massive fan of Flowers at the moment. One of the best rising stars of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Flowers has deeply impressed me with his books Fire Made Flesh, Outgunned, and the outstanding 2024 release Above and Beyond. Da Gobbo’s Demise was the first of Flowers’s novellas I have had the pleasure of reading, and I was very excited to check out his take on a non-human character, the result of which was extremely entertaining and fantastically fun.

Da Gobbo’s Demise follows a small herd of grots who find themselves alone and in trouble when their taskmaster, Runtherd Killaskun, is suddenly killed, and they are left without any ork supervision. This proves particularly problematic for Killaskun’s right-hand grot, Redsnot, as he knows that his fellow grots will be looking to even the score against him for enforcing Killaskun’s orders. However, the grots soon find themselves in deeper trouble when they are surrounded by a horde of Chaos cultists determined to kill them and take the church they are hiding in. Determined to survive, Redsnot seeks to take advantage of the situation and be the leader the grots need. However, his genius plan is ruined by the surprise appearance of Da Red Gobbo, hero of all grot-kind. But Redsnot isn’t going to be upstaged by anyone, even if the Red Gobbo trying to save his life. But luckily even legends are susceptible to a knife in the back.

This was another particularly fun and awesome novella that really showcase Flowers’ ability to write a clever, funny and very cynical story that I could not get enough off. I honestly really enjoyed where Flowers took the story, especially as it ended up being a Home Alone-inspired siege, where the hilariously cruel grots hold off a bunch of incompetent cultists by any means necessary. The constant bickering and dissent on both sides of the conflict was just great, and there are some very amusing moments as the grots use their natural cunning to outsmart their opponent. The entire story moves quickly, and I found myself constantly laughing due to the outrageous antics of everyone involved.

Flowers makes Da Gobbo’s Demise’s story even more entertaining and funny through amazing use of multiple character perspectives, as in addition to showing events through Redsnot’s eyes, the author also features the viewpoint of the Chaos cultists besieging them, including a traitor commissar hoping for glory under his new gods. There are some brilliant contrasts between the bickering grots and the disorganised cultists, especially when it comes to their different leaders. While the chaos cultists are controlled by fear, and their leader becomes more and more demented the more failure he encounters, the usually contentious grots become surprisingly well organised thanks to the appearance of Da Red Gobbo, who resolves most of their petty arguments and turns them into an effective team. I especially enjoyed the way in which Da Red Gobbo manages to effectively undermine and outsmart Redsnot at every turn, especially as it leads to yet another compelling bit of character growth for the main protagonist as he learns to fight for something bigger than himself. The resulting story turns into a wonderfully bloody mess of over-the-top characters and outrageous antics, and I laughed my way through it. Another outstanding outing from Flowers that perfectly expanded on the opening momentum of Da Gobbo’s Revenge and ensured that readers are firmly enthralled by Da Red Gobbo Collection as this point in the book.

The next entry in Da Red Gobbo Collection is the short story Da Wrong Type of Green, also by Denny Flowers. A quick and exciting read, Da Wrong Type of Green is a direct prequel to Da Gobbo’s Demise that, shows the events immediately leading up to the novella’s opening scene. Featuring the exact same style and most of the same characters, Da Wrong Type of Green gives some fun additional context to Da Gobbo’s Demise that I rather enjoyed seeing, especially as I had such a brilliant time with Flower’s longer novella. I particularly enjoyed seeing the protagonist’s relationship with their former ork leader, Runtherd Killaskun, which really enhanced some of the themes of freedom and revolution that Flowers featured in novella. While the inclusion of this story does feel a tad unnecessary, especially as you don’t really need to read it to appreciate Da Gobbo’s Demise, it was an interesting story, and one that you can get through very quickly.

Following these two stories by Flowers, readers are then led to the book’s third novella, the amusing and outrageous entry, Da Gobbo Rides Again, by Rhuairidh James. James, who has previously written several interesting Warhammer 40,000 short stories, honestly produces one of the best entries in Da Red Gobbo Collection, and I was really blown away by his intriguing and original take on the focal character, especially as he examines the revolution and the relationship between orks and grots in a very different manner.

Da Gobbo Rides Again follows the ork painboy Stimma, who arrives back to camp only to discover something strange happening to his warband’s grots. Rather than being their usual sneaky selves, the grots have all become exceedingly compliant and helpful, completely throwing off the usual anarchic rhythms of the ork encampment. Ordered by his warboss to fix the problem, Stimma and his grot assistant, Goggulz, try to shake the grots out of their malaise and back to their previous sly and murderous mentality. They soon determine that the only way to inspire the grots is to give them a Red Gobbo to stir them up. However, with no Red Gobbo to hand, Stimma decides to create one, but first he needs to understand what the Red Gobbo is and how he comes into being. But the further he dives into the mysteries of the Red Gobbo, the closer he comes to the truth, and not even an ork as ruthless as Stimma is prepared for what he finds.

This was such a brilliant entry from James, and I loved the elaborate and very memorable story he comes up with. I love how he decided to tell the story through the eyes of an ork master, rather than another grot, which allows for a unique new perspective in the tale of Da Red Gobbo. The central story focusing on the dispirited grots was very clever, and James’s concept of compliant grots being more dangerous to the orks than rebellious ones was a fun take. The resulting story of Stimma’s attempt to create his own Red Gobbo is both hilarious and philosophical in nature, and you must love the ork mentality when it comes to grots and their so-called heroes. This attempt at science also leads the protagonist to various ork experts, and while this is mostly a novella about grots, the fun and in-depth dive into the oddboyz, those orks with special skills such as meks and weirdboyz, proves to be really amusing and detailed. I especially loved Jame’s take on the painboyz, the orks’ highly experimental medics, especially as it results in some hilarious discussions about ‘medicine’.

However, the thing that I loved most about Da Gobbo Rides Again is the main twist of the story. Thanks in part to having read the other novellas first, you can easily see where Stimma’s plan is going to go, even if the orks cannot due to their blind spot when it comes to their smaller cousins. As such, you get to watch in joy as James openly works to bring this twist to fruition bit by bit, and it is very satisfying when it all comes together. This fantastic buildup works extremely well amongst the general chaos of the ork camp, while the fun relationship that builds between Stimma and Goggulz makes it even more delicious. Throw in some very interesting sequences that explore the unusual past of the orks and their relationship to grot-kind, as well as a great scene that brings together Da Gobbo Rides Again with the other novellas in this collection, and this was an impressive entry that I could not get enough of. I honestly cannot emphasise enough just how amazing Da Gobbo Rides Again was, and I hope we get a full-length novel from James at some point in the future as I know I will deeply enjoy it.

The final entry within Da Red Gobbo Collection is The Instigator. Also written by James, The Instigator is a prequel to Da Gobbo Rides Again which was originally released in the White Dwarf magazine. This story tells of the first time a young Stimma encountered a Red Gobbo, when he accompanies an ork raiding party when it attempts to board a spaceship. However, nothing goes to plan, especially when the orks find an unexpected enemy hidden within the ship, led by an unlikely commander. This story does a great job of showcasing events that were hinted at within Da Gobbo Rides Again and presenting them in a very different way than Stimma remembers them, especially as events were a little more desperate than he cares to admit. James amps up the tension in this short but sweet story, which shows just how scary grots can be for orks, while also providing a fantastic opponent for the plot. The Instigator proves to be a great follow-up for Da Gobbo Rides Again, and I really enjoyed seeing the seeds for Stimma’s later idea around Da Red Gobbo be planted.

This ended up being a very awesome overall collection of Warhammer 40,000 stories, and I love the impressive and relentlessly comedic tales that these excellent authors came up with. I loved how the three main novellas perfectly complemented each other, building on the work of the preceding stories, while also standing on their own feet. Brooks, Flowers and James really had fun when it came to these stories, and I love how you get some unique takes on the orks and the grots, although the general ork humour does carry through very well for all of them. I also deeply enjoyed how each author showcased a different aspect of the Red Gobbo character, and the three separate incarnations of the Red Gobbo you witness paints a fascinating picture of this unique being in the Warhammer canon. All three authors really outdid themselves in how they brought this figure to life, and their amazing stories were a true joy to read.

Unsurprisingly, I chose to listen to Da Red Gobbo Collection on audiobook, a format which always deeply enhances Warhammer fiction, especially as the crazy characters, unlikely scenarios and dark settings really pop when read out loud. Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks that feature the orks are always particularly awesome, as the outrageous aliens are so damn entertaining especially when you get a great narrator voicing them. As such, I was very keen to listen to Da Red Gobbo Collection, especially as it provided the first audiobook adaptations of several existing short stories and novellas, which ensured a whole new way to appreciate these clever tales. I was also excited because British actor Harry Myers was attached to narrate Da Red Gobbo Collection. A very talented narrator who has brought some of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 books to life, including The Wraithbone Phoenix and Day of Ascension, Myers has a fantastically entertaining voice that really fits some of the outrageous figures in this universe. Myers particularly excels at voice ork characters (he previously narrated Warboss and Da Big Dakka by Mike Brooks), and his voice perfectly fits the rough and crude orks in so many entertaining ways. He also does a great job of capturing the smaller and cowardly grots, and you really get a great sense of their scared, weaselly and backstabbing ways through his narration. I also loved how each character comes out in this audiobook, and I was very impressed that Myers featured variety with his voice work, providing the various grots different voices, even when he moved on to a new story. This was such an epic listen, and I really cannot recommend Da Red Gobbo Collection on audiobook enough. Coming in with a runtime of just over 11 hours, this is a slightly long but very easy audiobook to power through, and there is honestly no better way to enjoy Da Red Gobbo Collection than by listening to it in this format.

Da Red Gobbo Collection was an exceptional Warhammer 40,000 book that I had so much damn fun getting through. Thanks to the outstanding team of Mike Brooks, Denny Flowers and Rhuairidh James, you are gifted with some very impressive stories that prove to be exceedingly addictive. Insanely addictive and extremely hilarious, Da Red Gobbo Collection will bring a smile to any Warhammer fan, and even new readers will be able to have an amazing time with it. As such, I must give this collection a full five-star rating, as each author delivered something very special that came together perfectly.

Amazon

Quick Review – The Wrong Hands by Mark Billingham

On December 10, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Murder Mystery, Quick Review, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Sphere (Trade Paperback – 25 June 2024)

Series: DS Declan Miller – Book Two

Length: 405 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Bestselling crime fiction author Mark Billingham continues his DS Declan Miller series with the highly entertaining read, The Wrong Hands.

Billingham is an intriguing British crime fiction author who has an impressive catalogue of books to his name. Best known for his long running DI Tom Thorne series, Billingham has also written an array of compelling standalone novels and audiobook exclusives. His latest body of work is his DS Declan Miller series, which is a light-hearted crime fiction series focusing on an array of over-the-top characters. Starting with The Last Dance, the DS Declan Miller books follow an eccentric police detective as he investigates unusual crimes in Blackpool, including the murder of his own wife. The Wrong Hands is the second book in the series, and it proved to be another cooky investigation with a highly entertaining plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

This is one case Detective Miller won’t want to open . . .

The second rip-roaring mystery from multi-award-winning number international bestseller Mark Billingham starring Detective Miller: unique, unconventional, and criminally underestimated…

Unconventional Detective Declan Miller has a problem. Well, two problems. First, there’s his dead wife and her yet-to-be-solved murder. He really should stop talking to her ghosts…

Second, and most pressing, a young man has just appeared on his doorstep with a briefcase . . . containing a pair of severed hands. Miller knows this case is proof of a contract killing commissioned by local ne’er do well Wayne Cutler—a man he suspects might also be responsible for his wife’s death. Now Miller has leverage, but unfortunately, he also has something that both Cutler and a villainous fast-food kingpin are desperate to get hold of.

Sprinkle in a Midsomer Murders-obsessed hitman, a psychotic welder, and a woman driven over the edge by a wayward Crème Egg, and Miller is in a mess that even he might not be able to dance his way out of.

The Wrong Hands was a highly entertaining and slightly outrageous crime fiction read that sets the author’s distinctive police detective protagonist against an unlikely assortment of criminals in a wacky, fast-paced plot. Starting off with a very entertaining opening sequence that sees a world-class assassin and a local crime boss severely embarrassed by two local youths who managed to steal vital evidence, the book only gets even more fun from there as DS Declan Miller comes into possession of a pair of hands that could prove the key to locking up his rival and solving the murder of his dead wife. However, to get there, Miller must first catch a dangerous killer, determine who the hands belong to, and protect anyone associated with the thieves responsible for the whole debacle.

I had an amazing time with this story, as Billingham loaded his plot with a huge array of over-the-top characters, each of whom proved fun to follow. The plot moves at a very fast pace, and the author loads up some interesting clues and set-ups that result in some fantastic twists. Much of the plot turns into an unlikely game of cat and mouse as Miller and his colleagues try to find the assassin before he strikes down everyone involved with the case. I liked the captivating tension and unique story moments that led up to the big confrontation and the eventual solution to the book’s main plot proves to be quite enjoyable, especially as the villains are brought down from an unexpected source. However, I must admit that I felt the author’s solution to the big crime of the series, the murder of the protagonist’s wife, didn’t get the epic solution it deserves, especially as the culprit kind of comes out of nowhere. Still, this was an overall fantastic read and you really get wrapped up in the clever story.

Billingham utilises a distinctive stye that combines humour with compelling crime fiction scenarios. While slightly derivative of the current craze around comedic murder mystery novels, The Wrong Hands still proved to be extremely entertaining, and I found the entire oddball scenario to be very compelling. The quick change in focus between the various memorable figures involved in the case helped to give the novel some additional depth and comedic power, and I loved seeing the different angles to this entertaining narrative. In addition, I felt that Billingham did a great job making The Wrong Hands a very accessible and easy to read book. While The Wrong Hands does serve as a sequel to The Last Dance, new readers can easily dive into this latest book from Billingham without any issue, and the author ensures all the key plot points are expertly rehashed, allowing anyone to come in and have a great time with this fantastic novel.

While I loved the plot of The Wrong Hands and the way it was presented, the real fun lies in the unique characters themselves, as Billingham brings together an amazing and varied cast of niche crooks, crazed killers and troubled cops. While I did think that Billingham may have tried a little too hard to make his protagonist, the dance-loving, unusual fact-spouting, rat-owning DS Declan Miller seem as quirky as possible, he still proved to be a great character to follow, and I felt that the author perfectly captured his grief, guilt and obsession with finding his wife’s killer. His partner, DS Sara Xiu, proved to be an excellent foil to Miller, and even with her issues she worked as an enjoyable straight figure to Miller’s eccentric persona. However, it is Billingham’s villains that really make The Wrong Hands stand out, as the author utilises an excellent collection of outrageous rogues. This includes two crime bosses with alternate product focuses, whose neglectful family life proves to be their downfall, an elite assassin with a less-than-perfect naming convention and a love for Midsomer Murders, and a psychotic welder with some major issues. These fantastically dark characters added a lot of impact to The Wrong Hands, and I loved seeing how their entertaining and often ironic storylines came together.

Overall, The Wrong Hands was an awesome and very fun new book from Mark Billingham, who let his ridiculous side loose to produce a fantastic crime fiction read. Fast, funny, and loaded with outrageously complicated characters, The Wrong Hands is an easy book to get lost in, and I am glad I decided to pick it up.

Amazon

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

On November 29, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery, Throwback Thursday14 Comments

Publisher: Gollancz/Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 1989)

Series: Discworld – Book 8 / City Watch – Book One

Length: 13 hours and 29 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

I recently revisited one of my favourite books in Terry Pratchett’s iconic Discworld series, Guards! Guards!, and I just had to review it to showcase how much fun this series can be.

I have never made any secret of the fact that I love all things Terry Pratchett as the Discworld books were one of the formative series of my youth. A massively popular series set on a flat world carried through space on the back of a giant turtle and four elephants, the Discworld books present a range of unique fantasy adventures, backed with exceptional comedy and satire. This series is so much fun, and I honestly love every single Discworld book, having read them all multiple times, usually while laughing myself silly. Indeed, I am such a big fan of this series that I named my blog after a location in the universe. Despite my overwhelming love for this series, I haven’t reviewed many Discworld books (the exception being Moving Pictures and The Last Continent). That changes with my review of the outrageously funny Guards! Guards! which I recently enjoyed while on a road trip.

Guards! Guards! is a particularly entertaining addition to the Discworld series that I have a lot of love for. Serving as the first book in the City Watch sub-series, Guards! Guards! sees Pratchett blend his typical fantasy and comedy elements with a complex murder mystery. This book follows the ragtag city watch of this world’s main recurring city, Ankh-Morpork, as they try to solve a series of deaths caused by a monstrous murder weapon. Due to its brilliant and hilarious story, as well as the fact that it perfectly sets up the rest of the awesome City Watch books, I generally consider Guards! Guards! to be one of my absolute favourite Discworld novels, and I have featured it in various Top Ten Tuesday lists over the years.

On the fantastical and impossible Discworld no place is more dangerous, corrupt or morally unhealthy as the legendary and stinking city of Ankh-Morpork. The Disc’s largest city, Ankh-Morpork has many terrors haunting its urban depths, where life is cheap and death lurks around every corner. However, not even the hardest criminals, deadliest wizards or most manipulative politicians are prepared for an ancient and malevolent creature that is about to be unleashed upon the city.

A shadowy secret brotherhood has engineered an elaborate plan to seize power in Ankh-Morpork through use of an unlikely weapon, a dragon. Summoning a fully formed fire-breathing dragon to cause terror, the brotherhood hopes to use the resulting carnage to bring in their own puppet to control the city. However, the dragon has its own ideas about what sort of terror it wants to bring down on humanity.

With the rest of the city powerless against the dragon, it falls to the ramshackle Ankh-Morpork Night Watch and its depressed captain, Sam Vimes, to try and stop it. The only problem is the Watch are the biggest joke in the city, incapable of standing up to normal crime, never mind carnage caused by magical dragon. But with an unnaturally keen new recruit guilting them into action, and a terrifying dragon fanatic with a crush on Vimes keeping them in line, the Watch is going to try and save the day, even if no-one wants them to.

Guards! Guards! still reigns supreme as one of my top Discworld novels from the always impressive Terry Pratchett. Featuring a unique plot, loaded with an outstanding mix of mystery, humour and fun fantasy elements, Guards! Guards! brilliantly sets up one of Pratchett’s best sub-series while presenting its own epic and powerful story. An exceptional read from start to finish, this book gets a very easy five-star rating from me, and I love it so damn much.

The plot of Guards! Guards! is so damn clever and is peak Pratchett in its inventiveness and impressive characters. Presenting an entertaining and humourous noir murder investigation in a fantasy series, Guards! Guards! has a lot of moving parts to it, including some impressive character-driven story arcs, all of which come together beautifully for a particularly intense and insane story. Starting off very strong with some great introductions to various key characters, including the young and keen Carrot Ironfoundersson, who journeys to the massive and corrupt city of Ankh-Morpork to join the Night Watch, providing fresh blood, irrepressible honesty and uncontrolled enthusiasm to the small squad of rejects and failures currently staffing it. Carrot’s arrival corresponds with the start of a bold conspiracy, as a secretive mystic brotherhood plots to dethrone the Patrician and take over the city. The initial scenes of this book are extremely good, and I love how Pratchett expertly sets up the entire narrative with some hilarious moments, including the opening sequence with the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night, whose petty ideology shows you just what sort of criminal minds we are truly dealing with.

Things go in a chaotic direction as the Night Watch, led by the drunk and depressed Captain Vimes, witness a direct murder by dragon and begin their own investigation into the matter. Pratchett expertly pivots the story around from its comedic fantasy start into a complex police procedural/noir murder investigation, as the protagonists try to find out why the dragon is terrifying the city and who benefits from the apparent crime. At the same time, several great character arcs emerge, including a truly nice, if unconventional romance, new friendships, and a fun analysis of dragon mythology. There is a great twist about halfway through the book as the down-and-out Night Watch witness an interesting change to the classic dragon fantasy tale that sees a unique king take over the city.

The final third of the book is some of Pratchett’s strongest writing, as Vimes identifies the true culprit and must work to undo the damage they caused. There are some great moments in this last part of the book as Pratchett presents his own unique and hilarious take on classic fantasy tropes, including the famed million-to-one shot, the heroic rescue, and the successful defeat of a dragon. I felt that the identity of the main villain of the story was very clever, and Pratchett sets it up well with subtle clues, although if you know Pratchett’s thoughts on certain government positions it’s not too surprising. Still, the final confrontation between the protagonists and this villain is great, and being literal has never been so deadly. Pratchett leaves Guards! Guards! on a hopeful note, and it’s impossible not to come away with a smile on your face.

Pratchett was really on-point when it came to writing Guards! Guards! and I loved how perfectly it came together. As with all books in the Discworld series, Guards! Guards! features an exceptional mixture of fantasy and humour elements, as the unusual and cynical Discworld produces some unusual situations, layered in with a great plot and some fantastically complex characters. A lot of the humour is derived from classic fantasy scenarios that are taken up to 11 and shown in outrageous manners, accompanied by sarcastic comments from the characters as they witness them. For example, this book serves as an ode to the guards and watchmen from classic fantasy fiction, and there are some funny scenes when these self-aware guards realise how expendable they are in a fantasy story. However, Guards! Guards! also features a brilliant third element as Pratchett also features a compelling crime fiction read, accompanied with an addictive murder mystery.

The blend of fantasy and crime fiction elements works incredibly well, and it is highly entertaining to watch a serious investigation consider magic, suddenly appearing dragons, and the unique background setting of Ankh-Morpork. I also loved how many clever and subtle jokes Pratchett was able to weave in because of these crime fiction inclusions, and he ends up lovingly roasting so many classic tropes from police procedurals and noir detective novels. Despite having read this book many times, I still laugh like crazy at all the humourous moments in Guards! Guards!, especially as you always discover a new joke or pun you previously missed. I honestly don’t have time to list all the funny scenes in Guards! Guards!, but favourites include the various meetings of the petty and mostly incompetent Elucidated Brethren, Carrot’s naïve overreactions upon discovering crime in the city, and various musings on how to achieve a perfect, million-to-one chance. Pratchett once again expertly backs up his humour in Guards! Guards! with a series of entertaining footnotes spread throughout the book, that prove to be nearly as much fun as the main story. These brilliant footnotes contain additional jokes, sarcastic comments, or interesting expansions of the Discworld universe, and they always bounce off the main story perfectly, providing extra laughs and food for thought where necessary. I really cannot emphasise just how well this blend of genres worked with Pratchett’s unique and endearing humour, and it proves impossible not to have an exceptional time while reading this book.

As with most Discworld books, Guards! Guards! works exceedingly well as a standalone novel, and I feel that anyone wanting a laugh could easily jump in and follow the story without any issues. Due to its early position in the shared Discworld universe, you don’t have to know anything about the other entries in the overarching series to jump right in, as Pratchett goes a tad light on some of the more outrageous Discworld elements. As such, I consider Guards! Guards! to be one of the very best entry novels to new Discworld readers. It also proves to be a brilliant first book in one of Pratchett’s best sub-series, and so many key details of the subsequent City Watch books are introduced here. This includes some excellent early looks at the chaotic city of Ankh-Morpork and key recurring characters in the larger universal plot. Ankh-Morpork is a great background setting for Guards! Guards! and it was the first book completely set within the bounds of the city. I loved seeing this crazy city in even more detail, and all the fun elements set up here help to make it an epic setting. As such, this is a great book for any Discworld reader, new or old, and it’s one of my favourites for very good reason.

As with pretty much all of Pratchett’s works, the key things that made Guards! Guards! so impressive were the amazing and unique characters that were featured throughout the plot. Pratchett had a real knack for producing complex, multi-layered figures who can be both comedic and tragic at the same time, and who you couldn’t help but love. Guards! Guards! was a particularly good example of this, as Pratchett featured a range of brilliant and entertaining characters who would go on to be become major recurring figures in the Discworld canon. Indeed, Guards! Guards! is one of the most significant books for new characters, and it is frankly amazing how many exceptional major and iconic figures were introduced here. Each of these characters were so well written, and you have to love both their specific arcs in this book, as well as how they were expanded on in later works.

The most prominent character in Guards! Guards! is Captain Samuel Vimes. A cynical and damaged man whose habit of calling out social inequities has seen him assigned to the joke position as head of the Night Watch, which he deals with by drinking vast amounts of alcohol. A parody of every hard-drinking cop and private eye in classic noir fiction, Vimes starts the book with no prospects and too many dead friends. Given new purpose when the dragon appears in the city, Vimes turns his innate rebellion to a purpose and tries policing and detecting. Pratchett does an exceptional job setting up Vimes here in Guards! Guards!, and it is no wonder he goes on to be one of his top protagonists. Vimes’s depressed investigative method proves quite successful, and it was entertaining to watch Vimes attempt to solve the case while sarcastically calling out his fellow citizens’ base stupidity and selfishness. Pratchett also sets up an impressive redemption arc around Vimes, which comes about through a combination of trusted colleagues, romance, and a renewed determination to uphold the law. While he ends the book still irritated with the world, the road forward to Vimes doing bigger and better things is well established, and you really get drawn into his arc as a result.

Another impressive character is naïve and innocent City Watch recruit, Carrot Ironfoundersson. Due to his complex home situation and a late life revelation that he’s human rather than a dwarf (being six and a half feet tall wasn’t a clue to him), Carrot is sent to Anhk-Morpork with a desire to become a watchman, which he incorrectly believes is a noble calling. Thanks to his literal personality and highly moral upbringing, Carrot proves to be an anathema to the lawless folks of Anhk-Morpork, as he comes to town bringing justice, enforcing obscure laws, and actually arresting thieves: “change your ways”. A brilliant parody of ultra-righteous fantasy kings, Carrot serves as an outstanding comic relief for much of the book, especially when it comes to his wholesome interactions with the exceedingly criminal inhabitants of the city. However, beneath his comedic cover, Carrot is written as a complex figure of change, and his ability to inspire the other characters, either through guilt or determination, leads to some big moments. Pratchett did an amazing job with Carrot in Guards! Guards!, and it was fascinating to see how he evolves from his initial innocent personality, to a more clever, but still determined, character.

Aside from Vimes and Carrot, the other two watch characters are Sergeant Fred Colon and Corporal Nobby Nobbs, both of whom are excellent and solid comedic characters. The stereotypical fat sergeant and dodgy corporal, Pratchett has fun setting them up as unassailable fixtures of the Night Watch as they do the jobs nature intended for them, and I love how they play off each other. While Colon has some hilarious scenes, including his attempt at archery and his various ill-timed run-ins with the dragon, you can tell that Pratchett had a lot more fun writing Nobby. While not all his over-the-top characteristics from the series are shown in Guards! Guards!, Nobby is still a particularly entertaining figure. Between his coarse language, petty criminal mindset, and uncharacteristic foppish behaviours, every scene with Nobby is highly amusing, and I love how Pratchett expanded off clever stereotypes about lifetime corporals to create this wayward figure.

Outside the members of the City Watch, there are a fantastic array of figures who help to make Guards! Guards! a particularly enthralling story. This includes one of the few female characters in the book, Sybil Rankin, a dragon-loving heiress who ends up being Vimes’s unlikely love interest. Deliberately written as the direct opposite of a noir femme-fatale in both personality and appearance, Sybil is a force of nature, using her accumulated nobility to pull the Night Watch, especially Vimes, into her orbit. It proves impossible not to like Sybil as you watch her confidently go after Vimes or try to put the dragon to heel, and she ends up being one of the most complicated female characters that Pratchett wrote (which is saying a lot when you think of some of his other great female characters).

The other major character that I want to separately highlight is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Lord Havelock Vetinari. While he has appeared in previous Discworld novels (notably Sourcery), this is the first book that showcases him as a full character. Generally depicted as a Machiavellian mastermind and one of the few people capable of controlling the chaotic city, Vetinari has some great early scenes. However, it’s not until the second half of the book when you realise just how fantastic a character he is. Deposed by the false king, Vetinari initially appears to be completely powerless in the dungeons, until Vimes is thrown in with him and begins to realise that he is still in control, especially as he’s managed to cultivate a new intelligence network (procured by providing wartime strategy to magical rats), while also getting locked in a dungeon specifically designed to keep him safe. His subsequent scenes tormenting the book’s real antagonist and talking about the nature of humanity with Vimes really cement him as an impressive figure, and the seeds for his many later inclusions as the Disc’s ultimate political mastermind are well sown here.

While I know I’ve been going on a bit about characters (blame Pratchett for being such a good writer), I just need to highlight a few more figures who have a great role in Guards! Guards!. This includes the Librarian, one of Pratchett’s most iconic characters, who proves to be just as much fun outside of a wizard focused book, and it was entertaining seeing him interact with a separate group of friends. You get a great introduction to the character of Cut-My-Own-Throat Dibbler, whose mercantile tendencies are on full display here. The unusual swamp dragon Errol proves to be an unlikely pet, and his arc about finding love and his true form was particularly heartwarming. Finally, I must mention the book’s great antagonist, who fully embraces the mad tendencies that his position demands. While I won’t go into too much detail about who he is, I will say I loved seeing his various internal rants about the world, and the scenes with his incompetent henchmen were so damn funny. All these characters, plus even more hilarious figures, are instrumental to so much of Guards! Guards! brilliant charm and humour, and after being introduced to them here, it’s impossible not to follow them on their full journey.

I have had the pleasure of reading Guards! Guards! in a couple of different formats over the years, but to my mind the best way to enjoy this book, and indeed any Discworld novel, is on audiobook. The Discworld audiobooks are something very special, and I find that the unique stories, excellent humour and elaborate characters really come across when read out by a passionate narrator. With the recent re-release of various Discworld audiobooks, there are now two different unabridged versions of Guards! Guards! fans can enjoy, and I want to highlight them both here.

The first Guards! Guards! audiobook is the original version with the talented Nigel Planer, who narrated 22 of the original 23 Discworld audiobooks. Guards! Guards! is one of his best performances, and it set the scene nicely for many of his subsequent Discworld audiobooks, especially as he settled on a lot of key character voices and tones here. While it has been a little while since I’ve listened to Planer’s version of Guards! Guards!, I have enjoyed it so many times it is permanently engrained in my head (I used to grab the tape cassette version out of my local library all the time). Planer, who does all the voices himself, really captures the essence of Pratchett’s storytelling and excels at expressing the author’s unique humour through his vocal work. I also felt that his portrayal of many of the key characters was second to none, and he really brought to life all the City Watch protagonists, as well as some other long-running figures, in some impressive ways. He would revisit many of these voices in multiple subsequent performances, and it is a testament to his skill that the initial tones he came up with here, worked so well in the later books. I frankly have so much love for Planer’s original take on Guards! Guards!, which definitely still stands the test of time, and his excellent and heartfelt voice work defines many of the City Watch characters for me.

While Nigel Planers original version is perfect, current Discworld fans may be more familiar with the latest audiobook production of Guards! Guards!, which was part of a recent re-recording of all the Discworld books. These new audiobooks each feature a different famous British performer voicing the main plot, while acclaimed actors Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy have key roles in every single production. While these have been out for a little while, I only just listened to my first one . Coming in at a runtime of 13 and a half hours, which is a tad longer than the roughly 10-hour long Planer version, this Guards! Guards! audiobook was extremely fun, and it served as excellent entertainment on a recent road trip.

The new version of the Guards! Guards! audiobook is primarily voiced by British radio and television personality Jon Culshaw. Culshaw is amazing in the role, and I was deeply impressed with his take on the Guards! Guards! characters. Each unique character comes across extremely well in Culshaw’s capable hands, and I enjoyed his take on their unique characteristics and eccentric personalities. He perfectly showcased protagonist Samuel Vimes’s drunken despair and depression, while various other key members of the watch, such as the extremely keen Carrot and the more cautious Colon, are shown extremely well. I also felt that Culshaw did an incredible job with several complicated figures from the story, such as the infamous watchman Nobby Nobbs, who Culshaw gifts a gruff and weaselly voice that sounded a lot like David Bradley or Jon Pertwee. His Lord Vetinari is also amazing, and the deep and threatening tones really capture the character’s dangerous nature. Finally, I felt that his take on the main female character, Sybil Ramkin, was just perfect, and you really got the full blast of her big personality and excessive aristocratic characteristics. Many of the other side characters were also perfectly portrayed to my mind, and I must highlight the excellent way in which he disguised the voice of the main antagonist during some key secret society scenes.

Culshaw’s primary narration is well backed up by Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy in their respective roles. Serafinowicz provides the voice of Death whenever he appears in this audiobook, which works out extremely well even with Death’s relatively minor role in Guards! Guards!. Serafinowicz has an exceptional Death voice, and hearing it suddenly appear throughout Guards! Guards! is so damn epic, especially during one scene where Death is hiding amongst the soon-to-be deceased. Nighy, on the other hand, narrates the various footnotes. Nighy was a perfect choice for this, and his calm, consistent tones, echoing Peter Jones’s similar role in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio and TV editions really highlighted the subtle comedy of these footnotes. I felt that all three of these distinctive actors really vibed together in the Guards! Guards! audiobooks, and the switch between them was seamless, allowing for a particularly awesome listen. Throw in an interesting short afterword about fantasy elements by acclaimed author Ben Aaronovitch, and this proved to be a remarkable and compelling audiobook I could not get enough of. While Nigel Planer’s original narration of Guards! Guards! is always going to live in my head rent free, I felt that this new version more than lived up to the hype surrounding it, and I really appreciated the unique and powerful performances these new narrators brought to the table. Frankly both of the audiobook versions comes highly recommended by me, and it is impossible to be dissatisfied by them at all.

Whew, well in case you could guess from this massive review (it got away from me), I love Guards! Guards! and I have some very strong feelings for it. One of Terry Pratchett’s best Discworld novels, Guards! Guards! is the perfect blend of fantasy, crime fiction and humour that you could ever want, and I always get wrapped up in its elaborate story. A wildly entertaining and comedic novel from start to finish, Pratchett added so much heart to this book, and you get drawn into the impressive characters and compelling, crime fiction plot. A brilliant start to the City Watch subseries, Guards! Guards! is so damn good, and I know I will be reading it many more times in my life. I can think of no better way to emphasise just how amazing Guards! Guards! is than to mention that I used it to introduce the Discworld to my wife, who is now powering through the series on her own. So do yourself a favour and check this book out now!

Amazon

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

On November 10, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Fantasy11 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 6 August 2024)

Series: Dark Lord Davi – Book One

Length: 395 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Hilarious author Django Wexler presents one of the funniest and most memorable fantasy novels of 2024 with the deeply addictive How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying. Serving as the first book in Wexler’s new Dark Lord Davi series, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying was an extremely amusing book that has been on my radar for a while due to its amazing-sounding plot.

It’s a tale as old as time. An ordinary human becomes trapped in a mythical fantasy realm and is subsequently lauded as the prophesied hero of legend, destined to rule the kingdom and defeat the conquering Dark Lord. But what happens when the human protagonist gets sick of living and dying as the hero?

That’s the question that falls to Davi, a young woman who has become trapped in a bloody and predictable time loop. Constantly forced to become the leader of the soon-to-be-destroyed humans of The Kingdom, Davi has tried time and time again to organise an army capable of defeating the oncoming and everchanging Dark Lord, only to fail and die in agony in over 200 inventive ways. After nearly a thousand years of playing the hero and losing in brutal fashion, Davi has had enough and decides that if you can’t beat them, become them.

Determined to take control of her destiny, Davi sets out to do the direct opposite of every other loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then this time Davi will take her place at the top of the winning side and become the new Dark Lord herself. But first she must pull together a band of followers from the various non-human races of the realm and bring her loyal minions to the Convocation where the new Dark Lord is chosen, far away in lands she’s never even seen. Standing between Davi and her destiny lie multitudes of deadly landscapes, brutal enemies, and all manner of unique obstacles that a Dark Lord in training needs to overcome. Armed with her wits, her accumulated knowledge of the world, the ability to use her own death to her advantage, and an insane amount of humorous confidence, Davi may be able to do the impossible and finally win. But Davi will soon learn that becoming the Dark Lord isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying was a highly entertaining and insanely captivating read that I honestly could not get enough off. Featuring a brilliant scenario that Wexler plays to comedic perfection, combined with dark humour and a uniquely insane protagonist, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying is an outstanding novel that I had so much fun reading.

I must admit that I instantly loved the very fun premise of this book which saw the protagonist decide to take on the role of the Dark Lord after hundreds of failed attempts to survive as the hero. Wexler did an outstanding job setting this idea up in the first couple of chapters of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, and you are quickly intrigued by the combination of a bloody time loop, a despondent, if hyper, protagonist, and the entire change of plan said protagonist embarks upon. As such, you are completely onboard as soon as Davi starts to implement her plan, and the resulting carnage proves to be highly entertaining and fun. After multiple bloody failed attempts to start her new turn to darkness, Davi soon begins to get into her groove as the next Dark Lord, recruiting a small band of minions, and taking the first steps to proving she has what it takes to rule.

Davi’s subsequent quest to become the Dark Lord involves an intense adventure arc, as she leads her army through various fun fantasy locations. Along the way to her destination, Davi engages in different schemes to recruit new followers, especially when she encounters some chaotic communities whose internal strife she is able to exploit. The story devolves into an awesome combination of intrigue, humorous encounters, fantasy action and personal character growth, as the protagonist becomes more comfortable with the Dark Lord lifestyle. After several extended sequences at key locations, the protagonist eventually reaches her goal and begins her trials to become the new Dark Lord. However, nothing at the trials is what it seems, and Davi is forced to deal with multiple enemies from her various pasts to survive. There are some great moments in this final part of the book, including tragic betrayals, heart-felt romance, intriguing revelations, and some big fights, all of which leads to an interesting open-ended conclusion that will ensure readers come back for the next book in the series.

I had an exceptional amount of fun with How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, and Wexler had a fantastic style that really appealed to me. Told exclusively from the slightly crazed first-person perspective of the protagonist, readers are treated to Davi’s highly excitable inner thoughts as she recounts her journey to becoming the Dark Lord. This proved to be a great medium to explore the more complex elements of the plot, and I appreciated how Wexler was able to succinctly dive into time-loop and Davi’s place in it, while also moving the plot along. The author also introduces a serviceable and intriguing fantasy world the plot of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, which proved interesting to explore. While a little basic in places, Wexler does feature some excellent concepts here, and readers will enjoy watching Davi explore it with her own unique perspective, especially as she forms new ideas about the supposedly evil wilders (non-human creatures) as she works with them. While some of these concepts are a little complex at times, everything honestly works extremely well for the entertaining plot, and I really appreciated how effectively the author was able to explore and utilise his fantastic ideas.

While all these great concepts help to craft a unique book, what holds everything together and keeps the reader’s attention is the relentless comedy that Wexler injects into nearly every page of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying. I really connected to Wexler’s humour in this book, and I found myself chuckling away for large chunks of it. Thanks to the slightly cracked protagonist, the reader is bombarded with a constant array of jokes, hilarious commentary, and over-the-top moments, as Davi combats the horrors both in front and behind her with humour. A lot of this humour was driven by the protagonist having a modern, nerdish perspective in a crazy fantasy world, and her reactions ranged from sarcastic to goofy. Wexler also makes great use of an array of continuous footnotes to tell additional jokes outside the flow of the narrative, or to really expand on an interesting or funny point. I am a big fan of the use of footnotes for comedic purposes (blame my Terry Pratchett upbringing), and Wexler made it work really well here. The author also relies on quite a lot of highly adult humour throughout the book, which helped to give How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying an interesting flair. While I could see some readers not liking how continuously risqué the book got, or how over-the-top the humour is in general, I personally felt that it worked and allowed for quite an amusing, if slightly randy, experience.

Talking of crazy humour, I must highlight the fantastic central protagonist of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, Davi. A modern-day and highly nerdy woman who finds herself trapped in this recurring fantasy adventure without any idea of how she got there, Davi is an interesting figure, and you really connect with her as the plot continues, especially as a lot of hilarity is drawn from her outrageous behaviour and thoughts. Davi is constantly cracking jokes, making sarcastic inner observations and meta commentary, often driven by her modern experiences, and it’s hard not to be amused by her antics. She also has some great, often ridiculous interactions with the various fantasy creatures she encounters, and I liked seeing her unusual persona connect with these more serious creatures.

While it is easy to get lost in Davi’s comedic persona, the further you get into the book, the more apparent it is that her cracked behaviour has been brought on by the constant trauma from her hundreds of deaths and the accompanying thousand years of experience that she has lived through as part of her fantasy adventure. The initial exposure to her early trauma and rage at the start of the book gives you enough of a glimpse of this that you appreciate her turn to the dark side, but you see even more of it as the story continues. A lot of this is because, even after years of watching everyone die, she still cares about the people around her, and the impacts of her decisions start to wear on her. While she maintains her zany persona for much of the book, a new romance and a dark change in her circumstances towards the end of the book nearly break her, and I felt that Wexler did an outstanding job of trying to humanise her there, especially as she sometimes gives off uncaring, immortal vibes. Thanks to these deeper personality traits, as well as her comedic nature, I really grew to appreciate to Davi as main character, especially as she is a lot more capable and competent thanks to her experiences, although she still makes some interesting mistakes (never sleep with your minions, everyone knows that). As such, I look forward to seeing how her story continues, especially as things are likely to get even more out of control for her.

Overall, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler was an awesome book that I honestly found to be quite addictive. The fantastic central scenario is greatly enhanced by the author’s outrageous humour and clever storytelling, and it allows for quite an outstanding read. Slick, unique and very, very funny, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying was one of the more unique fantasy novels of 2024, and if you are in the mood for a great laugh, then this is the book for you. I personally am very excited to see how the Dark Lord Davi series continues in the future, and the second novel, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me, is set for release in May 2025.

Amazon

The Sandman – Act III (Audiobook), written by Neil Gaiman and performed by a full cast

On August 12, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Horror, Superhero, Tie-in Novel4 Comments

Publisher: Audible Original (Audiobook – 28 September 2022)

Series: The Sandman – Volume 3

Script: Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs (script adapter)

Director: Dirk Maggs

Length: 11 hours and 31 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

After falling in the love with the epic The Sandman comics thanks to their exceptional audiobook adaptations, I finally got to the third audiobook act in this exceptional series by Neil Gaiman, which was another amazing listen.

I have had an outstanding time listening to the first and second volumes of the audiobook adaptations of The Sandman comic. Set partially in the DC universe, the original series, which started in 1989, is one of the most iconic comics of all time and features a unique adventure that only Neil Gaiman can come up with. Following Dream, the anthropomorphic personification of dreams and human imagination, The Sandman is a truly amazing comic that blends horror, fantasy and superhero elements together. Some people might be more familiar with the recent Netflix series that adapted the first couple of comics, and which has a second season on the way.

This series has proven to be extremely exceptional, with Act I perfectly introducing the characters and setting up the initial storyline, while Act II continues some of the key story points and places Dream against various foes, including Lucifer and other dangerous mythical figures. Not only do these audiobooks feature an incredible story and powerful characters but they are brought to life by a truly awesome cast of celebrity actors and audiobook narrators who really lend their all to this performance. As such, when going on a couple of fun road trips this year, Act III was a very easy choice to listen to, and I was extremely curious to see how this series would continue.

In a universe of strange and deadly creatures, many beings are considered immortal, but only seven siblings can truly claim to be endless. The Endless, each a personification of a universal concept, are powerful and mesmerizing in their own way, but the most enchanting and mysterious is Dream. Known by many names, including Morpheus, this being governs the Dreaming, a vast realm of creation’s collected dreams and stories, protecting the imagination that makes life worth living. But circumstances outside of his control have set him on a dark path that not even he can escape from.

After being freed from captivity and deciding the future of Hell, Morpheus finds himself troubled by another failed romance, his own complex past, his previous monstrous decisions, and his often contentious relationship with his family. Visited by his troubled youngest sibling Delirium, Dream embarks on an unusual quest alongside her to find their missing brother, the one member of the Endless to ever give up their role and responsibility, Destruction. But their prodigal sibling does not wish to be found, and many obstacles lie between an Endless reunification. To succeed in their quest, Morpheus will need to revisit the most painful chapter from his past. However, no-one, not even a member of the Endless, comes away from a meeting with Destruction unscathed!

Unsurprisingly, Act III proved to be an exceptional listen, and I once again got wrapped up in the elaborate and compelling web of stories and characters that The Sandman is well known for. Adapted once again by director Dirk Maggs and featuring all of Gaiman’s impressive storytelling and dark characterisations, The Sandman – Act III, was an outstanding listen, and one that I could not get away from. Adapting the Brief Lives and Worlds’ End arcs of The Sandman comic, as well as several additional short stories, Act III was an exceptional addition to this series, especially with the truly exceptional voice cast.

Act III continues the same format and style of the previous The Sandman audiobook adaptations, with the comic broken into several distinctive parts to best tell the elaborate story from the comics. The previously drawn adventures are brought to life here through a combination of excellent narration by Neil Gaiman, who covers many of the characters’ actions and movements, sound effects to represent other unseen elements, and the dialogue of the various characters, with their respective actors often describing the moments going on around them. This results in an intriguing but complex listening experience, and with a runtime of 11 hours and 31 minutes, it is one that you can get through very quickly if you have the time.

This latest audiobook adaptation starts off in an interesting place with the short story The Song of Orpheus, which originally appeared in the Fables & Reflections collection of stories. The Song of Orpheus is a fantastic retelling of the classic Greek myth of Orpheus, with the character reimagined as the son of Morphius and the muse Calliope, the latter of whom was featured in the story Calliope in the Dream Country collection (featured in the Act I adaptation). Gaiman does an excellent job of bringing together the classic Greek mythology of the Orpheus legend with his own characters and the result is a seamless and complex tale. Orpheus’ ill-fated marriage and journey to save his love is aided and hindered by the various members of the Endless, with Morpheus serving as a complex distant father figure. The resulting story may seem familiar to those with knowledge of Greek mythology, but there are some added intriguing twists, and the inclusion of Gaiman’s characters ensure that there is even greater tragedy than the original Greek myth envisioned.

When I started this audiobook, I thought that The Song of Orpheus was interesting start to this act, and in hindsight it was quite a clever decision, as it sets up some of the other arcs extremely well. The story ensures that listeners are well warned about the tragedy and elaborate storylines contained in Act III, while also drawing you in with its inventiveness and complexity. It is also a brilliant production thanks to the combination of cast and background music effects. Regé-Jean Page (of Bridgerton fame), proves to be an outstanding Orpheus, who stands as an interesting contrast to the other established voice actors of this story. There are also some epic musical accompaniment and sound effects that prove vital in showcasing the full impact of this story, and which you honestly need when telling a story about the mythical musician Orpheus. I felt that the musical elements of this chapter deeply helped to enhance the story, especially as there was some great sadness in the sound effects that mirrored the story. This was honestly a very strong start to Act III, and I loved how well it led into the first main story, Brief Lives.

Brief Lives is a particularly epic main story arc for this audiobook which serves as both the plot and emotional heart of Act III. Initially focusing on the incredibly fun character of Delirium, who we only briefly saw in Act II, Brief Lives sees Dream accompany his sister on a road trip to find their lost brother, Destruction. This results in several intriguing mini story arcs as the mismatched and chaotic siblings travel through the mortal world, encountering their family, friends, and former associates of Destruction. At the same time, sinister events begin to impact people associated with their search, and Dream must navigate the increased collateral damage his quest is incurring.

I really loved this arc, and I think that Brief Lives might be one of the stronger The Sandman storylines. The road trip storyline with Dream and Delirium worked to tell this story in a fantastic manner, and I enjoyed how the author took the opportunity to quickly and effectively introduce new intriguing characters whose worlds become impacted by their interactions with the Endless. The long-anticipated reveal about the missing Endless was great, and Gaiman loads in some intriguing examinations about family, destiny and duty. Brief Lives is loaded with a great combination of dark mystery, the author’s gothic vibe, a fantastic layer of humour, and an intense amount of tragedy, all wrapped up with the most unique familial interactions you are likely to see in fiction. The author takes the storylines in some interesting directions, and the resulting emotional richness proves very hard to ignore. The ending of Brief Lives is particularly moving, with a resolution of family drama followed by additional tragedy millennia in the making. This also proves to be quite a key story in the wider The Sandman story, with the consequences radiating out from the events of this road trip have chaotic impacts in the future.

I have to say that I was really impressed with how Brief Lives came together. Not only does the elaborate story come across clearly and interestingly with the chapter split, but you really get drawn into every single supporting character that shows up. I particularly enjoyed seeing Delirium getting a whole arc to shine in, and actress Kristen Schaal is perfect as the embodiment of personal chaos, bringing an immense childlike glee to the madcap antics of her character. Schaal perfectly plays off the more serious characters in this story arc, and you can really feel the dancing chaos beneath the surface of her mind as well as how scattered and unconnected she is. The reveal of Destruction as a character was also quite interesting, and I like the author’s take of him being a warm, thoughtful and entertaining destroyer, whose duty has deeply damaged him. David Harewood brings some real compassion and charm to the role of Destruction, and I enjoyed how he played off the sarcastic talking dog Barnabas, voiced by veteran voice actor Harry Myers. The portrayal of Brief Lives also makes excellent use of some musical accompaniment to enhance the emotional impact of the plot, including in some of the story’s heaviest scenes, and this ended up being the most compelling part of Act III to listen to.

The other major storyline in The Sandman – Act III, is the intriguing anthology storyline, Worlds’ End. Like some of the previous arcs in The Sandman, Worlds’ End is more of an indirect addition to the plot, loaded with short stories that show snippets of Dream, the Endless, and other supporting characters, interacting with new and unique figures. However, Worlds’ End is also quite distinctive, especially as Neil Gaiman surrenders his narrator duties in this arc, and instead features multiple guest narrators telling their own tales in a similar manner to The Canterbury Tales. The plot of this arc starts with character Brant Tucker (voiced by Wil Wheaton) and his colleague crashing their car in a freak storm and then finding refuge in the mysterious Worlds’ End inn. Within the inn, they discover multiple unusual travellers from across time and the realms, who have been scattered due to a reality storm and are seeking shelter. To pass the time, the various guests tell stories based on their lives, which paint a complex tapestry of their experiences and the long-reaching influence of the Endless.

I have a lot of love for the various short stories that Gaiman fills The Sandman comics with, but I felt that the collection featured with Worlds’ End were some of his strongest. There are five central stories featured within, and they each provide a complex and wildly different tale of life, loss and adventure, all set in the contexts of different worlds and experiences. Gaiman manages to tell some complex tales in the short time he has with each entry, and the reader comes away with intriguing visions of these unique worlds and characters. There are a few times where the narrative devolves into a story within a story, as narrators begin to recount tales that were told to them (and in a couple of cases you have a story within a story within another story). However, even these prove to be very captivating, and it is a testament to how good a storytelling Gaiman is that readers can moved into multiple interlocking tales and still be intrigued by what is going on. There is also a great mixture of tales here, from a Lovecraftian inspired dream tale, to a hilarious fantasy adventure told by a rambunctious Faerie, and even a classic nautical adventure tale of a handsome sailor boy, which features the return of fan favourite character Hob Gadling. However, my favourite story was The Golden Boy, an intriguing retelling of the story of Prez Rickard, the teenage president protagonist of the classic, if short-lived, Prez comics, which proves to be quite entertaining and haunting, while also showing an idealised vision of America.

I felt that these five stories came across in a very organic way with the differing narrators, and it proved to be a lot of fun to experience the talents of several new or underutilised vocal talents in a strong way here. Wil Wheaton was a great main narrator for the overarching story, and I felt he portrayed a good everyman character experiencing the unnatural for the first time. Billy Boyd and Colin McFarlane both shine as narrators and central characters for their respective stories, and I quite enjoyed the performances of KJ Apa and Jon Culshaw in The Golden Boy, while Simon Jones was an impactful addition to the funeral-focused story Cerements. These actors, and many others, helped to turn Worlds’ End into a compelling and distinctive arc, and I liked how effectively it contrasted with the other The Sandman arcs we have enjoyed. This entire storyline ends on an ominous and prophetic note, as the listener is given a glimpse of major events to come, and Worlds’ End proved to be a great way to conclude Act III.

Overall, these main stories, as well as an additional couple of short stories, proved to be very impressive to read, and I love the complex plots and themes that the author tried to impart. The continuation of a larger storyline, combined with multiple short stories that expands The Sandman universe, works to create an elaborate experience for the listener, and I deeply appreciate the immense imagination that Gaiman puts into his work. The flow from larger, cohesive storylines to a series of shorter tales also works extremely well, and I love how the obvious palate cleaner short stories take on a compelling life of their own. No matter how short, each of the stories in Act III were very well written, and the distinctive blend of dark storytelling, gothic imagination and complex characters makes for some addictive listening. I especially love the recurring trend of normal humans, as well as other more supernatural beings, encountering the various Endless by chance, only to find their lives altered by the experience, often for the worst. The often capricious nature of Dream, as well as some of his siblings, really comes through with Gaiman’s writing and the subsequent acting, and you cannot appreciate just how well-written these figures, and indeed the entire character cast of The Sandman, are, until you experience it for yourself.

Before we get to the end of this review, I must once again strongly compliment just how awesome these The Sandman audiobooks are. Gaiman, Maggs and others do such an incredible job of converting the original comics into this new format, and all the original ideas, actions and compelling figures come across perfectly in the audiobook. The combination of clever narration and on-point dialogue allows listeners to really appreciate the unfolding actions taking place, and effective sound effects add that extra layer of understanding. Throw in some outstanding musical moments, which prove to be particularly impactful in Act III, and this entire audiobook hits the reader hard and ensures that are constantly caught up in the elaborate ideas of the original author. All the storylines come across perfectly, with some slight alterations in the order they appear, and you really come away with an outstanding appreciation for The Sandman, even if you’ve never read the comics.

It goes without saying that Act III once again featured an incredible cast of actors and voice specialists, all of whom perfectly portray the characters they are assigned to. I love how all the key stars from Act I and Act II, once again returned here, and their outstanding voices, combined with some awesome new figures, ensured that every word of this audiobook delighted its audience. I have already mentioned a few key actors above, but I really want to once again highlight the outstanding recurring key cast, who do such a great job here. Series lead James McAvoy is just perfect as Morpheus, and his resonate and powerful voice consistently captures the ethereal, arrogant, and thoughtful qualities of the titular protagonist every time. It is such a pleasure to listen to McAvoy perform once again in Act III, and his excellent voice plays off every other actor in this audiobook so damn well.

Other key returning stars include Kat Dennings, who perfectly portrays Gaiman’s warmer, caring, female Death, who is frankly one of the best characters in the entire series. Andy Serkis has a lot of fun as the raven Matthew, and his scenes with Dream and Delirium are hilarious. Jeffrey Wright, Justin Vivian Bond and Miriam Margolyes each do an amazing job of bringing Destiny, Desire and Despair to life, and you can really feel their ancient power and alternating views of humanity. Justin Vivian Bond’s portrayal of the feckless and fickle Desire is particularly noteworthy, and I love how well this unique character came across. Multiple other actors and established audiobook narrators provide a range of compelling and memorable voices throughout Act III, including several of my favourite audiobook narrators like Ray Porter and Toby Longworth, and I loved every one of their voices. Finally, Neil Gaiman himself serves as an outstanding central narrator for much of the Act III. Gaiman’s distinctive voice perfectly fits the gothic and mysterious vibe of The Sandman comics, and there is no-one else who could narrate these complex ideas and experiences, better than the author who originally came up with them. You will frankly struggle to find a better cast of voice actors in any other audiobook out there, and this outstanding vocal team makes Act III, and indeed all The Sandman audiobooks, something extremely special to enjoy.

Act III of The Sandman audiobook was another exceptional listen and one that proves pretty impossible to stop listening to. The combination of captivating storylines, outrageous characters, and a huge array of vocal and acting talents make this an easy five-star listen, and I can personally guarantee that The Sandman – Act III makes for an excellent accompaniment to a long road trip. While I’m sure that recent controversies might impact this, I hope we get the fourth act in this epic series soon, and I cannot wait to see how Morpheus’s tragic and complex tale ends.

Amazon

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

On June 10, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer5 Comments

Cain's Last Stand Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 January 2008)

Series: Ciaphas Cain – Book Six

Length: 10 hours and 30 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Amazon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amazon