Cain's Last Stand (Ciaphas Cain Series) Book

Cain's Last Stand is the third book of the second Cain trilogy. It brings Ciaphas Cain, Liberator of Perlia, back to the planet where he defeated the dreaded greenskins by destroying a dam and drowning an entire army. The novel may be the same "bat-channel," but it doesn't include the same enemies. In fact, in a reverse-Marvel Team-Up, it features more than one enemy. Cain, the Harry Flashman of humanity's dark future, doesn't have those itching hands for nothing. [My maternal grandmother used to joke that itching hands meant she was going to come into money and having her nose itch meant she was going to have company. Cain's itching hands usually indicate unwelcome company and anticipated danger.]

The new element in this book was the fact that Cain was training new cadets to be commissars. Yes, if you haven't read any of these books before, commissars in this universe are like the political officers in Stalin's army. If you aren't right thinking and you're hurting the moral of the troops, the commissar will shoot you. Of course, as Cain rightfully notes, many commissars have also been shot by "friendly fire." Indeed, at one point in this novel, he actually calculates whether he has to worry about such an attack'ironic on the planet where a memorial clock has his image popping out to do liberating battle on the hour.

And, of course, my initial assessments of these cadets as supporting characters weren't accurate. Some proved significantly better than I expected and at least one for whom I had great expectations proved to be an unexpected misdirection. Indeed, misdirection abounds in this episode because the enemy I thought would be most formidable proved not to be so (probably setting up the next book) and the enemy I thought was "setting-up" the ultimate enemy proved considerably more dangerous than I thought.
Frankly, I'm always amused at how Cain manages to be in the right place at the right time in order to get the most credit, Harry Flashman style. I love the way he tries to wriggle out of even justified credit for his deeds. We, as readers, know he's merely trying to save his own skin, but there is something to be said for successfully implementing the strategies necessary to accomplish that. Cain does have quick wits to maximize slim opportunities and make the stories worth reading. One has to constantly scour the text for those little clues in order to try to be a jump ahead of the guy when he explodes into action (usually by mobilizing everyone and everything near him in unexpected ways).

Cain's Last Stand is a mixture of familiarity and surprise. Certain venues or battlegrounds have been traversed before. Certain betrayals or enemy gambits have been experienced before. Certain Inquisitorial considerations also feel like déjà vu when the plot begins to unfold. Yet, this episode is fresh as well as familiar. One isn't entirely sure which enemy poses the greater threat or which expected betrayal (at least, by the readers) is going to have the most impact. So, one keeps reading with a sense of satisfaction that there are going to be enough surprises to make the journey worthwhile. Will Cain have to destroy something or someone in order to "save" it? Will Cain have to draw upon a "secret," and heretofore held in reserve, resource in order to blunt the force of the major invasion (there's always an invasion in this series, isn't there?)? Are Cain's commissar cadets up to the challenge? What old nemesis or ally from the past will show up to complicate or smooth the situation? I like such questions, even in mindless action novels, and I like the way they are handled in this novel.

As for a recommendation, I'll be taking my leave from the Warhammer 40K universe for a while. My leisure reading seems to have been stuck in a rut over the last few months and it is my intent to diversify. Does that mean this Cain adventure isn't as entertaining as the first one I read? Yes, but it is more entertaining than the last one I read. Does this mean I'm sorry I invested the time in this novel? No, it simply means that I need to expand my repertoire even in fantasy and science-fiction, not to mention actually hitting some non-fiction books that have been gathering dust while I indulged in the familiar to the expense of the new.