Cain's Last Stand

Ciaphas Cain: Warhammer 40,000, Book 6

By: Sandy Mitchell

Narrated by: Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Richard Reed, John Banks, Phillipe Bosher

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Book six of the Ciaphas Cain series

The Imperium's most unlikely hero is back, reluctantly returning to the front line and hoping his luck will hold out!

Listen to it because: this entry from the Cain Archives takes the Hero of the Imperium into his greatest - and possibly last - battle. He's an old man in this one, pulled out of retirement for one last mission as the hordes of Chaos close in on the Imperium....

The story: after a long and distinguished career defending the Imperium from its many enemies, Commissar Cain is enjoying a well-deserved retirement on Perlia, teaching in a schola progenium. But when a Black Crusade threatens the sector, all able-bodied citizens must rise to the defence, including Cain and his cadets. As the forces of Chaos overwhelm Perlia, can the wily commissar prove himself to be a real hero of the Imperium one last time?

Written by Sandy Mitchell. Running time 10 hours and 31 minutes. Performed by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Richard Reed, John Banks and Phillipe Bosher.

©2021 Games Workshop Limited (P)2021 Games Workshop Limited

an honest review

-key positives-
-this story holds up to the quality that the earlier books have. but shows what retirement it's like for those commissars who are lucky enough to reach.

- we have a wine cast of characters as usual, many of whom you can become quite attached to ((though if you've read any books in this series beforehand you would know that's a bad idea haha))

-the bittersweet ending is both satisfying as it is slightly annoying... but I don't consider that a bad thing, as this is the 40K universe and a bit of melancholy is to be expected.

-without giving it away the main bad guy of this particular book is obviously a parody of a real world evil.. and the parody on display is just gold.

-key negatives-
-the large cast of characters is both a strength and a weakness, because depending how long it takes you to read the book you may forget who is who.

-the book did feel like it was dragging in certain parts, they were trying to go for an edge of your seat sort of thing.. but some of the time in between the battles felt like it didn't add much and it was just there for padding.

-additional notes-
as always this series almost never disappoints.
despite its slower parts it was still an enjoyable ride and I look forward to listening to the next book in the series line.

It's not all funny

Be forewarned. Some parts of this book hit hard. Honestly it made the read even more ingrossing than usual.

Repeat listener

This is one of the few book series I've been able to
repeat. 😊 😊

They killed off my boy Perrings

I'm going to assume this was an assassination attempt due to the lack of materia from Like a Phoenix From the Flames prior to chapter 20.

Voice change

The voice actors voice changes abruptly in chapter 20, rather off putting. Otherwise it was decent.

it's another amazing cain book. i

I love this book!! such a amazing book just like all the others. my only complaint is 8 hours into the book someone else starts reading it than the person who has been reading the othera

you know it, you love it

the best series in all 40k. it's ciaphas and Jurgen! poor guy just can't retire

Excellent despite hiccup

Narrator change at about the 2 br remaining mark, but still excellent. The replacement narrator is close in tone to Stephen Perring, but it is still a bit jarring.

Need more Cain books

Cain is reunited with some old friends in this Book 6 of the series. This novel is a bit darker than the other six in the series (I've already finished 1 to 5 and 7 before starting 6) but just as enjoyable.

Now waiting for Books 8 to 10 to complete my collection.

One of Cain's Best Adventures Yet!

I've thoroughly enjoyed all of the Cain books. But Cain's Last Stand is, in my opinion, one of the finest. Standing next to "For the Emperor" & "Traitor's Hand" as Mitchell's best written Cain adventures. What's great about Last Stand is that it shows us a completely different side of Cain. As much as I missed Castine, Brocklaw and Sulla, I loved seeing an older Cain in a mentor role, doing his best to make sure his cadets don't turn out to be crazy commissars who shoot their soldiers at the slightest provocation. It was also great to see Cain in a story closer to the current 40K timeline.