Caves of Ice

Ciaphas Cain: Warhammer 40,000, Book 2

By: Sandy Mitchell

Narrated by: Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, Emma Gregory

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Book 2 of the Ciaphas Cain series.

When Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his regiment of Valhallan Guardsmen are deployed to the ice world of Simia Orichalcae, his expectation of an uneventful tour of duty is suddenly interrupted. 

Listen to it because: 

While his Valhallan regiment are happy on an ice world, Cain's biggest concern is freezing to death...until orks start attacking, and then an ancient threat emerges from the depths. Stuck between two enemies, Cain needs to stop playing the hero and actually be one.  

The story:

On the ice world of Simia Orichalcae a spate of mysterious disappearances is causing unrest amongst the mine workers, and, as senior officer of the Astra Militarum, Commissar Ciaphas Cain is nominated to investigate. Unbeknownst to him, the planet is right in the path of a major ork incursion, and, as the savage greenskins attack, a malevolent evil begins to stir deep in the ice caves.  

Written by Sandy Mitchell. Narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory.

©2019 Games Workshop Limited (P)2019 Games Workshop Limited

Glad to Have More Cain!

It is a great treat to have another title of the Ciaphas Cain series on Audible. If you read the first book, you know what you're in for, and this doesn't shy too far away from the patterns established by the first book. This can be both good and bad, as this pattern is a thoroughly entertaining one, but you will find yourself occasionally feeling a sense of déjà vu as Cain goes spelunking in a tunnel system for the umpteenth time.

What makes me really love this presentation, though, are the narrators. Perring, Rawlins, and Gregory are perfectly cast for the parts they narrate. Stephen Perring, in particular, does a great job of capturing Cain's wry cynicism without compromising the gravity of the more serious moments of the story.

I am so excited to see this series being brought to Audible, and I hope Black Library will continue with it!

Great narrative

The performance was great they do justice to the novel and keeps me wanting more.

Black Adder for 40k.

The novel is a part of a set of books by author Sandy Mitchell. The story revolves around the rakish commissar Ciaphas Cain and his trusty sidekick Jurgen.

No Cain novel or audio drama have been bad in my experience.

The book is written as a historical account being investigated by and inquisitor published for instruction within her order. There is a great deal of humor in the novel, yet it succeeds in maintaining drama and character as well.

Really any of the Ciaphas Cain stories could be listened to in any order, they are all enjoyable as either stand-alone or series.

10/10

I say its a crime to listen to this on anything else other than 1x speed. All the narrators match exactly how I would expect characters to sound. Which is refreshing to me compared to the other cut and dry narrators you often find reading 40k books. Overall, Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins, and Emma Gregory all just knock it out of the ballpark!!

Ciaphas Cain is a lighthearted, fun, humorous, relatable character in a universe full of demigods. Sadly this book is a bit shorter than it's predecessor but I won't complain!

Suffer not the Xenos to live

Emperor knows, Cain is such a fun character. a swashbuckler and a hero, as much as his internal monologue may prove otherwise.

As excellent as the first

Sandy Mitchell's books about Ciaphas Cain are easily my favourites among the Games Workshop novels, and just like the first book this is an excellent adaptation. Perhaps more of a pure action tale than the first, the cast still make a particularly good fit for the characters, and I hope they remain constant for the rest of the series.

Superb!!

Sandy did an awesome job with her first book in this series and continues that great work with this book. Extremely well written, with good acting as well. 5/5!

I love this series.

Ciaphas Cain is in my humble opinion the most enjoyable individual in the 40k vers and I’m always happy for more ways to inject a good tail.

another great book

it's amazing, great narration and a great storyline it is a definite read if you're a 40k fan

So excited!

I can't wait for the next book! Reading about the great hero of the Imperium can only be improved upon by listening to them. The Emperor Protects!

Overdue and all the more welcome for it.

This is a very welcome second audio outing for Commissar Cain, following last year's treatment of Sandy MItchell's first Cain novel, For The Emperor. It's a bit of a surprise, given the popularity of the books, that it's taken a year for Black LIbrary to provide the follow-up. Perhaps they couldn't get the cast of the original audiobook before now. If so, it's the right decision to have waited to reunite them. Stephen Perring makes a suitably wry Cain, his delivery is spot on as the charming yet cynical commissar who would happily 'run away screaming' from the Emperor's enemies (if he thought he could get away with it).

Perring's light hearted vocal style is perhaps somewhat anachronistic in the universe of Warhammer 40k, but it works as he captures Cain's wit and world-weary manner perfectly. Sandy MItchell has claimed his inspirations for the character were Flashman and Edmund Blackadder. In fact, Cain is neither as genuinely wicked as Flashman nor as laugh-out-loud funny as Blackadder. The plot of the books are still essentially military sci-fi adventures and it is really the narrator's inner voice that provides the humour. Many of the jokes in the novels are easily-missed wordplays and some awful puns (the name of the ice planet 'Simia Orichalcae' for example, translates very roughly from Latin as 'Brass Monkeys'). The cast do well to bring out the light touch of the humour in the books without overdoing it.

Penelope Rawlins provides a good counterpoint to Perring, punctuating Cain's memoirs with a series of wry interjections as his biographer and former lover, Inquisitor Amberley Vail. However the highlight for me are the sections where a third narrator, General Sulla (Emma Gregory) provides a pompous military history view of the events in the story. Sulla's accounts are usually directly at odds with Cain's recollections and are interspersed with bitchy footnotes by Vail. In this audiobook, the use of three voices really brings the humour in these sections to the fore and it's a real joy.

I'm uncertain whether the Cain books would be of interest to anyone unfamiliar with the Warhammer 40k canon. However for Black LIbrary listeners jaded by fables of earnest, two-dimensional superbeings blowing one another up in an endless stream of hyperbole, the truly human yet still heroic Commissar Cain is the perfect antidote. Just pray we don't have to wait another year till the next installment.

Blackadder in Space

So yeah, the cowardly Commissar Cain is deployed to a warzone and his efforts to save his own skin and avoid combat land him into even deeper trouble, which he escapes by the skin of his teeth furthering his (unearned) reputation as a HERO OF THE IMPERIUM in the process.

They're all the same plot, but at the end of the day they're charming, funny, well written, and a lighter view of the often oppressively grim 40k universe. The narrative structure of the books being Cain's own memoirs with added footnotes and annotations from his longtime paramour (and Inquisitor) is extremely engaging.

The best bit is, despite his own words and protestations, Cain does perform genuinely heroic actions, and he's nothing like as cowardly and selfish as he believes himself to be.

Cain strikes again

I have been a fan of the Cain novels for some time and to hear them performed only improves them. Can't wait for the next one!

In the 41st millennium their is humour!

As much as as I enjoy the books by sandy Mitchell I really really enjoy the audiobooks, the story is typical Cain and Jurgen which is pretty damned good in itself but the narrators lift it to a whole new level

Cain and the gang are back!!! Not soon enough!

I really enjoyed this book, mostly for the main character Ciaphas Cain. His self deprecating traits and comical self preservation is pretty refreshing in the 40k universe. The characters are well written and I'm liking the build up (hoping the series will continue soon).

The Narration is great, with some good research or guidance into the 40k world, with words and names said correctly. The Lead narrator (Stephen Perring) has a clear engaging and likeable voice which makes the book flow well. I didn't find myself drifting off.

Defiantly worth a listen, if you haven't got the first book in this series it's worth getting as thats probably my favourite.

Only criticism; feels like the ending was rushed a little.

More please

Similar in tone and pitch to the previous Commissar C story which, as I liked that one, is just fine by me. It’s an easy listen, less character development than book 1 so just effortless. You could probably listen to this without having heard book 1 but then you’d be missing out as that one is a cracker.

Only snag is it took GW ages to produce this one and I listened to it over 3 days I’m anticipating a year plus wait for the next one!

Excellent Cain action

For me, Caves of Ice was a good deal better than 'For The Emperor'. Where the prior book focused more on politics, this had far more action (something you look for in Warhammer 40k fiction).

Another thing that delighted me was the good representation of the Necrons. They are one of my favourite factions (I actually had a Necron army back in the day) so seeing them handled so well brought a smile to my face.

The story was good and the imagery was very vivid. You could just imagine a dozen or so luckless Orks firing wildly before getting cut down. Or the strong mental image of unfeeling, skeletal warriors made from self-healing metal on the march.

The witty writing style mixed with the 1st person narrative makes for incredibly easy reading/listening. This is a re-read for me and Ciaphas Cain's very casual storytelling adds to the re-readability of this book) and of the series in general).

The dynamic between the cowardly hero, Ciaphas Cain, and his brave, unshakeable aide, Jurgen, is an enjoyable one. Jurgen really feels like the kind of guy whom, with him at your back, you could get through anything ... so long as you can put up with his overpowering body odour or piercing halitosis.

The fact that the Cain novels are told 'by the character' rather than simply from their point of view, gives a deeper connection to both him, and the rest of the characters within the regiment as a whole. It's certainly one of the main reasons (along with the comedic and cowardly aspects) that make this one of the most enjoyable series in the 40k universe.

These books are also a wonderful way into the setting for anyone unfamiliar with the 40k genre. Cain not only uses military slang, but in the first two books he's encountered the Tau, the Orks and the Necrons. Add onto that the imperium factions you learn about (Adeptus Administratum, Adeptus Mechanicum, The Inquisition & the Imperial Guard) it's the sort of series that is devised to give the reader a complete overview of the universe and the factions that inhabit it.

Not to mention, all of the above is further expanded on by Inquisitor Amberley Vale's footnotes. So a new reader will never feel too out of their depth.

As with before, three narrators are utilised. One for Cain's main narrative, one for Amberley Vale's footnotes and a third for General Sulla's painfully adjective-heavy extracts from her book. All in all, excellent narration and a very enjoying read.

Excellent!

Only criticism is that, on Audible, it isn’t categorised as part of the Ciaphas Cain series so I only found 2 and a half months after it was released.

fantastic

All of this book is amazing, the characters are lovable, the voice acting is superb, the plot is gripping. I can't want for the 3rd book to be added to audible

Another hit form the Cain Archive

Great story, reading and a mostly faithful adaption definitely up to the same high standard of the first. With luck this trend for black library will continue. Here's hoping for book 3.