James Y Glass

A Hauntingly Good Book that's a Little Too Long

Revisado: 08-26-24

I'm really gonna have to go back and see what else Christ Wraight has written because he is damn good at making likeable characters with depth and getting me invested in a big scene. I was swept up in the chaos and panic of the naval battles as the crew struggles to do everything they can to succeed against the odds. But the majority of the book is taken up by a mystery that tests the crew mentally and spiritually, as past wounds eat away at them. Past wounds that were dealt by the very Imperium they're trying to fight for. Honestly I think that mystery goes on for too long. Once you have a better sense of what's happening, as a reader I was ready for the end but It dragged on for I'd say two to three hours longer than it needed to. Still another great entry into the Dawn of Fire series.

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Great Space Wolves book with a Bewildering Title

Revisado: 12-17-23

To put it simply this book is an deep dive exploration of the Space Wolves and their culture. Never been a fan of the wolves, but this book gave me a new appreciation for them and why they act the way they do. And yes, the title makes no damn sense. Thankfully that doesn't detract from how good the book is overall.

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Essential for Cain Fans. Read After the 1st Book!

Revisado: 10-08-23

An excellent compilation of the many short stories Mitchell has written for Cain over the years! Its clear a lot of these were ideas for novels that weren't suited for that extended length others are just fun little tales. It expands on several events in Cain's life that are often alluded to but have never been directly explored, until now! Highly recommended! I wish I'd had this to listen to right after the first book "For The Emperor" as it provides context that genuinely improve later books.

I wish they'd taken this opportunity to rerecord "The Devil You Know" and "Dead in the Water" with Stephen Perring since those two just don't fit as Toby Longworth (A spectacular Voice Actor in other Novels) was just wrong for the role and I wish we could have those stories with Perring. Perhaps in the future.

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Another Solid Cain Adventures. Kinda Spoils Itself

Revisado: 10-08-23

While the previous book "Choose your Enemies" was my favorite since "Cain's Last Stand" Vainglorious is a bit of a step back, but in a series with almost a dozen entries I really can't complain all that much. The only problem is, well, the book spoils itself. In the first Editorial Note, Amberly tells you who Cain will be fighting in this book and it takes a lot of the suspense out of most sequences. Usually, each Cain book is something of a mystery, where Cain has to slowly figure out who is causing problems, and its fun as a 40k fan to try to use the clues to figure it out along with him. The mystery helps keeps the reader invested even though we always know Cain will survive since he lived to record the story being recounted. But here you're like "Wait Amberly didn't just spoil the story did she? No it must be a trick...right?" but no its what were told it is at the start. Granted, the exact details of how the antagonist is going about their scheme are interesting to find out but it isn't nearly as compelling as the best Cain books. Even so its a joy to listen to as always as Sandy Mitchell is great at writing even the most basic happenings of Cain and Jurgen and Stephen Perring always makes it feels like Cain is right there in the room recounting the tale. Regardless, it sets up the next story and I'm very excited to see where Cain goes next.

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A great return to form for Cain

Revisado: 08-09-23

While I appreciated "The Greater Good" more than most seemed to, I have to admit it was one of the lesser Cain books. Not so here as "Choose Your Enemies" is a great return to form. Putting him back with the 597th alongside Castine, Brocklaw and Sula where Cain is usually at his best. This time Cain has to discover the connections between Slanesshi Cultists and Invading Eldar so he can find out why everyone seems to want him specifically dead. Wonderful antics ensue, good times are had by all.

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Cain faces his greatest foe...a Tsudere Princess

Revisado: 06-07-23

This book is unique in that while there's Genestealers kill Terminators, the main conflict is between Cain and the daughter of an Imperial Governor. While Cain initially finds her insufferable she proves herself more than capable when the two end up in the middle of a fight for their lives against Genestealers. But their whirlwind romance gets more complicated than Cain wants when she starts talking about more long term commitments. So Cain has to resolve that while dealing with even more aformentioned Genestealers.

If I had one criticism is that Cain never confronts Mira about her being fiercely rude to Jurgeon. It made Cain wanting to get away from her understandable but it also meant he didn't really have any actual conflict about his feelings for her and as a result I was less invested as a reader.

Still it was hilarious to see Cain have to overcome an antagonist that didn't want to rip his throat out so its definitely on the higher end of the Cain books.

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Underwhelming but I can't hate it.

Revisado: 05-31-23

Here's the thing
This book was written in 2013. Mitchell was probably running out of ideas and back then the universe was more static. But if GW had asked us to write a 9th Ciaphas Cain book, I doubt any of us could have done any better in those days.
Because all that being said, its SUPER weird this book is called 'The Greater Good' because the Tau are barely in it. When Cain met a human emissary born in the Tau Empire I thought we get to see him go down to a Tau planet and maybe have some of his preconceptions about the galaxy challenged. But instead we get another Genestealer "Who Done It":, which, while fun, we've seen Cain do SEVERAL times before.

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An Exciting and Enthralling Tragedy

Revisado: 05-07-23

Its often said that the Imperium is its own worst enemy. But seldom do we get such an intimate look at how true that is. At first I thought this book was a little boring, but when things really kick into high gear I was absolutely hooked. When shortsightedness, ego, grief and all too real human weakness, costs the lives of thousands of humans that should be working together, its frustrating, but so believable. Even when one of my favorite new characters of this Dawn of Fire series is killed by those that should be their allies, I couldn't be mad because 40k is a grim universe where no one gets a happy ending.

The Iron Kingdom is essentially a sequel to the Imperium characters in "The Gate of Bones" as the Mordian Imperial Guard go to return the slain princess Jessivayne to her homeworld of Kamidar. Kamidar has been fighting on its own since the great rift opened and it is reluctant to return to the Imperium's iron fisted rule. Queen Orlah is doing her level best to set her pride aside for the greater good, but grief and all too real human flaws send her down a much darker path. The admiral of the incoming fleet is fiercely talented tactician, but he lacks the nuance for diplomacy such a delicate situation requires. The cruelty of the Imperium encourages those in his position to be uncompromising and ruthless to those who do not immediately capitulate. So he makes the situation worse by almost assuming he's going to have to take the planet by force. Its a tragedy of the highest order but one that's very much worth your time.

The only rough patch for me was the Black Templar side plot. The templars are probably my least favorite chapter of space marines and their rigid "Holier than Though" attitude has always been immediately off putting to me. But you might love that.

But that's only a small portion of the book and didn't take away from the story as a whole.

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A Fantasy Tale Like None Other

Revisado: 03-26-23

Usually when a kid falls into a fantasy world for an epic adventure it has dragons and castles, and I love me some dragons and castles. But there really is nothing like falling into a world full of walking talking tiger people. Like all of Shaw's writing, he is quickly able to make you feel like his characters are real people. He goes one step further here and makes this alien world and the culture of its denizens feel real and believable, while losing none of the heart that makes the story beat.

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The Best Way to Use The 'Wolftime" Title Actually

Revisado: 12-23-22

Guys, here's the thing. If they just called a book "The Wolftime" and Leman Russ just returned as expected, that would be really lame and anti-climactic. When Russ returns (and he will) we want it to be a surprise! We won't our minds to be blown and our hearts to pump with hype. The reason this book is called the Wolftime is that its all about the folly of becoming over obsessed with prophecy instead of following the wise course of action. Unfortunately like a few too many recent 40k books, this is obviously rushed and GW should have given the author more time for revision. Primarily its about Logan Grimnar's struggle with letting go of the prophecy of "The Wolftime" and wanting to suicide charge the entire space wolves chapter into an Orc army to hopefully make Leman Russ return. It also follows a new Primaris Space Wolf who is not from Fenris and struggles to be accepted by the tradition driven chapter. There's also a subplot about a latent Psyker woman on Fenris trying to make sense of her dreams. All three of these stories intertwine wonderfully together. Then there's this really weird subplot about a crew of a battleship cannon that get captured and enslaved by Orks. It doesn't tie in with everything else and feels like large portions of it got cut or weren't given time to be expanded properly. Its a shame because the main story is great, just feels rough and unfinished. GW needs to give its authors time to finish books properly.

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