Justin D. Hill’s previous Black Library works have included three Ursarkar E. Creed short stories, including The Battle of Tyrok Fields – the story of a key event at the outset of the 13th Black Crusade. His novel Cadia Stands tells (some of) the story of what happened next, although it’s a very different beast, not least because it isn’t Creed’s story. Instead it tells the tale of Cadia’s stubborn defence against the Black Legion, during the events of the Gathering Storm, via a wide spread of characters across the breadth of the Cadian forces.
Taking Creed out of the picture immediately makes this a sort of grunt’s-eye view of proceedings. After a powerful prologue that sets the tone for his depiction of Cadians, things start off from the perspective of Major Bendikt, a tank commander whose return to Cadia quickly goes awry as his regiment is posted to a distant, isolated outpost. There he watches from afar as the invasion begins, stranded and helpless to intervene. We’re next introduced to Minka – a Whiteshield – who’s holed up in a ruined Kasr along with a ragged company of defenders, and eventually General Grüber, one of the Cadian High Command. These three get the most page time, but we see through the eyes of more than twenty other characters, from a ratling sniper to a Leman Russ gunner, some for just a few paragraphs while others return a handful of times.
There’s an interesting range of perspectives on what’s happening, essentially a stream of small vignettes which taken together provide a sense of the chaos (small c) and confusion of the invasion, and the appalling odds stacked against the Cadians. It’s not a deep, detailed depiction of the realities of war, but rather a broad sweep across the range of conflicts and emotions. The flip side of that, however, is that with so many viewpoints it’s hard to really engage with the key protagonists – Bendikt, Minka and Grüber are reasonably well defined but don’t have quite the depth that you’d expect in a more traditionally-styled novel. There’s a strong sense of just how horrific it was, with no awareness of the big picture – just the isolated grind of survival. On the one hand it’s a powerful, unusual depiction that helps us to empathise with these characters, but on the other hand the absence of the traditional omniscient reader’s perspective feels a bit…weird.
Let’s make it clear – this is DEFINITELY not the ‘definitive’ story of what happened to Cadia and the implications of that on the wider Imperium, nor a retelling of the Gathering Storm events. If you’re after either of those, or a look at the big names like Creed, Cawl and Abbaddon…you’ve come to the wrong place. Instead it’s a dark, disjointed story – aptly reflecting the events it describes – which is notable for its unusual lack of a…’normal’…narrative through-line. If you haven’t followed the Gathering Storm you may finish this none the wiser in terms of the details of Cadia’s actual fate, but what you will get out of this is a strong sense of the Cadians as Hill sees them – stoic and determined, justifiably proud of their heritage and, overall, very believable.
While there’s no doubt that each vignette, or each character arc, is well-described and individually interesting – often compelling – reading this is an odd experience for anyone used to the usual style of Black Library stories. It certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes – it’s unlikely to be what anyone expects this story to be – but overall it does succeed in stripping this particular narrative down to one element, which is the strength of character of the Cadian Shock Troops. This is definitely not the end for them, that’s for sure.
