The tenth novel in the Ciaphas Cain series, and first since The Greater Good back in 2013, Choose Your Enemies is a welcome return for Sandy Mitchell and the much-loved Commissar Cain. Set as usual at an indeterminate date (but definitely pre-Dark Imperium) it sees Cain and the Valhallan 597th deployed to the ice world Drechia, bolstering the defences against eldar pirates. In the depths of the mines beneath the surface Cain unexpectedly finds yet more enemies – Chaos cultists, whose appearance threatens the nearby forge world of Ironfound – but also find himself reacquainted with an old ally as well.
If you’ve ever read a Ciaphas Cain story before, you’ll know exactly what to expect here – Cain and Jurgen getting into trouble (largely unintentionally) and scraping their way out again, as described by Cain’s irreverent, knowing first person narration, with a little help from Inquisitor Vail’s snarky footnotes. If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat – and despite being book ten this is as good a place to start as any. While 40k isn’t exactly known for humour, the Cain books are one of the few exceptions, and this is a great example of Mitchell’s easy to read style. It still feels very much like 40k in terms of the details of the setting, but seen from Cain’s viewpoint the horrors of the galaxy are somehow balanced out by laugh-out-loud humour. It sounds bizarre, but it works!
Even if the snark, the footnotes[1] and the regular “if I’d only known what was about to happen” reflections start to tire[2], at its heart this is a well crafted, cohesive and smartly written adventure story complete with relatable characters, a rapid pace and a great balance between action and character. Mitchell’s writing style is endearingly old-school, and while his slightly long and rambling sentence structure must make narrating an audiobook pretty tricky, it’s remarkably easy to read and feels instantly comfortable. Narratively speaking it’s not the most complex of stories, relying more on pace than too many plot twists, but as events race from Drechia, out into space and then through the various strata of life on Ironfound there’s plenty of room for all manner of action, excitement, intrigue and suspicion.
Look beyond the humour and what the Ciaphas Cain books do is offer a glimpse of the 40k universe through decidedly non-rose tinted eyes. For all that Cain is constantly on the lookout for either a good meal or a safe place to hide, while doing so he allows us to see the realities of life in the Guard in a straight-up fashion which really doesn’t glorify what’s going on, not to mention explore all manner of interesting non-military locations and situations. Unlike most 40k characters, Cain really pays attention to the everyday details around him, which can be endlessly fascinating and strangely relatable. Ultimately, if you like the character of Cain, you’ll enjoy this book[3] – it’s as simple as that. It’s a brilliantly entertaining standalone story, although you could do worse than read the short story Hidden Depths beforehand to add a little context to some of the goings on, and while this sort of story certainly shouldn’t be the norm for 40k, it’s nonetheless a valuable addition to the setting – as indeed the series is as a whole.
1 There really are LOTS of footnotes, but they’re often the most snigger-inducing sections.
2 They probably won’t.
3 If you don’t, you’ll probably realise quite quickly!
