Ciaphas Cain
Ciaphas Cain, the Hero of the Imperium, is a hugely popular series of 40k novels by author Alex Stewart, under the psuedonym of Sandy Mitchell. Cain is a famous Commissar.
Main Idea
George MacDonald Fraser's The Flashman Papers transplanted into the 41st Millennium.
Whilst the books are quite well-written, Sandy Mitchell is a big fan of recycling- even down to specific sentences. Hence each book *is guaranteed* to feature exactly the same descriptions of his aide Jurgen as all the others, and each contains about half a dozen variations on the theme of "Of course, if I knew what I was getting myself into by doing X, I'd have rather charged into the Eye of Terror with nothing but a rusty fork".
They are also notable for the Jurgen Ex Machina, where most of the dramatic fights are ended by the intervention of Cain's aide Jurgen armed with a meltagun. Over the course of the series, Jurgen has racked up more kills than the rest of the Valhallan 597th put together, but has yet to have any character development whatsoever.
Cain Books and Collected Short Stories
- Caves of Ice
- Death or Glory
- Duty Calls
- For the Emperor!
- Hero of the Imperium
- The Traitor's Hand
- Cain's Last Stand