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, who spends the majority of his time being very smart and blindly fleeing from the Grimdark. Somehow this always contrives to make him seem even more of a hero, which just results in more of the Grimdark coming after him.
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. But that's fine, because Jurgen is 125% distilled awesome.
Also features psychotic lesbian Valhallans, Orky Gargants crumpin' dose Necron gits, a grinning, friendly neighborhood Inquisitor (who you should flee from at all costs), blue facepainted Tau supporters yelling that you can take their lives, but not their freedom, and the Harriers getting the goddamned cup.
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