One of the things I’ve been indulging in this year is rekindling my love for Warhammer 40,000 novels. I used to be into the hobby back in my teens, but found the books easier to get in to. Mostly because money, but also because I suck at painting.

Outside of the Gaunt’s Ghost and Inquisitor novels, one of the most recommended series is the Ciaphas Cain novels, following one of the most vaunted Heroes of the Imperium who gets his reputation despite doing his hardest to stay out of harms ways as much as possible.

The first two books in the series, For The Emperor and Caves of Ice, were fantastic. Another two that were wildly helped with being audiobooks, with different cast members performing the footnotes and passages from other perspectives, both got a 9 out of 10 from me over the summer.

Which adds to my disappointment with Traitor’s Hand, because it just didn’t capture me in the same way.

To be perfectly fair, it could be the time of year. Winter has a significant affect on me, and I may just be hampered by my mood shifting and attention drifting. That said, there are a number of things that stand out.

For The Emperor had a degree of intrigue and mystery amidst the combat and politics. Plus it had the Tau (an enemy by way of being alien rather than being ‘evil’) and introduced Inquisitor Amberley Vail, both as a character and love interest for Cain. Caves of Ice had oodles of tension and drama, involving Orks and the deadly Necrons (Warhammer’s version of the Terminator), plus solid action scenes.

Traitor’s Hand seemed to include the same qualities, just not as much. The bad guys were Chaos, but the kind of Chaos that regular strength Imperial Guard can handle (the Guard are regular soldiers versus the superhuman Space Marines), and you don’t really see much of their activities. There’s killing and human sacrifices sure, but you don’t really see it so much as be told it had happened and the characters see the aftermath.

There was some mystery, sure. Cain and his retinue had to figure out where the final ritual site was going to be before it could be finished, but you didn’t really see that through the novel but towards the last act. Most of the combat was kind of forgettable, and the secondary antagonistic, a rival and lesser Commissar called Beige (which fits both as a character description and as meta criticism) had his moments but I never really believed he was going to do anything of consequence.

There is some redemption; the climactic scene between Cain and the daemon that got summoned, and the build up towards it. Cain as a character is also enjoyable, his status as a reluctant hero, more interested in self-preservation and keeping the appearance of being a great and active hero than in being one is fun to read (or listen to), whilst also being balanced out by his occasionally heroic and incredibly capable actions. Plus the Amberley interludes where she provides wider background knowledge to Cain’s POV narration is a highlight of the audiobooks.

I just wish the rest of the book was better. Still, on to the next one.

6/10