Review: Caves of Ice

Caves of Ice by Sandy Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know that joke, where the punchline is 'I slipped and fell into it'? That's Caiphas Cain when it comes to his accomplishments. The man has the collective compendium of common sense that most Imperials, including Space Marines seem to lack. Plus, has luck of the gods, not the chaos ones, that would be heresy.

Another observation which came to mind after being regaled by the second in his series of adventures is that, if you're not the phlegmatic Jurgen or Amberly Vail, the last place you want to be, in the same squad as Cain when he's sent out on a dangerous assignment. This time around, it's two different squads that were either decimated or completely obliterated, while acting as his meat shields. If his previous history is any indication, that is a regular occurrence.

But on the other hand, this is 40k, and the Imperial guard, who're sacrificed by the millions, just to engage in archaic 19th century regimental warfare, while wielding literal superweapons which in this world are dubbed nightlights, in face of the horrors that the galaxy has to offer. So, there's that.

I read some reviews which mentioned how they like this story compared to For the Emperor, because this had more action. Which is ironically the reason which I was not in love with it. Don't get me wrong, Caves of ice is a solid story. But, if I wanted to read about pitched gory battles, I'd pick up one of the 100 different iterations of missions featuring space marines.

No, the reason why I was so enamored with Caiphas Cain as a character, was that he was a closeted, self-proclaimed coward, although several of his actions might bely this assessment. He is someone who is supremely anxious about his own skin and uses his considerable talent and military acumen to essentially hedge his bets when shit eventually hits the fan. Which, again, seeing as how this is 40k is a regular occurrence.

In fact, one of the reasons why he is so adored and idolized by his guard regiment is the way he treats them with respect and fairness, which in turn is motivated by him not wanting to be equal parts end up getting shot by a disgruntled grunt, and other to use them as unwitting bullet vests to stand between him and whatever is out to kill them.

In that light, a lot of his tactics, machinations and entertaining mental conflict always stemmed from him trying to keep himself alive in volatile situations.

But his preternatural luck seems to dry out when it comes to the greater plot, as he tends to get vaulted feet first into the next major threat in the horizon; always managing to survive due to the instincts of a tunnel rat and providence.

Side Note: This is the consecutive second story where Cain and a group of unfortunates are sent on a mission deep underground to root out some Xenos threat. Hoping that doesn't end up being a recurring theme.

Otherwise, this story didn't give us many instances where he uses his characteristic wit and charisma to charm friend and foe alike leading to several happy misunderstandings which always end up being to his benefit.

This time, we see Cain face off against the Orks and a surprise appearance from a dormant Necron tomb world, on a frozen refinery planet filled with promethium. Which would be the 40k definition of a powder keg waiting to explode.

While I complained about the increased action, it was nonetheless entertaining. His assigned regimen, the Valhallans with recurring characters from book 1, are supremely at ease in a frozen planet. If it weren't for the formidable enemies arrayed against them (a regular occurrence for most IG regimens), they'd have utterly dominated the confrontation. But this time around, caught between the Orks and Necrons, it's all they could do not to get curb stomped. Which forms much of the narrative.

On another note, when in the first half, it's mentioned that the refinery they're stationed at holds a nearly topped up consignment of Promethium, it was obvious what the ultimate fate of all that fuel would be. A Big-ass planet shaking explosion.

That straightforward narrative also dimmed my excitement for a bit.

Although one thing was how absolutely horrifying their portrayal of necrons were. Including appearances from not just the rank-and-file automatons, but also the body horror-inducing appearance by the Flayed ones. if you don't know what that is, be careful when you google it.

Here's hoping that Book 3 would prove to be a return to form for this often-witty outlier in a grimdark world.

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