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I just finished reading several books of the Caiphus Cain series, and one question kept nagging me throughout the books. Cain frequently says that being around Ammberley is a pleasant thing for him. I am very confused at this. The two have nothing in common whatsoever. And Amberley's presence always means that Cain is going to be used for live bait for whatever horrors she's chasing this time. The only thing remotely positive about her at all is that she is apparently hot, but I can imagine that there would be plenty of even more attractive girls who would be more than willing to, ahem, do naughty things in bed with a HERO OF THE IMPERIUM. Frankly, in his position I would have long ago pushed her into the path of whatever horrors they're running from this week, thus a. providing a very convenient distraction as they stop to eat/kill her and b. getting the Inquisition off his back as the only one who likes to use him on her missions and knows him well is dead. If asked, well, is it really that hard to convince other people that, say, a geenstealer jumped her from no where and she was swarmed by the pursuing guants and "there was nothing I could do"? And who would suspect that Caiphus Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, would ever murder an Inquisitor and lie about it?

It isn't obvious?

She's just hot. Plain and simple. And Cain is really just a meathead with good looks and a horseshoe up his arse. So it's basically just a case of "The Inquisitor told me to do it! But I really only did it because of her boobies!"

And there -are- plenty of pretty, willing women that're quickly mentioned as side characters in the various settings. But Cain has his eye on Amberley. And they -did- end up doing 'stuff' in one of the books. I believe it was the one where they fought the Nids' on the world where all the cities were built on plateaus.

Plus, working with her only further increases his reputation as "Ciaphas Cain: HERO OF THE IMPERIUM OF THE GRIMDARKFARFUTURE!"

Cain is awesome. He's a very human character, compared to the meathead Ultrasmurfs and man-fondling Dark Angels.

Cheese Elemental wrote:Cain is awesome. He's a very human character, compared to the meathead Ultrasmurfs and man-fondling Dark Angels.

And for anyone wondering why the dark angels are boy lovers...
Imagine the most roman centurian you can...

As for killing an inquisitor, she usually has other members of her group with her on these suicide missions, so witness can be a problem for a clean quite kill. Plus just the general dread and fear if the inquisition found out that he killed her is another thing.

You have to remember that the books are not covering every aspect of their interaction. You get the impression that they have time between missions where they interact and, presumably, are not being shot at/eaten by monsters/sacrificed/etc.

So it is not too much of a stretch to imagine that they could have been friends and enjoyed each others company.

Though I found a few of the references to their relationship in the books to be a little bit too goo-y for my tastes.

Bring back the shooting and stabbing, none of your rubbish romance here please!

metallifan wrote:It isn't obvious?

She's just hot. Plain and simple. And Cain is really just a meathead with good looks and a horseshoe up his arse. So it's basically just a case of "The Inquisitor told me to do it! But I really only did it because of her boobies!"

And there -are- plenty of pretty, willing women that're quickly mentioned as side characters in the various settings. But Cain has his eye on Amberley. And they -did- end up doing 'stuff' in one of the books. I believe it was the one where they fought the Nids' on the world where all the cities were built on plateaus.

Plus, working with her only further increases his reputation as "Ciaphas Cain: HERO OF THE IMPERIUM OF THE GRIMDARKFARFUTURE!"

Don't forget the time he had to call in a Basilisk Strike on himself because he nearly got eaten by a Slaaneshi Daemonette.

Cain rules all!

The very first story where he first meets Jurgen is classic. Especially when he makes the decision "better you than me" and ends up whooping some Tyranid arse!

When's the second omnibus coming out?

Gwar! wrote:

metallifan wrote:It isn't obvious?

She's just hot. Plain and simple. And Cain is really just a meathead with good looks and a horseshoe up his arse. So it's basically just a case of "The Inquisitor told me to do it! But I really only did it because of her boobies!"

And there -are- plenty of pretty, willing women that're quickly mentioned as side characters in the various settings. But Cain has his eye on Amberley. And they -did- end up doing 'stuff' in one of the books. I believe it was the one where they fought the Nids' on the world where all the cities were built on plateaus.

Plus, working with her only further increases his reputation as "Ciaphas Cain: HERO OF THE IMPERIUM OF THE GRIMDARKFARFUTURE!"

Don't forget the time he had to call in a Basilisk Strike on himself because he nearly got eaten by a Slaaneshi Daemonette.

Never read that one yet. Chapters here isn't too big on stocking BL. And it's the only bookstore worth anything in this city.

I still stand by my statement that he does it for the bewbies.

Gentlemen, gentlemen please. Is it not safe to assume that although the future is full of the Grimdark there can still be that one human emotion that is worthwhile? The simple answer is love. Lust is easily replaced but to stay with this woman of truly inescapable and dire situations, Cain may be possessed with something greater than carnal desire. There may not be a faction within Chaos that is representative of this emotion, only because it has been stomped flat by the other four Jerks, but it cannot be extinct altogether. There is nothing more Gothic than unrequited love, or a romance that can never be due to an imposing governmental/ecclesiarchical body.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Then again, what do I know. I'm just an ambush predator whose sole purpose is to shove my throbbing feeder tendrils deep into your craniums.

"a romance that can never be due to an imposing governmental/ecclesiarchical body" is kinda worked aroud because one is a commissar, able to do just about anything he damn well pleases on top of being CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! and that she is an inquisitor, and who can argue with that? The Emperor, thats who. Maybe that one INQ dude on the high lords... But that's not the point.

I love the Cain books but as I have said before, the whole premise is based on the Flashman Novels by George MacDonald Fraser (worth reading, even for Americans). In those books the character Flashman is just as big of scoundrel but is the hero of Victorian Era England. I don't think BL would allow the level of womanizing that Flashman engages in so Sandy Mitchell went the route of making him a one woman man and to add humor to the situation, made it an Inquisitor that was always putting him in the exact type of situations that Cain hates. Then again, Sandy Mitchell is currently writing an Inquisitor series of books and in the first novel there is literally a budding romance between a Death Cult assasin and a member of the Inquisitor's retinue. So maybe Sandy just really likes to fantasize about romance in the 41st millenium?

It does help break up the endless GRIMDARK GRIMDARKNESS nicely. Don't get me wrong, I love reading about the battles of the FARFUTURE41STMILLENIUM, but some humor and romance can be a good respite. Otherwise the themes just feel old and recycled:

Guardsman ships off to go to war. Guardsman goes through many dialogues and scuffles before arriving at the warzone. Guardsman fights lots of Heretical crap and Xenos. Thanks to the fact that it's probably Dan Abnett writing the book, said Guardsman can probably kill a freaking Emperor Titan with his boot dagger. Then they Bonbaonbardle it from Orbit. Case closed, Miller time.

See, that's the general theme. So some romance and/or comedy is a good break. Don't want to overdo it, there still has to be -some- Grim Dark, but it's a good change from the usual pace.

Oh I loved the Cain books, trust me, they were one of the series of novels (HH being the other), that brought me back to 40K after a ten year absence. I totally agree that there is a lot of room for humor in the 40K universe, and the book Wolfguard by William King does an amazing job of incorporating it with the banter of the various Astartes. I just think Sandy Mitchell tries a bit too hard to inject romance into his novels. Seriously, it was pretty hard reading through some of his latest stuff.

I think that she is trying to help make a connection to life now a days, and to show that no matter what rank or position that warriors have,or when they live, base humans desires wil always be there. She is one of few that brings romance into the 40K world, I think that maybe she over does it a little for my tastes, but her stories are still good. It is kinda like the hero trying to get the maiden, where he would slay dragons-or nids-for her.

Just look at the movies that come out these days. Action must have attractive women, otherwise it's just a repeat of Die Hard or Rambo.

That aside, I also enjoyed the Cain series. I think that by adding this quasi-relationship it makes the characters much more human. Especially when it cuts off a the end of one book where Cain and Amberley are in the hotel room and Amberley pretty much says in her foot note that it's nobodies business what happened after dinner.

Jungle0731 wrote:I love the Cain books but as I have said before, the whole premise is based on the Flashman Novels by George MacDonald Fraser (worth reading, even for Americans). In those books the character Flashman is just as big of scoundrel but is the hero of Victorian Era England. I don't think BL would allow the level of womanizing that Flashman engages in so Sandy Mitchell went the route of making him a one woman man and to add humor to the situation, made it an Inquisitor that was always putting him in the exact type of situations that Cain hates.

The biggest difference between Cain and Flashman is that Flashman 100% deserves everything that happens to him. With one exception, everything really bad that happens is entirely his own fault.

An earlier post pegged Cain as a one-woman man. I dont know that that is the case.

In this, as in many other things, the BL tends to gloss over sex, almost in its entirety. I think that it is implied that Cain and Amberley play tickle-the-pickle on at least a few occassions. As to the one woman thing, I think it implies several times that Cain is involved with other females, and even Amberley speculates to that effect in regards to that Adeptus Mechanicus lady.

As to why Cain likes her...she's hot (already stated) what's more, she is dangerous. She sees right through his 'Hero' bit, and she still likes him, which is something that works well with his character.

These are hands down my favorite BL books, btw.

I'm reading the omnibus atm (just started the one where he's on some planet where it's a desert on one side and dark on the other; with only a small strip of habitable land).

It's clearly implied (at least twice for me so far) that he and she had done sexual things... but since it is Amberly who has compiled and edited the texts for INQUISITORIAL VIEWING, she often ends it on a note of "And I didn't find it relevant to include this personal material" or "I shan't bore you with more details"... not word for word quotations, but you get the jist...

I also recall, in the first book, that he talks about love at first sight and later, that he always felt good and at ease around her (evidently they just had a fantastic chemistry?)... And Amberly concurs in her edits; saying "Make of that what you will", which I take to mean that they were a "couple"...

Final evidence pointing to them actually being in a relationship is in the short story where he is briefly captued by Daemonettes; he writes something like "Amberley was the only woman for me"; to which she annotates "I'll take that as a compliment"... In short, I think he really loves her... and who knows, maybe the whole dangerous fact she's a member of the inquisition just adds an additional thrill to it all?

I also suggest people re-read when he first met her; her voice casts just as much of a spell on him as anything else... But really, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd lied to him about not being a psyker (I thought all Inquisitors were Psykers anyway?); she can read his emotions flawlessly... and perhaps she projects some aura that makes people feel at ease? I am not saying she actively seduced him with it... but it could just be some passive air of positivity?

Sniperjolly, i believe you are confusing love with that one thing that men must deal with - Fiery Loins

plus, i doubt he often sees any women that aren't in uniforms... most of the grimdarkfarfuture is a sausage-fest anyway

Especially the Dark Angels..... I bet they really like Hot-dog night on The Rock.

Henners91 wrote:
I also suggest people re-read when he first met her; her voice casts just as much of a spell on him as anything else... But really, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd lied to him about not being a psyker (I thought all Inquisitors were Psykers anyway?); she can read his emotions flawlessly... and perhaps she projects some aura that makes people feel at ease? I am not saying she actively seduced him with it... but it could just be some passive air of positivity?

She's not a psyker. If she were, she would react as badly to Jurgen (him being a blank and all) as the psyker in her retinue does.

Amberly's a chick. Simple as that.

Henners91 wrote:I'm reading the omnibus atm (just started the one where he's on some planet where it's a desert on one side and dark on the other; with only a small strip of habitable land).

It's clearly implied (at least twice for me so far) that he and she had done sexual things... but since it is Amberly who has compiled and edited the texts for INQUISITORIAL VIEWING, she often ends it on a note of "And I didn't find it relevant to include this personal material" or "I shan't bore you with more details"... not word for word quotations, but you get the jist...

I also recall, in the first book, that he talks about love at first sight and later, that he always felt good and at ease around her (evidently they just had a fantastic chemistry?)... And Amberly concurs in her edits; saying "Make of that what you will", which I take to mean that they were a "couple"...

I think there was a part in one of the cain books in which Cain actually did go into "detail" but amberly convinently edited it out. This is cain's memior's after all and amerly wouldn't want her fellow inquistiors to snicker over their bedroom antics...

Jimmy82 wrote:Just look at the movies that come out these days. Action must have attractive women, otherwise it's just a repeat of Die Hard or Rambo.

To be fair, Die Hard is one of the best action movies of all time.