Fight or Flight

Ciaphas Cain #Short Story

by Sandy Mitchell

Ciaphas Cain's early years come to light as he fights alongside the Valhallan 12th Field Artillery on the world of Desolatia. A short story from the 'Hero of the Imperium' omnibus.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, War, Military Fiction

ebook

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Sandy Mitchell is a pseudonym of Alex Stewart, who has been a full-time writer since the mid nineteen eighties. The majority of his work as Sandy has been tie-in fiction for Games Workshop's Warhammer fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 science fiction lines. The exceptions have been a novelisation of episodes from the high tech thriller series Bugs, for which he also worked as a scriptwriter under his own name, some Warhammer roleplaying game material, and a scattering of short stories and magazine articles.

His hobbies include the martial arts of Aikido and Iaido, miniature wargaming, role-playing games, and pottering about on the family allotment.

He lives in the North Essex village of Earls Colne, with his wife Judith and daughter Hester.

Reviews

[Strix · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story in the realm of 20-30 pages about a cowardly commissar who manages to be mistaken for a hero. A good concept, decently executed. I liked how Cain was written with a fun internal monologue, but the author was too eager to make this a 40k story and name-dropped a lot of unit names and references so it didn't feel as natural. So it gets four stars instead of five, and is a real solid short story instead of a great one.

[Olethros · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Breve, logrado e ilustrativo respecto al peculiar protagonista.-

Género. Relato.

Lo que nos cuenta. Luchar o huir (publicación original: Fight or Flight, 2011) nos presenta a Ciaphas Cain, comisario imperial que solo lleva dos meses en el cargo y se desplaza hasta Desolatia IV para incorporarse a la unidad a la que ha sido destinado, la 12ª Artillería de Campo Valhalliana, donde nunca habían tenido comisario antes. Su llegada no es casual ya que Ciaphas Cain ha movido los hilos de forma irregular para tener un destino lejos de la primera línea porque no reúne casi ninguna de las características que un comisario debería reunir ni las mínimas que se suponen a un miembro de las fuerzas armadas del Emperador de la humanidad. En cuanto a la cronología del protagonista, relato anterior a la primera novela de la saga Ciaphas Cain: Héroe del Imperium, aunque se publicó ocho años después.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...

[Mikael Cerbing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very efficient short story. BUT. You need to know a bit about the 40k universe to get anything out of it. If you dont, then it will probably be a very confusing short story.

I also kind of liked how mr Mitchell built up his action scene. That is usually where 40k books makes me bored. Manly-men-gun-wanking-murder-spree-that-shows-no-fear is only very boring to me. Cains wish to only get away and in that way falling forward was a nice change. It will be interesting to se if mr Mitchell manage to keep this interesting.

[Ian Chinich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story on a new Commissar who realized a Tyranid attack was ongoing and played his cards right to appear heroic. The beginning of what seems like a long epic of the career of an irregular officer in the Imperial Guard. Gritty, funny, and pretty much what one would expect out of Warhammer 40k novels.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun short, definitely gave a decent enough flavour of the series for me to check out the rest. There's a lot of variety in the 40k universe but a Blackadder-esque political officer is a particularly delightful concept

[Daniel Timmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! The Cain and Jurgen meeting for the first time was such a wonderful read and the Colonel's skepticism of why Cain was way out there where the Tyranids were was just great. Such a fun read.

[Alex Van De Wiele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun littke intro to Cain and the Valhallans. It's interesting to see these early versions of characters; kasteen, broklaw, amberley and sulla are nowhere to be found, jurgen is far more prickly, and Cain himself is much mlre of a genuine coward than we see in later books.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding humor in a world of darkness was a surprise.

[Andy Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good introduction to Ciaphas Cain and the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read and a nice brief intro to the characters you're going to love and maybe love to hate.

[Noctis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was funny and cool story.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great action sci-fi story. Really fleshes out the W40K universe with its dystopian militarism and traces of Bill the Galactic Hero in the protagonist. Will definitely continue reading the series.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little story, giving us a good view of how Ciaphus Cain's legend began, that had been referenced many times in the novels.

[Bryan Moreton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this different take on the 40k universe. As many have remarked, it's like Blackadder in space. Marvellous!

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fight or Flight is gripping, brilliant full of humour,adventure and action! Crisp High Five! Brilliant and highly recommended! :D

[Bryan O'Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just wish it was longer

[David Strašák · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice little short story to introduce Ciaphas Cain, which does not need a lot of knowledge beforehand.
If the books are like this story, then reading them will be a great time :D.

[Naveen Subramanian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little short story

[Ulzeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read. Highly recommended!

[Nate Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty successfully encapsulates the captivating traits of Cain.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t really understand the popularity, the writing and plot were very simplistic, and it was all a bit cartoonish. Not bad, just ok.

[David Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little Flashman riff set in the 40K universe.

[Ben Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining start to the cain storyline

[Charles Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story to start his exploits.

[Miles Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun short story. I think it's a pretty good introduction to the character.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun Short Story (30ish pages) It serves as an introduction to Commissar Cain and Jurgen. Reading it after the first book it’s cool to see how Cain and Jurgen met!

Definite read for fans.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun, and shows us how compelling cain is.

[Tim Shepard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short start to the series. I haven't decided what I think of Kane yet. Guess we'll find out more in the next book.

[Gamer Gamersson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty chuckle-worthy. Nice to see more from the beginning of Cain's career.

Godbless Jurgen, once again.

[Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story about Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM.

Just because something is unique, doesn't mean it's good.
Some times, though, it really is!
In a setting as grimdark as the warhammer 40K galaxy, the Ciaphas Cain series stands out as a bit lighter and softer.

Not because there aren't any world destroying daemon threats, or swarms of space bugs from beyond the stars, devouring everything on a system wide scale, or that the characters are part of a society where draconian punishment is handed out left, right and centre for crimes like worshiping anything other than the god-emperor of mankind. Being related to those people or, even, living on the same planet.
...It is the very same setting and it does show.
But imagine putting Edmund Blackadder in a position of military advisor in this setting?
There you go.
Lots of black humour, sarcasm, irony and cleverly hidden easter eggs and popcultural references.

And this is the story that started it all.