[Ion Raptor]

First off, I suggest to everyone to pick up the Hero of the Imperium Omnibus, it includes 3 novels and 3 short stories. Now on the the review.

Writing:
It's written in a memoir style of writing so it's a new experience for those of us used to reading in 3rd person. The extra insight into the inner workings of Cain's mind while he guesses at what others think is an excellent writing style. As a memoir, we only get the events that happened to Cain, not the whole picture. For the fillers within the story we rely on an Inquisitor named Amberly Veil, who edits Cain's journals and adds footnotes every once in a while at the bottom of the page (usually one or two every other page)

Story:
The stories themselves are very well done and thought through. Normally in a 40k novel you will have a bunch of mega battles with not much else in between. Not the case in Cain's adventures, many times they are less about the battles and more about the people. In the case of "For the Emperor" the story revolves around diplomacy and the prevention of a war rather then killing the enemy i na spray of blood. It's a fresh look on the 40k universe

Characters:
In sharp contrast to normal 40k novels the characters of the Cain series are not (for the most part) the brain washed righteous fury screamers we're so used to reading about. Instead most of the characters have minds of their own, this is especially true of our main character, who will do anything to save his own skin. The book is filled with normal everyday conversations and situations that Cain would have encountered, rather then every scene being filled with inflated dialect like "Emperor be praised, all that we do is in service to him! I will throw down my life for him!". When this type of dialect is used however it is purposeful and it's a sure bet that Cain has a smart remark to make about it.

Comedy:
Most importantly the book is full of dark humor, once again in contrast to the nitty gritty 40k world we get a more light hearted look into the lives of it's soldiers.

My rating? 2 thumbs up, 10 out of 10, and 5 Stars!