{"id":39610,"date":"2024-05-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=39610"},"modified":"2024-05-04T14:24:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T18:24:01","slug":"the-clarion-reviews-cadian-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/food\/reviews\/2024\/05\/09\/the-clarion-reviews-cadian-blood\/","title":{"rendered":"The Clarion Reviews: Cadian Blood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Classics are classic for a reason. Whether we\u2019re talking the philosophical powerhouse that is \u201cLord of Light\u201d or spiritual thriller like \u201cThe Name of the Rose,\u201d great books don\u2019t just magically capture our collective imagination. They frame it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the grimdark of the far future, \u201cCadian Blood\u201d by Aaron Dembski-Bowden<\/a> is to readers what \u201cMemento\u201d is to film aficionados: a standalone tale, aged like fine wine, and a touchstone for the impressive creative talents of its mastermind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a passport is pretty much the only surface-level comparison between Dembski-Bowden and Christopher Nolan<\/a>, read the former\u2019s slim action-adventure novel and you\u2019ll put it done recognizing both as narrative powerhouses. Only with the Irish-born author however is those skills augmented by a propensity for epic speeches, lasers, sharp dialogue, and badass moments that will have you staying up well past bedtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m tempted to call \u201cCadian Blood\u201d the story of a single regiment facing overwhelming odds but in retrospect, it so, so much more. The Cadians cited in the title make planetfall on Kathur expecting an easy reclamation operation only to confront a diabolical faith that shakes every soldier to their core. While the 88th<\/sup> Cadian Shock would much rather be fighting the massive force invading their home world they are ready to sacrifice everything in the battle for Kathur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat books don\u2019t just magically capture our collective imagination. They frame it\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\u2013 Ismael David Mujahid<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Warhammer is often seen as a setting where superhumans battle superhumans for mastery of the galaxy. While to some extent that is true, \u201cCadian Blood\u201d puts readers in the boots of an average trooper. Despite being a sweet 200 pages, you learn to care for each member of the Shock, from their leader Parmenion Thade to the wisecracking Taan Darrick. How does Dembski-Bowden achieve this? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, it was in how immersive the book was, like falling into an ocean of lore without getting bogged down in melodrama or exposition. It kept me turning one page after another even while I dreaded the potential demise of the protagonists. Add to that Dembski-Bowden\u2019s penchant for lyrically beautiful moments and you have a standout debut novel. Since then, the author has gone on to write many other acclaimed books. Do any of them measure up to Cadian Blood? We\u2019ll just have to read the rest of his oeuvre to find it. But if goodreads ratings are anything to go by, those other works won\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ismael David Mujahid, Executive Editor <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Featured Image from Black Library)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Classics are classic for a reason. Whether we\u2019re talking the philosophical powerhouse that is \u201cLord of Light\u201d or spiritual thriller like \u201cThe Name of the Rose,\u201d great books don\u2019t just magically capture our collective imagination. They frame it.  In the grimdark of the far future, \u201cCadian Blood\u201d by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is to readers what \u201cMemento\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":39611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5941,3524,2119],"tags":[5767,276],"class_list":["post-39610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books-2","category-my-voice-2","category-reviews","tag-ismael-david-mujahid","tag-sinclair-community-college"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Featured-Image-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-aiS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39612,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39610\/revisions\/39612"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}