The Fall of Cadia

Warhammer 40,000

By: Robert Rath

Narrated by: David Seddon

Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

An Astra Militarum Audiobook

Cadia. This proud world stood defiant for centuries – a bulwark against the forces of Chaos residing in the Eye of Terror. All of this would change when it was targeted for destruction by Abaddon the Despoiler as part of his Thirteenth Black Crusade.

LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE

The Fall of Cadia is a touchstone moment of the Warhammer 40,000 timeline. This incredible battle led to the opening of the Great Rift and ushered in a grim new era in which even greater threats assailed the Imperium.

THE STORY

Cadia licks its wounds in the wake of the Thirteenth Black Crusade. The heretic forces retreat on all fronts. The day is won. But Lord Castellan Creed cannot rest easy. Something tells him the assault was a mere prelude to something greater, something more final. He is right. Out of the Eye of Terror comes Abaddon the Despoiler, at the head of a warhost unmatched in scale since the dread days of the Horus Heresy.

In the face of the looming apocalypse, Creed must weld the champions of Cadia into a bulwark capable of withstanding Abaddon’s fury. And in orbit, the Despoiler himself finds his own alliance teetering on a knife edge…

This is a tale told at epic scale, from the tables of high command to the slaughter of the pylon fields, and with a huge cast of characters from self-styled demigods to the rank-and-file foot soldiers of the Imperium.

This is the story of Abaddon’s greatest conquest. This is Cadia’s last stand.

©2024 Games Workshop Limited (P)2024 Games Workshop Limited

Feels like a downgrade

It's hands down the best 40K book of 2023. translating a campaign book into a novel can go one of two ways. Tedious, over long and boring or in this case intriguing, gripping and adding so much to the universe. As someone that lives in Hawaii and served in Korea I can really relate on how Mr Rath came up with the amazing background for the story. If you are a 40K fan this book is for you, if you are an OG IG player this book is a most read.

As for the new narrator David Seddon did a good job but it feels like a downgrade in quality compared to Mark Elstob. It's missing to special effects that was add in Mark's reading and it's missing Robert Rath's Bonus commentary. I know their is a Very loud group that Hates Mark Elstob narration but for me his is the better narration of the book.

The Ultimate Cadia Book

I've read other Cadia stories in the past, but this one really nailed the balance between shifting points of view and cementing unique characters.

I hadn't listened to a version that features all the prominent characters in the lore that were here, so it was one great surprise after the next.

The narration was excellent and some of the descriptions really stay with you. The copilot scene, the nurgle gate, sometimes minor scenes that are packed with creativity.