The Final Shore

Siobhan Dunmoore #9

by Eric Thomson

The Shrehari War ended over twenty years ago, but a new threat is looming over the Commonwealth, this time from within. Centralists, whose dream is to concentrate power on Earth by stripping sovereign star systems of their autonomy, finally have one of their own as Secretary General, the highest office in human space. And she wants to do it as fast as possible. But for that, she needs the Commonwealth Armed Forces, and they’re not playing her game. On the contrary.

The Armed Forces also have an agenda, one that’s been two decades in the making, and it’s about to be unveiled with Admiral Siobhan Dunmoore playing the principal role. And as she steps on the stage, Dunmoore becomes the target of everyone who wants to stop the Fleet from preventing a Centralist victory. Will she survive to reach the final shore?

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Fiction

361 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 13, 2024

About the author

Eric Thomson is my pen name. I'm a former Canadian soldier who spent more years in uniform than he expected, serving in both the Regular Army (Infantry) and the Army Reserve (Armoured Corps). I spent several years as an Information Technology executive for the Canadian government before leaving the bowels of the demented bureaucracy to become a full-time author.

I've been a voracious reader of science-fiction, military fiction and history all my life, assiduously devouring the recommended Army reading list in my younger days and still occasionally returning to the classics for inspiration. Several years ago, I put my fingers to the keyboard and started writing my own military sci-fi, with a definite space opera slant, using many of my own experiences as a soldier as an inspiration for my stories and characters. When I'm not writing fiction, I indulge in my other passions: photography, hiking and scuba diving, all of which I've shared with my wife, who likes to call herself my #1 fan, for more than thirty years.

Reviews

[Damaged142 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting end

So, while this is the end of this series, it's not the end of the story of the commonwealth, and we will see it return in Deker's war.

This and most of the last few books have mostly been intrigue, mystery, backroom dealings, and dodging assassin's. As sionhan has raised higher and higher in the ranks, direct combat has been less and less of a focus. I find this is where you really see the skill writers have as they can no longer rely on flashy descriptions and technobabble to fill space and carry the story.

I mention this because I think Eric did a great job with the writting and the story once it changed from main line battle to political intrigue. With plot points introduced all the way back at the beginning, finally coming to fruition.

My favorite part of the book? The afterword where Eric tells us how certain main/ main side characters go about their lives after this series ends. I've often been left at the end of a series wishing and feeling like there should be more, but this is one of the few series that I feel fully content with the ending.

Very well done.

Series rating: 4.5/5

[Brian Mccown · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoyed this series from the start, but this was not a good closing act. I understand the need to separate the military from some political games, but the author seems to be using politics as a synonym for corruption.

Having the military advocating extralegal assassinations of civilian officials, no matter how vile the officials are, isn’t noble - it’s a coup. Naming one of your operations after an infamous Nazi purge isn’t exactly helping your case to illustrate the righteousness of their cause.

I liked this series, but this ending ruined it for me.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siobhan Dunmoore is assigned as Chief of Naval Operations at headquarters in Geneva by her old friend Kathryn Kowalski, who is now Grand Admiral. They have set themselves the challenge of setting up the armed forces as a fourth branch of government and moving headquarters to the world of Caledonia. Meanwhile, scheming politician and avowed centralist Sarah Lauzier has become Secretary General. Dunmoore, Kowalski, and their allies feel that continued centralisation of power will lead to unrest among the outer worlds, and eventually plunge humanity into a devastating war.

The concept of separating the armed forces from direct political meddling is interesting, but it also raises many ethical questions, the most important one being the matter of oversight. There is also the fact that the armed forces are taking matters in their own hands, which as stated in the book is unconstitutional. In essence, they are rebelling against the government. The ends seem to justify the means here, as not seeking independence would likely lead to hundreds of millions of deaths and a possible slide into barbarism. The author clearly takes the side of the military but does not really explore the opposing arguments, simply casting the Centralists as meddling and deeply corrupt bureaucrats. A deeper discussion than “our heroes are on the side of good” would have benefited the narrative. That being said, this is a competent political thriller, though the last section felt somewhat unnecessary and only seemed added to bring some extra action to the story. This ninth instalment neatly concludes the Siobhan Dunmoore saga.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/2025/01/...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending for this series. I liked that some of the main characters that were there at the beginning of the series were still around and doing well at the end of the series. This book and the one before really digressed from the space action. I didn’t mind that but holy cow, I’d be afraid to be anyone with any kind of power in this society for fear of being assassinated. Overall though, a good series!

[Volpot · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. So a great series ends with a whimper. This military sci fi & action series should have ended with Book #6. Instead it has dragged on over three more books focused primarily on slow moving and repetitive politics with inconsequential vignettes thrown in to seemingly justify the additional books and their lengths. For the most part I like Eric Thomson's writing. However, I did not like the last three irrelevant books in this series.

[Bob Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent last book in an exciting well written series. The ending was superb, and left me looking forward to reading the follow on series, "Deckers War" by Eric Thompson.
This series would make an excellent miniseries for TV or could be adapted to make a full length movie.
I recommend this series for readers of science fiction and anyone who is interested in exploring the world of science fiction. Best read in order to follow all the characters.

[Beach Bum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting if very clean ending

It all works out. All the loose ends are tied off and even the aspects of their lives after the book are covered by an authors note
It's all a bit too clinical/clean. Nothing really goes wrong, all the dominoes fall exactly how the Fleet needs them to and the Centralists fail to fight back in any meaningful way
Having said all that, still a very good book and very good series

[Bruce Fogelstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sci-fi. All politics

It's so sad that the final installment of the Sionhan Dunmoore series end with a dull thud. No real action, but rather a boring political novel that has no place in this series. Of course, that's the author’s prerogative but it came has a huge disappointment as a big fan of the books.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic!!

Siobhan never disappoints! The only regret is this is last of the series. (Hopefully we will see a cameo in other books) but this character has been a pleasure to journey with and a high standard to measure other sci-fi by.

[Neeuqdrazil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end of the Siobhan Dunmoore series, and despite not having any big space battles (or any space battles at all), lots of politicking and the like.

I am a bit concerned that Dunmoore et al look to the Night of the Long Knives as a good thing?

[James Torrente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending to a good series.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wraps up the series nicely. I'll miss Siobhan.

[Random7]

Siobhan is gone

Well maybe not entirely. Her legacy will live for decades at least. But moving into retirement is for her benefit not for others.

[Kaitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a bad ending if you think only about the overarching plot points. It was fun to see the SSB go down and the military escape politicization, but this book reads like an unedited first draft. Plenty of moments felt irrelevant or like padding for pages, while others were completely unexplored. Holt’s assassination of Lauzier soured the ending quite a bit.

1 star because it seriously needs an editor and the whole “having kids” talk was super out of place.

Edit: removing a star because the more I think about it, the worse this book feels. I also just learned that the whole SSB operation was named after a similar operation by the Nazis? I get its 1500 years in the future and the atrocities of our time will be looked at as interesting bits of history, but come on, did you have to draw the parallels? Were no other names available?

Talk about ruining an ending.

Between that, Holt’s assassination of Lauzier, and the serious need for an editor, this is the worst book in the series by far. Just read the first book and stop there, it’s a downhill slide the rest of the way.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the whole series. Well worth reading.