Sol: An Epic Space Opera Adventure

Shepherd Security Services #6

by Robert M. Kerns

Three years. Three long years, Alex has hoped to find a way back. Now, the explorer ship Magellan has done just that.

Sol. The birthplace of Humanity. The Ninhar Confederation's legendary True Home.

But when the triumphal return becomes a rescue mission within minutes of arrival, it sets Alex on the path to a point of no return.

Join Shepherd Security Services for their next adventure... where Alex learns why "you can't go home anymore."

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 17, 2026

About the author

Robert M. Kerns (or Rob if you ever meet him in person) is a geek, and he claims that label proudly. Most of his geekiness revolves around Information Technology (IT), having over fifteen years in the industry; within IT, he especially prefers Servers and Networks, and he often makes the claim that his residence has a better data infrastructure than some businesses.

Beyond IT, Rob enjoys Science Fiction and Fantasy of (almost) all stripes. He is a voracious reader, with his favorite books too numerous to list.

Rob has been writing for over twenty years, and "Awakening" is his debut novel.

Reviews

[Stephen Rowland]

Required reading

If you have read any book written by Mr Kerns then you already know that this is a must read. I only took 8 hours of solid reading ( could not put it down ) I have enjoyed everyone of his books so far and look forward to what may come next.

Of the over 2 thousand books I have read very few get a second or even a third read through but I have liked Mr Kerns writing enough that on any given day I would just pick any one of his books and just enjoy the ride.

Life is short enough that missing this experience is just so wrong.

So required reading "yes" enjoyment up to you, but I dare you not to smile as you get caught up in this fantastic story.

I truly ( hand on heart ) cannot wait for my next reading adventure to begin.

[William S.]

It's a conclusion

We get together with Lucy. This is a long time coming after Hawke has conquered the universe. It's bragging time, and a suggestion that we should all be friends. As far as his crew is concerned Kerns seems to have lost a bit of his touch at making them integral team members and spent a lot of time emphasizing their differences. We seem to have forgotten that Hawke acquired a specific world to establish as a human colony, and makes no effort to establish a future for a family run enterprise. I consider this book a true let down of the story line that Kerns had been building.

[Cristina Besendorfer]

Great Storyline - Limp Ending

The storyline was very nice in the beginning, but the last quarter was over written as if the author hadn’t been able to finish so someone tried to finish it. The sentence structure was often confusing and the romantic tension between Lucy and Alex was completely dropped. Even the ending was without any hope for future episodes. I hope Mr Kerns will recover and write more, but it doesn’t seem like he will.

[Emory Lynn]

An excellent series

This is a well crafted series sure to appeal to a large audience of readers. There are a few grammatical errors throughout that should have been caught by better proofreaders, but fewer than are contained in a typical reader story. Mr Kerns is a very good storyteller and this series spotlights his mastery of his craft. I'm looking forward to future installments of The Shepherd.

[Patrick Burns]

Enjoy this series so much

It's awesome to put down this book and look back at all the books in the series I've read to finally get this conclusion of solo, which nicely put the last books together we enjoy this series as much as I do

[susan mcdonald]

Wonderful !

Loved this whole series. Sol didn't disappoint. I enjoyed reading about Alex and Lucy's reunion. I definitely recommend this whole series

[verne labar]

Excellent Addition to the Series

I really enjoyed this book. I have read the entire series so far. I look forward to the next book in this series

[William Cheney]

This is a great series and I love this book. I got it about a week ago and am on my third read of it. I hope to see more adventures of Alex and his crew in the future.

[Gene]

Awesome!

I look forward to more about Alex and seeing how Lucy adjusts to Confederation society, and how it will change having more humans.

[Flewts]

This is the eagerly awaited finale to this series (at least so far...) which brings the Shepherd back to Earth, completing the circle of his journey.

[Torfinn Ingolfsen]

I really liked it.

[melvin maryland]

good read

Little slow not much action but good read
For the win have fun can’t wait to see the next one

[Beach Bum]

Hopefully not an ending

First off the not so good. Far too many spelling mistakes, missing words and poor grammar. Having to stop and read sentences and/or paragraphs a 2nd or 3rd time to get what was actually meant, detracts heavily form the experience
With that out of the way, the good stuff. It's a damn good book/storyline. Nothing massively new, human gets abducted by aliens and then makes good. This part of the story covers his return to earth, the ramifications of humanity learning there really are aliens and how all of the governments deal with it
Strangely most governments handle it pretty well, and my cynical outlook makes me think that's rather optimistic. That optimism permeates the whole book and is one of my primary reason for enjoying it so much

[roman o smith]

Too Short

Went to go to next page only to realize it was done, makes me wish that I hadn’t found the series til it was complete. Awesome book and can’t wait the next one, wish author had a Patreon or some way to get early access to chapters