Author Robert M. Kerns returns to Space Opera Science Fiction with The Shepherd, a novel of Shepherd Security Services. Stolen livestock. A determined heir. A fateful choice.
Alex spends his days learning to manage the family sheep ranch. He wants nothing more than to take over when his parents retire, because his family has owned and worked it since the Westward Expansion.
But all is not well in Southwestern Wyoming.
Five neighboring ranches have been raided, all their livestock stolen without a trace… each on a new moon. Alex feels his family’s ranch is next and decides to spend the night with the flock when the next new moon comes around.
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.
I tapped out around chapter seven, and not because the ideas were too challenging or dense, but because the story simply refused to earn my investment.
From the opening pages, we’re told how deeply bound the main character is to his family. It’s positioned as a defining trait, an emotional anchor. Then he’s put on a spaceship, separated from Earth, and… nothing. No lingering worry, no grief, no urgency. By chapter seven, his family might as well not exist. If you’re going to foreground emotional ties so heavily, you have to carry them forward. Otherwise it feels like narrative window dressing rather than character depth.
The same hand-waving shows up with the plot mechanics. We’re told the ship’s navigation system is fried, making a return to Earth impossible. That should be a massive, life-altering moment. Instead, it’s glossed over with a shrug. “Okey dokey” appears to be the emotional register we’re working with. The problem isn’t that the character adapts quickly; it’s that nothing seems to faze him at all. Big revelations land with the weight of a grocery list.
And then there’s the worldbuilding laziness. When the story introduces something literally called the “Hall of Justice,” my DC-soaked brain slammed on the brakes. That name has been culturally loaded since 1973. Using it straight, without irony or recontextualisation, feels less like homage and more like a placeholder that never got replaced. In a genre where imagination is the whole point, borrowing something that obvious just reads as careless.
By the time I stopped reading, the pattern was clear: emotionally weighty ideas are introduced, then immediately abandoned; major consequences are brushed aside; characters move through extraordinary circumstances with baffling calm. None of this is inherently fatal on its own, but together they create a story where nothing feels earned and nothing feels real.
I wanted to like this. The premise has potential. But by chapter seven, I realised the book wasn’t interested in exploring the consequences of its own setup—and without that, I didn’t see a reason to keep going.
Well, this was unexpectedly very enjoyable! Not overly technical, but full of twists and unexpected events and outcomes! Not going to give spoilers, I think it best that everybody read this book and see for themselves! The Aliens are amazing, the storyline quite surprising.
Thank you to the Author , Robert M. Kerns.
Waiting for the next installment to keep me going!!
this book is very obviously written by a male author. if you're into that, then this book will probably be great for you. if you're looking for any kind of significant female characters or significant relationships or major character building this book is not going to be on your TBR. I'm not saying that it's not worth the read, just don't go into it expecting much.
our MC is a shepherd that goes out to guard a flock of sheep and is accidentally scooped up by a ship AI collecting "meat". after being collected it is mostly implied that the MC is kept sedated for a number of weeks to months before he is 'rescued' when his ship is spotted, tagged as likely smugglers then in an attempt to flee, suffers a catastrophic failure. Our MC (Alex) is brought to a nearby space station and more or less injected into society with the aliens. all of the aliens are supposed evolutions or mutations of earth animals on human bases most frequently cat hybrids but also dogs, birds, lizards, bears, bovines, foxes and more. Alex's main companion is a female cat hybrid that is more or less his lawyer and guide.
now onto my nit picking about the book. some possible minor spoilers just FYI.
I will try not to spoil anything major but really there are no huge twists or anything that strikes me as unexpected. This in itself is a bit of a minor flaw to me. I enjoy at least a little of the unknown.
a major issue I had with the book is the lack of description or wonder or even curiosity. the MC is literally in a whole new world and doesn't stop to smell the metaphorical roses. he doesn't really note much of his surroundings. there is a quick description of the walls and floors but we get multiple instances of transportation, exploring or being guided to new places and not once does the MC get distracted or even really tell us more than "down a corridor" or "(video) screens on the wall" the only instance where he seems to have any sense of wonder is when he is taken to a "park" type area and his main observation is how something so large is in a space station but even that is only a line. I would have loved for an alien object to mystify him and to have one of the other characters look over and kinda go 'oh, those are my nail clippers' or something but we never get anything like that. heck he goes into stores but never has any curiosity toward the wares or what they can do or make. I would be investigating EVERYTHING.
here on earth, clothing plays a huge role in identity, culture and even status. in this book it is rarely mentioned and mostly avoided. there are 3 major instances where this could have been explored or even just something mentioned about it. First when Alex wakes and meets aliens. I would have expected one of the first things you would notice about an alien would be the weird or different types of clothing for the different creatures or their syles. nope not really mentioned. Then, when his clothes are damaged, he is given a "space suit" with a liner. I really expected someone to jump on wanting the remains of his old clothes for scientific research or even just curiousity, nope he just slips into the space suit and goes off. Two. he is caught in the 'liner' of his space suit. more or less his underwear. the only thing he mentions is being happy he had the liner on. no mention of how it might be socially acceptable for the aliens to be naked or how they react to his 'undressed' status. zero mention really of how they are dressed either. nada, vip, zilch. Three. Alex is called into a meeting with some very high profile powerful people. he mentions being only in his space suit thingy, even asks about clothing but is told that's fine (I honestly didn't mind that and kinda liked it. tbh) but then he meets these people (aliens? creatures? beings?) and there is zero mention of how they are dressed or how their garb differs at all. Come ON. even here on earth there is some huge differences in how people dress daily and how their position in society effects that
my final major gripe is about the social interactions and structure especially with the females. The female aliens are all in love with Alex. Fine, that's a male fantasy and acceptable but honestly I would expect at least a few people to react poorly or even with some sort of major shock factor to bare skin when everyone is furred, feathered or scaled.Thats ok though, it doesn't really bother me. what does infuriate me is the total lack of social understanding. ANY WOMAN would immediately start trying to pick up social cues. our MC is flirted with multiple times and never realizes it. WHY DOES NO ONE EXPLAIN ANY OF IT TO HIM. Not once is it even said in passing "oh she must like you to flirt like that" nope. everyone is blind and dumb to it. there are a couple implied comments but nothing is said to the MC to enlighten him how normal or abnormal this behaviour is. His guide sucks. one of her first and most important jobs should be to make sure he isn't unintentionally rude and that he gets at least a basic understanding of cultural norms. nope. totally ignored.
in conclusion, it's a decent book. it's worth a read.... but don't go in expecting something with any vivid imagery and don't expect aliens to behave differently than people.
Wow! What a great first book, Robert M. Kerns! The premise, a down-on-his luck shepherd, Alex, who works on his family's farm is staying with his sheep overnight to protect them. Nearby farms have lost their sheep.
Then he discovers what he's up against: an alien spacecraft comes down, vacuums up his sheep and him. Turns out they're interstellar outlaws, rustling sheep for food. Alex is taken with the sheep. A recently hired shiphand takes pity on Alex and puts him in a storage vault unconscious.
Then the rustlers are captured by the interstellar patrol. The law-abiding enforcers find Alex and slowly bring him back to consciousness. They feel they owe Alex the ship and its contents as payback for the crime done to him. Turns out Earth is way off the beaten path and they have no record of how to return him to his home.
This is where the story really begins. Alex learns about the star spanning empire, its races, and begins searching for Earth. And they begin learning about humans.
Brilliant start to an endless series. The plot is brilliant and can go in so many directions. No spoilers from me. Other than to recommend this book. If you like to start reading a series that will take you on a journey for 10+ books, THIS IS IT. Hold onto your seat. PS: His other books give me comfort in making this recommendation after he had only published 1 book of this series. I can’t wait. Mr Kerr, chop chop and hurry up.
Great fun, and a light read. World-building interesting, and the characters have some depth, and are interesting. Reminds me, in tone, of some classic SciFi from the 60’s. That is optimistic, and other worlds are prosperous and make positive use of technology to benefit all. A nice change from some cynical self-published works. Highly recommended if you want a bit of diversion.
A great first book in what I hope is the start to an epic series of interesting takes on the boy gets abducted by aliens and ends up transitioning into a more capable human being, I enjoyed this slice of life, I hope his romantic efforts with the lady's happens and he doesn't remain such a clueless shmuck like in most of these books.
I loved this story. All the characters are very engaging. The whole concept of the aliens was delightful. There is a lot more story to tell and I am looking forward to the next chapter.
DNFed at 65% This book started out with promise, but was plagued by the same issues as Smilodon. The story is wish fulfillment, where the main character faces few problems and has everything handed to him, everything from super strength to multiple animal-like women who are very attracted to him. (Making matters worse, since he lived with his parents at the start of the story, I assumed he was under 18 and so it felt pretty creepy since, even if he was an adult, he was quite young to have a harem.) There wasn't any sex before I quit, but a woman did remark on the size of his male anatomy when he was naked. So gross. The author is good at prose, so it gets two stars, but the author needs to learn to stop handing his characters everything. They should have to work for their abilities, not be magically (through sci-fi) better at fighting than everyone else and super attractive. (This is starting to feel like a furry fetish.)
It is very good. Nothing outright original, but it brings together various aspects covered by other authors in a way that is different Human gets abducted by aliens, ends up being saved and then the society he finds himself in, is very benevolent about him being abducted and awards him lots of cash as recompense From there its about how he builds his small team and the new starship he buys and a rather fortuitous encounter with Pirates Only thing that spoils it is a few badly constructed sentences and bad spelling or incorrect word choices. Without those I'd have given 5*
I enjoyed the book, but for me, the author's 'Universe' doesn't quite work. There are too many different anthropomorphic species, lizards, mice, koalas, tigers, lions cats, bears, wolves, cows etc. It just becomes a fantasy comic book. I also think the main character might have been a bit overdone with the ‘superhero’ enhancements and his magnetic attraction to the cats. If possible I would have given 3.5 stars.
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The story is readable and at times interesting, there wasn’t really a main story. The MC kinda just wonders around from one plot to the next until the end of the book. One good point about that is it’s probably not to far off what it would actually be like in his situation. With the exception of all the good luck the MC has.
A start to another great series by a great author I follow. He's only disappointed once, his ending of the Cole/ Srexx series was disappointing, possibly even clumsy. He admits it himself. Maybe one day he'll rewrite it. This series is off to a rollicking start. Having read part 2 already I recommend it if you like this genre.
This is silly, illogical, but I could not put it down! It was so much fun to read! It has been too long since i have had this much fun reading a book! Our hero is so squeaky clean that he does not even kill the bad guys. I'm so tired of wading through garbage posing as entertainment. Thank you Mr. Kerns!!!!
So, fun start of a series. I like the author, and the premise seems fun. The story is very simple and very standard, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. I did and am looking forward to the next book.
Fresh, heartfelt, and utterly engaging—this is not your parents’ alien abduction story. Kerns delivers rich character development and a warm, wholesome vibe that makes this first-contact tale stand out. Already queued up the sequel for my weekend read. Highly recommended!
Space opera alien abduction. Very advanced alien technology and society, but limitations do seem to occur just to make a story. Purchased on Jan 14, 2026, from Amazon for free. Read Kindle book using Alexa audio asset.
Ok, human taken from earth, gets upgraded and becomes successful. Nothing that hasn't been written about many times. The good news is that the author has put his own spin on the story and it works really well.
I really enjoyed this space opera. It has a nice developmental timeline, a touch of combat as all do but not overdone and not combat for the sake of combat.
Ferns ability to look at a variety of human and alien conditions is refreshing
A good read... Some things that I hadn't dreamed of.
It is an interesting story / premise. It seems to be very fortunate indeed that things worked out so very well for Alex. It might put it a bit too far from truly possible.
Pulls you along with interesting characters who drive the storyline. Not over technical on ships, weapons. Just a good story like good classic science fiction.