No Honor in Death

Eric Thomson

Jan 2014 · Siobhan Dunmoore Book 1 · Sanddiver Books Inc.

About this ebook

Siobhan Dunmoore was losing the war one ship at a time. The Shrehari Empire had burned more hulls out from under her than any other officer in the Fleet. Some said she was too aggressive. Others said too reckless. The enemy called her something else—something they spat with fear. None of it mattered. Not all her enemies wore Imperial uniforms. And the only reputation she had left was for bad luck.

She was dragging another wreck home, crew half‑dead, systems failing. This time she’d bluffed her way out by the skin of her teeth. She wanted rest. The Admiralty wanted her back in the fight.

They gave her Stingray. The Fleet’s cursed frigate. Captain disgraced, crew broken, ship rotting. The last of her kind still limping through the war. Admirals whispered about scrapping her, breaking up the jinx. But the war was bleeding ships, and anything that could still fire had to fight.

So Dunmoore went from staring down the Empire’s finest on a battleship’s burning bridge to commanding a crew ready to mutiny, admirals sharpening knives, and a mystery that stank of death. Stingray’s curse wasn’t just sailor’s talk. Something was wrong. The crew kept their mouths shut. Politics pressed in. Her own demons clawed at her.

Taking that frigate into battle was suicide. But Dunmoore had never walked away from a fight. Failure wasn’t an option. Defeat wasn’t acceptable. Death was just a hole in the ground. Victory was the only honor left. She’d drag Stingray back from hell—or go down damned forever.

Ratings and reviews

story beats are good. However, you do not line up your bow to an enemy to give him a broadside. The space combat is hard to follow why things work for one side and then not for the other. Feels very "because I say so". Attachment to the characters is midling. I enjoyed the antagonist, non-sensical larger than life but funny guy.

This writer has a lean, crisp non- repetitive style; the story develops smoothly from start to finish. I will def be reading the other books in this series.

Have not enjoyed a space opera or a character like this since the Honor Harrington series. Love the villian as well. Thoughtfully written with interesting characters. Well done!

About the author

 Eric Thomson is my pen name. I'm a retired Canadian soldier with thirty-one years of service, both in the Regular Army and the Army Reserve. I spent my Regular Army career in the Infantry and my Reserve service in the Armoured Corps. I hold two military parachutist qualifications and am a graduate of the Royal Military College (St-Jean), the Royal Canadian School of Infantry, the Army Tactics School, the Armoured Reconnaissance Squadron Commander's course as well as the Canadian Army Command and Staff College and the Canadian Forces College. I spent several years as an Information Technology specialist 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.