What do you think?
Rate this book
Merkiaari Wars #3
Operation Oracle
Deep under The Mountain on Snakeholme, vast computer networks are running simulations, but they're flawed and General Burgton's self imposed mission to safeguard the Alliance is in jeopardy. Without reliable intelligence, he cannot protect the Alliance from itself, let alone the Merkiaari.
The missions he authorises are blacker than black, so secret that only he and the agents performing them know of their existence, but every operation relies upon his seemingly miraculous fore-knowledge of events and he is starting to make mistakes.
Needing a solution, Burgton breaks the Alliance's A.I ban and spends trillions of credits on project Oracle, but when the project fails, and desperation sends him looking for an answer, he compounds his crime. If he can't build an A.I, he'll just have to steal one!
The missions he authorises are blacker than black, so secret that only he and the agents performing them know of their existence, but every operation relies upon his seemingly miraculous fore-knowledge of events and he is starting to make mistakes.
Needing a solution, Burgton breaks the Alliance's A.I ban and spends trillions of credits on project Oracle, but when the project fails, and desperation sends him looking for an answer, he compounds his crime. If he can't build an A.I, he'll just have to steal one!
392 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 7, 2013
42 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Mark E. Cooper
26 books244 followersIncursion: Merkiaari Wars 5 is out now (11/11/2016) http://www.impulsebooks.co.uk/incursion/
Mark E. Cooper lives alone in a small town in the south of England, where he writes most mornings and evenings. His background is in mechanical engineering where he spent over thirty years working for Ford. He loves reading about strong female characters and can often be found laughing to himself as he listens to a book on his iPod.
His hobbies include driving his cobra--a V12 monster he built with his best friend--reading fantasy and sci-fi, and maintaining his blog at http://www.impulsebooks.co.uk/markcoo...
He is now the author of more than eight titles in the genres he loves to read.
Mark E. Cooper lives alone in a small town in the south of England, where he writes most mornings and evenings. His background is in mechanical engineering where he spent over thirty years working for Ford. He loves reading about strong female characters and can often be found laughing to himself as he listens to a book on his iPod.
His hobbies include driving his cobra--a V12 monster he built with his best friend--reading fantasy and sci-fi, and maintaining his blog at http://www.impulsebooks.co.uk/markcoo...
He is now the author of more than eight titles in the genres he loves to read.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 25, 2017
Awesome book and series
October 16, 2018
Weak offering in this SF space opera—though the next one is better
July 26, 2019
The series progresses...
With the Merkiaari out of the way (for now) the Alliance looks at bringing aboard a new member - the Shan - the first alien members seem to be a good fit. The general feels that he needs an AI to do the heavy computing but they were shut down years ago which leads to the search for one that may have been stored as a backup on a planet long deserted after it was nuked heavily in the Merkiaari wars and no longer can support life.
There's a nice scene of the Merkiaari home world where it becomes apparent that the Merkiaari haven't been holding still hoping that the humans will just go away.
With the Merkiaari out of the way (for now) the Alliance looks at bringing aboard a new member - the Shan - the first alien members seem to be a good fit. The general feels that he needs an AI to do the heavy computing but they were shut down years ago which leads to the search for one that may have been stored as a backup on a planet long deserted after it was nuked heavily in the Merkiaari wars and no longer can support life.
There's a nice scene of the Merkiaari home world where it becomes apparent that the Merkiaari haven't been holding still hoping that the humans will just go away.
February 27, 2024
Incredibly engaging
This book is as good as its predecessors. It kept me engaged and rarely bogged down. Great human (and other) characters, awesome tech, excellent depiction of skirmishes and battles. Editing is still only so-so. I’d be glad to volunteer to help with punctuation , word use, and spelling errors as an advance reader. I already do it for two authors.
This book is as good as its predecessors. It kept me engaged and rarely bogged down. Great human (and other) characters, awesome tech, excellent depiction of skirmishes and battles. Editing is still only so-so. I’d be glad to volunteer to help with punctuation , word use, and spelling errors as an advance reader. I already do it for two authors.
April 30, 2020
Military Sci Fi at its best.
Any one who likes military Sci Fi will love this. The characters come alive and battle for the good of all. All while fighting personal demons from their past. A roaring good read.
Any one who likes military Sci Fi will love this. The characters come alive and battle for the good of all. All while fighting personal demons from their past. A roaring good read.
September 16, 2023
My review
Enjoyed the story but did not like the use of gutter language. I personally believe the English language has sufficient ways to express ideas and emotions without gutter language.
Enjoyed the story but did not like the use of gutter language. I personally believe the English language has sufficient ways to express ideas and emotions without gutter language.
March 11, 2017
Looking forwards to book 4.
May 31, 2019
It was not what I expected. The story was interesting but not really what I was looking for. I do recommend this book.
October 25, 2019
Great followup from the two first books and starting on number 4 without delay!
November 27, 2016
The 3rd in the series sees many of the major characters still trying to come to terms with the Shan War from the 2nd book. The incredible loss of life on both Harmony and Child of Harmony is devastating, and so is the return of the Merkiaari. Humanity has been waiting for the return of the Merki for the last 200yrs, and now, they are back, even more terrifying, with new skills, smarter and more capable.
This book looks at several different perspectives of the War with the Shan, and something different from the other books is that the Author has finally given us the perspective of the Merki. Revealing the inner workings of the enemy can be interesting. With such an alien species, it runs the risk of giving ‘Human’ values to their motives and emotional interplay. However, in this case, it was pretty well done. I don’t want to give too much away, I hate spoiling things for other readers.
The Vipers continue to play a major role in these books, and it is becoming more evident that this series will mainly revolve around them and a few key characters within the Viper organisation as they continue their desperate fight against the Merki.
As well as the recovery from the Shan Operations from both sides, the other major part of this story is Operation Oracle. The General wants an AI, Needs an AI, Must have an AI. This is a major issue given the nature of AI in the Universe.
Cooper has again gone to great depths to create an incredibly detailed Universe here, with an incredibly inventive and creative story about the AIs, their history, what happened with development of AI within the Alliance etc.
He goes to such a remarkable effort that makes the story so much more detailed and believable (yes, I know, Sci-fi and all, but you don’t want something that is really bad and totally UN-believable). I was really impressed at the quality of the writing for this section.
It is difficult to give more details here without giving away too much of the plot, and spoilers, so you will have to read it yourself. Needless to say, this end of the book is an engaging and captivating read, leading to a rather fascinating and thrilling conclusion for this book that will leave you thinking about how clever it was, and what is going to happen in the future.
As with the first two books, Coopers Characters continue to be amazing, and as the series progresses, we are seeing each of the mains grow, giving us a fascinating insight into the different people, from the main Viper Characters, to the Navy crew and the Civilian Scientists.
This is another exceptional book in the series, not as gritty as the 2nd one, but with more human interaction, more tech that both 1 and 2, and certainly more intrigue than previously. There is a lot more growth of the story overall in this book, and this means that there are some amazing things to come.
If you have been enjoying the series, this is a must read.
This book looks at several different perspectives of the War with the Shan, and something different from the other books is that the Author has finally given us the perspective of the Merki. Revealing the inner workings of the enemy can be interesting. With such an alien species, it runs the risk of giving ‘Human’ values to their motives and emotional interplay. However, in this case, it was pretty well done. I don’t want to give too much away, I hate spoiling things for other readers.
The Vipers continue to play a major role in these books, and it is becoming more evident that this series will mainly revolve around them and a few key characters within the Viper organisation as they continue their desperate fight against the Merki.
As well as the recovery from the Shan Operations from both sides, the other major part of this story is Operation Oracle. The General wants an AI, Needs an AI, Must have an AI. This is a major issue given the nature of AI in the Universe.
Cooper has again gone to great depths to create an incredibly detailed Universe here, with an incredibly inventive and creative story about the AIs, their history, what happened with development of AI within the Alliance etc.
He goes to such a remarkable effort that makes the story so much more detailed and believable (yes, I know, Sci-fi and all, but you don’t want something that is really bad and totally UN-believable). I was really impressed at the quality of the writing for this section.
It is difficult to give more details here without giving away too much of the plot, and spoilers, so you will have to read it yourself. Needless to say, this end of the book is an engaging and captivating read, leading to a rather fascinating and thrilling conclusion for this book that will leave you thinking about how clever it was, and what is going to happen in the future.
As with the first two books, Coopers Characters continue to be amazing, and as the series progresses, we are seeing each of the mains grow, giving us a fascinating insight into the different people, from the main Viper Characters, to the Navy crew and the Civilian Scientists.
This is another exceptional book in the series, not as gritty as the 2nd one, but with more human interaction, more tech that both 1 and 2, and certainly more intrigue than previously. There is a lot more growth of the story overall in this book, and this means that there are some amazing things to come.
If you have been enjoying the series, this is a must read.
May 18, 2016
Operation Oracle: Merkiaari Wars Book 3 by Mark E. Cooper is another great book in the Merkiaari Wars series. Its fast paced action kept me hooked and I read the entire book in a day. It was that hard to put down.
The author continues to expand and develop the storyline of the series in book 3 and wow, does he do it. This book is full of plot twist and turns that take your breath away. At times I had to remind myself to breath.
Mark E. Cooper's characters are super and I really liked watching them grow and mature as the series has progressed. It is easy to get behind and support his characters as they are so real and his storytelling style brings them to life.
I really like Operation Oracle: Merkiaari Wars Book 3 by Mark E. Cooper and highly recommend this book to all readers.
The author continues to expand and develop the storyline of the series in book 3 and wow, does he do it. This book is full of plot twist and turns that take your breath away. At times I had to remind myself to breath.
Mark E. Cooper's characters are super and I really liked watching them grow and mature as the series has progressed. It is easy to get behind and support his characters as they are so real and his storytelling style brings them to life.
I really like Operation Oracle: Merkiaari Wars Book 3 by Mark E. Cooper and highly recommend this book to all readers.
February 25, 2015
I enjoyed the book even if parts of it seemed slow moving. I keep waiting for the actual aliens to show up. The random villains / pirates are ok. I really like the Viper idea as soldier units and would like to see more but I keep waiting for the bad guy aliens to actually attack. I have started book 4 already and it looks to be more set up and perhaps book 5 is finally the actual invasion. Despite the slow moving broad alien invasion arc, I am enjoying the series. It is a quick read and a page turner with enjoyable characters. And thus far it is refreshingly safe to recommend to my nephews...hopefully that will continue.
March 25, 2014
Very well written and a good plot. My only complaint is with the philosophy, which is kinda of ironic considering I like the military sci-fi genre. However in the real world democracy is to date the best form of government we have had.
I have great admiration for the army and the skills involved, however the skills involved in running a war don't translate into running a society.
As far as I'm aware there hasn't been a successful military run government.
Also power corrupts so you may have the occasional benevolent dictator but that is going to be more then outweighed by the rest.
I have great admiration for the army and the skills involved, however the skills involved in running a war don't translate into running a society.
As far as I'm aware there hasn't been a successful military run government.
Also power corrupts so you may have the occasional benevolent dictator but that is going to be more then outweighed by the rest.
May 11, 2013
I had the delight of reading this book immediately after the first two. It helped keep the story fresh in my mind and I found the book just as enjoyable as the first two. The struggle of humanity and the Shan against the Merkiaari has reached a lull and each side works feverishly to gain an advantage against the other. I hate giving spoilers so all I will say is that this book was a great continuation of the story and I look forward to the next sequel.
May 18, 2013
I read this book immediately following the previous two and was more than impressed by the authors ability to create a compelling saga with a variety of well-known elements (the tech, the races, etc.). I look forward to book 4.
April 7, 2014
Much better than the previous book. We are returning to the exciting aspects of sci-fi - exploration and new stuff. We finally had a few Merkiaari points of view, the AI are always an interesting thing to see....I liked this book a lot, and I'm curious to finally read the last one :)
February 2, 2016
I really enjoyed this series. Enhanced humans, evil warlike aliens intent on extermination of humans, new aliens to make contact with, corrupt politicians. I liked this so much I read 4 books worth of the tale.
September 10, 2016
The writing's improving and it's interesting enough, but there's still the annoying habit of explaining every TLA every time. It bugs me just enough to wonder about continuing now that I've finished the omnibus.
April 9, 2014
Great,human meets alien first contact, humans have cyborgs that other humans are afraid of, space battle in large ships, dog fights, exploration. Novel I really enjoyed. Great Tech!
May 14, 2014
This was a very good book!
October 7, 2014
Steadily improving. Much better this time round. Still dwells on each character for too long before shifting to another perspective. Onwards to Book 4.
June 19, 2016
I enjoyed it
I thoroughly enjoyed this third installment in the Merkiaari Wars series. And I really can't wait to read the next one!
I thoroughly enjoyed this third installment in the Merkiaari Wars series. And I really can't wait to read the next one!
July 18, 2016
A fun series, and #3 gets back to territory I prefer, less blowing up nasty aliens and more suspense, a quest and meeting something new.
January 11, 2017
Great read
I throughly enjoyed this book, and must begin the next one. Awesome! I am really enjoying the charachter development of this series.
I throughly enjoyed this book, and must begin the next one. Awesome! I am really enjoying the charachter development of this series.
April 20, 2017
The Markiaari War Series
At the time of this review, the series contains fives book and I have read all of them. Mark has created a solid universe, with interesting characters (alien and human). The overall story line is compelling and the individual characters' story lines invest you deeper in the fray. With plenty of action, tech, and just the right amount of politics, I am looking forward to the next book!
"Hard Duty", "What Price Honour", & "Operation Oracle"
The first three books are available as a bundle. I recommend buying them as a bundle and treating them as 1 book released in three parts. If I had to read the first three books individually and waited for the second and third book to release, I would give each book 3 stars, but by reading the first books as one, I felt the story ended in a good spot.
At the time of this review, the series contains fives book and I have read all of them. Mark has created a solid universe, with interesting characters (alien and human). The overall story line is compelling and the individual characters' story lines invest you deeper in the fray. With plenty of action, tech, and just the right amount of politics, I am looking forward to the next book!
"Hard Duty", "What Price Honour", & "Operation Oracle"
The first three books are available as a bundle. I recommend buying them as a bundle and treating them as 1 book released in three parts. If I had to read the first three books individually and waited for the second and third book to release, I would give each book 3 stars, but by reading the first books as one, I felt the story ended in a good spot.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews