Hard Duty: Merkiaari Wars 1

Mark E. Cooper

Nov 2012 · Merkiaari Wars Book 1 · Impulse Books UK

About this ebook

Hostile aliens nearly eradicated humanity. Will the next encounter finish the job?

Sixteen billion dead. In humanity's last brush with the Merkiaari, it was nearly wiped out in a war that spanned decades. When survey ship Captain Jeff Colgan discovers a new alien race, he's required to investigate.

As the aliens discover Colgan's ship and begin to hunt him down, the captain's mission changes from one of study to one of survival. 

Hard Duty is the first installment in Merkiaari Wars, a five-book military sci-fi space opera. If you like realistic engineering, vivid battles, and futuristic warfare, then you'll love Mark E. Cooper's sci-fi work of art.

Buy the first book in your new space opera obsession today!

Reading Order:
1. Hard Duty
2. What Price Honour
3. Operation Oracle
4. Operation Breakout
5. Incursion

This is a science fiction book of first contact and alien invasion seen from both human and alien points of view. Expect to see space fleets battling and military themes. Military science fiction, alien invasion, first contact, space opera

Ratings and reviews

I picked this up as it was only $0.01 and I was struggling to decide what to read next. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it, and have already purchased the next two books in the series. It's no masterpiece, but it is solid sci-fi that does the trick of keeping you entertained and in the story.

Unique story. Not many new ideas, but very good job of mixing them with old ones. It created a nice fresh take on things. The pace of the writing is very good, once it gets interesting it stays so. Obviously written to make you want to read the next one.

Best story I have read in ages! The characters are engaging, with a certain amount of unpredictability. The action is well written with a true military feel. The emotion is heartfelt and at times gritty. I highly recommend this book as a very entertaining read.

About the author

Mark E. Cooper lives 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 science fiction, epic fantasy, or urban fantasy and particularly likes strong female characters overcoming dire situations and tough obstacles. He can often be found laughing to himself as he listens to an audiobook on his iPod while typing like a fiend.

His hobbies include Shelby Cobras—he built a Dax replica of the famous car with his best friend in the early 90s—reading, and maintaining his blog. He is now the author of over ten titles written in the genres he loves to read.