What Price Honour

Merkiaari Wars, Volume 2

By: Mark E. Cooper

Narrated by: Mikael Naramore

Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Humanity's last encounter with aliens saw 16.2 billion people killed in a war with the Merkiaari that had spanned decades. Only by the grace of God and the use of Nanotechnology were they defeated. The result of that Nanotech? Vipers, a regiment of super soldiers tasked with protecting the Alliance and annihilating the Merki. It was a job they performed with distinction, a job they completed almost two centuries ago. A job that cost them their humanity.

Thurston is an unimportant border world with a problem, a Marine type problem. Not the sort of place Gunnery Sergeant Gina Fuentez expected to find one of the fabled Viper cyborgs, but that's just what she discovers when a simple mission to extract an operative from a terrorist camp leads to a firefight and two of her squad dead.

With friends dying around her and a world coming apart at the seams, Gina must decide if the Marine Corps is really her home, or just a stopping place to where she really belongs.

©2007 Mark E. Cooper (P)2014 Mark E. Cooper

Annoyed....

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Nah. Look, I got this series because I was looking for scifi. The first book started slow, and I stopped a few times, but once the actual Scifi got started, it was great. But then this book does it again. 9 hours. THE FIRST 9 HOURS are more of the fighting terrorists, and... i dont even know, i skipped it after the first hour. I resumed with 6 hours left, with Canada arriving back in Sol, where the story picks up from the 1st book. 70% of the book was just useless to the actual story, imo.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mark E. Cooper again?

Probably not. Im more into Kevin Anderson, David Weber, John Ringo, etc Scifi. Scifi that hits you in the face and keeps going. Not... terrorism and bad dialogue between soldiers fighting terrorists.

Which scene was your favorite?

He skipped like 90% of the actual fights in this book for some reason. Nothing really striking happened.

Could you see What Price Honour being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

If it is, the terrorist plot will be cut, and the training planet will be a montage.

Any additional comments?

No. Just really annoyed.

Humanoid cats are scary

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

oh hell yeah ... great story line

What did you like best about this story?

Cant pick just one!

Which scene was your favorite?

When Shima went all Assassins Creed on a troop of Merkie Warriors

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but alas I must work and sleep

Any additional comments?

I recieved this book for free in exchange for an honest review

Much Better!

I found book one pretty shallow and even more like Sci-Fi for the very young (subtracting a few profanities).. Still it kept me listening and I bought book 2, hoping the series would get better.

It did!

good series.

Gone through books 1 and 2 a couple time now very good series. it's just to bad book 3 isnt available as stand alone.

Cheap and unimaginative. Not worth it.

Book one was decent cheap scifi. This is just about Kate the psycho. Don't bother.

Another in a Great Series

What a fun listen. I recommend this entire series to anyone thats a fan of war scifi.

Vol. 2

What did you love best about What Price Honour?

Good audiobook from start to finish. Held interest all the time, felt as if you were there, kept my interest all throughout the book.

Kiddie story

What would have made What Price Honour better?

The characters lines are from the 1950's and attempts to render emotions are childish and one dimensional. Writing lines spoken by characters in this century let a lone the next would improve it immeasurably.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mark E. Cooper again?

No. I listened to the first book in the series and can't make it past chapter 2 in the second book. It's just severely irritating on several levels - and I was welding at the time - still boring !

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrators rhythm is more suitable to a goldilocks and the three bears genre and emphases were just wrong. His voice is also not strong or agile enough.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The story line was OK for a Mil/SciFi book and with decent editing and narration could have been entertaining.

Any additional comments?

I think this material would be suitable for 10 years old and younger.

Involving and imaginative

Growing to really like this series of books. Would recommend for any sci-fi action lover.

Rise of the Vipers!

Would you consider the audio edition of What Price Honour to be better than the print version?

I actually went straight into the audio version after listening to Hard Duty without reading the print version first. Whilst it is certainly true that Mark E Cooper has drawn me into the story with his characters and plot Mikael Narramore breathes life into those characters making each one stand out and adding excitement to every listening session.

What did you like best about this story?

From induction to creation and finally to deployment we have finally learnt more about vipers from what they are to why they react as they do. When we reach the Child of Harmony campaign they truly come into their own combating the Merkiaari and aiding the Shan ground forces.

What about Mikael Naramore’s performance did you like?

From character interaction to location descriptions and scene setting Mikaels clean and crisp diction makes it easy to differentiate between participants and his tone and pace adds drama and excitement as required.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Gina begins her augmentation process and it all goes to hell in a handbasket I found myself clenching my fists and hoping that it would somehow work out, that the medics knew what to do and could save her.

Any additional comments?

Mark E Cooper builds upon the work he begun in Hard Duty as we learn more about the Alliance and in particular the 501st before he sends us straight into the depths of a warzone and a desperate bid to prevent genocide. Combined once again with the vocal talents of Mikael Naramore I was not only gripped from start to finish but found myself plunging straight into book 3 to find out where the story would go next, exceedingly entertaining.