An interesting story idea and setting for the story to take place. Similar enough m to most sci fi to attract people and yet different enough to stand out. A quick read for those who might like a bit of a read that is less heavy.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of Mickey7.

I enjoyed Mickey7. It was a fun, witty, quick read. I liked the premise of the clone that can remember his memories and have the same personality, and making him expendable. Also, I imagine if I met my clone, I would also find them rather annoying. Ha! The look back chapters were probably my favorite part of this book. While the premise was very interesting, I felt the execution lacking. The ending seemed to go by quick with no real A-HA moment. I now know there is a sequel and I do intend to pick it up and hear more from the wise-cracking Mickey7.

Engaging, entertaining, and immersive. A recommended purchase for collections where science fiction is popular.

I enjoyed the premise of having different clones and one person being rebooted for the colony, but I didn't like the ending at all. It seemed abrupt and also it wasn't satisfying.

The premise sounded really interesting but unforautnely this book fell really flat for me.

The plot sounds like it could be a really engaging sci-fi thriller. Sadly, the book doesn't go much beyond Mickey7 and Mickey8 trying not to get caught. And how they did finally get caught seemed a little ridiculous. I thought the dialogue was really dull.

Honestly, nothing really exciting happens.

MICKEY7 – by Edward Ashton — Science Fiction

I LOVE the opening sentence:

‘This is gonna be my stupidest death ever . . .

‘In my line of work, you spend a lot of time pondering different ways to die—when you’re not actually experiencing them, that is.’

Nine years ago Mickey ‘Mickey1’ Barnes volunteered to be an Expendable, his first assignment takes place aboard the colony ship, Drakkar, as it makes its long journey to the planet of Niflheim.

‘[L]ife on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.’

I had a Blast reading MICKY7 (Love The Ending), and I can’t wait to read Book Two, ANTIMATTER BLUES, released March 2023.

Highly Recommend!

Thank You, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with an eGalley of MICKEY7 at the request of an honest review.

The Martian meets Dark Matter is what sold me and I'm not disappointed. I really enjoyed my time with this one. It had a really good balance between science, humor, and action. And that is all I want in a book.

Loved this book! I'm not usually a Sci-Fi reader, but I read this book in just a couple of days. Starting on the sequel right now!

I liked this overall! It’s pretty fast paced, and I really liked the ideas with the expendables/clones and generally trying to terraform the land to make a viable colony. There were some nice mysteries happening with Mickey7 trying to figure out what to do about the situation he finds himself in, as well as what’s happening with the creepers (which are a species native to the planet). I did predict some things accurately, but there were definitely some surprises.

The setting feels very cold and barren which is perfect for reading in the winter. The book mostly takes place inside, but we also have expeditions out on the planet. I found both of these settings to be quite interesting. There are also some flashbacks to before/during the journey to get to the planet, some of which are pretty horrific. The idea of expendables is interesting and alarming, with some kinda questionable ethics since they’re basically used as guinea pigs at times.

Mickey7 was fun to root for overall. He’s made some dumb choices in his life, but I definitely wanted him to succeed! He wants more from his life, and this in part affects why he signed up for the job as well as his behavior while on the planet. In general, while he does sometimes make some dumb choices, he does have some clever moments as well. I enjoyed him trying to figure out what to do after he becomes a multiple and definitely had fun with them pretending to be one person. Generally, there were some interesting philosophical ideas to think about with these clones. Even though they theoretically should be the same person, there are some differences between Mickey7 and Mickey8.

Mickey doesn’t have the best choice in friends, but there are actually some interesting explanations about that throughout the book. Nasha, his lover, seemed fun and easy going overall. I found her to be very accepting, and I liked how she stood by him. One of his other friends was very full of himself and didn't really think of anyone but himself most of the time (which calls into question just how good of a friend he really is). The creepers, this species on the planet, were rather interesting as well. I thought of them as giant ants but they might be more like centipedes? Either way, there were some interesting developments with them that I had fun with.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this!

Mickey7 was such a fun read! The storyline was like if Blake Crouch's "Dark Matter" met Andy Weir's "The Martian" but written in a fun way reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson's "Skyward" series. Very enjoyable!

Mickey is an Expendable - his job is to die and be regenerated. He’s the guy you call when they have use for a guinea pig, or need someone to do suicide missions. He’s a disposable member of a colonization mission, where every life should matter, but that’s the job. After having died 6 times, Mickey7 understands how it works.
On the latest scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. When he manages to find himself back at the colony, with the help of native life suprisingly, he realizes a new iteration has already been made, Mickey8, and now both of their lives are in danger. Being a Multiple is one of the worst things to be. If they’re caught the will most likely both be killed. They just have to keep it a secret from the entire colony. With native life forms growing more curious, and the colony’s leadership growing more fearful, survival has come down to Mickey7.

Book two , Antimatter Blues, continues where we left off from book 1. Mickey is holding the bomb over Marshall’s head to secure his retirement as an Expendable, and is the official Ambassador to the Creepers. When the bomb goes missing, it is up to Mickey to try and get it back, or risk losing his own life as well as the entire colony’s.

I want to begin by saying I adore Mickey7. I can’t get enough of the characters, world-building, and story. I took my time reading these books just to relish in the writing. Edward Ashton manages to capture a realistic personality and conversational tone, pacing, and rhythm with his writing. The pacing is brisk, shifting between action and existentialism with ease and grace. Humor definitely helps with this. I got many looks of confusion and concern from people around when I was reading from laughing out loud. It really helped me absorb some of the heavier themes of the book.
I wish we could have seen more relationship background and development between Nasha and Mickey. I came away from these books feeling like they were more traumabonded than in love. If any of the characters were truly in love, it was on Mickey’s end. I didn’t get much on Nasha’s end until the second book, and it felt like it came out of nowhere.
Reading both books back to back is nearly seamless, and it truly is an experience to read these. That being said, I did enjoy the sequel more! I feel like Ashton really hit his stride with the story and characters in book two. I can’t wait for more in the series, and want to thank St. Martin’s Press,via Netgalley, for giving me this amazing opportunity with an advance digital copy of Antimatter Blues, and a digital copy of Mickey7.

This book was definitely a fun ride with a very interesting concept. I had moments of wanting to shake the main character, but I think that's par for the course with these kinds of space dramas. I enjoyed the writing style and the pacing kept things rolling like a particularly well-oiled machine. I would recommend this book just on the premise alone, honestly.

This was a case where the premise was better than the execution. The author spent more time on the backstory flashbacks than on the character’s current conundrum which I felt was more interesting. The stakes didn’t feel quite high enough for the main character and things were also wrapped up with a nice bow at the end. I think it’ll feel like a stretch for there to be a second book. I enjoyed the read overall, just think it could’ve been a bit wilder of a ride than it was.

TLDR:

Mickey7 is the first book in a new Science-Fiction series by Edward Ashton. Its sequel is set to release in March 2023.

Notable elements:

- Clones
- Death
- Identity Crisis

What I liked:

- Unique Circumstance — Mickey’s occupation is a clever, no-nonsense solution to the anticipated problems of a futuristic, science-based society.

- High Stakes — War crimes, stolen identities, life-threatening bets, insubordination: Mickey’s importance as Expendable cannot be overstated, but how long can he up the ante before the mission falls apart?

Reminds me of:

- The Martian by Andy Weir
- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Content warnings:

- Death, Suicide, Toxic Friendship

Final thoughts:

Mickey7 is a quick and easy read. Overall, I liked the story, but it lacks the motivation and emotional depth I expected given the severity of Mickey’s circumstance.

It was an interesting concept and I enjoyed the exploration of the concept, but I'm not sure that I would continue if it is a series. I liked the snarkiness of the main character.

The first chapter of this book felt just a little rushed, but after that it settled in and I was hooked. Mickey is such an engaging protagonist, the worldbuilding (about Niflheim specifically but also broadly about the world) was fascinating, and it made me excited to read the sequel and see where the story, especially Mickey's new role as interspecies liaison, goes from here.

Mickey Barnes signs up to be an expendable on a space colonization mission after he gets in trouble and has to leave Midgard. Basically he is sent out on suicide missions and when he dies another clone of him is made. Then Mickey7 is presumed dead and Mickey8 is cloned but Mickey7 is still alive. I'm not really a fan of sci-fi but I enjoyed this a lot because I liked Mickey. I liked the dialog and I liked the other main characters, Nasha, Cat and Berto. Well maybe not Berto so much. I wasn't too interested in the science, no idea how accurate it was or the history of the colonies but the atmosphere and background story carried it along for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me a digital copy.

Really liked this book a lot. Loved the story and execution of the story/writing. Loved the ending and the reveal about the “enemy”. I enjoyed the characters as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Edward Ashton and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.


Poor Mickey! Although he can technically never die, the only way he gets to live forever is by going through a gruesome death and be replicated back to life. Each colony has one multiple. There are so many dangerous jobs to be done, experiments to be made, why risk the lives of the colonists when they have someone to do the job for them. I mean, he volunteered for the job. Mickey did volunteer but it was out of desperation. Most times they will conscript someone from prison for this lovely job, but no, Mickey actually signed up for this gig. I don’t think he realized that people would either hate him or be so weirded out by him that they don’t want anything to do with him. It doesn’t help that the commander in charge is a Naturalist and fundamentally opposed to multiples. Luckily he has his best friend Berto and his girlfriend Nasha. But is Berto his best friend really? I mean the guy left him to die. That leads to Mickey’s current predicament. He didn’t die, but Berto, who left him for dead, has reported it and when Mickey 7 returns to his room, Mickey 8 is sleeping in his bed.

He can’t report Mickey 8 or they will both end up in the dumpster. The biggest rule is that there should never be 2 multiples walking around at the same time. He knows he should jump into the hopper himself, but he can’t seem to do it. Now he has to split, not only rations with his other self, but his girlfriend. This is really not what he signed up for. How did he survive anyway. He fell down a big hole and instead of the creepers, these ugly animal like creatures that inhabit the planet, tearing him apart, they simply picked him up and deposited him outside. Like you would a spider you found in your house. Does this mean that they are sentient beings? This could be a bigger problem than Mickey having two of him running around.

I was hyped for this one. I thought the idea was great and I was excited for the possibilities. But it just fell flat for me. I kept waiting for it to take off, but it never did. It is readable but it never really got sophisticated either in the character development or world building. I thought there was so much more that could have been done. There was too much middle and the end felt rushed.

Well, what can I say. I liked THE END OF ORDINARY well enough...inventive use of science, interesting personal stakes, but curiously flat. I wanted to read this book because I loved the science premise (remember <I>Doctor Who</i>'s Gangers? My favorite slave race, narrowly displacing the Ood). Also because, well, look at the title of my blog and tell me why I might be interested in the story.

I was particularly taken by Mickey7's job on Niflheim, the planet where he...um...where the action takes place. Oh dear...the Spoiler Stasi will be after me...look, I'm kind of hamstrung here by the endless whinging of the spoilerphobes. So, let's just say, if the possibility of knowing something about a read will utterly devastate your pleasure in it, go somewhere else.

Mickey Barnes chose life as an expendable because, frankly, it was the best way to get on a colony ship away from Earth. This particular colony ship has religious nuts on it, however, and as is always the way with those sort of people, they've decided their imaginary friend doesn't like...really, hates, though for poorly explored reasons...expendables. They're abominations. After all, I thought to myself, once you're dead, their big bully in the...wait, they're on a a spaceship, where the hell is their gawd in such immense skies? how's she keeping tabs on 'em, some sort of spiritual Ring or Alexa?...anyway, your eternal torments are supposed to begin with death (unless, that is, you're one of Them, and even then it's not 100% guaranteed you'll get the post-mortem goodies). Mickey7, whose previous six deaths were pretty horrific, is still up for doing his job now they're on the ice planet Niflheim. Problem is he's gone and fallen into a crevasse. No one's going to bother rescuing an expendable. That's sort of the point of them...he'll be reconstituted into Mickey8, the cycle will continue.

Mickey7's luck is that he survives and makes his way back to the colony, somehow thinking they won't have reconstituted Mickey8. He's handed the religious nut in charge the lever he needs to bludgeon the colony into following his hate-filled plan for the colony to be expendable free. After all, their resources are strained to the limit and, even though expendables get less to eat and fewer material benefits than the religious nuts, they really can't afford another mouth to feed.

But someone please explain to me again how religion is a force for good and compassion in the world.

What results from this unprecedented situation is a kind of slamming-doors farce, with 7 and 8 agreeing to take on the task of splitting their Mickey-duties to both stay alive; needless to say, that fails. What made it fun to read, and the source of my four-star rating, is the sheer propulsive power of Author Ashton's use of Mickey7 as the first-person narrator. It was immediately clear to me that I was going to be investing in this character. His matter-of-factness was endearing to me, where a more emotionally fraught close third-person narration wouldn't have given me the impetus to keep reading.

The filmed version we can expect in, permaybehaps, 2024 is set to star Robert Pattinson and Steven Yeun. Brad Pitt's company is set to produce, and Bong Joon-ho is set to direct. IF, that is, David Zaslav's flensing knife spares the project now that Plan B Entertainment's new home Warner Brothers is owned by his philistine self. Star power isn't much to Discovery, they like cheap and flashy.

We'll always have the fun, funny, and very provocative-idea-laden book.