I liked this book a lot! Perfect for readers who enjoy Andy Weir and Blake Crouch, it is a true science fiction, futuristic story. A clever concept that I could actually see happening in the future, so there was an element of reality to it that I didn't expect.

Mickey7 is a very creative novel pondering how space exploration and colonization is such a risky business that it will surely require "expendables" -- people who have their memories backed up so they can be regenerated when they die. This is from the perspective of the expendable on a particular crew, and the 7 is because he's died six times already so he's on his 7th body.
Since his memory is only as complete as his last upload before dying, he has some gaps but remembers some of his deaths "firsthand" and has only seen some on security footage and/or been told what happened.
His particular colony is on a very cold, barely hospitable planet, and they have recently come in contact with some dangerous local creatures they call creatures, so the opportunities for death on exploratory missions is quite real.
In one instance, however, he is reported dead but actually survives by being brought out of a tunnel by a creeper much larger than any they have seen. He then gets back to find Mickey8 already reprinted and in his bunk. Due to a combination of crazy past experiences and religious beliefs and of course the weird factor, having multiples of a single person is banned, so they have to go to great lengths to hide that and juggle shared rations and relationships once they decide not to have one kill the other.
Things really get going once they are inevitably found out and as the creeper situation escalates.. There are numerous asides into the history of space colonization that give great perspective on the several hundred years that have past since humans left earth, and though interesting they do get in the way of the pacing a bit.
Overall, a very interesting thought experiment on human nature and even though there are not many characters they still manage to represent many different views, attitudes, and backstories.
It's still a bit surprising given the dangers that they would have this technology but only have one expendable per mission, but to some degree that's necessary to drive the plot.
I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review, and am excited for the sequel Antimatter Blues even though I got declined for that ARC and generally don't commit to series.

I received an advance reading copy of this book through Net Galley. The publishers summary of this book sounded very intriguing to me but unfortunately the book didn’t hit all the marks.

None of the characters were fully developed including the main character and many others were one dimensional. I never believe the reason why he had to hide the fact that he was a double.

It’s been compared to the Martian but there is very very little science in this book.

I wasn’t bored but I wouldn’t recommend reading as I give it only three stars.

I went into this book knowing nothing about it other than the genre and I really enjoyed it! The main character feels so real and it was easy for me to empathize with him. I wish that we had gotten more of the planet the characters are on, but otherwise I enjoyed everything else about it. The relationship was already established when the book started so it was nice that it didn't really focus on building that up. I'm super excited to read the sequel!

Mickey7 (Mickey7 #1) by Edward Ashton
Publication date: February 15, 2022

Date read: May 20, 2022



Mickey is an Expendable - the only employee on the space mission whose DNA and memories are stored for a procedure that will regenerate him if he dies. The Expendable's job on the mission is to do whatever dangerous or suicidal tasks that might come up - and after he dies, the next Mickey is created in his place. When Mickey7 is left for dead on a scouting mission, he miraculously makes it back to base, only to find that Mickey8 has already been generated. Since duplicate Expendables are forbidden, Mickey is left to figure out how to stay alive and unnoticed. But his personal problems aren't the only trouble on this mission, which has landed on a planet that is less hospitable than originally assumed. And with terraforming and farming going poorly, plus the native species showing violent interest, it might just be up to Mickey to ensure his people's survival.

The audiobook was narrated by John Pirhalla and Katharine Chin.

While I read a fair amount of sci-fi/fantasy, I don’t read a lot set in space; it’s just not my usual go-to. But this sounded intriguing, so I had to give it a shot.

Like any science fiction set in an alternate world, it takes a few pages to get used to the world-building, but it’s not too bad. It’s actually set in what is supposed to be our world, just a long way in the future. The technology is obviously crazy advanced, but the characters are all human.

I thought the characters were mostly really great, and Mickey was a lot of fun. He’s a little cavalier and silly at times, but also understands the stakes enough to take things seriously when needed. But he’s a really enjoyable character that was a lot of fun to follow.

I also liked the science and backstory of the Expendables - how they’re made and how it’s supposed to be different from just a clone. Mickey is supposed to still be the same person every time he is regenerated, but seeing the subtle differences between Mickey7 and Mickey8 was really intriguing. I actually really liked all the science in this book, especially when Mickey dove into the history of colonization of other planets and the reason why only one Expendable is allowed at a time. I also thought that the science center was explained in a way that made it sound plausible but also easy to understand.

There was only one scene that I didn’t really like and thought was unnecessary - and, yes, it was a sex scene. Mostly just insinuated and nothing was shown, but the characters involved just made it too weird for me.

Mostly, though, it was a really fun story with intriguing characters. I’m glad I read this one and I think that anyone who enjoys space-set science fiction will enjoy this one. There is also a sequel coming out in March 2023, and I definitely plan on reading it.

Note about the audiobook: the narrator sounds like a young Michael Douglas. I liked it. I thought the audiobook was really well down, and I like that they used a different voice for when he got comm messages. Made it sound authentic.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Trigger warning: death, animal attack, suicide (mentioned), gore, medical experimentation, parasitic infection

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book

Take The Martian, throw in interplanetary colonization, ethical discussions on human cloning and consciousness transfer, and you’ll start to get an idea of what Mickey7 is about. A surprisingly fun read that made me think.

I selected "Mickey7" because of the cover, but read it for the premiss. Mickey7, is an Expendible. Expendibles are basically carbon copies of the previous Mickey being brought to life after that Mickey has died. Basically cloning but where they upload their memories so that when the current Mickey wakes up it's almost like nothing has happened. Expendibles are used to do really dangerous jobs, where they don't want to risk a regular persons life. On a fairly young space colony, this happens often.

I can't recollect any books that I've read which are similar. If I had to name something I would say it has the pacing and feel of "The Martian", but also while dealing with giant creatures.

Overall I enjoyed reading the book. Some parts a lost interest a bit, but eventually the action would catch my attention again. 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mickey7 has been reviewed in the June 2022 issue of SFRevu.com and is exclusive to them until July 2022. You may read the review at this link: <http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=19572>.

First of all, the world is called Niflheim, which is the Norse world of the dead. So you know I was going to read this book. Sci-fi in general is a sort of hit-or-miss genre for me, but I was intrigued by the idea of these iterations of the same person used as an expendable resource. I expected a sort of sci-fi thriller, with Mickey7 needing to keep it under wraps that there are two of him. I was pleasantly surprised and how introspective this book is, examining what it is that makes you, *YOU.*

This book started off good: strong, very engaging from the first page. I loved Mickey's sense of humor and his sarcasm. However, the momentum kind of fizzed as the story progressed.

4/5 stars! Loved the concept and ideas of this book, it’s been so long since I read a pure sci-fi novel, the last one I read was Leviathan Wakes (also a great one!). This one is a fun space adventure, full of exploring a different planet, extraterristels, and clones.
We follow Mickey7, an Expendable, a clone of his previous regenerations, who retains the memories of his “deaths.” He gets assigned to colonize a distant planet, though it’s not completely livable, there’s potential. And so, our protagonist gets in the crossfire of a certain event and is presumed dead. Next thing, there are clones and fun adventures. Major Orphan Black vibes ✨
SO, the plot thickens, if I say too much, I’d be spoiling it. This one was a lot of fun! It felt like a great time and I honestly didn't even realize when it was done. The world-building was very imaginative and it painted a picture of the planet in my mind. Though we follow Mickey7's POV, we get important info about the world they’re living in, what it means to be a clone, how it compares to being a human. I got Murderbot vibes from the snarkiness and sarcastic tone of Mickey7’s voice.
Please check this book if you want to try out a fun sci-fi novel. Also, if you liked the Murderbot series or the Expanse, definitely check this out! You’ll love it! :D

This book is such a fun romp. This is original science fiction at its best. Mickey is an “expendable” on a generation ship that is trying to colonize a planet. It’s a post he signed up for but doesn’t really understand what he’s getting into. Without verifying 7’s death his mates order up another Mickey and then we have multiples. It was fun reading about 7 & 8 trying to remain undetected, about Mickey trying to find out what happened to his other iterations, and the overall plot of colonizing and terraforming the new planet was fun and engaging. I also appreciated the background into this world’s rules regarding clones and multiples. All the characters were fun and the banter was great.

An excellent book that keeps you entranced from beginning to end. At first I was reminded of Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty, but was quickly sucked and felt like this book had its own identity.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

Representation: Not much, a few BIPOC supporting characters.

Mickey has died six times, and he's about to die a seventh time. This is Mickey7's job, being the Expendable of the human colony on Niflheim. As the Expendable, Mickey does all of the jobs that are far too dangerous for an average person and are likely to result in death. Whenever he dies, a new body is regenerated with most of the memories still intact. Except on this scouting mission, Mickey7 ends up not dying and gets back to the base with help from native life. The problem is, by the time he gets back, Mickey8 is already awake. They have to find ways to hide the fact that there's two of them now, because generally, the idea of duplicates is loathed and if they're caught, they'll be recycled for protein. It gets complicated very fast, because the settlement of Niflheim isn't going well. It's a cold planet, hostile to most life, and terraforming isn't going well. Food is starting to get in short supply, the native life is getting curious about the strange people, and the Mickeys have a delicate balancing act that can easily get shattered. The survival of both lifeforms on Niflheim could all come down to Mickey7. Can he do something before he dies for good?

Rating: 4/5 I immensely enjoyed reading this! I love sci-fi, and this hits all the classic sci-fi things - trying to make a living out in the unknown, ethical dilemmas around clones, coming face to face with another lifeform and figuring out how to interact with them, being crammed into a limited space with a bunch of other people, and more. This got quite philosophical at times, but it felt very appropriate, considering Mickey7 has a very strange life where he does very dangerous things but doesn't really have to worry about dying. There was some discussion about souls, about if a new body has your memories uploaded into it, is it really you or is it a new you, things like that. I liked that this was very clearly a spacefaring story, and has portions of that, but it's all about trying to start a new colony on a new planet. A lot of sci-fi will be on already established planets, so it was nice to see the more gritty details of the very early stages of a colony. There is quite a bit of focus on the Mickeys being hungry and fighting over rations, which I get, but I felt like that time could've be devoted to other things. I enjoyed this part, but other people might not - there are several flashbacks to Mickey7's previous reincarnations, and several tangents about other colonies on other worlds that succeeded or failed. I liked thinking about all the potential ways that things could easily go wrong for a colony, and things that could go right. This is sci-fi, and it does get technical at times, but it's never overly complicated or intentionally confusing. Things are explained in a way that the layperson can understand, and it's helpful that Mickey is intentionally not the smartest person. He's basically the average person that doesn't understand complex science, so when things get explained, it's in a way he, and us by extension, can understand. Overall, I liked this!

Edward Ashton http://www.edwardashton.com is the author of three novels. His novel Mickey7 was published in February of this year.

Due to some violence and mature language, I categorize this novel as PG. As you might expect from the title, the main character is Mickey Barnes. The novel is set in a distant future. Humanity has begun to spread out to the stars. Barnes is unique among his group of colonists. He is their designated expendable. That is because his body and brain have been scanned. A new body can be grown and his consciousness downloaded. Why? So that Barnes can perform any dangerous task that the colonists need to have done. So far, he has died and had to be regenerated six times. That is why he is called Mickey7.

The colonists have traveled to the planet Niflheim. It was thought to be Earth-like. Once they arrived, they found it to be an ice-covered world. The colonists can survive, but just barely. The story begins with Barnes called upon again for a dangerous mission on the planet’s surface. Native life has become a threat to the colony, and Barnes is sent on a scouting mission.

Barnes becomes lost. By the time he makes it back to the colony enclosure, there is a Mickey8 waiting for him. The idea of regeneration is loathed by many of the colonists. Strict rules govern regeneration, limiting one living copy. Now one or perhaps both Barnes could be terminated. Not only must Mickey7 deal with this threat, but he finds himself the only one in a position to handle the local inhabitants.

I enjoyed the 7 hours I spent reading this 288-page science fiction novel. This is a different take on human colonization. Being the one and only colonist to be able to regenerate gives the Barnes character some unique plot opportunities. The chosen cover art is eye-catching but does not have much to do with the main plot thread of the story. I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Mickey is an expendable. A job that no one else in the entire world wanted to be, the first and only volunteer for the position. A replicated and indefinite version of his former self. The first line of defense against aliens and disease. The plebeian who squeezes into impossible spaces, embarks on suicide missions, does every task but masters none.

So when Mickey falls into a crevasse while out exploring, it's assumed that his death is inevitable. It's not worth another life to fish him out. Report back to base and get the next Mickey baking in the primordial goo that makes new Mickey's. Only Mickey finds a series of uncanny tunnels deep in the hole, and through a strange encounter with an alien, turns up back and base slightly bruised but very much alive.

The problem is that there can't be two, and Mickey 7 comes face to face with Mickey 8. How long can they hide that Mickey 7 is still alive?

That's when the book gets super boring.

I loved the premise of this and the first few chapters of the book, but boy is Mickey an unlikeable character. AND WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH TWO OF HIM. The whole caveat of this book is that you love Mickey and are rooting for him, because there is little actually happening outside of them playing "Multiplicity" poorly.

There is just so little action to this book, and the stakes are low and the ending is pretty anticlimactic.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an ARC of this title.
2.5 Stars rounded up.

Mickey7 checked off so many of my favorite things in a book. Science fiction, check. Space, check. Astronauts, check. Colonization of new planets, check. Clones, check. Science stuff, check. Interesting character/s, check.

This was a fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed Mickey7. Mickey signs up as an Expendable for a journey to a new planet and to help colonize a new planet. Anything dangerous that seems like a human would die, send Mickey in. If he dies, he is just remade with all of his backed up memories. Mickey7 is… the 7th Mickey.

When he doesn’t actually die, but everyone thinks he did, Mickey8 is spun up. So now what happens? Multiples are not allowed to exist. And what about the alien species that are killing colonists?

This book was brain candy for me after a long rough work week. I’ll definitely be looking for more from this author!

*Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance copy!*

A great read for those who are also a fan of The Martian and Project Hail Mary. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Not exactly how I imagined this story unfolding, but that's the good thing about books, they can surprise you! It was a pretty good story with a satisfying ending though so I did enjoy it.

Mickey7 epitomizes the scifi thriller genre, weaving a complex universe with a powerful protagonist and a story that utilizes political intrigue, space travel and a strong history. Ashton is an expert at dialogue and discourse, taking you directly into the action that unfolds.. Prepare to contemplate the trappings of power and the consequences of actions.
Full review to come on YouTube.