I was excited about the premise for this book, especially as it has been a while since I have read any sci-fi.

The start was strong and very interesting learning about the new colony and Mickey7's role in it. However, once MIckey7 is saved by the native life and gets back to the base to find Mickey8 already there, that's where things slowed down almost to a stop. From there until about 85% through other than a couple skirmishes with the planet's animals, we just learn a lot of history of the human species - and how we have ended up trying to inhabit other planets - and follow the Mickeys on their daily tasks. For two people who don't want to be cause existing at the same time, they do very little to make sure they don't get caught in any lies. I was surprised when at around 80% it was mentioned that it had only been 3 days, when I thought about it, it absolutely made sense - but it was so slow I thought it had been weeks.

As for the ending, it just 'happened', there was no real build up, and there was a small twist, which, while clever, wasn't anything jaw dropping. I did turn the page after the end expecting another chapter, that's how quickly it was wrapped up.

From the publisher: Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.

Mickey7 is a fun but thought-provoking read about a group of humans in the distant future trying to settle on an inhospitable planet. Mickey Barnes is the unfortunate volunteer Expendable. He is intentionally placed in dangerous situations because if he dies, his old body can be recycled, a new body can be created, and his consciousness can be placed in the new body. Due to an unfortunate and deadly event that took place some years prior, multiple duplicates are not allowed – but Mickey7 escapes from a situation expected to kill him and finds that Mickey8 has already been created. What now?

Mickey’s best friend Berto is that guy you are still friends with even though you aren’t exactly sure why. His girlfriend is one of the only colonists who treats him like a normal person, and his commander is the worst boss you ever had. So it is easy to slip into Mickey’s world, despite the alien landscape. The book is surprisingly philosophical. Mickey7 has only a few extra experiences that Mickey8 does not, and yet one of those experiences makes him a different person with a different outlook when a crisis arises.

The book does not take itself too seriously. There are pointed comments about how we are currently treating the planet Earth, but they are not heavy handed. It has been 600 years since anyone has heard from old Earth – but life elsewhere in the cosmos is still a struggle. Mickeys 7 and 8 read a number of stories about colonization attempts that went bad – not enough food, fights with local sentient species, planets outside the Goldlilocks zone, humans being humans and killing each other. It’s a reminder that we’d be better off taking care of Earth than looking for new homes.

Mickey7 reminded me of books by Andy Weir. It’s not as funny and definitely does not contain as much science and math, but if you enjoyed The Martian and Project Hail Mary, you might enjoy Mickey7.

I read an advance reader copy of Mickey7 from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be published on February 15 will be available at the Galesburg Public Library in print and as a downloadable ebook and audiobook.

Stanley Kubrick once said: “Everything has already been done. Every story has been told. Every scene has been shot. It’s out job to do it one better.” And I would argue not objectively better, but exceptional in its exploration of the familiar subject matter. The premise of Mickey7, for instance, draws immediate parallels to Duncan Jones’ Moon but the novel sets itself apart by proving exceptional in its story-telling. The heart of the novel is Mickey7, the seventh incarnation of an Expendable, a human who can be expected to sacrifice himself for the common good because, after all, he can just return as a clone with most of his memories intact - provided he remembered to back himself up. A beloved friend and fellow crew member to some, an unnatural freak to others, Mickey takes on dangerous missions with a certain acerbic resignation. There’s a humor to the character that makes him not only instantly likable but very grounded and very human, navigating life on the Niflheim ice world colony, a reluctant replaceable cog in an unforgiving machine. There’s some wonderful world-building here and plenty of cool sci-fi concepts and technologies, but it’s the dialogue that truly sets this book apart. It’s smart, sharply comedic at times, and does a great job of realizing the memorable players in Mickey7’s life. Still, I did have a few quibbles. The haphazard plan hatched by the two clones to keep their duplicate existence a secret feels a questionable and highly problematic game plan doomed to failure, while the mystery of the planet’s dangerous denizens (the subterranean-dwelling creepers) isn’t really developed so much as it is touched on now and again before being abruptly resolved, but there’s a terrific twist in the telling and our hero’s clever actions ultimately lead to a dramatically satisfying conclusion. One of the type of books you take note of the author’s name so you can track down their other titles. Recommended.

Right off the back, the publishing blurb is way off. If I had to give it a “thing”, I’d say it’s more Six Wakes (in concept) meets The Murderbot Diaries (in tone and the idea of a high sci-if concept hating their job). This was a solid and quick read for me. Cool sci-fi concept with a light exploration into the philosophical or ethical repercussions. The characters weren't super fleshed out, but I liked Mickey7 enough to care about what would happen to him.

Interstellar colonization is an endeavor fraught with danger. First off, the colony ship uses antimatter to provide the power needed to drive it through the cosmos. Unfortunately, that stuff is so radioactive that weapons-grade plutonium is tame by comparison. And if any of it breaks containment, someone will have to put the antimatter genie back in the bottle. That someone is Mickey Barnes because he is expendable. In fact, he is "The Expendable." Any dangerous job, particularly a lethal one, is his by default. Gwen Johansen, the recruiter who hired Mickey, explained in great detail all the myriad ways he might be required to die while carrying out his duties. But, he volunteered for the job anyway because something far scarier awaited him if he stayed on his homeworld.

"Mickey7" is the story of a man caught in a dilemma that is strictly of his own making. Darkly humorous, the author pulls you along by recounting the many misadventures of Mickey and the history of other colonization efforts that either fell to ruin or succeeded despite the odds. I think you will come to like Mickey7, Nasha, and even Cat as the novel zips along. This thought-provoking novel is a sure winner, and I highly recommend it to all fans of hard science fiction.

My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this stellar novel.

I thought this was a resoundingly fine book. It had a couple of interesting concepts but didn’t go anywhere particularly interesting with them. The characters weren’t terribly drawn but weren’t too interesting either. After the first couple chapters it felt very paint by numbers, nothing surprising happened, and short of a couple passing mentions of the Ship of Theseus the philosophical ideas were about as glossed over as the science behind the story. It felt like it was straddling different ideas, unsure weather to be a light hearted romp or a deeper exploration and never really landed on either. Plus the author / main character kept using a couple words over and over again that felt really out of place. The ending felt very abrupt with neither much in the way of setup or payoff. Note: I was given an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This book was so cool! It was unique, funny, and I loved the witty writing style. The author writes as if he’s having a conversation with you. I’ve heard this book being described as a cross between The Martian and Dark Matter. I have read both those books and I would agree with that comparison.

Mickey7 is an Expendable. He’s the one you call when you have a dangerous job and the person lucky enough to have said job probably won’t return. When Mickey7 dies, he has the ability to regenerate with almost all his memories. Sort of like cloning. He is sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim.

On a routine mission, Mickey7 falls into a giant hole. His teammates weigh the odds and determine that it was too dangerous to recover him. Mickey7 was presumed dead. However, when he finally makes it back to base, he discovers someone sleeping in his bed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8. If his superiors get wind there are duplicates running around they will both be thrown into the recycler for protein.

Mickey7 struggles to keep this secret from his friends and his Commander Marshall. Meanwhile, there are numerous problems arising on the planet, primarily lack of resources, and the threat if curious monster bugs.

Will Mickey7 be able keep from dying long enough to keep both lifeforms alive?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

This was a really good fast-paced sci fi novel. It had humor and heart. There were really frustrating parts, like how carelessly the Mickeys treated their precarious situation, but the relationships, dialogue, and plot were well thought-out and developed. Overall an enjoyable read. Great for fans of Andy Weir and Martha Wells.

If you’ve read the book description, you’ve come close enough to having read the book. You’ve got the setup and the plot conflict. All that’s added is some bland backstory of Mickey Barnes’s earlier lives, a not-very-compelling description of the interactions between Mickeys 7 and 8, and a clever plan by Mickey7 to solve some key problems on Niflheim, including his own.

I was reminded of Murderbot a little when I first read the description of this book, because both lead characters are unlike these they live and work with, and they are expected to do the distasteful and dangerous work of space colonization. But that’s where the likeness ends. Mickey7 has an edge to his character, but doesn’t come close to the appeal of Murderbot’s sarcastic moroseness. Action scenes in this book didn’t raise my heart rate the way Murderbot’s did. This book felt to me like a good idea for a short story, padded out with a lot of material that doesn’t add anything—though it could have, if the writing had been more lively or added more insight into the characters.

Two Mickeys don’t add up to a wholly entertaining book.

Mickey7 follows the seventh iteration of Mickey, a human who has signed his life away as an Expendable, meaning that he does all of the dangerous jobs on his colonization mission on a distant planet, usually ending in his imminent death. He will then re-emerge as the next version of himself to continue to be used by the mission for the “greater good”.

But Mickey7 did not die on a routine planetary scouting mission as expected, and back in the dome they already created Mickey8, resulting in the comedic and horrific issue of two Mickey’s co-existing at the same time, and sharing the same poor rations while trying not to get caught. It is against the law to have two or more copies of a person and both Mickey 7 and 8 will go down the "corpse hole" to be recycled into protein goo to feed the other colonists if the authorities find out.

I liked the book. It was well-written and paced and moved along very nicely. Extentialist nature and religion were brought into the story which made it more series. The question of just how human is an expendable. In the book, the Natalists believe that humans that sign up to be reprinted and upload their consciousness, are soulless monsters. I also really enjoyed reading about the various colonizations throughout history that had failed or succeeded, adding in world building and history into this world. I also thought that the small romance was well-done and woven in well, resulting in being believable.

My only issue with the novel was that it did not have a more resolute ending. I thought the ending too abrupt and the ends tied up too neatly.. It would have been nice to get more of the interaction between Mickey7 and the "prime" creeper. Also, I do not believe the commander would simply give up trying to get vengeance on Mickey7. He does not seem like that kind of guy. The only comfortable resolution would have had the commander being put out of commission permanently by losing his power over the colony in disgrace-- or death. As it is left, Mickey7 will never really be "safe"

As can be inferred from Edward Ashton's title, this novel centers on a person who has been cloned -- several times. A volunteer on a colonizing spaceship headed to an ice planet called Niflheim, Mickey7 is an Expendable. His role is to take the most highly dangerous tasks needed in the new colony, and if he dies, be regenerated with his memories more or less in tact. A recruiter sold him on this job as a means to be immortal --- but experiencing death, in several extremely painful forms, makes Mickey7 a bit jaded about the whole thing.

Mickey7 narrates the story; through his flippant, sarcastic voice we learn of the demise of not only Earth, but also many other colony start-ups in which the entire crew died. So the theme of death and life is omnipresent in the narrative, though the tone is light and somewhat comic. A familiar clone story trope, the simultaneous existence of two versions of an individual, appears early in the novel as Mickey7 and Mickey8 first try to hide their "double" status and later become enmeshed in the existential danger facing their colony. Given the discovery of apparently menacing, sentient life-forms on Niflheim, should the human response be to kill them all since communication seems impossible, thereby committing genocide? What other choices are possible?

The exploration of this crisis is light-hearted, yet the resolution is nevertheless too easy, with closure on the perplexing "duplicate" existence and a rocky love relationship crafted in a rather perplexing manner.

This novel will be enjoyed by readers who relish characters with breezy/saucy attitudes, occasional forays into ethical questions, and who tolerate storylines that don't stick the landing.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun read. Mickey, who is a history not science nerd needs to get off the planet fast. So he gets a posting on a space colonizing mission as an expendable. Yes, his job is to handle dangerous jobs and die. Then they bring him back good as new with memories downloaded. So what happens when Mickey 7 doesn't die but they've already made Mickey 8. Only room for one expendable at a time - this is a problem. Whatever will the Mickeys do?
This is a review of a digital review copy provided by NetGalley.

Cool premise and start, but my interest in <i>Mickey7</i> continuously dropped as I progressed. While this was a super readable soft sci-fi piece, the author chose to focus on multiple storylines at once - Mickey7’s issue of being a double, the mystery of what’s happening on their new colony, and the flashbacks that help tell the story of how Mickey7 got where he is today. Unfortunately, the constant switching back and forth between past and present storylines really slowed the overall piece down. The issue of pacing really came to a head in the final chapter - the quick (and incomplete?) wrap up, contrasted against the really slow and sometimes dull present plot, didn’t really work for me. I think fans of The Martian will be disappointed if holding <i>Mickey7</i> up as a comparison, but might enjoy the concepts explored here.

I voluntarily obtained a digital version of this book free from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for sending me a opt of this book. I really enjoyed it and I loved the ending. I do however disagree with it being compared to the Martian. It’s nothing like it be nevertheless a great read!

Mickey is an Expendable. He’s sent along with a colonizing crew to do the dirty jobs. Go check out that cave over there… Might be acid spitting monster. Oops! Reactor is busted… May be some radiation. Be careful! And if he doesn’t make it, eh… we’ll make another. As the title suggests, Mickey is on his 7th version. All the same as the first… personality, looks, and unfortunately, job.

Long range scanners determined the planet Niflheim was ready for terraforming, but on the surface it’s a ball of ice with some interesting inhabitants. Mickey7 goes out on a jaunt around the permafrost and slips down a hole. Assumed to be lost, Mickey8 is created back on the ship. Jack Tripper moments ensue as they (the two Mickeys) try to hide themselves from the rest of the crew and figure out what to do…

The hype is big for this one… so how does it meet expectations?

The premise is obviously key to this book. It all revolves around this equation… (btw. the story of how he became an Expendable is important, so I’m not going to give it away here). And on the whole, the book focuses to the core characters: Mickey 7, Mickey 8, a love interest, and the boss. Ashton pulls the camera back a bit to relay the experiences of other colonies and Expendables, their successes and mistakes. There is a bit of The Martian/ “character vs the void of space”… It’s a thing in scifi and if you’re a frequent reader of the genre, you will know what I am talking about.

The real conclusion that I’m headed toward is that I wanted to story to transition to the bigger picture a bit earlier… I knew it was going to happen, but felt the effect would have been more powerful if the audience could experience it for longer.

A solid new premise gives way to some worldly-contemplation. But some confusion about scope and tone (is it Three’s Company situational comedy or something a bit more serious?).

3.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this science fiction novel.

Science fiction has, at its best always attempted to take on the big issues. Amongst the aliens, space ships, technology and flying cars, themes about what makes us human, what is humanity, what makes a life have always been present. Mickey7 by Edward Ashton continues this tradition with questions about if you die, but can be brought back what does that make you. Immortal? Inessential? A useful tool or a superfluous element.

Mickey Barnes is an "expendable", an employee in a colony at the edge of their universe who gets the most dangerous, and dirty jobs without fear of the consequences. If the worst happens, a fast death, slow death, really any death, Mickey will be recreated from proteins, and his memories downloaded to his new body, and life for him will go on. An immortal worker drone and clone, who has died 6 times previously, hence the designation Mickey7. Mickey7 except for his childhood friend and girlfriend, lives a lonely existence, viewed as an oddity by some, or an abomination by others. Until the day he is left to die, but doesn't, and Mickey7's life gets a little less lonely and a lot more complicated.

The story is really well written, with a lot going on in such a small book. LIfe on the colony is well developed, as is the ideas that make up this universe. The idea of the expendables makes sense, and there are a lot of ramifications that could be covered in later books, Mr. Ashton describes a few, and there are quite a few books to be made about this. There was a lot of planning for this book and it shows. Plus the characters are all different, and well written. Mickey is both sympathetic and annoying, and a character I would like to read more about.

An excellent story that leaves a lot of threads to be followed up on. The universe is different, and well worth exploring, so I hope there will be more adventures. The ideas are clever and keep the story moving. Fans of the Murderbot series, or Becky Chambers or even the Expanse will definitely enjoy this book. This is the first book that I have read by Mr. Ashton, but not the last, and hopefully there will be more to feature these characters again.

Sci-Fi isn't my normal category, but I flew through Mickey7 in 2 days, so that should tell you something. I really liked the bits of philosophy (especially the Ship of Theseus) and instant messaging format that was interspersed amongst the chapters.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

While this is an often amusing space opera, it is a slow and meandering read. Just enough hard science to make it interesting and enough personal "drama" to keep it moving (slowly). The idea is a workable concept. That a person would do almost anything just to go into space even to the point of volunteering to be and "expendable" is a bit nuts. He agrees to upload his brain functions so that when he is killed in the line of duty, his brain can be downloaded into a recyclable clone and he can continue to exist just as he was before. The only tricky part is the original is supposed to be dead before the clone can be activated. Micky7 is on an expedition where he falls into a crevasse and they believe him dead. Mickey 8 has been activated but Mickey 7 didn't die but he is the only one that knows this. The two must coordinate how they share the same room, meals and work schedules without anyone knowing there are two of them.

I enjoyed this work of science fiction and will recommend it to patrons. It was a quick, fairly humerous read. But there were also parts that made you think about moral issues. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

In MICKEY7, by Edward Ashton, Mickey7 is presumed dead and Mickey8 has been created in his place on the colony base on the ice planet Niflheim. Mickey is an Expendable, who is used is situations where human life is too risky. If he perishes, a copy of Mickey can be created and his memories, if they have been properly uploaded, can by installed in the new copy. So when Mickey7 shows up back at the base to find out that Mickey8 has already been created, Mickey7 has to figure out how to live when he is supposed to be dead. Mickey7 leans on what he knows to help him live and uses his accidental survival to help the dying colony from wasting away.
What a wonderful mind scramble this book is. Having two people with the same body and artificially replicated soul live and breathe together is incredibly fascinating. It's a treat whenever they converse with one another and the reader is confronted with the interpreting what is the same and what is different about them. The people closest to the them are interesting too, with each one having their own agenda and the own take on Mickey7/8's life as an Expendable.
Ashton does a nice job weaving in the story around Mickey7's constant struggle to survive and not get caught. There is some really interesting back stories on Expendables and mixed successes in past colonizations that all feed into what happens at the end of the book. Ashton, by reviewing previous failures, also delves into social commentary on what is right and wrong with human rights and how humans should treat other living beings.
Fast-moving and exciting, MICKEY7 is a sci-fi adventure with a lot of heart and I look forward to reading more books by Edward Ashton in the future.