I wouldn’t be offended if you stopped reading this review and pre-ordered Antimatter Blues. To be published on 3/14/23. Great book & same awesome narration!

If you liked Mickey 7 as much as I did then you’ll enjoy this book!! In fact I liked this book even more than M7!! It expands on everything in book one. It left no rock unturned.

I loved the continued interaction with the native alien species and the humans. Sentient alien slug war? I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book and zoomed straight through to the end which was satisfying! Significantly less romance/sexy time. YESSS! Great action packed sequel!!

Book three please!!

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio. I waited almost 2 weeks to write a review to make sure I wasn’t biased by my love of Mickey 7. Nope I loved loved loved this one even more.

I want to say thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an audiobook arc.

great finish to the mickey 7 duology. i liked the first book better, this entry felt too dense at times but still had the great characters and interesting settings carried forward. gripping storyline that doesnt let up on the gas. narrator is great. protagonists are vividly painted and all their actions feel organic to the story. the way the plot progresses and the discoveries of the planet and the Creepers are fantastic. if you read the first book and enjoyed it at all you owe it to your to finish Mikey 7's story. i will happily read any future works by the author.

Great follow up to Mickey7. The book continues the story with the same humor and wit as Mickey7. It’s a fun and fast paced book if you enjoy Mickey7 you will enjoy this as well. The audiobook narration is top notch.

I want to say thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an audiobook arc.

Edward Ashton’s debut novel Mickey 7, was a fantastic story that left me wanting more of that world. Now we get Antimatter Blues!

In my opinion Antimatter Blues isn’t as great as the first book, but it was still written beautifully and I really enjoyed the story. I finished the book in a day and think that shows how grappling the story was. There was just something missing and I can’t quite put my finger on what that is. I would definitely still recommend these books and I’m very much looking forward to anything else written by Edward Ashton!

The story picks up with Mickey 7, the 7th iteration of what is called an Expendable, someone who is sent on dangerous exploration missions and, when he dies, can be recreated with the memories of his past selves and sent on the next dangerous mission. After the events of the previous book, and the death of Mickey 8, Mickey 7 has taken up a "normal" life in his space colony, performing a variety of mundane tasks that don't require any specialization. When the commander of the colony gives Mickey 7 an ultimatum, retrieve an antimatter bomb lost to the local insect-like species or be recycled, Mickey chooses the former. But the bomb is no longer where he had hidden it and he is forced to liaise with the crawlers again, joining forces with them after he discovers they no longer have the bomb either. Overall, I liked this sequel much better than its predecessor, Mickey 7. It felt like Mickey had more of a reason to live, and he didn't seem as petty as he did in the first book. Though he is initially hesitant, he seems to recognize the value of protecting his colony, particularly the friends made in the first book. The plot moves along at a good pace and there is a good mix of action, unexpected alliances and twists, and a good ending. People who liked Ender's Game and sci-fi in general will probably enjoy this series. Don't know if there will be a third installment, but I'd read it if there was!

This was a solid and fun follow-up to Mickey7, which was a surprise favorite read of mine from 2022. Like that first book, the pace blisters along furiously as our characters deal with some life-or-death emergencies while trying to survive as a small colony on a fairly hostile planet. The tone is clever and playful, not too different from the feel of the Bobiverse books or the Martian by Andy Weir, and fans of those should feel right at home with Ashton's intelligent but extremely accessible hard sci-fi.

Ashton is fantastic at bringing the characters to vivid life, and even ones that get very little page time feel real and 3-dimensional with distinctive personalities. In a slim 300-page book, that's an important skill, plus the plotting is air-tight. Readers who enjoy a slower pace with more expansive worldbuilding or more slice-of-life moments may feel like they want more out of it, but for me I think I'm left fully satisfied and am happy to have some lighter and breezier reads to change things up from the slower-paced heftier ones I'm often reading.

I'm giving this 4 stars instead of the 5 I gave for book 1 because book 1 had considerably more impact due to its flashback narrative structure (that could only have been pulled off once as the reader learned about Mickey's previous incarnations). This one had a very straightforward narrative structure and didn't pack as much emotional weight, but it was always engaging, and if the series continues to deliver books at this level of quality I'll be more than happy to keep reading them on release.

I did it fully on audio through an audiobook ARC, and the narrator gives a lively performance (though possibly a bit over-the-top for the voices of many of the side characters). The audiobook producers do a fantastic sound effect for any helmet-t0-helmet radio communications to make it sound like the voices are filtered through a comm channel, which was definitely a plus that added to my immersion. Overall a solid sequel for what I can now safely say is one of my favorite sci-fi series!

Wonderful read! I just love the world Edward Ashton has created. This book picks up right where Mickey7 left off. In both books you are plopped right into the story without having to do intense world building. This makes them fun and quick reads. I read this one in a couple days. The plot and writing definitely feel like a fresh take to me. Ashton has a unique way of blending a compelling story with a dash of humor. Would highly recommend for sci-fi fans all around. But especially for fans of John Scalzi and Andy Weir.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for providing a ARC of Antimatter Blues in exchange for an honest review.

Cloning, space monsters, terraforming planets, life threatening mysteries… what’s not to love?

In this sequel to Mickey7, the only thing keeping Mickey from being recycled is that he is the only one who knows where the antimatter bomb is being kept. He's also the only one who can communicate with the native species of aliens affectionately termed the Creepers. Mickey seems to be safe from any future consequences. Then, the commander informs Mickey that the only way their colony will have enough energy to survive the winter is if he retrieves that bomb so they can recycle the energy. It's now up to Mickey to save the colony... which would be a lot easier if he had as much knowledge of the creepers as he pretended to.

The story continues with a small cast of characters getting caught between warring aliens and trying to broker a deal to save them all. The character voices are very well done with the right amount of quip and sarcasm. I also appreciated that this sequel showed more of the action. This is a solid sci-fi romp and it is well deserving of being turned into a movie. I'm excited to watch it come to life in 2024. It is more of the snappy, quick paced, modern Andy Weir type of fantasy that is easy to digest as opposed to the more classic, lengthy world building type of story. I was a fan!

As we discovered in Mickey7, the first of this series, Mickey is a once-"expendable" in a colony of humans on a distant world, which means he was the one they sent in to fix a core on the verge of meltdown or used as a guinea pig for a new vaccine they're testing. They can make more Mickeys and simply pull a new one out of the tank, upload the previous Mickey's download, and move on. But here in Antimatter Blues, he's retired now, because it was just too hard to die each time, and know a new Mickey would take his place, with his friends, with his girlfriend Nasha, with everything. Same personality, but very different person, and like all of us, Mickey just wants to live his own life.

This time Mickey should be owning up to a falsehood he told Marshall, the leader of the colony. He left a valuable antimatter bomb out in the wilderness, but he told Marshall he gifted it to a sentient species on the planet. Now they colony is running dangerously low on fuel and need the antimatter back, to survive the winter. Can he find it? And even if he finds it, can he get it back? Ridiculous, fast-paced, action-filled and chock full of fun banter, this Mickey novel is just as enjoyable as the first. I sure hope this series continues.

Does anyone else feel like Mickey7's story is practically cinema ready? Just like in The Martian, you can almost feel the flawed and frustrated Mickey coming alive, with the big screen calling his name.

Antimatter Blues is the second in the Mickey7 sci-fi series by Edward Ashton. Fans of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells will likely enjoy this series, as there are some similarities in story, character, and tone (while still being quite different). The book will also appeal to fans of the Wolf 359 podcast.

Mickey is an "expendable," a human who can be sent on dangerous missions and, should he die, his consciousness will simply be uploaded into a freshly decanted version of his own body. In book 2 of the series, Mickey has been "retired" for two years when some decisions from book 1 come back to bite him, and the rest of the colony, on the ass.

The first book in the series was good but a little uneven at times, but Ashton has really found his groove here, Apparently the series is going to be made into a movie, and hopefully that means we'll get a book 3 (and more?).

I was provided a ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Antimatter Blues is a fun, fast-paced, occasionally sarcastic return to the Mickey 7 universe. Although the premise seems to lean towards a deep, thoughtful exploration of what it means to be human, how we relate to ourselves, and what does it mean if we can be copied; in truth, the book is far more pragmatic than that, with the protagonist bumping from one issue to another, just trying to juggle life and get enough to eat while doing as little work possible. Essentially, the very core of being human.

A great follow-up to the first book in the series, Mickey 7.

Mickey 7 (#1 in the series) was one of my favourite books from 2022, so when I saw there would be a second, Antimatter Blues, I almost fell of my chair with excitement. My excitement was not misplaced with this fast-paced adventure-style, second installment. I recommend reading (or re-reading) Mickey 7 because this book picks right back up with all our favourite characters including our endlessly sarcastic lead, Mickey 7, and his best friends, two years after the last book ended.

If you liked the first book, then you'll love the ride this time around - a must read. If you listened to the first book on audio, you'll be thrilled to know John Pirhalla is narrating again. If you haven't listened to the audiobook - please do - because it's AMAZING.

This book is best read while on an alien planet, ideally while taking a break from a full day of hiking towards certain doom with your best friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced review copy.

Mickey7 is back to his lovable, goofy self in this second installment of the Mickey7 series. Although it can be read as a stand-alone, it's better to read the series in order as this second book doesn't spend much time on backstory. It's important to understanding the interpersonal relationships and to know what it means to be an expendable. Comparisons made to Hail Mary and the Murderbot series are spot on. Excellent addition to the growing sub-genre of Space Snark.

Listeners of the audiobook will be treated to sound effects when characters are using their communication devices (nice touch) and when one character uses the voice of another for communication. It's a fun addition to the story that you wouldn't fully "get" with the print book. Narrator is excellent and uses just the right voice to relay the personalities of each character.

Really impressed with how creative the author has been with Mickey and this world! The story stays fresh and inventive, despite living in the crowded scifi genre. I was happily surprised to see the level of character development between Mickey and his crew, especially with Berto and another unexpected ally they meet along the way. I'm looking forward to more stories from Mickey and the Niflheim colony!

Spectacular! I loved Mickey 7 and loved Antimatter Blues just as much. The narrator was perfect and I really enjoyed how each character had such a distinct voice, it's very enjoyable and makes it so easy to follow along with and get lost in. I will absolutely be reading every future book in this series!

I found this to be even better than Mickey7. I liked Mickey7 a lot, but felt it's biggest strength was in it's exploration of the concept of two identical clones trying to hide their existence. The sequel is more focused on an interesting plot, and it's better for it. Ashton's writing keeps its' razor sharp wit, but the real strength is the story he cracked here.

Mickey7 is back! Another fast paced installment of his adventures. Enjoyed this one as much as the first. Good narration.

Antimatter Blues is a worthy sequel to Mickey7 and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Our protagonist, Mickey, is neither the bravest nor the smartest but at the end of the day will grudgingly rise to the occasion. In this installment of the story Mickey has to save the colony from the consequences of his actions in the first novel and does so once again without ever making a coherent plan or taking full responsibility. While our protagonist may not be virtuous or heroic, he is relatable and, as before, eventually does do the right thing.

As with Edward Ashton’s previous books the world building is solid and all characters are fully flushed out. The novel is both humorous and a page tuner. I wouldn’t advise anyone to read Antimatter Blues before first reading Mickey7 because this is in no way a standalone novel. If you have already read and enjoyed Mickey7 then don’t hesitate before reading Antimatter Blues.