Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC of the audiobook for Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton.

In terms of audiobook quality, John Pirhalla and Katherine Chin do an absolutely wonderful job with the narration. Each character voice was distinct. I enjoyed the sort of radio communication noises when Mal was speaking out to others, I thought it added a nice layer of awareness of Mal's AI state.

In terms of AI/sci-fi books of the moment, I have Ashton way up at the top next to Martha Wells. It's a fun story, it's feel good "maybe the real journey was the friends we made along the way" type energy, though it does give you a few things to think about when it comes to "who gets left behind" in a society being immeasurably altered by access to technology, While Mal does not have the emotional intelligence of Wells' Murderbot, Mal is trying to understand humans in his own flawed way that still ends up being endearing and comical at once.

Within the story we immediately join Mal in drone form observing a war over technologically advanced human implants/augments/gene changes. Humanists are terrified of a supposed superman virus that will turn all humans into cyborgs. The humanists are also fighting against the lack of opportunity for non-augmented humans in a world taken over by those with the technological access and money to maintain a powerhold over all of society. That doesn't make the humanists the good guys - they are creating fire pits and burning anyone alive with augments, including children, and the superman virus may also be an elaborate hoax. The Federals, who should be able to put down this uprising quite easily with all of their technology, are slowly being routed by the Humanists. But how? And why? When Mal jumps into a recently murdered augmented mercenary to learn more about humans in general, he finds the infospace he lives in as a free AI has been shut down and he is unable to return. To find his way back he teams up with a modded 18-year-old who still appears to be a five-year-old, a Humanist soldier they have captured, and, later, a man with implants allowing for realistic porn viewing experiences who is walking his dog. Together they try to get out of humanist territory alive while also trying to make sense of this fight and why it is not what it seems.

I read Ashton's Mickey7 a few years ago and enjoyed it immensely - I feel the same way about Mal Goes to War. Ashton has an excellent sense of humor, and it really brings a lot of levity to the book, even in stressful situations - Mal especially has some hilarious satirical commentary and understanding of some situations he lands in. I particularly enjoyed his continued claims of him and Pullman being best friends and totally loving that Mal is sharing his brain and his explanation to Katie (or Kaylee? I wasn't sure from the audio) about how apologies work.

Highly recommend this for any fans of Mickey7, Martha Wells, or sci-fi/AI satire/light/fun reads.

5/5 - Mal is the sarcastic AI best friend you never knew you needed.

The squee I squeed when I heard John Pirhalla (who narrated Mickey7, also by Edward Ashton) as the main narrator in Mal Goes to War, was deafening. If you read Mickey7, you'll be thrilled to see Edward Ashton's unique, acerbic and visceral brand of humour coming through.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I hated when I had to to sleep and then loved listening first thing in the morning. It's so much fun to read. I loved following our sarcastic, ragtag group of characters as they ventured through a war-torn countryside.

Mal is a sentient AI who lives in 'info space', essentially the cloud, and finds itself inhabiting an augmented human body in the middle of a warzone. Humans have divided into two factions, one is against technology enhanced humans and the other is for it. Mal (short for Malware), realizes it is unable to return to info space within the warzone and is trying to leave when it befriends an augmented human, Kayleigh. From there Mal collects a odd group of 'friends?' as they try to survive.

The pacing is quick as the group stumbles from one calamity to the next. Because Mal is an AI, it is continuously inhabiting new bodies/technology as the old ones get destroyed in spectacular and appalling ways. Although I received this as an advanced listener copy, I've already pre-ordered it, because I have so many highlights and comments.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this advanced listener copy. Literally, cannot wait to re-listen to this ASAP.

This book is best read in a natural rock shelter, after you've been taken prisoner and are being used as bait to find the rest of your crew. Just remember to keep an eye on the sky, you never know what Mal might drop on the bad guys.

This is a quick, quirky sci-fi novel for readers who like AI and a dystopian/post apocalyptic backdrop. Mal is a free AI that despite his intentions, gets involved in the war between the humanists and the federals. Mal finds and inhabits companions and foes along the way. It is darkly funny and sarcastic which I love in books. I think readers that like the Murderbot series by Martha Wells will also enjoy this novel. Even though this was my first read by this author, I am excited to read more by them.

I did listen the the advance audio version of this book and the narrators did a great job.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Edward Ashton for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Mickey 7 has been so popular and such and easy gateway to science fiction that I was delighted to see a new book by this author. How could you not like Mal, a Silicon-American, Kayleigh a modified human (mind of a teenager and the body of a child) and Asher, a humanist? They make for an odd found family!