Tell me a story... about space and humanity
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
