A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my copy of Mickey7. As always I will provide an honest review.
Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living.
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.
On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.
Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.
That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.
Well hello, beautiful people! Welcome to the start of a new week and the end of the shortest month! Today I bring you a book review. Mickey7 is the story of our titular Mickey because, well, there is also a Mickey8. Mickey7, while out on a mission is wounded and presumed dead, to the point where he is cloned (it’s his job) and Mickey8 takes his place. Small problem, Mickey7 is rescued by one of the locals and arrives back on site. This puts both Mickies in quite the pickle, as only one is allowed to be “alive” at a time.
So when I sat down to review this book, I’ll admit I had a hard time putting my thoughts to paper, as it were. Mickey7 isn’t a bad book, per se, it’s just not a book I felt like finishing if that makes sense. Let’s put it this way, I started reading it on the 12th and managed to make it to 60% of the way through before I gave up on the 26th.
The characters were fine, I just didn’t find anything really loveable about them. Mickey is written as a Mark Watney type (you know, from the Martian), a kind of comedic view into the harsh realities of intergalactic travel and planet habitation. To me, he just kind of fell flat. I just wasn’t as engaged with his journey as I would have liked, and given that his is the one we are supposed to relate to, that’s a problem.
The side characters were okay. One of his friends is written to be a jerk, and he absolutely is. I appreciated that. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to hold my attention.
The complex problem of finding a planet that meets our requirements for life, isn’t actually hospitable, and inhabiting said planet, was just okay. It didn’t thrill me to learn of, let’s call it, escalating tensions with their new neighbors. I wasn’t really invested in that conflict.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I had tried to push myself, I could have finished this book, but life is too short and there are too many books out there for me to keep reading one I don’t like. 1 star.
Lauren Corcur 