Review: Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

 

You got me Mr Ashton. I’m a sucker for a good opening line, and the pages that follow are pretty intriguing too.

Mickey7 isn’t just the title of the book, it’s our lead character’s name. He’s the seventh version of an expendable on a human colonisation expedition to Niflheim, a rather forbidding ice world. What’s an expendable? Whenever there’s a job that’s certain to end in death, Mickey is called upon to complete it. It’s a way of protecting the colony and preventing unnecessary loss of life. Expendables are usually conscripted, and often a criminal of some variety, but Mickey is just an average guy trying to escape his loan shark. The idiot made a bet that failed and then he kept doubling down. It was either death by loan shark or take a job to experience death in many varied and inventive ways. 

As each Mickey dies, a new body is created with waste matter taken from the colony’s dump. There’s nothing wrong with recycling, especially if you’re running dangerously low on resources on a planet where seeding the colony is taking time. The living expendable uploads their data frequently, which is a full memory transfer. Six Mickeys have bit the dust so far, with each one waking up as basically the same person.

We open with Mickey7 on a mission where he is left for dead. He doesn’t die and by the time he slips back into base—helped by the Creepers, the native inhabitants the colony is trying to overcome [read ‘murder indiscriminately’]—Mickey8 has already been born. ‘Multiples’ are strictly forbidden due to the Manikova incident (yeah, someone basically cloned himself 200 times and it led to all kinds of crazy problems), so if the two Mickeys are found out they’re headed for the recycler.

There’s no way that Mickey7 and Mickey8 can keep their big secret for long. Resources are dwindling, and Mickey keeps getting his rations cut. The terraforming is not going well and diplomatic relations with the Creepers are going no better. You might say that it gets … explosive (sorry, spoilers). Ultimately, it comes down to Mickey7 to resolve the situation.

There’s a lot to like about this book. The concept of the expendable is a fun one, especially when you learn about the history of the expendable and the problems it has caused in the past. Ashton’s narrative is conversational and it's amusing to read historical anecdotes scattered throughout Mickey7’s narrative. It ties into the character’s interest in history and leads to an interesting discussion about Theseus’s ship. For those who aren't in the know, Theseus's ship’s original planks and fittings were replaced until not a single part of the ship was the same as the original ship. So, is it still the same ship?

This question comes up a lot for Mickey7. The colonists consider him somewhat immortal, but there are deeper philosophical implications hinted at in the narrative. Does Mickey’s soul disappear when his original body, and subsequent bodies, die? What are the ethics of keeping someone alive indefinitely? And going back to the Theseus’s ship reference, is it the same Mickey who wakes up with each download? Is he in anyway original?

Mickey7 is the perfect everyman. He’s no genius, and at times, not even very interesting. However, his interactions with other characters are interesting, as are the tasks and missions he’s given. His narrative is what is compelling. It’s told in the first person, and as Mickey is interested in history, Ashton is able to build out his universe by having Mickey share what happened to other colonies. In fact, some of those histories are more interesting than the main story at times.

The plot centres around two main issues. The first is we have two Mickeys when there can never be more than one. Mickey8 has some personality differences to Mickey7, mostly that he’s less ethical and more willing to take shortcuts if it’ll get him what he wants. It’s fascinating to see two identical characters who have personalities that verge away according to circumstances. It’s one of my favourite elements of cloning stories. At what point do they become different people?

The second issue is what the colony plans to do about the Creepers. The insectoid style monsters have been attacking the colonists’ base and the commander in charge, Marshall, is a religious zealot ‘fire first, ask questions later’ type.

Thematically, the novel pushes a lot of philosophical questions about life and death, and where exactly our moral compass lies. The question of genocide is examined from various angles too, but the backstory is at times more interesting than what’s actually happening in the present.

Mickey8 is often shunted out of the story, mostly by having him sleep, so that we can follow Mickey7 without losing narrative flow. This is no dual narrative. The goal of the Mickeys is to keep the truth of the double up away from prying eyes. They take logical actions towards this, but there’s just not enough tension in this part of the narrative. There are stakes in Mickey8's presence. It would have been nice to see them exploited. 

In some ways, this issue makes the story seem thin on the surface. Don’t let the double get caught, solve the Creeper problem. Marshall is a one-note kind of character, the blustery sort that made it easy for the film to lampoon (more on the adaptation in another blog), and he’s really the only source of antagonism for Mickey. Any other antagonistic force is either a puppet for Marshall or only becomes a factor because of Marshall.

It’s still a good read, but it sets up for sequels, as opposed to being a standalone, which is what I would have preferred for this story. Ashton’s dark humour, his excellent use of point of view is all on point, I just wish there was a greater depth to the overall story presented here. There are some great ideas to explore on the planet and with the colony, some interesting science to examine … I just wish we got more than we did in a more cohesive singular narrative.

This is an interesting story with good ideas, some logical soft science, an interesting and very human main character, and a wonderful narrative style … I just want more. A more cohesive story, greater tension, greater stakes, and an ending that closed off open threads. For instance, Berto’s ambiguity, exploring Cat’s motivations for her actions, greater insight into the Natalist tensions, and a greater understanding of Mickey’s character development. It’s been nearly a decade since he left Midgard … has he actually changed that much? Or is he still the man running from his actions?

I enjoyed reading this book. I love space opera and soft sci-fi stories, and I love it when a book leaves me things to ponder. Wanting more from this story doesn’t negate the enjoyment I took from the moments that do work, nor from the actual quality of the writing, which is solid. 

... It's just a shame about the film. See the article coming soon.