27 Jul Book Review: Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

Edward Ashton’s Mickey7 made a splash when it landed in 2022, combining high-concept science fiction with sardonic humor and a surprising amount of heart. A clone-centric survival story set on an unforgiving ice world, it’s the kind of sci-fi novel that doesn’t just throw ideas at you—it lets them simmer while dragging you through wild terrain, moral questions, and deadpan banter. It’s also the inspiration for Bong Joon-ho’s upcoming film Mickey17, so if you’re into adaptations, now’s the time to get ahead.

What’s it about?

Mickey Barnes is an Expendable. Not metaphorically—literally. In this future, humanity has colonized other planets, and each colonization team includes one person designated to do all the tasks too dangerous for anyone else. That person is cloned. When they die, a new version is 3D-printed from biomass, complete with most of the memories of their former selves. Mickey is now on his seventh iteration—hence, Mickey7—and he’s getting a little tired of dying.

The mission? Colonize a frozen hellscape of a planet called Niflheim. It’s not going well. The planet is hostile, cold beyond comprehension, and inhabited by strange alien creatures the colonists know almost nothing about. The colony is barely holding together, and Mickey’s deaths are starting to feel more and more like the cost of simply buying time.

During one particularly awful mission, Mickey7 falls into a massive crevasse and is presumed dead. Standard protocol kicks in: the colony creates Mickey8. But plot twist—Mickey7 didn’t die. He survives, manages to claw his way back, and now both versions of Mickey exist at the same time. This is a huge problem, not just legally (duplicates are forbidden), but existentially. What happens when you meet your replacement—and they’re not just like you, they are you?

Mickey7 decides to hide. He keeps his reappearance a secret, living in the ducts and shadows of the colony while trying to figure out what to do. The only people he confides in are his girlfriend, Nasha, and a few other fringe players. Tension escalates when it becomes clear that the colonists are running out of food, morale is sinking fast, and the icy planet’s native life forms—dubbed “creepers”—might not be the mindless threats everyone assumes they are.

As Mickey7 and Mickey8 navigate the awkwardness of dual existence, they also become tangled in a larger crisis. Mickey7 begins to suspect that peaceful communication with the planet’s native species might be possible—and possibly essential. But with a colony commander who’s quick to squash dissent and an entire civilization’s survival hanging in the balance, he’ll have to make some risky decisions. What results is a high-stakes, often darkly funny ride through the ethics of identity, the politics of colonization, and the meaning of being truly alive when you can be endlessly replaced.

What This Chick Thinks

Identity Crisis, Cloned

The hook here isn’t just that Mickey dies a lot—it’s how Ashton uses that premise to explore selfhood. If you die and come back with the same memories, are you still the same person? If your clone lives on, are you more replaceable or less human? Mickey7’s internal tug-of-war is where the novel gets most interesting. It’s funny, but also just sad enough to land.

Sci-Fi That Doesn’t Drown You in Tech

I love hard sci-fi when it’s done right, but I’ll be honest—I glaze over at pages of engineering schematics. Ashton keeps the science understandable without dumbing it down. The tech is believable, but it’s never the point. The point is people—messy, scared, sarcastic people trying to survive—and that’s what made me keep turning pages.

The Double Act Is So Much Fun

Mickey7 and Mickey8 are technically the same person, but they’re also two people who handle pressure in slightly different ways. Watching them argue, team up, and try to outsmart the system is entertaining, occasionally hilarious, and surprisingly poignant. There’s a great scene where they both show up to the same maintenance shift, and I won’t spoil it—but it nails the absurdity and tension of the premise.

Could Have Dug Deeper (But Still Satisfies)

There were moments where I wished Ashton had let the story breathe a little more. The colony’s politics, the alien species, even Nasha’s relationship with Mickey—all compelling, but sometimes rushed. I didn’t need a thousand-page space opera, but I wouldn’t have minded another hundred pages of worldbuilding or fallout.

Final Thoughts

Mickey7 is smart, fast, and full of surprisingly tender moments beneath the sci-fi surface. Ashton takes a concept that could’ve leaned purely pulpy and injects it with soul, humor, and just enough existential dread to keep things spicy. If you’re looking for a thought-provoking, fun, and highly readable sci-fi book that doesn’t feel like homework, this is a great pick.

Rating: 8.5/10

Try it if you like:

• The Martian – Andy Weir
  A witty, survival-focused sci-fi novel about one man’s ingenuity and isolation on another planet.
• Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
  A smart, voice-driven military sci-fi that also explores identity and the ethics of replication.
• All Systems Red – Martha Wells
  A short, sharp tale of an AI with feelings, sarcasm, and a desire to be left alone while doing its job very well.