I enjoyed the first book in this series, Mickey 7 (you can read my review here), so I also read the sequel, Antimatter Blues (2023). Both books are set on a hostile planet where a human colony is struggling to survive. Mickey Barnes, who volunteered to be an Expendable (a person who willingly undertakes dangerous missions–and is resurrected if killed). In Mickey 7 Barnes has to deal with the aliens who could destroy the colony and his inadvertent doppelgänger.
Antimatter Blues takes place two years later with the colony facing a dire problem: they are running out of antimatter which fuels their power system and is necessary to generate food. The only answer is to retrieve the antimatter bomb Mickey 7 hid outside the colony and use it to generate power. But, when Mickey 7 searches for the antimatter bomb, it is gone.
That leads Mickey 7, his girl friend Nasha, and his pilot friend, Berto, and a small contingent of soldiers to attempt to regain the antimatter bomb that is now in the hands of the aliens. I’m enjoying the Mickey 7 series and I think you would, too. GRADE: B
Unfortunately, there is no way most of us can keep up with George’s reading. I sitll haven’t gotten to book 1 yet.
Jeff, Edward Ashton is already working on his third Mickey 7 SF novel! It’s hard to keep up with these prolific writers!
Have yet to read Ashton…will Go Look Him Up…
WordPress released two posts for you this morning.
Todd, WORDPRESS finds new ways to infuriate me every day. Thank goodness I work ahead and have a couple weeks of posts to draw on in cases like this. Double the fun today!
Todd, MICKEY 7, the first book in the series, developed a key concept: an expendable member of the space colony to undertake dangerous missions…who could be resurrected…to die again doing more dangerous missions.
John Varley-esque.
Todd, you nailed it! Edward Ashton is channelling John Varley and the result is compelling.
Liked the first book. It has been bought for a film by the South Korean director of Parasite.
Steve, I liked MICKEY 7 a tad bit more than ANTIMATTER BLUES, but I’ll read the next book in the series when it comes out.