Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

Published by St. Martin's Press on February 15, 2022

Mickey7 is the kind of book that science fiction readers don’t often see — an intelligent story of alien contact that suggests diplomacy is preferable to war. Edward Ashton assembles several familiar science fiction components (colonization of new worlds, storing consciousness and transferring it to an artificially created body, aliens that have a distributed intelligence) and assembles them into an entertaining story that seems fresh despite its familiarity.

The future Diaspora is a recurring theme in science fiction — the idea that humanity will develop the technology to colonize other planets and that (as history shows) plenty of people will be willing to risk danger for the chance to make a new life in a new place. In this version of the future, humans have little choice but to flee from Earth after nearly destroying the planet. Mickey7 takes a deeper-than-average dive into likely reality of colonization. It’s possible to identify planets in the Goldilocks zone that show evidence of having an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, but it’s impossible to know whether those planets will support human life, even after a hundred years of terraforming, until humans try to establish a colony. Occasionally colonies thrive. Usually colonists manage to get by or everyone dies.

The plot is fairly simple, with only a few significant characters and a straightforward storyline. In this case, simplicity is a virtue. Mickey got into some trouble and needed to get off a planet. He joined a colony ship in the only available position — as an expendable. His memories are downloaded and his DNA is recorded. When he dies — and that’s part of the job, because some jobs require human exposure to radiation or other deadly environments — a new body will be printed, his last-recorded memories will be uploaded to his new brain, and he’ll be good to go. Except for the dying part, which is usually quite unpleasant.

During one of his trips outside the dome, Mickey’s seventh incarnation falls down a hole and into a labyrinth of tunnels. His friend assumes that Mickey will soon be eaten by indigenous creatures called creepers. By the time Mickey makes his way out of the tunnels, Mickey8 has been printed. Having two versions in existence at the same time creates all sorts of problems with food rations, so at least one of them will have to go. When neither volunteers, they try to keep their dual existence a secret. That’s an entertaining premise for a story that explores the complications of two identical guys canoodling with two different women while each tries to make do on half the usual rations.

The story eventually leads to a confrontation between the Mickeys and their boss, as well as between the Mickeys and the indigenous life forms. The resolution suggests that creative people can solve problems without killing everyone in sight. I might recommend Mickey7 for that alone, but I also recommend it because the story as a whole is fun and the characters are likeable.

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