o let me start by saying I bought this book twice – saw it on the shelf as Mickey 17, which refereed on the back cover the book Mickey 7 (as in “based on”). So hurried out to get the first one (is it the first part of a series? A lead-in? What?). But no, Mickey 7 was the original novel and Mickey 17 was a movie they made (and of course, the idea guys had to change the name yet re-release the book with the movie name). But opening the books, one on each knee, showed me that both books (and least, in a cursory flip through) are the same.

The movie is different from both books. Like all movies, it’s turned a desperate story of what it means to live when your job title is “expendable” into a silly laugh-aloud farce. I’ve not seen it but have read reviews. If someone would like to correct me on my movie review, I’d love to hear otherwise.

But this is a book review.

So a “beachhead colony” has been sent out, a colony that cannot be reinforced (given the cost and duration of interstellar travel). So only 200 are going and everyone is very specialized except, well, our hero Mickey. See, they were going to use a convict for his position but he up and volunteered (let’s just say he’s “pressured” to join). And, as mentioned, that position is “expendable”. All of his cellular information is saved on a computer. His memories are downloaded. So if there is a dangerous job, such as replacing the forward shield that took a micrometeorite hit, Mikey’s your man. Sure, he’s going to suffer massive radiation and die in his suit, bleeding out of every hole, his organs turned to mush). But you can print him back off, download his memories, and put him back into service.

And, as the title implies, this is his seventh go-round.

This is a great book of struggle and survival, and working out the optimum path through a minefield of peril. The book is clever and engaging (just like The Martian). I really enjoyed plowing through it on a recent train trip; found myself laughing out loud at parts, and marveling at some of the bits author Edward Ashton came up with.

So yes, either version will work, Mickey 7 or 17.

Just not the movie. Unless someone tells me differently.

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