Mickey7

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I finished the book last night, I rounded 3.5 up to 4 stars, but now that the end-of-book-high has worn off, the problem I have with the characterization of Eight has become increasingly irritating to the point where I'm downgrading my rating. Now I'm at 2.5 rounding to 3. For the moment. Might go down to 2.

The premise of the book is centered around the concept that on a colonization mission to a new planet, one crew member is "Expendable," and after each death, he (Mickey) is bioprinted into a new body and comes out of the tank with the exact memories and personality of the original Mickey and all subsequent iterations as of the most recent upload data. So WHY does Eight come out of the tank acting like a jerk? For this premise to hold water, 7 and 8 should have been almost the same person, minus the most recent six weeks, and based on the personality of 7, nearly all the challenges of the story could have been either overcome or improved if 7 and 8 had simply talked to each other. Kept each other informed of what was going on, who said what to whom, etc. Heck, even keeping an open comm link might have helped! Then the story could have focused on the two of them working *together* to figure out what was up with the creepers rather than taking forever to figure out what the reader grasped immediately. I get that hunger makes people irrational and grumpy, but still. I find myself wanting to rewrite the story with the characterization problem solved to see how that could play out and what opportunities that might present with both Cat and Nasha.

For that matter, there were LOTS of characters who could have benefited from being 3-dimensional instead of archetypes. Berto, for one. Marshall, for another. Cat, Nasha, the prime creeper who never even gets a name.... Maybe later books in the series will flesh out the characters?

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, setting (outer space on an ice planet about a thousand years in the future) doorway is secondary. Some occasional swearing. Some death, but even the descriptions of the various ways Mickey has died are not especially graphic. References to sex, but it's of the fade-to-black variety.

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Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Mary Roach's writing style makes me laugh out loud. She is one of the main reasons I began branching out into reading nonfiction. Her research is incredibly thorough. I don't think I'd go to the lengths she does to get her facts straight. I'd happily, joyfully experience weightlessness in the C-9 airplane that flies parabolas! But I seriously doubt I'd try treating & drinking my own urine. I'm with her husband on that one--UGH.

What I especially love about this book is that she focuses not on the history of the development of the technology (rockets & bolts and such) of space flight but rather on the human aspects of it--eating, sleeping, vomiting, interpersonal conflicts & psychology, sex, gravity & G-forces, hygiene, "waste elimination," etc. All the stuff you were curious to know but which rarely, if ever, gets explained. So fascinating! My one regret, however, is that I read this book almost entirely during my lunch breaks...which not only slowed me down but also sometimes made it difficult to eat. Particularly true of the vomit and poop chapters. :( My husband was not so foolish, thankfully, and read it on evenings, weekends, and our mini-vacation.

For readers' advisors: character doorway because Roach's personality infuses her books like she's cracking jokes and telling stories just for YOU. Story doorway is a distant second because it is fascinating, albeit non-linear, history she's telling.



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