Antimatter Blues

A Mickey7 Novel, Book 2

By: Edward Ashton

Narrated by: John Pirhalla, Katharine Chin

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Edward Ashton's Antimatter Blues is the thrilling follow up to Mickey7, in which an expendable heads out to explore new terrain for human habitation.

Summer has come to Niflheim. The lichens are growing, the six-winged bat-things are chirping, and much to his own surprise, Mickey Barnes is still alive—that last part thanks almost entirely to the fact that Commander Marshall believes that the colony’s creeper neighbors are holding an antimatter bomb, and that Mickey is the only one who’s keeping them from using it. Mickey’s just another colonist now. Instead of cleaning out the reactor core, he spends his time these days cleaning out the rabbit hutches. It’s not a bad life.

It’s not going to last.

It may be sunny now, but winter is coming. The antimatter that fuels the colony is running low, and Marshall wants his bomb back. If Mickey agrees to retrieve it, he’ll be giving up the only thing that’s kept his head off of the chopping block. If he refuses, he might doom the entire colony. Meanwhile, the creepers have their own worries, and they’re not going to surrender the bomb without getting something in return. Once again, Mickey finds the fate of two species resting in his hands. If something goes wrong this time, though, he won’t be coming back.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2023 Edward Ashton (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Ashton’s breezy characters, especially a few alien creepers able to communicate with the humans, delight, and the grungy details of colony life are rendered as realistically as Mickey’s hunger pangs. It’s good fun with a surprisingly effective closing twist that sci-fi fans will savor.: --Publishers Weekly

"Ashton’s follow-up to his excellent Mickey7 (2022) is just as much fun as its predecessor." --Booklist

Do we want Mickey7 or Mickey Barnes?

I enjoyed Mickey7 enough to listen to the sequel. I am, however, disappointed that it lacked the narrative of dealing with another version of me, which made Mickey7 so interesting. I am positive that the concept of multiple egos was what got Bong Junho so intrigued in the first place, as I had been. The sequel, albeit a pretty good sci-fi adventure novel, is not what I expected as it no further explored the idea. I would've ended the story at Mickey7, which would've worked perfectly, in my opinion.

Great sequel

Read Mickey 7, absolutely lived it. This was better than the first. It seems like the author had more fun with this one. Characters were allowed some redemption and the world expanded. You need to read Mickey 7 first, then this one. Such a great set of books. I’m hoping Mickey, Nasha, Berto, and Speaker get more treatments. Come on Mr. Ashton… is there more life for Mickey?????

One star for the audio editor

Or whoever finalized this great book with Chapter 4 and Chapter 1 in the wrong position

Who can say why this still hasn’t been fixed?

It’s a mystery

Better than Mickey 7

This one is even better than Mickey 7. I devoured it. Love the characters, science, socio-political commentary, war gaming, and relationships. Really hope we have another in this fantastic series.

Great story

Another great story and narration. It feels like there is more ahead for Mickey, but maybe that's wishful thinking.

Great for fans on the martian

Entertaining series, reminds me a lot of the martian, different plot but similar feel. Hoping there’s another book to follow in the series.

Chapters were out of order

The Audible version I received started with Chapter 2. Chapter 1 came later, between Chapters 4 and 5. Very confusing! It’s a good story, though.

Great Sequel

A bit slow to get off the ground in the beginning but definitely worth a listen. Great narration.

This series needs to continue. It's a hidden gem,

I loved it. Finished it in 2 days. It has all of the charm as the first. It was well paced, had great tension, and the characters were well developed. I cared what was happening to them. A genuine emotional attachment.

My only nitpicks were...

1) How often characters forgot to continue their thought. I counted 3 times the same "joke" was used and one person had to remind the other to finish what they were saying.

2) I hope I never hear "I opened my mouth, and then I closed it" ever again. Atleast half a dozen times, probably more, did we hear this phrase. It was like every time he was lost for words, this is how it was described.

Both totally minor but they did take me out of the moment just for a bit. I really hope this becomes a full fledged series with frequent releases. There are so many directions the author can take things.

Spoilers follow:


Damn I'm going to miss Speaker. I really hope we get to hear from him again before he gets disassembled. Maybe they will find a cure for his infection. One can hope...

I am interested in this collective race. I hope we learn more about it in the future. I'm also interested in what else is on that large planet and what else might threaten the dome.

Fingers crossed for more to come!