Reviews

Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton

moscat's review against another edition

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4.0

If you enjoyed the first I think you'll enjoy this (I did!) I liked that the creepers got to be more of a character. Overall an easy, popcorny read.

snowbenton's review against another edition

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3.0

Not as funny as the first, and I felt like Nasha was just yelling the whole book and Mickey was the voice of reason, which didn't work for me after how much I liked their relationship in the first book. It was a fun read with lots of good tension and surprises and I liked the ending.

bostonkatebooks's review against another edition

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adventurous

3.5

mirandawerts's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

electrosailor's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

danaisreading's review against another edition

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4.0

Just once I would like to read a story where our alien overlords are evil giant hamsters or sentient daffodils. Why do they ALWAYS have to be buglike or spiderlike? And why are they both in this novel? WHY?

Ahem.

Anyway, aside from that, I enjoyed this book. Mickey7 is now a retired Expendable who hasn't uploaded in the last two years. He spends his time mostly as a grunt laborer. But after something happens that no one will talk about, the colony is on the verge of dying in a long cold winter. Mickey is ordered to get the bomb back from the native creepers so that the colony can use its fuel for the reactor and get them through the winter. Only Mickey didn't give it to the creepers like (almost) everyone believes. He hid it somewhere "safe" so it shouldn't be a problem to retrieve it..... except that it's not in its hiding place anymore. Time to figure out where it went, how to get it back, and maybe not die or kill the entire colony in the process.

brunchua's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

sarahcee's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5!
Such a good sequel.
A fun read! I power-read this one. With a character like Mickey, you aren’t sure if he will get out of this!

michellem767's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

enchantedbookshelf's review against another edition

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5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed Mickey7 and the way it managed to pose philosophical dilemmas in a lighthearted way.

Antimatter Blues wraps up a lot of the unanswered questions that were left after that first book, while adding on a few more ideas to ponder. The Ship of Theseus is mentioned many times throughout both of Ashton's books, question the notion of Mickey's existence as an Expendable, a character who can do the difficult and dangerous jobs because they can be recreated with the most recent "upload."

We add the "Creepers" who live on Niflheim into the mix in a big way in Antimatter Blues, with Mickey being the primary liaison between them and humanity. Their existence, too, is a question to ponder, as they have a "primary" and "ancillaries." They struggle to understand the individuality that marks the human race.

Anyway, it's a quick read and lots of fun. I laughed out loud MANY times.