Antimatter Blues

In this greatly anticipated sequel to Mickey7 summer has come to the world of Niflheim. Mickey is enjoying what he hopes to be a pleasant change in career paths, while avoiding the potential wrath of colony administrator Hieronymous Marshall who still hates him on general principle. Unfortunately, with the change in season comes unforeseen consequences for the colony. The mysterious aliens the creepers are still skulking about, but there are new and unforeseen threats on the horizon. Mickey may find himself called out of retirement in his job as an Expendable whether he likes it or not. Thus he finds himself with a case of the Antimatter Blues.

Picking up roughly two years after the events of Mickey7, the colonists have managed to get things more or less up and running. However, disaster threatens as their reactor seems to be going haywire. And unfortunately for them, the only source of readily available fuel in the region just happens to be in the hands of the inscrutable aliens. And what do these aliens know about antimatter?

Mickey Barnes is once again our cheerfully irreverent and wisecracking protagonist who is, as per usual, in way over his head. Seeing this world through his eyes is a delight, and he brings a sort of everyman view to the utterly fantastic. Doing his best not to get murdered by a furious Marshall, the local fauna, or even a beat down from his girlfriend Nasha who is, understandably, annoyed by some of his antics. That level of pressure would cause anyone to crack, but not Mickey, whose unenviable immortality allows him to have a sense of detachment from things while also not quite wanting to have to be killed in the line of duty again just yet.

His supporting cast of Berto and Nasha is still excellent. They both offer some witty ripostes to one another, but still act as his friends. Nasha definitely has his back no matter what the circumstances, while Berto can be seen as a little more suspect. His friend, perhaps former lover, Cat, is still around and still looking out for him too.

Niflheim now that it isn't a massive iceball, has more to offer the colonists too. That doesn't make it any less dangerous however! Dangers lurk (literally) just beneath the surface in some places. The creepers are not the only threat, and the colonists are only just realizing that they have explored so little of the planet that it could represent an overall fatal end to their whole endeavor to fling the light of human consciousness further into the void!

I won't spoil anything because this is one book you simply have to read. I'll just say we get lots of action, and plenty of high minded philosophy just like the first novel. I genuinely love how much thought gets put into the situations our characters are in. They assess their options and (rarely) go in shooting as a first resort. Mickey himself thinks on his feet and manages to make the right call, more or less, most of the time.

Amazing sequel to a stellar piece of science fiction. Definitely take the time to read it! I couldn't put it down!