Mal Goes to War, Edward Ashton
Mal Goes to War, Edward Ashton
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

Mal Goes to War
A Novel

Author: Edward Ashton

Narrator: John Pirhalla, Katharine Chin

Unabridged: 10 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/09/2024


Synopsis

The humans are fighting again. Go figure.

As a free A.I., Mal finds the war between the modded and augmented Federals and the puritanical Humanists about as interesting as a battle between rival anthills. He’s not above scouting the battlefield for salvage, though, and when the Humanists abruptly cut off access to infospace he finds himself trapped in the body of a cyborg mercenary, and responsible for the safety of the modded girl she died protecting.

A dark comedy wrapped in a techno thriller’s skin, Mal Goes to War provides a satirical take on war, artificial intelligence, and what it really means to be human.

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

About Edward Ashton

Edward Ashton (he/him) is the author of the novels Three Days in April, The End of Ordinary, Mickey7, Antimatter Blues, and Mal Goes to War, as well as of short stories which have appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. He lives in a cabin on the shore of an inland sea, where he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) on April 21, 2024

3.5 Stars Video Review: [URL not allowed] This is a light hearted sci fi story that will appeal to fans of John Scalzi, Dennis E Taylor and Peter Clines. The story plays with science fiction concepts but in a light hearted way that will appeal to readers who don't necessarily love hard scie......more

Goodreads review by donna on August 23, 2024

Mal is a free AI who isn't particularly likeable. He's basically malware (thus the name) and he lives down to that idea. His selfish "consciousness" bounces around through Infospace into anything computerized that can host him, from toasters to augmented humans. Truth be told, the humans are never v......more

Goodreads review by Mel (Epic Reading) on January 18, 2025

*yawn* If anyone needs a book to put them to sleep this might be a good choice, sadly. I was hoping for some sort of Murderbot, Sea of Rust style story with an AI I could connect with or even remotely be intrigued by. Instead I got a story that had no purpose or real direction until the last two cha......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on October 13, 2023

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me an advanced review copy of this book, and I'm so glad they did. This was a really, really enjoyable reading experience. It was funny, charming, action packed, and had a very interesting plot throughout. While there were some issues with character develop......more


Quotes

"Ashton offers a technothriller with heart that will appeal to fans of the 'Murderbot Diaries' from Martha Wells but also to readers looking for more AI-led stories like Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill and Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden." —Library Journal, starred review

"Ashton’s vision of the future feels all too plausible and his blend of action and humor keeps the pages flying. This is sure to please the author’s fans." Publishers Weekly

Praise for Mickey7:

"Sci-fi readers will be drawn in by the inventive premise and stick around for the plucky narrator." —Publishers Weekly

"Mickey7 is a smart philosophical satire masquerading as an adventure novel.” —New York Journal of Books

"The fun [in reading Mickey7] is trying to keep up with Mr. Ashton’s twists and turns, and the extra fun is that you never do." —The Wall Street Journal