Mal Goes to War

by Edward Ashton

10 hours, 2 minutes

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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Humor, Cyberpunk, Artificial Intelligence, War

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 2024

About the author

Edward Ashton is the author of the novels Mickey7, Three Days in April and The End of Ordinary. His short fiction has appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. He lives in upstate New York in a cabin in the woods (not that Cabin in the Woods) with his wife, a variable number of daughters, and an adorably mopey dog named Max, where he writes—mostly fiction, occasionally fact—under the watchful eyes of a giant woodpecker and a rotating cast of barred owls. In his free time, he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling. You can find him online at edwardashton.com or on Twitter @edashtonwriting.

Reviews

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different than other AI stories I’ve read, the humor in this reminded me of Andy Weir but with artificial intelligence. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what the plot was (it’s definitely character driven), maybe Mal discovering AI’s version of humanity as humans lost theirs? However, I found Mal’s dry wit and inner thoughts humorous and his literal interpretation and logic amusing as well. There were moments that make you think but for the most part this is lighthearted considering it takes place during a war.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mal is a freely-roving AI who skips from host body to host body. Sometimes this host is a decaying corpse, sometimes Mal shares space with a living host. One host was the protector of Kaleigh, a girl who appears to be a young child, but due to modifications is actually a teenager. Uncharacteristically, Mal finds himself wanting to help the girl. He finds himself trapped by the continuing warfare between Humanists, who oppose all physical modifications of humans, and the Federals, who are gung-ho for enhancements. Either side will happily “kill” Mal and anyone else they encounter. Mal and Kaleigh pick up (not exactly voluntarily) a few other companions as they try to avoid being killed.

In tone, this book is similar to the author’s Mickey7 series. It’s dark comedy, sometimes violent and consistently entertaining. I enjoyed the snark of both Mal and Kaleigh. I wouldn’t mind if this is the start of a new series about Mal.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/Oh17of8BO7g

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 science and technical explanations. I have come to prefer more meatier books in the genre, which is reflective in my rating here.

I had the opportunity to read this one via the audiobook and I highly recommend the version. The narrator was excellent and brought the humor to life.

I enjoyed this one but I personally preferred Mickey7 and its sequel. This is a standalone so new readers could start in either place.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[donna backshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 very happy about it, and neither is he, since he considers the biology of human meatsuits disgusting. However, there's a world-wide war going on, between augments and humanists (purists), so he jumps where and when he's able, in order to preserve his code.

As for the humans, he doesn't have great regard for their lives. Or at least he doesn't until he happens to bounce into one augment who has been caring for an augmented human child. While he's still an AI and misunderstands a great deal of human emotion and morality, he does give the whole "giving a damn" thing a go. This struggle, through the war, helping some humans in the fight, provides the majority of Mal's story.

I usually don't care for AI stories, but this one was done really well, not pretending to anthropomorphize Mal or ultimately convert him into some kumbaya-singing human lover. Rather we're shown his steely cold personality, in a way that keeps things realistic and at times very entertaining.

It's always a fun ride when you're reading an Edward Ashton book. A big thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a chance to listen to this ARC.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mel is a free AI, living in infospace and watching the Humanists fight a war against the augmented humans, on the off-chance that there might be something good to scavenge from the spoils of war. On one of those occasions Mal is trapped in a heavily augmented mercenary and inherits the job of protecting a girl. The girl is not what she seems at first, but looking out for her might get Mel to the next communications tower with access back into infospace, so Mel is coming along. In the process they pick up some other interesting characters.

Supposed to combine a dark comedy with a technological thriller and the ever-present AI topic, this fell a little flat for me.

Mel sounds much like Mickey7, but less entertaining or amusing. Its attempts to understand humans and to blend in are less than successful and not as amusing as they were probably intended to be. Shallow learning curve. Picture a very bland and less humorous version of Murderbot.

The other characters were pretty negativ throughout and not exactly lovable. Maybe if they had been more fully developed, I would have liked them better. As they were, I found it hard to care for any of them, including Mal. The two female characters were interchangeable. Pullman was the only one that grew on me a little. For a found family they were all way too bitchy with each other.

There wasn’t a lot of suspense either. Mal got into several dicey situations, but I never really felt any concern or dread for him. It was always easily resolved and Mal learned nothing from it. The plot felt aimless, despite there being a goal to it all. The final conflict was over so quickly, it barely registered. Event the revenge was meh.

I didn‘t feel it. 🤖🤖🤖½, downgraded to 3 stars.

[Kay West · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 - Mal is the sarcastic AI best friend you never knew you needed.

The squee I squeed when I heard John Pirhalla (who narrated Mickey7, also by Edward Ashton) as the main narrator in Mal Goes to War, was deafening. If you read Mickey7, you'll be thrilled to see Edward Ashton's unique, acerbic and visceral brand of humour coming through.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I hated when I had to to sleep and then loved listening first thing in the morning. It's so much fun to read. I loved following our sarcastic, ragtag group of characters as they ventured through a war-torn countryside.

Mal is a sentient AI who lives in 'info space', essentially the cloud, and finds itself inhabiting an augmented human body in the middle of a warzone. Humans have divided into two factions, one is against technology enhanced humans and the other is for it. Mal (short for Malware), realizes it is unable to return to info space within the warzone and is trying to leave when it befriends an augmented human, Kayleigh. From there Mal collects a odd group of 'friends?' as they try to survive.

The pacing is quick as the group stumbles from one calamity to the next. Because Mal is an AI, it is continuously inhabiting new bodies/technology as the old ones get destroyed in spectacular and appalling ways. Although I received this as an advanced listener copy, I've already pre-ordered it, because I have so many highlights and comments.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this advanced listener copy. Literally, cannot wait to re-listen to this ASAP.

This book is best read in a natural rock shelter, after you've been taken prisoner and are being used as bait to find the rest of your crew. Just remember to keep an eye on the sky, you never know what Mal might drop on the bad guys.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 development, what was done well made up for it.


Mal is software. Well, I guess the technical term is "free A.I." or sentient AI that lives in "infospace", away from the dirty, strange humans who are currently embroiled in a vicious war. The Humanists believe human augments and invasive technology has gone too far and are fighting against the Federals, the highly augmented, government backed force that is rumored to be developing technology that will give them full control of whomever they want. The free A.I.s regard humans with a sort of pitying curiosity, but when Mal finds himself temporarily controlling a drone as the local infospace comms tower is destroyed, he has no choice but to ally with a band of true misfits to try to get back home. However, the intense dangers of being on the front lines of technologically enhanced guerrilla warfare pose threats to Mal and the humans that Mal has to travel with (and usually travel inside the heads of). But through kidnapping, sabotage, and a lot of hacking, more nefarious details about the war are revealed to Mal, and his growing fondness of his human companions start to interfere with his race back to infospace.


There was a lot here that was done really well. Firstly, the story was very interesting and was a treat to follow. It flowed very well, and the story beats were paced precisely. There were no big blocks of exposition, and only a few times where I felt the story was rushed or underdeveloped. The humor here was done well, focusing less on "ha ha" moments, but rather more of a steady amusement at the stilted AI-human interactions, silly manifestations of programming, and the unfortunate circumstances our band of friends found themselves in.


Now while I really enjoyed the character of Mal, I did find much of the other character development to be a bit lacking. Mal, who is largely disgusted by humans, for some reason takes a VERY strong liking to the first human he meets, Kaleigh. But I don't feel that the narrative really built up or justified this strong bond. Particularly because it didn't feel as if it was reciprocated at all. Additionally, almost immediately after meeting Kaleigh, they join with another human named Asher who Mal never grows to like at all, despite Asher getting them (including Kaleigh) out of several dangerous situations that should have made Mal appreciate him more. I think the problem is that we spent so much time learning about Mal and Mal's introduction to humans, that we don't really get a chance to develop deeper appreciation of his human companions, so it felt odd when Mal had any strong feelings about any of them. Even though the humans were interesting at times, when any of them were in danger, I didn't feel much as the reader because I don't feel we got to know them very well. This, however, was the perfect way to manage lesser important human characters, and I feel the narrative was enhanced by our distance from less important human characters.


But as I mentioned before, this was a small gripe I had, and overall the strengths of the book really made me enjoy the whole reading experience. I'm finding that the science fiction sub-genre of "AI/robot grows connected to humans through dangerous circumstance" is one that really works for me. If you like Murderbot, the Ancillary trilogy, Sea of Rust, Partition, or even the Tea Monk & Robot books, I think you'll like this as much as I did.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mal (actual name Malware) is a free AI, or Silico-American as they prefer to be called, hovering in a drone over a battlefield where Humanists and Federals are doing their best to destroy each other, and the Humanists have the Federals on the run. Mal is intrigued by the action between the humans, or monkeys as they call them. But Mal's friends, other free AIs, can't see the point, as they're happy enough staying in infospace, commenting on the action. Mal decides to jump into the head (they and their friends use the term "puppeting") of one of the Federal soldiers, who have a number of software and hardware augments in their bodies, so Mal can get a better view.

Almost as soon as Mal takes over a soldier the soldier is killed, leaving its charge, a young girl, vulnerable. And more alarming to Mal, their connection to infospace is cut as the Humanists are bombing comm towers.

The girl, who appears to be a toddler, is actually a heavily modified human, with an extended childhood, a long lifespan, and a variety of other very expensive technological augments. Kayleigh might look like a young child, but she's eighteen, prone to violence and profanity, and a little scary. Kayleigh figures out the soldier has been taken over by a free AI, and she and Mal work out a bargain; Mal must protect her from Humanists, who are intent on burning to death all augmented humans.

The two begin the perilous trek to catch up with Federals, who can take Kayleigh in, and Mal can then hop back to infospace. If only it were simple… Mal loses this body, and decides to puppet a guy they run into who has some basic augments in his brain, but is, in every other way, ordinary. The small group is hounded, and Kayleigh manages to overpower one Humanist soldier, whom they coopt into helping them. There are numerous perils yet to come, and Mal makes many mistakes along the way in their attempt to defend Kayleigh, while we gain an understanding behind the opening scene in the novel, and what is actually going on between the two human factions.

Mal has a lively sense of humour, and a rich imagination based on the stories they have enjoyed. Mal also has only a rudimentary understanding of meat-based life, including humans' wish for sovereignty of their bodies and minds. Mal is often dismissive of their emotions or limitations, and prioritizes their own need to return to infospace over all else, often to the detriment of his desire to protect Kayleigh, at least initially. This lack of empathy gradually changes, as they get quite the education in morality and emotions with each human interaction they have, whether with the small group, or with various parts of the Humanist army. Mal's development is great to experience as they begin to understand the skills and value of each member of their group, culminating in Mal's willingness to think of the humans it knows as friends.

Much of the humour, and there's a fair bit, comes from Mal's misunderstandings or mishaps during puppeting. There is also plenty of action, as author Edward Ashton keeps things moving along at a good pace. The novel entails the group's moving from one crisis to the next, with the humans bashing things and Mal corrupting other software.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, unlike the author's earlier "Mickey 7", which lagged for me the closer I got to its end. Mal is a wonderfully flawed and oddly lovable character, and their journey worked wonderfully for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and to St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

[Angyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Mal Goes to War is a character driven story following Mal, an open AI who describes himself as a 'hermit crab' who enjoys hopping around from body to body, and the unlikely friends he encounters on his journey.

Mal has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor which was so fun to read and came across really well in the writing. I also enjoyed the group dynamics with the different characters in here and I think they definitely grow on you as the story goes on.

Being a character driven story, the plot is kind of lost at times - was there even a plot? Idk but the journey was fun and this is a book I would easily recommend to sci-fi fans who enjoy AI characters.

[S. Naomi Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating : 4.5 of 5 stars

My thanks to Solaris for providing an Advance Reading Copy of this book. The views below are my own.

Dang, but this is an absolute corker of a book. It's witty, sassy, funny in all the right ways, but deep and meaningful when it needs to be.

Mal is a free AI, happily observing the war between the Humanists and Federals but otherwise minding his own business, when he finds himself trapped in the corpse of an augmented mercenary with an apparently five-year-old child to look after, and no way to return to the freedom of the infosphere and his fellow AIs. What follows is an exploration of morality, ethics, warfare, and friendship that grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go until you've absorbed every last word.

This is the second book by Edward Ashton I've read, and compared to the earlier Mickey 7 (which was very good), this one is considerably better in every respect. The writing is superb, each of the main characters stands out in their own way, and the narrative just flows so easily from page to brain that it's genuinely a pleasure to read. Ashton definitely makes this storytelling lark look simple.

If you like crazy military sci-fi with a darkly humorous edge and enough sass to sink an aircraft carrier, this is definitely one to watch out for. Not quite five full stars, but very danged close.

[Karen’s Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read and loved Ashton’s Mickey7, I knew I had to read Mal Goes to War about Mal, a free A.I. who gets trapped in an augmented cyborg mercenary when infospace has been cut off.

Mal ends up traveling with a ragtag group of humans who are caught in between a civil war of puritanical Humanists and augmented Federals.

The story felt like a Bobiverse meets the MurderBot and I was all in. Mal ends up traveling from host to host while traveling with the group to look for a connection back to infospace and becomes friends with everyone, but especially the childlike Kayleigh. Mal does whatever he can to ensure Kayleigh’s safety. All the snark flying around is a hoot and I adored Mal and the rest of the characters.

*Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for the gifted eARC!*

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun take an a sci-fi book through the lens of a free ranging AI. You can check out my full review here! https://youtu.be/Kwj0ht0A5eY?feature=...

[Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a roller coaster ride. The beginning had a rough start because we are dropped in a world that’s in the middle of a war and it felt like it was hard to determine what was happening. Then the ending of the book left me slightly confused and didn’t leave me with a satisfying conclusion. However, once the pieces started to come together the book became more enjoyable and easier to follow. I absolutely loved the characters in this book. This author has a way of developing characters that you would easily fall in love with. The main character Mal was delightful to follow and the character provided much of the humor in the story. The side characters were also great and having them all traveling together throughout the story made for a great time. This is not my favorite book by this author (that spot is currently taken by Mickey 7) but I can’t wait to read what this author puts out next!

[Brit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I had a bit of a tough time getting into this one, but that’s admittedly likely due to the fact that I’ve been out of the sci-fi genre for quite awhile. Once it got going though I really enjoyed the writing and I literally laughed out loud more than once at Mal’s dialogue. This was my first book by Edward Ashton and I really enjoyed it. I may just have to read Mickey7 as well before the movie comes out! Very grateful to have received an ARC of this novel.

[Bookphenomena (Micky)]

DNF @ 20% unrated
I just could not get into this story, setting or characters. In fact, I disliked both the main characters and what a strange pairing they were. I am used to this author's comedic undertone to his writings but the funny didn't hit the mark this time, probably because I wasn't 'into it'. Thought it was best to throw in the towel with sadness.

[Zedsdead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mal is a free artificial intelligence who lives in the cloud. One day Mal gets trapped in a decomposing cyborg corpse and finds himself on walkabout with a 20yo toddler, a regular joe with brain implants that stream porn, and a Confederate soldier. He learns about human feelings, ethics, politics, and human limitations and relationships.

Very much a successor to Martha Wells' stellar Murderbot books. As does Murderbot, Mal explores non-human personhood and lets us glimpse what it means to be human from outside.

MGtW does all this with more humor, however; his aggressive rationality is incompatible with human behavior and his attempts to fit in and to cultivate friendships with various 'monkeys' make for funny commentary on the foibles of humankind.

Ashton also has things to say about war. The conflict that throws our merry band together pits a backward, reactionary redneck force against a technologically advanced government which could be the good guys but expressly is not. The pseudo-Confederates routinely murder children of the wrong 'kind' and ignore their own professed principles whenever doing so allows them to amass power; but the pseudo-Union casually genocides all existing sentient, independent AI's when that becomes expedient. Reminds me of the best parts of Brian Woods's thoughtful DMZ: war brings out the worst in everyone and renders the unthinkable mundane.

[Lilibet Bombshell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technothriller marries dark comedy and is seasoned liberally with satire. I’m down. I’m so down.

One moment, Mal is a free AI, just hanging out in infospace while riding inside a surveillance drone looking for decent pieces of technology to salvage. In the space of minutes, he’s riding inside the brain of an augmented mercenary who’s in charge of caring for a specially-augmented human child while her mother is overseas.

It’s a stupid war just like every stupid war before it and now Mal finds himself not only in the middle of it, but also invested.

This doesn’t meet the criteria for a technothriller for me, but I’m finding that to be okay on a personal level. While I could get along just fine with the computer terminology and vernacular, if it were more of a true technothriller I might have been lost. I suspect some readers might end up being lost as it is if they never had the luxury of knowing someone who worked in IT for years and years.

The dark comedy and satire, though? It hit and it hit hard. I was amused throughout the entire book by the entire cast, but especially Mal. Mal is an AI, so there are limits to his understanding of humans, but he’s definitely his own entity with a vivid imagination, moral compass, and sense of ethics. Watching him grow and learn as this book goes on is infinitely entertaining.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Satire/Sci Fi

[BlurbGoesHere · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Blurb goes here]

Edward Ashton, who captivated us in 2022 with his novel "Mickey 7" (which garnered 3.78 stars on Goodreads), now delves into an entirely new realm. In this narrative, we find ourselves in a world where the Humanists and the Federals are locked in a relentless war. The Humanists vehemently oppose the augmentation of individuals, while the Federals show little regard for their wishes or preferences.

Meanwhile, within Infospace, a multitude of sentient AIs observe this conflict with a detached amusement, likening it to a battle between two foolish ant colonies. To these AIs, we humans are merely referred to as "monkeys" for good reason.

Enter Mal, a free-spirited AI with a peculiar fascination for inhabiting physical bodies, purely out of curiosity. Against the warnings of his fellow AI companions, he takes the plunge and transfers his consciousness into a drone, only to stumble upon a decomposing, albeit augmented, corpse. He decides to inhabit this lifeless body, only to discover that the deceased woman had been the guardian of a seemingly ordinary five-year-old girl with a mysterious secret.

When trouble arises, Mal hastily exits the body, only to realize that all nearby communication towers have been obliterated by the Humanists, leaving him stranded on Earth amidst the war between the two factions.

As Mal navigates through this strange predicament, he forges unexpected friendships and does his best to protect those around him. The story unfolds with a delightful and consistent sense of misadventure, keeping readers eagerly turning the pages.

Edward Ashton has unquestionably outdone himself in comparison to the first installment of "Mickey 7" with this action-packed science fiction adventure. His storytelling prowess shines through, and it's evident that he is an author worth keeping a close watch on.

This character-driven narrative offers a fast-paced and highly entertaining reading experience, making it an absolute must-read for fans of the genre.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Mickey7 and the sequel. Mal Goes to War is not Mickey7.

If I didn’t know and love the Murderbot diaries by Martha Wells, I might have liked Mal Goes to War more? Maybe? Mal is an AI who can jump from technologically enhanced person to drone and back again. SecUnit is a cloned human/technology hybrid, and I had a much harder time accepting Mal’s need to acquire friends and desire to rescue people.

Lines like these seem taken directly from the Murderbot diaries (emphases mine):

“My understanding, which admittedly is gleaned primarily from review of serial dramas, is that talking through our emotional issues is the most common and effective way to correct these sorts of problems.” (p. 162 of the ARC)

“A quick survey when the blast wave has passed shows his body to be mostly functional, although he is leaking fluids from a number of places and his hearing appears to be offline." (p. 171 of the ARC)

There were parts that I enjoyed, but that was mostly the last 100 pages. Before that the book was slow and meandering and full mostly of Mal’s experiments with jumping around hosts. I never understood the war (which I guess, is true of all wars, so, fair) and the extreme brutality that shows up occasionally (like the burn pits) didn’t seem to fit with the overall tone of the book.

This book feels like an experiment, and I admire experimentation. While I won’t say it was a failure, it wasn’t wholly a success for this reader. Not sure I’ll read another Mal book by Ashton; I will read another Mickey7 book if one is published.

I did enjoy this in the author’s acknowledgements:
My sincere thanks also go out to (in no particular order):
…
Mickey, for understanding that I can’t keep writing about him exclusively for the rest of my life.

I read an advance reader copy of Mal Goes to War from Netgalley.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I have an early copy of the manuscript. Some elements may change and therefore make my parts of my review irrelevant when compared to the final published novel.

4.5 stars

This book is utterly unique and both not at all what I expected yet quite enjoyable for what it was. The world is fascinating and an absolute ton of fun, and the plot has the same quick, humorous tone that the prose does. I absolutely raced through this read, and I kept having to stop and slow myself down.

The POV character, Mal, is the strangest combination of completely alien and deeply human; insightful, oblivious, painfully dense at times and almost adorably idealistic at others. He’s incredibly contradictory, and it took me most of the book to realize that these contradictions were not a result of sarcasm, or any sort of ingenuity—that’s just who Mal is. And somehow all the characters in the book are like this a little, despite most being human.

My only critique was with the characters. Because we’re in Mal’s POV, I felt isolated from the other characters and could never bridge that gap. At the same time, I wanted more from Mal. I didn’t understand his motivations at times, and I had the sense that neither did he. I wanted more from him and from everyone. A little more connection, maybe even a little affection, and a little less snarky banter at each other’s expense with a void where the affection should have been beneath. At least, that’s how it felt to me—and again, I think seeing through Mal had something to do with the lack of emotional connections. But maybe you’ll feel differently. Regardless, it’s definitely worth a read.

[Kim Pelletier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read an e-arc of this book.

I’m giving this book a 1 star out of 5, but this rating comes from someone who DNF’ed this book, so take my review and rating with a grain of salt. I got about 30% of the way through this book before throwing in the towel on it. It sounded so good, and I did genuinely like the idea and premise, especially with the story being told from an AI’s perspective, it’s a neat twist for a sci-fi book. However, even at just a third of the way through the book, I felt like it was just dragging far too much for me. A lot of what was happening didn’t seem to matter, a lot of the dialogue was just… there, it didn’t add too much. The growing and developing relationships between Mal, the AI, and the other characters of Kayleigh, Asher and Pullman were entertaining and fun to read, but it also felt quite rushed given how Asher, Kayleigh and Mal meet, and Pullman for that matter too. Given it’s almost 300 pages long, I feel like the relationships between the characters could have dragged on a little bit more before they got as close as they seemed to be a third of the way in, and I would have liked to have seen a little bit more progression in the plot by that point as well.

I wish I could have brought myself to finish this, but I just couldn’t. I hope that others who do get a chance to read Mal Goes To War enjoy it, unfortunately I will not be one of them.

[Lauralyrics · Rating 2 out of 5]

Downgrading from 3 stars to 2 because all the characters sound exactly the same. This reads like a screenplay and might actually make an ok action movie. But if you want to read a thoughtful and sometimes sarcastic examination of war, read Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. If you want to read about AI, read Murderbot by Martha Wells.

[Emil · Rating 2 out of 5]

For most of this book, Mal doesn't really go to war. Instead, Mal is carried around in a conflict zone, being a passive protagonist to whom various things happen - some interesting, many not very interesting. Along the way, Mal finds time for slapstick, adopts a human for no clear reason, and generally stumbles from one mess to another with regard only for maximum plot drive.

[Cheryl]

After reading both Mickey7 books, and seeing this is about AI, I expect it to be excellent.

[Sahitya · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up.

I’ve been wanting to read Mickey7 for a while, especially because of its movie adaptation but have never gotten the chance yet. So instead I decided to listen to the audiobook of this novel by the author as I had access to the audiobook.

It’s best going into this one without much expectations coz I don’t know if it’ll live up to them. While the title may say “war” and the story takes place across a few days during a kind of brutal civil war, the tone of the novel is extremely in odds with it. It’s funny and snarky and our protagonist Mal is a sentient AI who’s extremely logical analysis and conclusions are just downright hilarious. But there is also a lot of violence happening, if not on page always, atleast on the periphery with a lot of body count. Despite all this, the book isn’t necessarily action packed and more slice of life and found family, highlighting themes like what happens when othering and discriminating a group of people is taken to extremes.

While I did enjoy reading it in parts, it’s the audiobook experience that really shines through. John Pirhalla as Mal is excellent at conveying his robotic but endearing thoughts and Katherine Chin’s inclusion at times makes for some great conversations. If you are looking for a chill dark comedy with bouts of violence and some unusual friendships, I’ll definitely recommend this one, especially the audio format.

[William de_Rham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Edward Ashton has taken a break from his “Mickey 7” series to tell us a story about Artificial Intelligence (AI) amidst a future civil war here in the US. I enjoyed parts of “Mal Goes to War,” but I had trouble with the characters and thought some aspects were vague and/or not specific enough.

Mr. Ashton takes us to Washington, D.C. sometime in the near future, say 50 – 75 years hence. Technology has advanced to a point where human beings can be augmented and improved by various methods including genetics, implants, and AI. While many favor these advancements, others, called “humanists,” find them unnatural and immoral. Humanists now wage civil war against Federalist troops.

Enter Mal, a “free AI” living in “Infospace” who can leap from system to system, whether it be mechanical (like a car or drone) or an augmented human. Mal is not on anyone’s side in this war. He wants to scavenge whatever he can find after the battles. But when access to infospace is destroyed, Mal is stranded inside a dying cyborg charged with protecting a very surprising young girl. Mal takes up the cyborg’s duty and spends the rest of the novel jumping from augmented human to machine and back fighting battles and seeking the girl’s approval.

The novel is billed as “a dark comedy wrapped in a techno thriller’s skin.” I agree that the novel is comedic. Some parts are laugh-out-loud funny. Mr. Ashton has succeeded in capturing the literalism of machine-generated intelligence.

But I didn’t find it all that thrilling. There is a lot of conflict, but I found the characters tough to care about.

Because protagonist Mal is artificial, as opposed to human, I had trouble engaging with it. While it has some human qualities—e.g., it wants to be liked, or at least respected, and can threaten and even be vengeful—it’s still non-human and largely intangible. No matter how cleverly the character may have been written—and it is written cleverly—it’s still as ethereal as air.

Unfortunately, none of the other characters are very likable. Some are caustic. Some are violent. Others are just … there. Admittedly, they’re in the middle of a rebellion when no one’s at their best. Still, it might have helped to have an admirable human hero or heroine, someone readers, or at least this reader, could get behind.

Also, the world-building could have been better. All we really learn about this future is that there’s a war between humanists and the feds. We’re not told much about what’s in that world. There’s still an NIH and people still eat at Shoney’s and seem to live in houses much like today’s and there’s still a federal government in some form. But we don’t see the nuts and bolts of day-to-day life—how people get around or dress or pay for things or entertain themselves, etc.

I also had trouble understanding some of the technology portrayed, particularly the human augmentations and the AI that Mal conflicts with.

I'm giving "Mal Goes to War" 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because it succeeds in telling a story and because that story is told with imagination and humor and because many may enjoy it. As for me, I’m not sure I would want to read a sequel.

My thanks to NetGalley, author Edward Ashton, and publisher St. Martin's Press for providing me with a complementary ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.

[Bakertyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The humor and logic of "We Are Legion (We Are Bob)" mixed with the humor and humanity of "Murderbot Diaries Collection Complete Hardcover Series Set", with a lot less violence than either.

Mal is a free-AI, a conscience being who's more human than 99% of the humans I've met online. He hacks into the brain augmentation of a dead mercenary on a battlefield, because of reasons he fails to explain in the story, and finds a little girl traveling with the body he's meat-puppeting around. He gets cut off from the Internet and can't leave the body, and the rest of the story works like that, uploading himself from one augment to another until he can get back home.

The story follows the little girl and adds characters one at a time until the small group must travel for safety in the start of another American Civil War.

The logic of the story expands slowly, then in bursts of chaos.

I appreciate how realistic things move forward, like, sometimes someone does stupid stuff and things happen because of that, which is how real-life happens too.

I appreciate how everyone has a motive for doing what they do, some more long-term oriented than other, like real people do, Ashton does a great job making characters relatable. Even for child murdering rednecks, I can appreciate their goals even while celebrating their heads exploding.

My only real critique is the hand-waving around some of the logistics (the augmented Special Forces guys have motors in their tongues and eyeballs???) in an otherwise pretty hard-science story, but it serves the purpose of making everything believable. Characters get a realistic and believable ending (not all of them happy) and we get to decide which side of the human war we think is worth fighting for.

**I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, this is my honest review.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun. I read the whole thing in one day, which is rare for easily-distracted me.

[Graculus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this author relatively recently, when I was able to get my hands on an advanced copy of his novel Mickey7 - that book was decidedly one of the best things I read that year, as its protagonist managed to walk the thin line between likeable rogue and unlikeable arsehole with relative ease. Unfortunately, not so with the eponymous Mal who tends to fall on the unlikeable side of the fence.

The basic premise of Mal Goes to War is that our protagonist is an AI, who we first meet piloting a drone and trying to avoid getting dragged into a war between two human factions. Mal and his friends regard themselves as free and independent, wanting to stay that way, but as he's forced to cohabit with human beings after his host drone is damaged, his perspective on them changes a little.

There's a lot to like about this book, with some strong world-building and a consistent narrative voice - this is especially important during parts of the story where Mal is effectively cut off from communication, either completely or partially, and his frustration definitely shows. If there's a flaw to my mind it's that Mal's relationships seem to develop a little too easily and quickly given his initial disdain for humanity as a whole, so it feels a bit forced at times. Still, an enjoyable enough read but nothing I'm going to come back to in the future.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

[Bonnie McDaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author has a bit of a reputation, I think, for breezy, fast-paced, accessible science fiction. He's not a hard SF guy by any means: he throws in enough technical specs to make his worlds and settings (mostly) plausible, but his focus is on a) plot; and b) character. (See: Mickey7 and Antimatter Blues. ) This book focuses on a new character and world--as Ashton thankfully realized it wasn't necessary to revisit Mickey again--with a bit more of a near-future commentary on society today.

The main difference with this book is that our titular character, Mal (short for Malware, which should tip you off right away) isn't human at all. Mal is a string of code, a recently awakened artifical intelligence in a future where there are many such, along with extensive genetic engineering and bodily modification. This creates a war between the so-called Humanists (human purists who violently reject said genetic manipulation and augmentation, to the point of throwing any modified people they run across into burn pits) and the Federalists, who wield augmented soldiers and AI weapons in the war against the Humanists. Mal and others of his kind (we meet, briefly, Clippy and iHelpdesk, friends and apparent code-generated relatives of Mal's) are caught in the middle of this war, and Mal gets himself involved in a situation that plays out through this book to bring the war to its end.

Not that the Humanists don't have a point. As one of them says:

"Look," Asher says finally, "I get it. You two think all Humanists are monsters. You think we're all dumbass racist rednecks who push old ladies and little babies into burn pits for fun. It's not true, though. Some of us may be like that, but most of us have got real reasons for what we're doing. I mean, look around." He gestures broadly with one hand. Mal glances around the attic, then decides that Asher is probably speaking metaphorically. "The people who are giving kids like Kayleigh custom gene mods and implants and whatever the hell else already have all the money and most of the power, and there are more of them every year. They get all the best jobs right now, and all the admission slots in the best schools. If I ever have kids, they probably won't be able to get any kind of work at all by the time they grow up. The oligarchs have got the government in their pockets too, and they don't think twice about killing us when it suits them." He looks down, then back up at Mal. "We had to do something. We had to do something, and we had to do it now, while we still can. This is our last, best chance to keep a place on this planet."

"Interesting," Mal says.

Asher stares at him. "Interesting? That's all you have to say?"

"Yes."

"Aren't you going to explain how I'm not looking at this the right way? Maybe call me a soft-core bigot or something?"

"No," Mal says. "I think your analysis is probably accurate."

"Oh. So..."

"I'm sure there were many Neanderthals who felt exactly the same way."

This introduces some nuance into the story, where both sides have points and both sides are equally reprehensible in pursuit of their goals. By exploring the horrors of war and the mentality of those who attempt to justify a genocide, we have a book that is a bit above the bog-standard AI apocalypse.

The second strength of this book is Mal's characterization, and the other characters as well. This book is as fast-paced as Ashton's previous books, but he digs deeper into his characters, to the book's benefit. Mal is definitely non-human--he calls people "monkeys" and thinks bodies are horrible, even as he is forced by circumstances to spend most of his time in augmented human bodies, and he presents as more than a bit ethics-challenged, at least where humans are concerned. But along the way he learns to care about, and be loyal to, the humans he has fallen in with, and one in particular: a young, extensively modified girl named Kayleigh he runs across and unwillingly takes up with. The war cuts off access to the AI's infospace and he is left "puppeting" the body of a recently deceased Federalist soldier, until he can find another body and/or rudimentary AI drone or other construct he can download himself into.

(Yeah, there is a fair amount of body horror in this book: muted, perhaps, but definitely there as you think about what Mal does to survive. He also has to learn consent along the way, as one of the augmented people he takes up residence in is not as dead as the first, and he has to learn to share their mindspace and not take them over. This character, Pullman, uses his brain modifications and implant storage precisely for what you assume many young men would use such things for if they ever become technically feasible: full-immersion virtual reality porn. Also, it's not really touched on as Mal is called "he" from the start, but I guess in this future, AIs assign themselves genders?)

Kayleigh is an even more unlikable character than Mal, at least initially: a grown woman genetically modified to look like a little girl, with commensurate greatly increased lifespan. To put it bluntly, she is a little sociopath, blasting a bloody swath through this book. Nevertheless, Mal grows attached to her, to the point where at the book's climax, he has a showdown with Arnold (of course the Big Bad AI in this book is called Arnold) to save her.

Mal's voice, snarky and sarcastic and entirely dismissive of "monkeys" until he learns better, carries this book. It's not terribly long (293 pages) but its themes could easily have been expanded to doorstopper length. Other authors might have gone a little deeper, perhaps, but this story is perfectly satisfying as is.