Ep 30 Book to Movie: Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton
SHOW NOTES
The science fiction novel Mickey 7 was published in 2022. Author Edward Ashton then sold the film rights to a movie that was directed by Academy Award winner, Bong Joon Ho, in 2025.
The Premise: Both versions revolve around Mickey Barnes, an “Expendable” on a colony ship sent to settle the brutal, icy world of Niflheim. Because his job description involves walking into high-radiation zones, testing toxic atmosphere, and taking suicidal risks, he is cloned every time he dies. A machine prints a new body, and his backed-up memories are uploaded right into it.
Mickey falls into a massive ice crevasse during a scouting run and is presumed dead by his team. He manages to survive and drag himself back to the base, only to discover that the colony has already jumped the gun and printed his replacement (Mickey 8 in the book, Mickey 18 in the film).
Because maintaining two active clones violates colony protocols (the infrastructure cannot sustain extra mouths to feed or navigate the legal nightmare of duplicate identities), both Mickeys must hide one another from the leadership to avoid being tossed into the organic recycler.
Both narratives feature the “Creepers”—indigenous, terrifyingly powerful subterranean life forms that represent a constant background threat to the survival of the human dome colony.
Cloning has been a science fiction staple for well over half a century. Kate Wilhelm’s 1972 novel, When Late the Sweet Birds Sang is a classic example of what happens in a post holocaust world where cloning is used far too many times for clan survival. Ira Levin’s Boys from Brazil, Arthur C. Clarke’s Imperial Earth and many others. Cloning is a fascinating psychological and moral dilemma that still rattles society today.
-A good long article on cloning in scifi can be found at the Science Fiction Encyclopedia Online
-Prof Cebo Daniel has a dandy article on the science of cloning on his Medium site
-And I really like Zen Lieu Reads the World YouTube video comparing the book to the movie version of Mickey 7.
-You can find a full list of Edward Ashton’s books at his website. I’ve read two other novels by this author and they were excellent. Recommended! Note that Ashton wrote a sequel to Mickey 7 called “Anti-Matter Blues”
SPECIAL GUEST MATT KELLAND
Once again, to discuss these book-to-movie adaptations, I’m joined by my good friend Matt Kelland. I always enjoy talking about books and movies with him, because, like me, he’s into various styles, genres, authors, and directors. He also has a professional background in writing, video games, animation, music, and visual art, so he has a lot of different experiences to draw on. He and I don’t always agree with each other, but that’s what makes our conversations interesting! I’d recommend checking out his collection of short stories, Nothing To See Here
