I wanted to read this book after enjoying Mickey7. Mal (Malware) is a free AI and this book starts with Mal being able to jump from drone, to human, to other devices. Humans are augmented which adds another complication into the mix, with children also affected, leaving some staying in appearance as a child for 30 years. The story jumps quickly from person to person and place to place. At times it is complicated and I had to reread sections. Whilst I enjoyed this overall, character development was a bit lacking, and I’m still trying to pick apart what I actually read.

I loved the two Mickey7 books (Mickey7 and Antimatter Blues) also by this author so I was quite excited to get my hands on this, his latest offering. Sadly I didn't enjoy it as much, although I did get through it, I found it, on occasion, a little tough going and had to stop, go back and re-read a few times.
Mal (short for Malware) is a free AI. He has the capability to inhabit certain computer based systems, which he calls hosts and survives by host hopping. When we first meet him, he has hopped into a kinda living host, albeit one on their last legs! This one is an augmented human who comes along with Kayleigh, another human, apparently in her late teens, but with childlike features. They kinda bond and agree to rub along together and continue the fight for human-kind.
And so begins a bit of a bonkers, black humour laced, romp which pits our duo against some interesting foes and into some intriguing scenarios as they stumble along, also picking up more, shall we call them, misfits along the way!
I didn't take to Mal as well as I took to Mickey but that doesn't surprise me as they are completely different. Maybe I couldn't quite get my head around and accept Mal's existence, so I guess probably a me thing. I did however love his "transitions" and the way that previous hosts were "dispatched".
That said, I did enjoy the book, even with the struggles I had. Nothing was too bad that I ever contemplated giving up. And being as I loved the Mickey7 books, I put my faith in the author and was well rewarded for my persistence.
Now, if this is the start of a series, I am not sure that I would continue with it, probably would though as the positives did outweigh the negatives. But, that said, I'm definitely up for a new Mickey7 book, if the author is listening!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Like many, I jumped straight on this book after the success and enjoyment of Mickey7 and gladly, after a little warming to the task, I thoroughly enjoyed this very quirky road trip with Mal, a free spirited AI, as he jumps from human to human when he is locked out of the internet.

With human factions at war ( as ever) Mal struggles to really understand human nature as he takes what he believes is a child under his care.

This lack of understanding leaves him with an acerbic and sometimes abrasive way of communicating which enables Edward Ashton to develop the razor sharp humour in the book.

It’s different, took some getting used to, but the little band of characters grow as the book moves along and it became a story of hope in ways, and in other ways poignant as humans continue to shred each apart. We don’t get each other, what hope does a non sentient being?

Overall an intelligent and unique read.

In 2065, a free-thinking A.I. (or as he refers to himself, "Silico-American") named Mal(ware) ventures out of the digital realm and, much to his dismay, finds himself trapped in the physical world inhabiting a recently deceased meatsuit. Now, he has to deal with not only an ongoing civil war occurring around him, with one side seemingly hostile to A.I., but also the stark reality of his own newfound mortality without the means to return to the digital world. As he navigates the physical world, he must learn some interpersonal skills and grapple with his evolving moral compass as he comes across and befriends a band of misfits in his quest for freedom from the physical world.

The pacing is quick, and the story doesn't lag. The idea of this sarcastic and somewhat charming A.I. drew me into the story, and for the most part, Mal and his unique view of the world he inhabits and his questionable but understandable values are what keep you invested in the story, with the other characters primarily there to provoke emotional and situational responses from Mal, highlighting his internal conflicts as he wrestles with the extent to which he's willing to go to achieve his objectives.

Overall, I give 'Mal Goes to War' 4 Stars.

The book could have benefited from more character development, as the action felt rushed. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to fully flesh out the characters, but it was still an interesting read. While I probably won't revisit this book, I would recommend it as a quick, easy read for those looking for something light. The writing itself was good, but it didn't leave a lasting impression.

Mal goes to war
... and finds some friends along the way.
Mal, short for malware, is a free AI and finds itself inside Mika, a newly dead woman. Puppeting her around leads to almost being eaten by a dog, making new friends along the way, and being in the middle of a war. The new friends are a Humanist, a little Girl with advanced technology, a fat guy that becomes his bestest of pals and a woman freshly cured of brain cancer. Staying alive proves to be super difficult but Mal learns that that is what friends are for.
I enjoyed the Mickey 7 books so much that when this title was announced I knew I had to read it, no matter the topic. It is important to mention that Mal goes to War, despite its great topics, is not as good as Mickey7. The depth to it is missing, while the "witty" dialogue got turned up. It reminded me of TJ Klune in the sense that it was a little too much. Till the end I wasn't sure I knew what the storyline was. Pacing is super fast, and one wonders about the strong bond the characters form. But if you just roll with it, take it for the actionpacked comedy it is, you'll have lots of fun.

Having loved Edward Ashton’s Mickey7 and Antimatter Blues, I was very exciting to dive into Mal Goes to War. Although it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, I did overall enjoy it!

Mal is an AI being who is unwillingly drawn into a human war. He doesn’t have a physical body himself so spends much of the story jumping between hosts, which is an element I really liked. Mal has a great sense of humour and the story itself is very fast paced, making it a very quick and fun read.

I do wish there had been a more few pauses in the action to allow for deeper character building though. In particular, I wanted Kayleigh and Asher to feel a bit more fleshed out. That aside, this was a solid read!

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.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This was a good read with an interesting premise, an AI is reluctantly dragged into a human conflict. It is very fast paced, and that made for a easy-going reading experience but I personally would have preferred a little more depth in the world building and character development. It felt that the main group became too close in such a short amount of time. It is difficult not to compare this to murderbot, and murderbot it is not, but nonetheless this is short fun read that I would recommend to fans!

The story of Mal, an independent and "live" AI, who, sometime in the 2060s, finds himself in the middle of a war between the Humanist faction (portrayed as somewhat bigoted Americans seeking to protect their way of life from abominable enhancements), and the Federalist faction (the government, who protect those humans that chose to be enhanced in one way or the other). Mal encounters an eclectic collection of people, and learns, over time, the meaning of friendship and, perhaps, even love.

The story has a lot going for it. The worldbuilding is interesting, and, while not groundbreaking, offers fertile ground for wondering about what it means to be human, the role of war and violence in human relations, and how our lives are slowly converging towards the singularity. The characters are, while being to some extent caricatures of certain prototypes of human behaviour, offer endless entertainment as they clash, move from hate, to hate-love, to love-hate, and finally to love. The learning journey Mal is on is also quite fun to observe, as his naivete and straightforwardness clashes with reality and ambiguity.

That being said, the book, in my view, failed to live up to its potential, and fell into the trap of being another sketch for a Holywood screenplay. The story never seems to delve too deep into the emotional or philosophical, despite having ample opportunities to do so. It stays at a relatively shallow level, with the author choosing to spend more time on fight scenes (seriously....) than on character development.

Beyond the above, I was also disappointed that Mal seems to have way too many similarities with Mickey7, as a protagonist, and, to a lesser extent, with Murderbot. It's becoming almost like a cliche. Perhaps it would have been more interesting to explore other facets of AI behaviour (again - this pales in comparison to what Iain M Banks was able to do in his Culture series).

Overall, a very entertaining and fun adventure, without too much complexity or depth. A guilty pleasure of sorts, and will be forgotten in its entirety within a few weeks from reading it. Recommend it to any fans of the genre and those that just want a little fun thing to read.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.