Book Review: Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton

This review was first published by Booklist on March 15, 2024.

Ashton (Antimatter Blues, 2023) sets his latest stand-alone in a near-future world where artificial intelligences exist and humans—especially wealthy ones—technologically enhance their bodies, while a growing movement of dispossessed people opposes this use of technology. Armed conflict flares between the enhanced Federalist forces and unenhanced Humanists. But not all is as it seems, and the Humanists may not be as pure as they claim. Mal, an artificial intelligence living in the infosphere who specializes in infiltrating other systems, embeds himself in the corpse of a cyborg human to learn more about the conflict on the ground. Through a series of gruesome and darkly comic mishaps, he becomes deeply embroiled and cut off from the infosphere. This is a funny, fast-paced, fish-out-of-water tale that should satisfy Ashton’s growing fan base. Exploring the nature of AI is a hot topic, and the contrast between the literalism of computers and human emotions is perennially fascinating. As we’ve seen in his Mickey7 series, Ashton has a talent for handling nonhuman characters. This should also appeal to fans of Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series.