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Cover of Antimatter Blues

Antimatter Blues

Edward Ashton (2023-03-14)

Subgenre
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingPG-13
Pages283 (Standard (250-400))
Setting
CSM age16

Content levels

ViolenceModerate
Sexual contentNone
LanguageModerate

Trigger warnings

DeathViolenceMass Death

Positive tags

HumorSurvivalHopeful Ending

Tropes

ColonizationFirst ContactFish out of WaterMorally Gray ProtagonistPolitical IntrigueReluctant HeroSurvival

Themes

SurvivalSacrificeDuty vs Self-PreservationColonial EthicsExpendability and WorthDiplomacyResource Scarcity

Synopsis

Edward Ashton's Antimatter Blues is the thrilling follow up to Mickey7 in which an expendable heads out to explore new terrain for human habitation. Summer has come to Niflheim. The lichens are growing, the six-winged bat-things are chirping, and much to his own surprise, Mickey Barnes is still alive—that last part thanks almost entirely to the fact that Commander Marshall believes that the colony’s creeper neighbors are holding an antimatter bomb, and that Mickey is the only one who’s keeping them from using it. Mickey’s just another colonist now. Instead of cleaning out the reactor core, he spends his time these days cleaning out the rabbit hutches. It’s not a bad life. It’s not going to last. It may be sunny now, but winter is coming. The antimatter that fuels the colony is running low, and Marshall wants his bomb back. If Mickey agrees to retrieve it, he’ll be giving up the only thing that’s kept his head off of the chopping block. If he refuses, he might doom the entire colony. Meanwhile, the creepers have their own worries, and they’re not going to surrender the bomb without getting something in return. Once again, Mickey finds the fate of two species resting in his hands. If something goes wrong this time, though, he won’t be coming back.

Tags

Science FictionSpace ColonizationAlien ContactDark Comedy