Mal Goes to War    by Edward Ashton Order:  USA  Can St. Martin's, 2024 (2024) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Edward Ashton, author of the engrossing Mickey7 series looks sideways at humanity once more in Mal Goes to War. His lead this time is a free artificial intelligence, Malware. The background to his adventures is mankind at war (the Stupid War) - modded and augmented Federals against puritanical Humanists. Interested in neither side, Mal is pulled in willy-nilly. As the story opens, he has been watching a battlefield from a drone, keen to salvage equipment by dropping in and out of infospace. When the Humanists cut off infospace access, he's stuck in a cyborg mercenary's corpse. The mercenary was protecting modded girl Kayleigh. She and Mal end up traveling (and fighting) together, their constant banter enlivening the story. They're joined by reluctant Humanist soldier Asher (after Kayleigh clocks him with her bat). A zany set of adventures follow. Mal travels in a disconnected head and a dog. He shares head space with an augmented human named Pullman. There are captures and escapes. When he does get the chance to return to infospace, Mal gives it up to save Kayleigh. Why? He just likes her. Despite a genocidal attack on AIs, Mal saves humanity from being made into mounts (habitats) for AIs. He saves his friends as well. Ashton delivers yet another most unusual and highly entertaining SF adventure in Mal Goes to War. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more SF books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews