what is mickey 17 about

Mickey 17 is a science fiction story set in the year 2054 about Mickey Barnes, who joins a dangerous space expedition as an "Expendable" to colonize the ice- bound planet Niflheim. The Expendables are disposable workers who can be cloned ("reprinted") with restored memories every time they die. Mickey has been cloned multiple times, with each new iteration having subtle changes in personality. During the expedition, Mickey falls into a fissure and is saved by indigenous creatures called Creepers, who are revealed to be sentient. Mickey 17 returns to find a more aggressive clone, Mickey 18, and they must navigate conflicts aboard the ship led by the egomaniacal politician Kenneth Marshall. Themes include identity, survival, and the morality of cloning as Mickey and others confront political plots, relationship dynamics, and the Creepers' fight for survival. The story climaxes with a contest ordered by Marshall, a rebellion, and ultimately a peace agreement with the Creepers, ending the cloning program and hoping for a new beginning on the planet.