Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For my latest Waiting on Wednesday I take a look at a fantastic upcoming novel that is probably going to be one of the best science fiction novels of 2022, with The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay.

Michael Mammay is a fantastically talented author whose work I have been deeply enjoying over the last couple of years.  Mammay debuted in 2018, with the epic and captivating science fiction thriller, Planetside, which contained an extremely clever story with one of the best, and most explosive, endings I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying.  Planetside was an exceptional read and not only was it one of my favourite novels of 2018 and one of my favourite overall debuts, but it served as the first entry in a truly awesome series.  This series so far features two other books, the 2019 release, Spaceside (one of my favourite books of 2019), and the third entry Colonyside, which was one of the best books (and audiobooks), that I have so far read this year.  I have had an absolute blast getting through the three Planetside novels, especially as each of them contains an excellent and clever science fiction story filled with mysteries and conspiracies.  As a result, I was very excited when I saw that Mammay had another cool sounding book coming out in 2022.

Mammay’s next novel will be The Misfit Soldier, which is currently set for release on 22 February 2022 (so 22. 2. 22.).  This latest book is going to be a standalone read separate from the Planetside novels and will contain a different story with a criminally minded science fiction soldier as he attempts to pull off a massive con.

Synopsis:

Ocean’s Eleven meets John Scalzi in this funny, action-filled, stand-alone sci-fi adventure from the author of Planetside, in which a small team of misfit soldiers takes on a mission that could change the entire galaxy.

Sergeant Gastovsky–Gas to everyone but his superior officers–never wanted to be a soldier. Far from it. But when a con goes wrong and he needs a place to lay low for a while, he finds himself wearing the power armor of the augmented infantry.

After three years on a six-year contract, Gas has found his groove running low-level cons and various illegal activities that make him good money on the side. He’s the guy who can get you what you need. But he’s always had his eye out for a big score–the one that might set him up for life after the military.

When one of his soldiers is left behind after a seemingly pointless battle, Gas sees his chance. He assembles a team of misfit soldiers that would push the term “ragtag” to its limits for a big con that leads them on a daring behind-the-lines mission, pitting him not only against enemy soldiers but against the top brass of his own organization.

If he pulls this off, not only will he save his squadmate, he might just become the legend he’s always considered himself. He might also change the way the entire galaxy looks at this war. But for any of that to happen, he has to live through this insane plan.

And charm rarely stops bullets.

This sounds like such an awesome story, and I am extremely excited to check it out.  A massive space heist with a team of misfit soldiers in the future sounds extremely awesome (sounds a bit like a science fiction version of Kelly’s Heroes).  I really like the fact that Mammay is trying something new here with the whole con/heist angle.  It will be interesting to see how well this change of format works for Mammay’s, although considering that I am a big fan of heists, it sounds like a great idea to me.  I also like that the author will still be using some military thriller aspects in The Misfit Soldier.  Mammay did such a wonderful job portraying military figures and other aspects of the soldier’s lifestyle in his Planetside novels, and it will be good to see more of it in his new book.  It was also be interesting see Mammay write a whole new protagonist, especially as he is changing from portraying a maverick officer, to a foot soldier more concerned with money than fighting.  This will be a quite a fun difference, although based on how tricky and conniving the protagonist of the Planetside novels was, I am fully confident that Mammay will be able to pull it off.

Overall, I think the above story sounds extremely incredible.  It has a lot of cool elements to it, and I must admit that I really like the idea of a science fiction military heist novel, and if anyone can pull it off, it is Michael Mammay.  Based on the author’s previous works, I already know that I am going to deeply enjoy this upcoming novel, and The Misfit Solider should turn out to be something truly amazing.  I am already predicting that this novel will be one of the top books of 2022, and it can not fall into my hands soon enough.