Product Description
Jakob Faraday is exploring Jupiter when his small craft is suddenly jarred by contact with a living creature. Faraday realizes he has blundered into a herd of enormous manta/dolphin-like animals, the Qanska, which live in Jovian space. To learn more about the Qanska, Faraday challenges Matt Rainey, a recently crippled quadraplegic, to bond with a Qanska by being placed within the womb of a mother Qanska. Rainey accepts, becoming a unique hybrid, still human in personality, but physically a Qanska. Then a rumor spreads on Earth: the Qanska have a secret stardrive which could take Earth vessels to the far reaches of space. Faraday is removed from control of the Jupiter operations and replaced by Arbiter Liadof, who tries to coerce the Qanska into sharing their secret. Rainey knows there is no drive. Worse yet, the Qanska environment is inexplicably failing, as has happened before in previous herd locations. Rainey might be able to save the Qanska if he can prevent the destruction of their environment. But Rainey has unwittingly violated a Qanskan code, and he is to be banished, no matter that he is the giant creatures' last hope.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 17 reviews)

It Doesn't Get Much Better than This!!

The holy grail of science fiction is to write a novel from a truly alien perspective in a way that will not only make sense to English-language readers but that will allow them to enter into that perspective and to make it their own. That is precisely what Timothy Zahn has accomplished with Manta's Gift. This is a novel that takes place almost entirely in the gaseous layers of Jupiter, the home of manta-like creatures that guard a secret that humanity needs to know-- and will do anything to discover.

Zahn's writing is sophisticated and richly detailed, and his characters are very easy to get invested in. He manages to employ alien jingoism believably and without the need for intrusive editorial explanation, but doesn't go overboard. The result is a sci-fi novel you won't be able to put down. With Manta's Gift, Zahn joins Orson Scott Card at the top of the list of my favorite novelists.
November 17, 2008

What an intriguing concept!

This yarn reminds me of something I read in Carl Sagan's Cosmos book about hypothetical life-forms that could possibly exist in the atmosphere of a gas giant planet. This story goes even deeper into the 'what if' of such an idea. Zahn's writing is fast-paced, and the complexities of the plot make this a real page-turner. When I bought the book I wondered how dramatic life could be in a herd where all the creatures seem to do is eat, sleep, mate, and fight off predators. But this author has woven so many hidden agendas into this story, mostly surrounding the Qanska's interaction with Manta and his with the humans that you're kept guessing about what's going on right up to the last minute.
September 14, 2006

Better than you'd think from reading the back cover

I picked up this one at a used book sale at the local library for next to nothing... not because reading the back cover (or the front cover for that matter) grabbed my attention (because they most certainly did NOT), but becuase I knew Timothy Zahn from his work on the Star Wars "Heir to the Empire" trilogy and had really enjoyed his writing. Turns out, it was a very good pickup that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Unlike a lot of contemporary sci-fi, this one actually DOES make an effort at including science into the fiction, and Zahn does incorporate several creative and thought provoking ideas and concepts into the life and ecology of the Jupiter that he creates.... (as odd and implausible as some of those ideas and "science" may be, they should at least make the reader step back and say 'hmmm, interesting'). Zahn succeeds in giving his story an "old school" sci-fi feel to it that a lot of newer entries into the genre seem to be lacking.

For all the science and creativity though, the story really succeeds becuase the characters are interesting and sympathetic, the plot is fast paced and exciting, the book is not easy to "figure out" 200 pages before the finish (i.e. there is suspense), and the writing is sharp and clear. This one MORE than met my expectations, and I'll be hitting more of Zahn's work when the next opportunity presents itself. In my opinion at least, that's pretty high praise for an author, and this book was well worth the read.
February 09, 2006

One of Zahn's sharpest novels yet

I've enjoyed Timothy Zahn's work for almost a decade now; I think his Star Wars novels are the best ever written in that universe, and his original space operas are zippy, exciting, and innovative.

My only quibble: Too often, it seems that about a hundred pages into a Zahn novel, his characters stop being the incredibly realistic and intriguing folks they've been so far and become flatter, more familiar, and less interesting.

That's why Manta's Gift surprised me so much. Not only does this book run from page one with a kind of non-stop manic energy, but the characters Zahn creates are both consistent and consistently alien. This is a weird, wonderful glimpse into the sort of society that might be buried beneath Jupiter's clouds, a culture alien enough that I never knew what to expect but human enough that I cared deeply about the characters. If you like stories with both a brain and a heart, check this one out!
March 18, 2005

Truely a masterpiece

Over the last six months i have reread Manta's Gift over four times. The book takes place many years in the future in the atmosphere of Jupiter. The plot is nothing amazing as far as Sci-Fi goes, but the potreyal of the characters and situations are beautifuly written. One of the more interesting points of the book is the Culture Clash that takes place between the human mind of Manta and rules that govern an inherent prey race, vs a hunter race like humans.
One of the things that set this book apart is Zahn's style of "tricking" you into thinking the book is almost over. Time and time again he brings up situations when most other authors would leave the book off there.
But at its heart, the book is a timeless story of culture clashes mixed with despairing romance unlike the happy endings found in most books today. Zahn combines his knowlage of science with an extremely creative imagination to creat a fantastic read, highly recomended
October 26, 2004

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