"Manta's Gift" by Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn has long been one of my favorite authors. He is one of the best authors out there at weaving believable technology with superb pacing and plot. "Manta's Gift" is one of his most recent novels, published in 2002.
The setting of "Manta's Gift" is Jupiter, both in orbit (where the humans reside) and in the atmosphere (where the manta-like Qanska live). The story revolves around the often ill-advised adventures of Matt Raimey, a young man who became paralyzed in a skiing accident and subsequently has his consciousness embedded in a Qanskan body. Raimey has to reconcile his human memories and bitterness from the accident with his new life in a totally alien environment.
As usual, Zahn plays out the tale with deft pacing and believable characters and technology. As a stand-alone novel, "Manta's Gift" is quite good. However, I find myself getting a bit weary of Zahn. Many of his characters from different novels have strikingly similar personalities and thought processes. This story, though very different in setting, isn't too novel in comparison with his other work.
Perhaps I am suffering from post-Simmons depression; most books will seem dull and uninspired compared to "Ilium" or "Hyperion". But I feel like Zahn needs to shake things up a little and break his own mold. Again, I should point out that this really is a pretty good book. It's just my own familiarity with Zahn that makes it a bit tiresome.
We'll see what I think of the two more recent books that are waiting in my queue, "The Green and the Gray" and "Star Wars: Survivor's Quest". But next up will be "Olympos" by Dan Simmons, thanks to capriciousbee's kind book loan. ;-)
The setting of "Manta's Gift" is Jupiter, both in orbit (where the humans reside) and in the atmosphere (where the manta-like Qanska live). The story revolves around the often ill-advised adventures of Matt Raimey, a young man who became paralyzed in a skiing accident and subsequently has his consciousness embedded in a Qanskan body. Raimey has to reconcile his human memories and bitterness from the accident with his new life in a totally alien environment.
As usual, Zahn plays out the tale with deft pacing and believable characters and technology. As a stand-alone novel, "Manta's Gift" is quite good. However, I find myself getting a bit weary of Zahn. Many of his characters from different novels have strikingly similar personalities and thought processes. This story, though very different in setting, isn't too novel in comparison with his other work.
Perhaps I am suffering from post-Simmons depression; most books will seem dull and uninspired compared to "Ilium" or "Hyperion". But I feel like Zahn needs to shake things up a little and break his own mold. Again, I should point out that this really is a pretty good book. It's just my own familiarity with Zahn that makes it a bit tiresome.
We'll see what I think of the two more recent books that are waiting in my queue, "The Green and the Gray" and "Star Wars: Survivor's Quest". But next up will be "Olympos" by Dan Simmons, thanks to capriciousbee's kind book loan. ;-)