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Manna (2000)

by Marshall Brain(Favorite Author)

3.62 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

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review 1: Although the book really lost steam at the end, tending to repeat itself and to propagandize open-source intellectualism and communist ideals (or, I dunno, maybe I'm not sufficiently versed in my political theory to categorize the message!), I really was enthralled by the premise of this novella (slash manifesto?). The prose smacked of Asimov's touch, as did the dark progression of a capitalist mechanized society. The final notes of trans-humanism were interesting, but under explored, and I felt that the close was too abrupt and sermonizing.
review 2: Manna follows the evolution of two contrasting views on the future of computers. Manna, the dictatorship software which enslaves humanity, and Vertebrae, the software that encourages creativity and frees us from t... morehe crisis of capitalism.It is clear that there was a high level of planning to create the best and worst of what the future has to hold while seating a reminder of the problems of today.The two worlds offer a vastly different outlooks on the future and while this dynamic can be interesting it also is a large flaw. The Manna world is too dark, it becomes a caricature of the world that your typical left-wing extremist claims is inevitable. In contrast, the Vertebrae world is so utopian that it becomes uninteresting. These world are so perfectly bad/good that it becomes tedious to listen to the horrible nature of the Manna world and the amazing nature of the Vertebrae worldThat said, the story is engaging, but the content is lacking. The finale of the book does not do justice to the world that Brain created. It feels like this book is just an explanation of two views of a computer system rather than a story about them.Brain brings the concept of the omnipotent computer into view and engages and excites the reader with the possibility and then ends the novel before the idea is explored. The book is worth a read and it creates a engaging context, but there should be more development to the story. less

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