Books: Manna

One science fiction book I remembered fondly from years ago, but haven’t seen in stores for some time, is Lee Correy’s 1983 novel Manna. The reason the book had such an effect on me is that Stine posed the core conflict, set in 2050, as between the centuries-old Western financial community, mired in pre-industrial scarcity thinking, and a mythical East African country called the United Mitanni Commonwealth, lead by a group who realized that technology (including exploitation of space resources) meant there was no longer a reason for traditional economic competition.

Founded at the turn of the Millenium, the Commonwealth is organized as a libertarian wet dream where the state has about the lightest touch on life one might imagine. Citizens carry a dagger on their hip for personal protection and serve in the citizen’s reserve, business leaders make decisions that the armed forces carry out and accept a new leader when push comes to shove on the word of one of them.

Those financiers have had about enough guff from the upstarts and initiate a series of events which should wind up with the old order restored. Besides theit own people and resources, the Commonwealth has a wildcard in the form of new citizen Sandy Baldwin. Coincidentally arriving to interview for a job as a spaceship pilot at the same time as the founder’s grandson is returning from a failed diplomatic conference, the disaffected former US Aeroforce captain is able to stop an assassination attempt and winds up invited to the family compound. Where the next, even bigger assault takes place though again without serious casualties. Baldwin is immediately a part of the ruling clique by his actions.

The story isn’t told as boldly as its underlying premise; Baldwin especially, too easily predicts the next action and frankly decisions are made too easily by the UMC leadership. Stine has his point of view and the plot and characters are just costumed automatons on which he can drape it. The writing’s okay but no better and Baldwin is the bastard child of Ayn Rand and Robert Heinlein. Still, at around 225 pages, Manna isn’t bloated like more recent novels and worth the time to read.

Note: Lee Correy was the pen name used by the late G. Harry Stine for his fiction.

recommended