Of Man and Manta

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Of Man and Manta is a trilogy of science fiction novels written by Piers Anthony.

The trilogy consists of the three books Omnivore (1968), Orn (1970), and OX (1975).

Omnivore has as its frame the investigation of the deaths of eighteen travellers from Earth to the distant planet Nacre'. We see Nacre through the eyes of three surviving scientist-explorers – Cal, a blood-drinker, Veg, a vegetarian, and Aquilon, an omnivore.

Nacre is a planet whose dominant species are fungi, including the intelligent mantas. The mantas take the form of soft bodied creatures capable of high speeds and flight, resembling the manta rays of Earth superficially. They are carnivores, who farm the one extant herbivore species by protecting them from the voracious omnivore species. The planet is notable in its thick atmosphere, which allows flight to be performed with less energy, and permits the existence of air-borne phytoplankton. The herbivores eat the plankton, and the omnivores eat anything they can.

Orn involves travel by the scientists and mantas into the distant past of Earth, where they encounter an intelligent flightless bird called orn. Orn has the ability of racial memory, able to remember anything that that happened to an ancestor prior to the time of their reproduction.

OX involves the three scientists attempting to return to earth from another world inhabited by hostile machines.

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