I found the first and the last ones the most interesting. There are also nice bits in here about ecology, how the rich & powerful abuse others and it also asks questions about social class. Plus he had something the aliens didn't: he understood modern technology and knew some science. He wanted to save the others who were his new friends. Plus it seemed he was very much a loner of sorts and he really needed to be social to fit into the alien society. And he had lots of mental and emotional issues going on.I suppose most people would if you were suddenly stuck in an alien body in a very different environment. At first I found him very annoying but that's because he was still immature. But it's Manta himself who's mostly driving the story. And that is one reason why I liked it so much.

There's a lot of heart in this story, a lot of themes and ideas and things to say. So he goes for it.and changes his name to Manta. His only hope at a somewhat normal life is to take part in a great science experiment of sorts: he would be reborn with his memory and human knowledge intact as a Manta Ray type creature on Jupiter. He breaks his neck in a dumb accident (he was showing off for a girl) and becomes a quadriplegic. The main character in here is a human named Raimey.

This is a character driven story and if you ask me those are the best. I believe that is due to the easy-to-read writing style. I'm actually surprised at how fast I read this book, as it's about a hundred pages more than the average book I read.yet the pages seemed to fly by.

Manta's Gift by Timothy Zahn