# Manna by Marshall Brain

28 Hacker News commenters recommended Manna by Marshall Brain and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a short, well-written speculative story that anticipated AI-driven labor automation and still reads as relevant. Critics find its proposed solution and some details unrealistic.

## Why people recommend it

- Prescient about AI and automation (6 comments): "How prescient was that writer - even the parts about using GPUs weren't too far off the mark!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50062993)) "That short story has been highly influential on my projections of the future." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46881943)) "Marshall Brain really nailed it back in 2003 with Manna." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49630597))
- Thought-provoking speculative fiction (6 comments): "If you like speculative fiction on this topic, read Manna by Marshall Brain while you still can" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46415097)) "They're honestly two stories that I reflect on constantly while thinking about AI lately." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030399)) "There's a fictional take on this which is worth looking at" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50060409))
- Short, easy read (5 comments): "I found Manna to be a decent read, with its dual vision of how a post-human-labour world could be." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48447854)) "This was a very interesting read, from 2003." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50109720)) "It's a fairly light read, just 8 chapters" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46036865))
- Still relevant after two decades (4 comments): "How prescient was that writer - even the parts about using GPUs weren't too far off the mark!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50062993)) "This was a very interesting read, from 2003." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50109720)) "which 23 years later has not aged too badly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50218381))

## What people warn about

- Some predictions seem unlikely (2 comments): "It's a great story, but did feel unlikely when I first read it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47798351)) "has its own (inaccurate, IMO) view on how minimum wage McDonald's employees would react to a robot manager" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46769547))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Prime Intellect by Roger Williams](https://hackerapproved.com/p/prime-intellect.md): 9 recommend
- [The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lifecycle-of-software-objects.md): 6 recommend
- [Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/monk-and-robot.md): 4 recommend
- [Malak by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/malak.md): 3 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0985232110?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780985232115) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Manna by Marshall Brain", https://hackerapproved.com/p/manna/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).