William Shatner's science fiction novel Man O' War is a departure from the "Tek" series which first brought him popularity as a writer rather than as an actor. In this story, Earth has well-established colonies on the Moon, in orbiting space stations, and, most importantly, on Mars. A new food source has been discovered on Mars, called sponge/mush (smush), which is grown in the seemingly endless underground tunnels and caverns carved out by the first settlers. Smush is so abundant and nutritious that it is now the primary food source not just for the Martian colonists, but for Earth as well. Conditions on Mars, however, are brutal, and the colonists who grow the food that Earthlings depend on are virtual prisoners on their adopted planet. Workers are beginning to realize that Earth's dependence on imported smush gives Mars a bargaining advantage. The corporation that owns...