The Lives of Tao

Originally posted at FanLit: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/the-lives-of-tao/

Before the first animals showed up on Earth, immortal incorporeal aliens crash-landed on our planet. They???ve been trying to get back to their own planet ever since. Their strategy has been to promote the intellectual and technological development of the most promising animal species they could find ??? humans. They do this by inhabiting certain promising humans and guiding their thoughts and actions. They knew it would take thousands of years, but someday they will direct humans to create the spaceships they need to get home.

Somewhere along the way the aliens had a disagreement about the techniques they use to promote human progress. One faction, the Genjix, believe that pitting humans against each other will encourage progression. For example, World War II caused rapid advancement in nuclear technology. The smaller faction, the Prophus, are peaceful and don???t want to be responsible for humans fighting amongst themselves. Now the Genjix and the Prophus are at war with each other. Since they exist only by inhabiting human bodies, this means the alien war has become a human war.

Tao is one of the peaceful Prophus aliens. He used to inhabit the body of Genghis Kahn, but he???s changed his ways since then. Now he works to oppose the Genjix. The host he???s been with for years has just been killed by one of the Genjix, so Tao must quickly find a new body. Unfortunately the only one available in the short time he has left is the chubby unfit ???fixer upper??? body of an IT technician named Roen. Now that Roen has a powerful and ambitious alien in his head, his life is about to change! He must be transformed from an out-of-shape unaggressive wimp with no pain tolerance and bad hand-eye coordination into a lean mean fighting machine. Meanwhile he must learn the history of the aliens, evade capture by the Genjix, deal with the ethical implications of his mission, and ??? hardest of all ??? talk to the widow of Tao???s previous host. All while trying to keep his new alien consciousness secret from his roommate and the girl he has a crush on.

The story of Roen???s new life is interspersed with Tao???s reminisces of his time inhabiting Genghis Kahn (which he considers an epic failure), thus we learn a little history about Genghis. Tao also tells Roen how the aliens have been responsible for the creativity of our most brilliant scholars, inventors, and artists and explains the unearthly reasons behind many of the significant unpleasant events in human history such as our wars, the Black Plague, and the Spanish Inquisition. Gradually Roen begins to accept the importance of his new position. If he doesn???t help the Prophus, the Genjix will have complete control over human destiny.

From page one I was completely entertained by Wesley Chu???s debut novel The Lives of Tao. The premise was fun, the pace was exciting, the writing was engaging, the story was compelling, the characters were likeable, and the humor was appealing. There???s a major twist at the end that, although I saw it coming, I was excited about. I can???t wait for the sequel, The Deaths of Tao. I???m listening to the audio version produced by Brilliance Audio. It???s read by Mikael Naramore who was perfect.

The story was interesting enough, but I ended up getting frustrated with both the author's portrayal of women throughout the book (always using physical traits to describe them, like beautiful, or soft skin), and then there's an entire chapter dedicated to sexist undertones of “how women are past their prime by 30s”.

Then there was Toa himself. From what I understand from the book, he was the one who imprisoned his fellow kind in turtles and the like. So why he was surprised when Zoras (name might be wrong) was utterly pissed off and wanted revenge - is...confusing at best. From what I gathered, Toa started the war himself directly by starting to enslave the other alien beings that annoyed him. So ¯_(ツ)_/¯

A fun, fast-paced read although, as others have said, it could probably have done with a bit more attention from an editor. It also commits the cardinal sin, at one point, of appearing to equate Dublin and British. I'm also not sure I'd describe Monaco as being like Las Vegas. However, it's a good enough read that I am tempted by the sequel.