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the_mitch's review
3.0
Interesting concept
I like the idea... but the technical and tactical decision making of the characters was woefully sophomoric for “highly trained” people with the memories and experience of millions of years... leave the military and governmental intrigue to those authors with some (any) real world experience in those areas.
I like the idea... but the technical and tactical decision making of the characters was woefully sophomoric for “highly trained” people with the memories and experience of millions of years... leave the military and governmental intrigue to those authors with some (any) real world experience in those areas.
whiskyrob's review
4.0
I liked the first one better, but this one's still enjoyable. The beginning's kind of jarring, having skipped over a bunch of important life events for Roen in what seems like a short period of time. The first book ended left me thinking that his life would start getting better now that he had a handle on things, but that's promptly smashed with the first few chapters of this one, where his life still sucks but on a whole new level. Also similar to the first one, this one ends on a pretty unnecessary cliffhanger.
jmoses's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. After how much I enjoyed the first one, this just fell flat for me. We're past the whole "extraterrestrial beings as mental symboiotes" thing, and now it's just....kinda boring. Sure, I'm still interested in the fate of the world here, but....I'm just going through the motions reading more. Towards the end I Just wanted it to be over. Not because it was *bad*, you understand, just because it was more of the same.
bailo2's review against another edition
2.0
Eh. First book was better. Honestly, by the time I reached the end, I wanted the Genjix to win because the Prophus characters were so bland and annoying.
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
It's a few years after the events of [b:The Lives of Tao|15981711|The Lives of Tao (Tao, #1)|Wesley Chu|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361886088s/15981711.jpg|19932371] and things have gone down hill. Roen and Jill have married, had a child, and separated. The war between the Prophus and the Genjix is reaching it's final moments and things don't look good for the Prophus. Can Roen and the rest of the Prophus stop the Genjix's plan to turn Earth into a duplicate of their homeworld, destroying humanity in the process?
I got this ARC from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley!
War is a hell of a thing, especially when it's a war between two alien factions that have been using humanity as pawns for a millennium. That's pretty much the core lesson I took from The Deaths of the Tao. Picking up a few years after The Lives of Tao, things have changed and not for the better. While Roen is far from the fat IT guy turned secret agent of the first book, his life is an even bigger ruin. He's split with his wife, never sees his kid, and struggles to hold things together in the war with the Genjix.
I'll be honest, I wasn't completely sold on this one at first. Half the fun of the first book was Roen getting whipped into shape and now that he's actually competent, that was lost. However, I gave it time and was pretty entertained. The chemistry between Roen and Tao was still there, still amping up what could have been another bland secret agent thriller. The body count was a lot higher in this one and the bad guys were much badder.
The Genjix plot to turn Earth into a copy of Quasar and breed Quasing was pretty well done. Enzo and the others were scarily capable as far as bad guys go. Multiple last stands going on simultaneously made the last 20% or so really hard to put down.
Speaking of the last 20%, it was about that time that I realized Mrs. Chu's little boy wasn't going to be able to wrap everything up in this book like I originally thought. The ending was jaw dropping, to say the least.
While I didn't like this one quite as much as the first, it still managed to squeak into four territory. Yo, Chu, get crackin' on the next one!
I got this ARC from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley!
War is a hell of a thing, especially when it's a war between two alien factions that have been using humanity as pawns for a millennium. That's pretty much the core lesson I took from The Deaths of the Tao. Picking up a few years after The Lives of Tao, things have changed and not for the better. While Roen is far from the fat IT guy turned secret agent of the first book, his life is an even bigger ruin. He's split with his wife, never sees his kid, and struggles to hold things together in the war with the Genjix.
I'll be honest, I wasn't completely sold on this one at first. Half the fun of the first book was Roen getting whipped into shape and now that he's actually competent, that was lost. However, I gave it time and was pretty entertained. The chemistry between Roen and Tao was still there, still amping up what could have been another bland secret agent thriller. The body count was a lot higher in this one and the bad guys were much badder.
The Genjix plot to turn Earth into a copy of Quasar and breed Quasing was pretty well done. Enzo and the others were scarily capable as far as bad guys go. Multiple last stands going on simultaneously made the last 20% or so really hard to put down.
Speaking of the last 20%, it was about that time that I realized Mrs. Chu's little boy wasn't going to be able to wrap everything up in this book like I originally thought. The ending was jaw dropping, to say the least.
While I didn't like this one quite as much as the first, it still managed to squeak into four territory. Yo, Chu, get crackin' on the next one!
nenya_kanadka's review against another edition
3.0
This book was vastly improved from the first one! Actual plot, characterization deeper than a teaspoon, and POV from women (which actually made them sound like humans rather than one-note kickass hotties). I enjoyed the split POV between Roen, Jill, and Zoras/Enzo (the bad guy) especially, as it gave a better sense of the global conflict. I'm not sure I cared that much about the Taiwan underground and I'm not sure about the ending (I think it might wrap up better in the third book?) but I was much more invested in the story this time around. Will probably pick up the last one.
weltenkreuzer's review against another edition
3.0
Spannender und gut zu lesender zweiter Teil. Nachdem die Prämisse jetzt aber bekannt ist, fehlt ihm ein wenig die Cleverness des ersten Teils.
boredpanda's review against another edition
5.0
I don't really have much to say about this book. Except that it's awesome. I wonder if the author got some inspiration from a race called Trill from the Star Trek universe. A book full of action, a brilliant explanation of the world's history and humor. My only regret is that I'm going to have to wait for the next Tao book.I was more than a little shell shocked when I reached the end of this book! And there better be many more books in the future... :)
bbboeken's review
3.0
Minder goed dan het eerste deel, maar (gelukkig) wel opnieuw met een spetterend einde. De verrassing van het gegeven is natuurlijk uit het verhaal verdwenen, maar op het einde komt het weer helemaal terug. Ik ben benieuwd hoe het met het derde deel (publicatie voorzien voor december) zal zitten.