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A review by morgandhu
The Rebirths of Tao by Wesley Chu
4.0
The Rebirths of Tao, the third book in Wesley Chu's Tao trilogy, is a strong conclusion to a complex and absorbing story. Set over a decade after the events of The Deaths of Tao, much has changed, and yet much is the same. Humanity has learned of the existence of the Quasing. In some parts of the world - particularly China and Russia - the Genjix have such a hold on the political elites that the primary conflict is between Genjix jockeying for power and humans appear primarily as clients of one Genjix faction or another. In North America and Europe, humans are in ascendency and have formed a paramilitary force (the Interpol Extraterrestrial Task Force or IXTF) to hunt down and imprison all Quasing hosts and their allies, Genjix and Prophus alike. The Prophus, under attack from two fronts, are losing the war against the Genjix, and the future of humanity seems dim.
The novel follows two main narrative threads. The first details a power struggle within the Genjix between Enzo, host of Zoras, whose arrogance continues to hamper his twin goals of becoming the acknowledged leader of the Genjix and initiating the planned Quasiforming of Earth, and Vinnick, an older host reluctant to give up power. The second, and more complicated, follows the Tan family, living in Northern California where Jill runs a major hub in the Prophus underground network.
As Jill's network takes on two separate missions against Genjix operations, and the IXTF - without regard for the differing aims of Prophus and Genjix - complicate an already deadly struggle, we follow both the twists of the missions, which end in the destruction of the Prophus base and the scattering of the Tan family, and the intimate and thoughts of Roen Tan, Jill Tan, their son Cameron Tan and Tao the Quasing.
In the end, both narratives converge in a brutal battle in an undersea Genjix base, while new alliances are made and hope for the Prophus cause, and humanity, is rekindled.
There is so much that is very good about this novel - and the whole series. The dense political plotting, the vibrant action sequences, the solid growth in the characters over the 20-odd years covered in the overall storyline, the humour, the historical vista - it's all so rich in depth and worldbuilding, and well-executed and written. Reading a debut trilogy of this calibre makes me very excited about Chu's future work, and it pleases me to no end to hear that he has more books already in the pipeline, including a new trilogy set in the universe of Tao.
The novel follows two main narrative threads. The first details a power struggle within the Genjix between Enzo, host of Zoras, whose arrogance continues to hamper his twin goals of becoming the acknowledged leader of the Genjix and initiating the planned Quasiforming of Earth, and Vinnick, an older host reluctant to give up power. The second, and more complicated, follows the Tan family, living in Northern California where Jill runs a major hub in the Prophus underground network.
As Jill's network takes on two separate missions against Genjix operations, and the IXTF - without regard for the differing aims of Prophus and Genjix - complicate an already deadly struggle, we follow both the twists of the missions, which end in the destruction of the Prophus base and the scattering of the Tan family, and the intimate and thoughts of Roen Tan, Jill Tan, their son Cameron Tan and Tao the Quasing.
In the end, both narratives converge in a brutal battle in an undersea Genjix base, while new alliances are made and hope for the Prophus cause, and humanity, is rekindled.
There is so much that is very good about this novel - and the whole series. The dense political plotting, the vibrant action sequences, the solid growth in the characters over the 20-odd years covered in the overall storyline, the humour, the historical vista - it's all so rich in depth and worldbuilding, and well-executed and written. Reading a debut trilogy of this calibre makes me very excited about Chu's future work, and it pleases me to no end to hear that he has more books already in the pipeline, including a new trilogy set in the universe of Tao.