The Lives of Tao (Tao #1)

by Wesley Chu

ebook, 305 pages

Published April 30th 2013 by Angry Robot

Description:
When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. He wasn’t. He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes. Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well…

Review:
First, I just have to say that I regret not reading this book earlier, even though I've seen it reviewed and lauded on by other book reviewers. Shame on me! But the only good from waiting is I can jump right into book two, The Deaths of Tao. Yay, yippee, 

This book from the beginning got me swept up into really liking Tao. I really felt bad for Tao and Edward when the situation went bad for them. Bravo to Edward for what he did so Tao could continue the fight. I was really rooting for Tao when he went searching for another host and rejoiced when Tao found Roen.  Roen could have been anyone of us out here when he discovered that he was not just hearing voices. Throughout Roen's training to become a Prophus agent I felt his pain and rejoiced in his triumphs when they came, which wasn't much at first.

Mr. Chu did a wonderful job writing the dialogue and fleshing out Roen/Tao's feelings throughout the book which made it easy for me to follow since it was very similar to how I would have thought/talked. The emotions that were expressed by Roen and Tao made me feel emotionally attached to both characters. It has been a while since I have read a new book that has been able to do that. You have a new fan that will follow you for a long time.

This book is recommended to any and all readers. If you're not a SciFi fan give this book a chance, I'm positive you too will be a fan of Mr. Wesley Chu and be on the edge of your seat rooting for Roen and Tao.

Rating:
9.0/10.0