Mini-Review: The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu

The Tao books by Wesley Chu are the perfect spy thrillers for a generation where science fiction is mainstream and dominates pop culture. They are action-packed, full of intrigue, both political and personal, witty, funny, and wrap it all up in alien possession. And of course who could be a more perfect choice for a heroic spy than an overweight, single, gamer in a dead end job?

The Deaths of Tao is the second book of the series, which is in part a trilogy, though it has expanded with a ‘coda’ novella and now a new series set in the world. The Lives of Tao began the series (my review) with a bang and The Deaths of Tao follows up a typical middle book does. Things go dark, it gets bad, really bad. Lack of hope bad. And in the end…well a tiny bit of hope gets thrown in just as a huge and unexpected curveball is thrown in to the mix. And Chu makes this all work without losing the witty, slightly irreverent voice that somehow makes a spy-thriller about alien-possessed people who secretly control the world something that isn’t just believable (in a fiction sense), but is a lot fun to read.

Go forth and read. And believe. And have fun.

Tao Series

The Lives of Tao: My Review, Amazon

The Deaths of Tao: Amazon

The Rebirths of Tao: Amazon

The Days of Tao: Amazon

Io Series

The Rise of Io: Amazon

Mini-Review: Zero World by Jason M. Hough

Some background information that you probably won’t care about:

A small sample of those hundreds 

(thousands?) of books waiting to be 

read.

I’ve seen a fair bit of buzz around the books of Jason M. Hough, particularly his first trilogy (The Dire Earth Cycle) which is a form of military science fiction that I’ve just never found myself in the mood for, even though I have full trilogy collecting dust on a bookcase. Anyway, I had that privilege to meet Jason when he visited Arizona last year and converse over a beer or two (I’m still rather unhappy that I had forgotten his books to get them signed). So, I will be completely honest, I read his book because we had beers together – yes, I had copies of his books and yes, they seemed like fun books to read. But the distinguishing feature that made me read his book over the hundreds of others I have lying around my office was that I met him in person and enjoyed our conversations. And it didn’t hurt that in an earlier conversation that I had with Brian Staveley, Brian had very positive things to say about Zero World. Yes, book tours matter. Yes, there are sometimes ‘perks’ to being a blogger. And yes, I hope to meet Jason again, converse over more drinks, and hopefully I’ll remember to bring books for him to sign.

The (mini) review:

Zero World intrigued me initially because it sounded like a fun and interesting take on a spy thriller in a near-future science fiction world. Basically, and Asian James Bond in the future. And initially, that is exactly what Zero World is – a fun and interesting take on the spy thriller where our spy/assassin has his memory wiped after every mission. There are some interesting bits about the whole memory reset process, the moral ambiguity that comes from being a successful assassin with no memory of his actions, and of course just who is the ‘god’ voice in this assassin’s head and what are their motivations. This, and our assassin gets a physical boost in speed, strength, and healing through some nice chemical enhancements.

But, even though all of that is more than enough for its own story, it gets bigger. Before long, this near-future SF book becomes ‘portal’ SF to a parallel world, with things ending up in a near Space Opera scope, though we still see it all through our Bond-like assassin. Then we begin to see things through the eyes of another spy from the parallel world. With the broadening of the scope comes a broadening of exploration – our assassin questions his morals, his goals, his purpose. In parallel we learn to question the motivations of others, particularly those in power. The further up the proverbial tower of power, the worse things seem to be. In this respect, Zero World is a fresh take on old ideas.

But, don’t let me get too deep here, because I run the risk of skipping over the true strengths of this book. It’s the pacing – a lot of things happen fast. This is about 3 books in 1, and it works. Zero World keeps the adrenaline flowing, the mind begging to know what comes next, and it won’t let you go to sleep. This is entertainment. This is fun. And I can’t wait to see what comes next.

So, as usual, no plot summary here. And as is (sadly) becoming more and more common with my reviews, it’s rather short and doesn’t dig in as I like to do. But, in the end it doesn’t matter. In the end, a review is an opinion, and in my opinion, Zero World is great book written by a great guy.

Zero World (Amazon)

The Dire Earth Cycle

The Darwin Elevator (Amazon)

The Exodus Towers (Amazon)

The Plague Force (Amazon)

Mini-Review: Hurricane Fever by Tobias S. Buckell

I have something to admit that is likely not a surprise to anyone who pays attention to what I read and review here at the blog (but let’s face it, how many people are actually paying attention to that). I’m rather limited in what I read – it’s mostly fantasy, and generally some form of second-world fantasy. Yes, I read some SF in there, some urban fantasy, some historical fantasy, some thrillers, and a few books that are either all or none of those and find themselves described with trite phrases like ‘transcends genre’. I say this because even though we in the SFF world certainly claim Tobias S. Buckell as an SFF author, some of his latest books are much more thriller/adventure/spy books that have as much in common with the books of Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy, and those fall outside of my typical sphere of reading. But that doesn’t mean that us SFF fans shouldn’t be reading those books – especially anyone who is looking for some form of near-future SFF that actually presents a very possible future that doesn’t immediately become overly post-apocalyptic.

Hurricane Fever is Buckell’s second book about a not-to-distant from now world where climate change has changed everything. His first book of the vein, Arctic Rising (my review), follows a young UN pilot who becomes wrapped up in a global conspiracy. In Hurricane Fever, Buckell focuses on a secondary character form Arctic Rising, the Caribbean spy, Roo, who is forced out of retirement and becomes wrapped up in a global conspiracy. Yes, these books are full of the typical spy thriller tropes that we’ve all come to love, and there are not a few jabs poked at those that have popularized that genre, most obviously James Bond.

The difference is that Hurricane Fever (and Arctic Rising) are very smartly written. They feature non-standard protagonists doing things just as well as the white guys. The future world is eerily possible – the socioeconomic, political and military possibilities presented are scarily likely. Seas have risen, balances of power have shifted, the weather is crazy, and drones change everything. This is the future.

And it’s shown through the lens of a good, old-fashioned, shoot’em up spy thriller. Smart and fun. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Arctic Rising: My Review, Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

Hurricane Fever: Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks

The Traveler refuses to be pigeon-holed into any one genre – it is equal parts spy novel, adventure, techno-thriller, science fiction, fantasy, secret history, and ass-kicking chic-lit. And as a sum of these parts it should satisfy fans of each and all.

Maya has been raised by an elite warrior class known as the Harlequins – but their kind are dying, having been systematically hunted and exterminated by the Tabula, a secret organization seeking a world order. The Harlequins are the sworn protectors of Travelers – mystics, healers, and leaders of mankind who have the ability to travel between the dimensions of reality and are the true enemy of the Tabula their desired world order. The last known Traveler is long dead and Maya seeks a normal life as an ordinary citizen. Her father begs her help on a mission, seeking a pair of brothers who just might be Travelers. The Tabula are wired into the world’s surveillance systems and secretly pull the strings behind most world powers and they know.

Maya is a truly fascinating character who is wonderfully presented. Conflicted, hurt, lonely, and deadly – this isn’t the life she wanted. The other ‘good guys’ are equally interesting and rounded, while the ‘bad guys’ seem just a bit too cliché and uninteresting.

Though the summary above sounds rather SFF, the framework of The Traveler is all spy and techno-thriller. The standard approach to introducing a heroine and her environment is taken, but written with skill enough to not matter – after all, this is a book for the masses, and we’ve come to expect certain things.

The constant and complete surveillance of the world created, where governments seek to control and eliminate true freedom, makes this book the 1984 of a post 9-11 world. Personal freedom is assaulted and destroyed, and the visionaries, the most human of us all, hunted to extinction. The underlying views are neither subtle nor preachy, and they are certainly exaggerated to an extreme that is all the more scary because it rings true. Secret organizations seeking to rule the world aside, the implications and truth sink in and would make the Lone Gunmen cry.

The Traveler garnered lots of attention, maintaining a presence on the international bestseller lists when released in 2005. The attention was largely focused on the paranoia of the book and the author himself, whose identity is not publicly known and who advocates a life ‘off the grid’. Of course if you aren’t interested in all that nonsense mentioned above, it is a very good action-adventure-spy-techno-thriller written with more skill than one usually finds.

The Traveler picks and chooses from numerous genres and delivers a truly entertaining book, meaty with paranoid echoes of the real world. The first entry in the Fourth Realm Trilogy is followed by The Dark River, which I look forward to reading, and you should too – 8/10.