Booklist Starred Review
Shelf Awareness Starred Review
The sequel to The Lives of Tao.
The Prophus and the Genjix are at war. For centuries they have sought a way off-planet, guiding humanity’s social and technological development to the stage where space travel is possible. The end is now in sight, and both factions have plans to leave the Earth, but the Genjix method will mean the destruction of the human race.
That’s a price they’re willing to pay.
It’s up to Roen and Tao to save the world.
Oh, dear…
File Under: Science Fiction [ Manning Up | A Long Journey | Bye-Bye Mankind | Personal Space ]
Read an excerpt on Tor.com
Angry Robot Books Press Release
You can buy The Deaths of Tao at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Amazon UK, or your local bookstore.
REVIEWS FOR THE DEATHS OF TAO
Fans of the first novel will have a great time, and newcomers should have no trouble picking up the plot’s various threads as the story moves along. Great stuff. – Booklist
The fate of humanity hangs in the balance in a suspenseful and humorous novel replete with gun battles in East Asia and political machinations in Washington, D.C. – Shelf Awareness
The Deaths of Tao is as funny, loveable and entertaining as the first book, and adds even more depth to the characters, story and themes. – Fantasy Faction
The Deaths of Tao is an explosive action adventure from start to finish, one that easily kept me happy and entertained. I think fans of urban fantasy or action movies will get a good kick out of this book. – Fantasy Book Review
“…the end result is a thrilling novel that without quirky aliens would sit triumphantly in Ian Fleming or Vince Flynn’s wheelhouse. – Staffer’s Review
Chu’s writing remains engaging, entertaining, and compulsively readable. – Skiffy & Fanty
Perhaps the strongest part of The Deaths of Tao is the fact that Chu never lets the story get bogged down. Every time he takes the story forward he does it with an action scene in mind, and this trick rips the reader through from start to finish. – Buzzy Mag
“A great follow-up to a great book with a killer emotional ending.” – Founding Fields
The Deaths of Tao is one great sequel, firmly establishing Wesley Chu as one of the hottest writers in science fiction today. – Upcoming4.me
The Deaths of Tao has a lot going for it, not to mention a lot going on. With the different perspectives, the alien factions in conflict, and the political and historical elements – there was literally never a dull moment. – My Shelf Confessions
Wesley Chu has developed something of a rarity in which there is a mixture of action, espionage, humor, and some romance that blends very smoothly together and gets the reader interested in the characters themselves and not just the endgame of the book. – Comic Book Therapy
Chu knows how to blend humor, thrills, terror and romantic angst into one entertaining package, and I can’t wait for more. – Books, Bones, & Buffy
Wesley Chu brings just the right amount of comic-book style to a setting of serious sci-fi blended well with secret-agent thriller action, and all starring a reluctant hero weveryone will love. It’s a stellar combination! – Popcorn Reads
It accomplishes that which you rarely see in a sequel: it surpasses the first book. Funny and poignant, at times heart-wrenching, this was a kindle bruiser as I had to read on. – TiffyFit
Thriller-style plotting, a fine blend of gentle humor and sharp suspense. – Joe’s Geek Fest
Jam-packed with espionage and intrigue, intense action and fighting scenes punctuated by humor at just the right moments, and characters that are well worth becoming emotionally invested in, it never seems to falter in pace or flow. Joy, hope, humor, fear, sadness, are all expertly conveyed, sometimes even within a single paragraph. – Allwaysunmended
Wesley Chu obviously is a host for a Quasing of superior power, fans of book one will not be disappointed, his ability to not only craft an intelligent sci-fi but include historical features, humour and tie it up neatly into a mile a minute spy thriller, the fellow is certainly rather talented. – Sleeping Muses
Wesley Chu has proven his versatility with his sophomore effort and all his gambling appears to have paid off. His status as a rising star in the genre world hasn’t dimmed a Watt. – The 52 Book Reviews
While The Lives of Tao was fun, The Deaths of Tao is fascinating. It looks like Chu has taken everything he learned from writing the first book, polished it, and really threw himself into the task of writing something with more depth and a harder edge. – Bookworm Blues
The Deaths of Tao was a wild, action-packed ride that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. There NEEDS to be a third book. The last couple pages had some absolutely crazy plot twists and I need more. – Sarah Says Read
The Deaths of Tao turned out to be a worthy follow-up to its predecessor! In many ways, I liked it even more than the first book; after all, the scope of the story has gotten bigger, but it still retains all the humor and action that first drew me in. – Bibiliosanctum
Roen and Tao are back in the game in this thrilling sequel, joined by ninja action, super spy skills, a Tesla Roadster, hot secret agents, stinky tofu, snarky aliens, warring couples, Capitol Hill wheeling and dealing, and a mission to save all humankind from destruction. – Geeky Guide to Everything
…this is another great book by Chu. It has plenty of action, it has plenty of humor, and plenty of plot. It’s all very well balanced. – Wilder’s Book Review
For fast paced, extraterrestrial action and adventure sure to endure the test of time and the science fiction genre. Excellently written with a great sense of urgency and characters that are organic in their evolution, The Deaths of Tao is a Fall must-have sequel. – Toonari Post
The shades of grey in all of these issues are what make the story so interesting. Decisions and mistakes are made by everyone, but beyond that, everyone’s making their own choices at the same time. It’s all so very dramatic. I love it. – Over the Effing Rainbow
This time around, the storytelling is more dramatic, the action is far more brutal and the stakes are a hell of a lot higher. – Every Read Thing
The ending was jaw dropping, to say the least. – Shelf Inflicted
…the book certainly deserves 5 instances of Roen secretly saving Jill’s life out of a possible 5. – The Geeky Guide
The fate of humanity hangs in the balance in a suspenseful and humorous novel replete with gun battles in East Asia and political machinations in Washington, D.C. – Shelf Awareness
Chu’s writing style is very easy to read, and the action flows steadily on. I look forward to seeing what he does in the future. – Being a Big Sandwich
The Deaths of Tao is just as explosively written, thrilling, and fun as its predecessor. Thank you Wesley Chu! Often times sophomore efforts are easy to pass over, become unnecessary or obscure.The Deaths of Tao is an exception to that rule. – Patrice’s Reading Corner!
This Performance, where the reality has been transformed into something extraordinary, has set the stage for The Prestige, the payoff of this amazing performance. – Untitled United
I highly recommend both books as well thought-out alien science fiction. I would imagine we haven’t seen the last of Tao. Or have we? – Troubled Scribe
Having not read the first book in this series made this book all that more impressive to me. I was coming to the world, characters, and setting completely fresh and the author effortless made me aware of everything that I needed to know to enjoy the story. – Among the Wreckage
Chu weaves another massively entertaining tale, throwing together sci-fi, political intrigue and spy thriller. – Taichung Bookworm
The Death of Tao has outperformed its predecessor and was even better than the original by a factor of 100. – The Gavel