The Lives of Tao
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4.1 • 16 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Goodreads Choice 2013 Nominee - Science Fiction
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…
From the Paperback edition.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Imagine humans are not Earth's dominant species, and aliens live among us in plain sight. This is the conceit of Chu's hip, wise-cracking military SF debut. One morning Roen Tan wakes up feeling worse than a bad hangover and rot-gut pizza should merit. Between the bar and taxi home last night, Roen acquired an alien symbiote, one of the Quasing, who crash landed on Earth millions of years ago. Roen, a flabby, geeky programmer of middling talent and low self-esteem, has become, overnight, the host of Tao of the Quasing. Tao, living through the ages, has paired with King Solomon, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, and most recently, kick-ass spy Edward Blair, so this is a bit of a change. The Quasing are divided into two factions and Tao features as a power player for his team, the Prophus. Can Tao make Roen into an international man of mystery before they both end up dead? The humor is strong, but the execution doesn't live up to the concept.
