eBook Deals - Posey, Gaiman, Abercrombie, Kadrey, Chu, Scalzi, Grossman, Bester, Schwab,

I don't know what's going on lately, but there are a ton of great books on sale right now in the US.

[$0.99] Three (Legends of the Dustwalker #1) by Jay Posey

[$1.99] The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
[$1.99] Half a King (Shattered Sea #1) by Joe Abercrombie
[$1.99] The Getaway God by Richard Kadrey
[$1.99] The Lives of Tao (Lives of Tao #1) by Wesley Chu
[$1.99] Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon

[$2.99] The Human Division (Old Man's War #5) by John Scalzi
[$2.99] The Magicians (Magicians #1) by Lev Grossman - I can't recommend this enough!
[$2.99] Virtual Unrealities, short fiction by Alfred Bester
[$2.99] Vicious by V.E. Schwab
[$2.99] Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi

Quick Review - The Deaths of Tao (Lives of Tao #2) by Wesley Chu

Wesley Chu came out of nowhere last year and rocked my socks off. I really enjoyed these books about an alien race that inhabits humans while fighting a secret war against each other in James Bond fashion. 

The Deaths of Tao was only a slight let down after The Lives of Tao, though not by much, and really only because of my own biases. I tend to enjoy the first of a series more than the rest. There's something about experiencing all the newness, all the clever ideas and magics, for the first time that really sells me. Couple that with a training montage type book and it's hard to beat.

Sometimes I think cliches are only for me. Everyone else on the internet hates them. :)

When you think too hard, it's barely science fiction, which is amazing that I still enjoyed it as much as I did. It's not like the aliens do all that much to enhance the host other than impart millennia of knowledge.

Anyway, Deaths of Tao was on the same level as Lives - tons of action, great dialogue, and non-stop pace. I'm looking forward to more in this series (The Rebirths of Tao and a just -announced new trilogy) and the other thing Chu's got cooking.

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)

Only the Best (of the Year) - Top Ten New Releases of 2013

It seems like more and more of these end of the year posts are going up less and less close to the end of the year. I've always tried to get close and sometimes I realize I won't be able to finish anything new by the end of the year, so it's understandable. I've done so myself even. However, I think I'm done with that.

Maybe it's because I have a December birthday and I'm sick of this perfectly great month getting neglected when it comes to "best of" lists. Goodreads starts their process in November for crying out loud. I vow right now to do December justice ... erm ... to wait until the new year for any of my year-in-review type posts because come on. For December!

Disclaimer and all that: Please remember that this is from the books I read so if your favorite didn't make the list it's probably because it's a terrible book and you have just as abismal taste I didn't read it.

Top 10 New Releases of 2013

10) A Discourse in Steel (Egil & Nix #2) by Paul S. Kemp - Review - Even better than the first, Egil and Nix are becoming one of my favorite duos.

9) The Garden of Stones (Echoes of Empire #1) by Mark T. Barnes - Review - This was a surprising find for me. I was curious given the beautiful by the same artist as for Abraham's The Long Price Quartet, but blown away by the world Barnes has created here.

8) The Lives of Tao (Lives of Tao #1) - Review - and The Deaths of Tao (Lives of Tao #2) by Wesley Chu - Review Not Yet Posted - Interview - Wesley Chu

7) The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J. Sullivan - Review Not Yet Posted - I find I can't put Sullivan's books down and this is yet another.

6) Promise of Blood (Powder Mages #1) by Brian McClellan - Review - This series is only just started and I'm dying to read its sequel. For any release, this was excellent, for a debut, it's incredible.

5) Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops #2) by Myke Cole - Review - Myke Cole keeps getting better and better and Breach Zone is already in my hands. Very much looking forward to this.

4) The Forever Knight (A Novel of the Bronze Knight) by John Marco - Review - The discerning reader will notice this is actually rated lower than the previous book on the list. I'm not saying there's a failing in a number rating system (okay, yes I am), but I rated this compared to the prior series probably a little more than compared to any book ever. Yeah, it makes ... sense?

3) The Daylight War (Demon Cycle #3) by Peter V. Brett - Review - I was dying to get my hands on this book. I know many were disappointed as this installment contains lots of backstory, but let's just say that Brett will have to really throw this series off for me not to love it.

2) Joyland by Stephen King - Review - A big surprise in a little package, especially for Stephen King. It's more coming of age than anything it proclaims to be (horror? no; hard case crime? no), but still a great tale.




And the best release for 2013 goes to ...

1) Emperor of Thorns (Broken Empire #3) by Mark Lawrence - Review - Lawrence does the impossible and writes an excellent conclusion to an already stellar trilogy. He's jumped quickly into my list of authors to slavishly follow.


Honorable Mentions:

Inheritance (Heir to the Blood Throne #1) by Tim Marquitz - Review - This just barely missed the list. I enjoyed it immensely and thought it an excellent spin on the typical vampire tale.

The Gate Thief (Mither Mages #2) by Orson Scott Card - Review Not Yet Posted - Yet another I still need to review. This one was slow to start but had a great ending. Lots needed to be explained for the ending to make sense, so it gets bogged down for a while because the world is so intricate yet fascinating.

Missing From the List:

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett - I was waiting for the perfect time to read this book. I know I'll enjoy every bit of it and I wanted to savor it ... but somehow that perfect time never happened to reveal itself. Ever happen to you? It happens to me all the time.

The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1) by Brandon Sanderson - Review - I enjoyed this enough to lend it to a friend to read, but it just didn't quite hit everything exactly as it could have. I do see the potential and I'll be lining up for the next installment.

There are actually quite a few missing. I haven't kept up with Daniel Abraham's The Dagger and the Coin series and The Tyrant's Law came out this year. Then there's Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and of course the final installment of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light and a couple more that just didn't quite fit into my schedule. To this coming year!

Interview - Wesley Chu, Author of The Lives of Tao

Wesley Chu is the debut author of The Lives of Tao (review) from Angry Robot. Aliens have been stranded on earth millennia ago and influence some of humanity's greatest people and events in their attempt to make it back to their home. The Lives of Tao deals with one of those aliens and his human host, Roen Tan. This book is a great ride from page one and comes highly recommended.

Wesley was nice enough to answer a couple questions and even give a little of the backstory of how the history of his world has developed, but I have to warn you this is the interview lacking the Banzai Chef. :) And seriously, check out The Lives of Tao, it will only make you happier.

----------------------

OTBSFF: What made you want to become an author and when did you first start writing?

I’ve always been a huge reader. One of my favorite memories in grade school was when they handed out those little catalogues for the students to buy books. I nearly impoverished my parents buying every damn book on the list. I eventually burned through all stuff I wanted to read and had to venture into Judy Blume territory.

I think my writing career started sometime between second and fourth grade. The exact date is a little fuzzy. I wrote a story about how all the planets in our solar system used to run into each other and got into fights which caused all the pock marks on their surfaces. Eventually, the King Sun got annoyed and enforced gravity on them. My English Professor father read it and told me that it wasn’t terrible. And thus a lowly writing career was born.

OTBSFF: What has been your favorite part of releasing your debut novel?

I’ve had so many highs that depending on what day you ask me, the answer to my favorite part of the release would change. The most recent high was my release party on Saturday May 4th. It was held at NV Penthouse Lounge in downtown Chicago and The Book Cellar was kind enough to do offsite sales. The bookstore had ordered 127 books and sold all but 4.

Originally, I had guestimated that I’d have between 75 to 100 guests and the party would go on for three hours. I ended up having 250+ guests and the party went on until well past 1 AM. It was a pretty surreal night. Imagine if you took your entire life and condensed it to one room. It was like an episode of This is Your Life!

I had my writing friends, my Kung Fu friends, my Asian friends, my old colleagues, and assorted people I haven’t seen in a decade all there. In a way, it felt like a retirement party. I think at one point, I had 6 of my old managers from different jobs talking to me.

OTBSFF: History is such an important part to the story and the lives of the Quasing and it quickly begins to feel like the Quasing influenced everything. Is there any part of human history that the Quasing did not influence?

The Quasing definitely played a significant role in humanity’s history, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once, could they? There were definitely parts of history, some great, some bungled, that humanity did all on its lonesome.

Warren G Harding winning the presidency is a fine example of human ineptitude. The Pig War of 1859 was another wonderful all-human event. And who can forget Coca Cola’s decision not to buy Pepsi Co for a couple of pennies and a sponge bath. Basically, there were thousands of famous and not-so famous blunders that can be attributed to sheer human stupidity.

On the other hand, there were several great events that humans are credit for accomplishing on their own as well. The invention of paper was probably the most significant contribution humans ever made without Quasing assistance. The creation and signing of the Magna Carta was another. The Quasings’ influence, though large, wasn’t absolute. Back during the times leading up to the Spanish Inquisition, they were against any significant peace treaty that would promote stability within the world. During the modern era, certain inventions like choosing VHS over Beta had supporters from both Quasing factions (due to investments), but in the end, it was the porn industry that made the choice for them.

OTBSFF: Are you a history buff and could I easily guess which country’s history you are most fascinated with?

I am a huge history buff, and I’m pretty sure you couldn’t guess which country’s history I’m most fascinated with because I’m not sure myself.

Historical events, to me, are like scotches. What I like and what I’m interested in changes depending on the day of the month. I remember spending two weeks once reading everything I could get my hands on about all the pontiffs between 800 AD to 1600 AD. Then there was a three day period where I researched everything I could on the meat packing industry from 1900s to 1930s. And then there was this one time I spent a few days correlating the sales of men’s underwear to the American economy.

Psst... By the way, my entire investment strategy is based on the Underwear Index. No joke.

OTBSFF: The Lives of Tao deals largely with espionage, from the boring stuff like staking out a mailbox to tracking down secret weapons and killing targets. Are you secretly a spy? (Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul)

Do you know the pay scale of the people in covert ops? The market value for covert operations is totally wacked. First of all, no one takes into consideration the collateral risk and damage a spy needs to endure, not to mention the fact that whoever this dude dates starts the entire relationship with a lie. That means I’ll never get a girlfriend, and I can’t live without that. Oh wait, I’m married already. Well, same thing.

And let’s be honest, I’m too much like the meerkat in The Lion King. Hakuna Matata, bro. And I guess while we’re at it; I have a very low pain threshold. If I get an ingrown toenail, I’m bedridden for weeks. Me? A spy. Child please! 

You believe me, right? Right? Of course you believe me. In fact, I was never here.

OTBSFF: I’ve heard you are a man of many talents including being an actor and stuntman. What would you say has influenced your writing the most?

To be perfectly honest, neither influenced my writing that much. If I was to answer honestly, I’d have to go lame and say reading has influenced my writing the most.

However, I will admit that martial arts played a huge part in how I visualize fight scenes. I took pride in knowing that I could re-enact every fight scene in The Lives of Tao. That’s all past tense because I’m just not so limber anymore.

Acting has also helped with the dialogues in The Lives of Tao. The craft of acting has always been less about the words and more about the timings and emotions that stems from a scene. That’s the same approach I take when I write my characters chatting it up.

OTBSFF: Are there any literary influences that have really had an impact on your writing?

This is such a loaded question because there have been so many literary influences over the years. That’s why I always default to Piers Anthony and Lawrence Watt-Evans.

They were the authors of the first two fantasy novels I’ve ever read. My English professor father took me to the literary section of a bookstore and told me I could pick out any books I wanted to read. I’m pretty sure he wanted me to choose Tom Sawyer or Macbeth or Thomas Moore. I made a beeline toward the fantasy section and chose the shiny picture of the floating sword and the picture of the goofy lion with wings that had a scorpion tail on it. And in case you can’t guess the books, they are The Misenchanted Sword and A Spell for Chameleon.

OTBSFF: I know authors are not their characters, but I can’t help imagining the author as either looking like a character on the cover of their book or the main protagonist’s description. Would you say you’re more like Roen toward the beginning or end of the book?

I would say I’m more Enzo. Oh wait; you don’t know who he is yet. Well, you’re about to find out come October. Stay tuned. =)

OTBSFF: Who was your favorite character to write outside of Tao?

Looking back, I’m going to have to say Sean. There’s something to be said about complex villains who are not only smart, but also suave and complex. A good villain is better than the hero in every way. He’s not only more powerful, but more intelligent, more suave, better dressed, and definitely better with the ladies. He should be better than the hero in practically everything. Okay, we’ll throw the hero a bone and give him more heart.

Too often in SFF, the quality of villain takes a back seat to the mindless zombies, savage orcs, or feral space blobs. Well, people, it’s time we demand a higher quality of villainy in our antagonists and evil doers. That baddie should be able to kick everyone’s ass and still look sharp doing it!

OTBSFF: Finish this sentence: If I were a Quasing…

I would pretend he doesn’t exist because as a writer, I already have the best job in the word. Lame; I know. Well, that and I have a very low tolerance to bullet wounds. Remember, the low pain threshold thing?

OTBSFF: Your debut just came out and the sequel, The Deaths of Tao, is already slated to come out toward the end of the year, how did you swing that?

Due to the great reception that The Lives of Tao received, the angry robot overlords have pushed up the release of the sequel, The Deaths of Tao, up to October 29th, 2013. 

In Deaths, several years have passed since the events of the first book. I’m not going to give too much away, but it’s safe to say that things have gone slightly downhill for the Prophus since the events of the first book.

Review - The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

The Past:

Thousands if not millions of years ago aliens crashed to earth and wanted nothing more than to return. To make that happen, it became necessary to encourage technology growth in any way possible and when homo sapiens came around, they were the horse the Quasing (wraith-like aliens who can inhabit living bodies) bet on to make their return home a reality. 

The Present:

Split into two warring factions, the Prophus and the Genjix, the Quasing use humans in a network of spies not only to further their goals of returning home, but also to prevent their counterparts from their own ambitions.

Now:

Edward Blair is sold out by his own friend and now former Prophus agent. It's either surrender or get killed, but there's also another way to protect his Quasing, Tao from falling into the hands of the Genjix.

The Lives of Tao [US] [UK] jumps into the life of agent Edward Blair, but our time with Blair is a short one. After being betrayed, we see the first glimpse of what a Quasing is and what it can do. As explained above, they are aliens who can inhabit humans (among other living creatures) and who have lived through the entire history of humanity and longer. This presents an interesting device that allows the Quasing's host a wealth of knowledge at the drop of a hat and which reminded me a little of Brandon Sanderson's novella, Legion, at times. 

The Quasing, Tao, is forced to find a new host almost immediately in the book, and happens upon the main character of the book, Roen Tan - an out-of-shape computer engineer who is in no way prepared for a life of espionage. Instead of a short training montage, we go through the beginning of Roen's training, his workouts, his non-007 type jobs such as monitoring a mailbox, and his progression to missions with more responsibility and danger. 

I love a good training or schooling book and this one's no exception. Roen has to not only master his body, but learn to function with his symbiotic Quasing relationship.

While sometimes confusing, because it can sometimes be difficult to tell if Roen is talking to Tao inside his head or to another person, a fun dynamic develops between Roen and Tao as Tao sarcastically tries to get Roen in shape. Other people have Quasing too and luckily The Lives of Tao is told in third person limited so we don't get the back-and-forth from any other character but the one point of view.

This book is filled with great ideas, none of which are bogged down in exposition. The fast pace is kept up throughout the book and the way things are set up to train Roen really help that - lots of training mixed with action makes for a happy reader. One of those ideas, only hinted at above, essentially makes the Quasing the cause of pretty much every major (and probably minor) event in history.

Toa himself formerly invented Tai Chi and inhabited Genghis Khan among other famous historical people. This was a fun concept, but I did find it hard to take fully. It's not ever claimed, but it's made to seem that every single event was caused by the Quasing and if everything, then nothing caused by humanity. Then again, you can't complain too much about it because the concept works and it has to be thorough.
 
In the end, I had a great time with The Lives of Tao and will be checking in this October for the second installment in this series, The Deaths of Tao. Great ideas mixed with great action and a non-stop pace made this book extremely hard to put down. Bravo, Mr. Chu!

4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended!)

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.