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timinbc's review
3.0
I dunno, I think I'm being generous at three stars.
First, there's the basic premise, that humans are being "ridden" by aliens who are split into two factions and have been manipulating human affairs for millennia. OK at first glance, but a tad shaky on implementation. It's a bit like "past lives" where no one ever celebrates having been an unlucky peasant whose job was mucking out stables till he died at 27 from the plague. Chu tries to play the ubiquity of the aliens as a bit of a joke (for example, he could well have included "Classic Coke? Yeah, that was us") but as it builds up it gets unworkable. YMMV.
At times Chu does address the philosophical questions such as "do humans matter anymore?" As Roen gets more skilled he has to get past the shock of his first kill, but a few pages later he's mowing down opponents and sending his teammates to their deaths without hesitation.
Roen is a schlub, and Chu handles his development reasonably well. But he never makes us LIKE Roen, and his female characters are odd. One is hyper-capable and the other is all "ooh, Roeny!" Sonya almost made it to interesting, but then the plot turned ... and Jill likes Roen for no discernible reason.
Tao and his colleagues are annoyingly smug. The bad guys are stock cardboard nyah-hah-hah characters whose only interesting feature is that every couple of chapters we learn that not only does A report to B, but B reports to C, and C to D, and D to E .... and each time we realize that the guy we thought was a hyper-capable leader is in fact a schlub and it's the NEW guy who's all badass.
There are some action scenes, all fist-signally and stuff so we know he's done the research for those who like military SF. Didn't care for the resolution of the final one, though perhaps a more experienced writer could have sold it to me as "sometimes you win a fight just because you were lucky."
There are several signs that the book could have used some work by the various kinds of editors, but I am prepared to blame the publisher for this.
It's a lightweight book with occasional pretensions of being more, but stays lightweight because the base and the writing are just not strong enough to support any attempts at philosophy. Read it as lightweight and you'll probably enjoy it.
But I'll probably let #2 go unread.
First, there's the basic premise, that humans are being "ridden" by aliens who are split into two factions and have been manipulating human affairs for millennia. OK at first glance, but a tad shaky on implementation. It's a bit like "past lives" where no one ever celebrates having been an unlucky peasant whose job was mucking out stables till he died at 27 from the plague. Chu tries to play the ubiquity of the aliens as a bit of a joke (for example, he could well have included "Classic Coke? Yeah, that was us") but as it builds up it gets unworkable. YMMV.
At times Chu does address the philosophical questions such as "do humans matter anymore?" As Roen gets more skilled he has to get past the shock of his first kill, but a few pages later he's mowing down opponents and sending his teammates to their deaths without hesitation.
Roen is a schlub, and Chu handles his development reasonably well. But he never makes us LIKE Roen, and his female characters are odd. One is hyper-capable and the other is all "ooh, Roeny!" Sonya almost made it to interesting, but then the plot turned ... and Jill likes Roen for no discernible reason.
Tao and his colleagues are annoyingly smug. The bad guys are stock cardboard nyah-hah-hah characters whose only interesting feature is that every couple of chapters we learn that not only does A report to B, but B reports to C, and C to D, and D to E .... and each time we realize that the guy we thought was a hyper-capable leader is in fact a schlub and it's the NEW guy who's all badass.
There are some action scenes, all fist-signally and stuff so we know he's done the research for those who like military SF. Didn't care for the resolution of the final one, though perhaps a more experienced writer could have sold it to me as "sometimes you win a fight just because you were lucky."
There are several signs that the book could have used some work by the various kinds of editors, but I am prepared to blame the publisher for this.
It's a lightweight book with occasional pretensions of being more, but stays lightweight because the base and the writing are just not strong enough to support any attempts at philosophy. Read it as lightweight and you'll probably enjoy it.
But I'll probably let #2 go unread.
trin's review
1.0
Sexist garbage. Not only is this book a textbook example of semi-competent male hero/hyper-competent female sidekick, Chu takes things a notch further by suggesting that women are literally interchangeable. Chu's worthless male "hero" is in an improbable love triangle with two skilled women, and Chu actually solves this problem by . Because of the wonders of science fiction, I guess.
So congrats, dude! You've achieved a new level of gross!
Spoiler
combining the rival ladies into a single personSo congrats, dude! You've achieved a new level of gross!
peterkeep's review
3.0
This is a pretty fun book! It's fast-paced and has some really exciting action scenes that I thought were pretty well strung together. I was a bit confused for the first 100 pages or so, because it wasn't very much like what I expected. I think somewhere along the way through other people's recommendations, I got it stuck in my head that this was going to be a funny book. Sure, there's some humor in it, but I was expecting something more along the lines of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or maybe Get Smart. It definitely wasn't either of those things, which isn't bad, but was a bit disorienting.
Anyways, once I got over my own misconceptions, I enjoyed it! It's not a perfect book by any means, but it has a good foundation of ideas. There's a nice history or broad picture of everything told mostly in epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter and Roen Tan and Tao make a fine duo to read about. There were some great serious moments in the book that touched on some really big ideas as well...things like war, human nature, etc.
I know it kind of sounds pretentious to say, but it's a charming story, and I think it'll be interesting to see how Wesley Chu evolved as a writer through this series and into his newer books.
Anyways, once I got over my own misconceptions, I enjoyed it! It's not a perfect book by any means, but it has a good foundation of ideas. There's a nice history or broad picture of everything told mostly in epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter and Roen Tan and Tao make a fine duo to read about. There were some great serious moments in the book that touched on some really big ideas as well...things like war, human nature, etc.
I know it kind of sounds pretentious to say, but it's a charming story, and I think it'll be interesting to see how Wesley Chu evolved as a writer through this series and into his newer books.
songwind's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very solid, entertaining book.
The elements of the premise are familiar. A secret war between non-human factions, with human allies. Ancient astronauts. Symbiotic/parasitic aliens. But the way that Chu puts them together is unusual enough to keep everything feeling fresh.
Roen, Tao's new host, will be very familiar to a lot of people. Overweight, stuck in a dead end job, pining for something more but unable to say what. The difficulties he has with accepting his new reality, and in turning himself into the sort of partner his new alien friend needs, seem realistic. The time frames are reasonable, and Roen doesn't end up as the Chosen One, excellent at everything.
The ending of the book is well executed, exciting, and bittersweet.
I definitely recommend this one.
The elements of the premise are familiar. A secret war between non-human factions, with human allies. Ancient astronauts. Symbiotic/parasitic aliens. But the way that Chu puts them together is unusual enough to keep everything feeling fresh.
Roen, Tao's new host, will be very familiar to a lot of people. Overweight, stuck in a dead end job, pining for something more but unable to say what. The difficulties he has with accepting his new reality, and in turning himself into the sort of partner his new alien friend needs, seem realistic. The time frames are reasonable, and Roen doesn't end up as the Chosen One, excellent at everything.
The ending of the book is well executed, exciting, and bittersweet.
I definitely recommend this one.
authoraugust's review
3.0
Hard to find too much to say about this book. I liked the concept, and I dug a couple of the characters, but it was tough to get and stay emotionally connected to them because they weren't ultimately full of depth. That said, it was an action book, and it did action well.
Fits the Pingel Sisters Reading Challenge 2019 category of "First Book in a Trilogy"
Fits the Pingel Sisters Reading Challenge 2019 category of "First Book in a Trilogy"
alvalvano's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emilyrandolph_epstein's review
4.0
Extremely entertaining and well-characterized. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and will definitely read the rest of the series. The main character follows a very clear arc from zero to hero, in a classic wish fulfillment scenario. Except our underdog actually suffers the emotional consequences of going from office drone to secret agent, which I appreciated. I also enjoyed the fact that the aliens symbiotes each had their own personalities distinct from the personalities of their hosts. As a woman I appreciated the effort the author made to include a female presence in the book. There are a total of three female characters with names and dialogue, two of whom are pretty bad ass and not all of them were falling over themselves to attract the main male character's attention. That said, I would have liked to see a little more of an emotional build between Roen and Jill.