A review by megoverman
The Lives of Tao, by Wesley Chu
3.0
The concept and first 34 chapters are almost enough to warrant 4 stars. The hook was gripping, the story built well, and action was interesting.
While the last few chapters were the major source of star loss, it wasn't simply that the book went down hill. It was more that the resolution revealed issues in the framework.
***Spoilers start here.***
The moment Roen's love interest arrived at the end of ch.34 was the moment the spiral began. I'd given the benefit of the doubt regarding her initially. She was barely characterized, given excuses to be off page the majority of the time, and there was more telling interaction between Roen and her father than between Roen and HER. She was a blank slate. So when what was supposed to be the emotional climax depended on Roen's feelings for her, I...wanted to skim. It just wasn't there. Not even in a "she represents normalcy" kind of way, with a few characterizing moments to pin that on. I didn't buy his feelings, so I didn't buy any of the emotion surrounding his save-her-or-die-trying decisions.
Sonya was a lot better, characterwise. But the "love triangle" felt contrived, and didn't ring true. Even if it had, the least satisfying (and, it seems, most common) way to end a love triangle is to kill off one of the competitors. I dreaded this going there, and sure enough, Roen never had to make any sort of choice or decide anything. It neatly resolved itself--and, like with other similar triangles, he even gets to keep a bit of the unlucky gal to hold onto. Meh.
Aside from the lady troubles, the dialogue was clunky in places (though, not unreadable--just noticeable enough that I wouldn't call it a strength), and the same with prose. Specifically, the tendency to unnecessarily plot movement ("he walked over to her") and describe action with "began to" in front. These are the things writers tend to figure out over time, so here's hoping.
I still plan to read more in the series. W. Chu is pretty great, and the book had a lot of potential. Fingers crossed each book improves on the last.
While the last few chapters were the major source of star loss, it wasn't simply that the book went down hill. It was more that the resolution revealed issues in the framework.
***Spoilers start here.***
The moment Roen's love interest arrived at the end of ch.34 was the moment the spiral began. I'd given the benefit of the doubt regarding her initially. She was barely characterized, given excuses to be off page the majority of the time, and there was more telling interaction between Roen and her father than between Roen and HER. She was a blank slate. So when what was supposed to be the emotional climax depended on Roen's feelings for her, I...wanted to skim. It just wasn't there. Not even in a "she represents normalcy" kind of way, with a few characterizing moments to pin that on. I didn't buy his feelings, so I didn't buy any of the emotion surrounding his save-her-or-die-trying decisions.
Sonya was a lot better, characterwise. But the "love triangle" felt contrived, and didn't ring true. Even if it had, the least satisfying (and, it seems, most common) way to end a love triangle is to kill off one of the competitors. I dreaded this going there, and sure enough, Roen never had to make any sort of choice or decide anything. It neatly resolved itself--and, like with other similar triangles, he even gets to keep a bit of the unlucky gal to hold onto. Meh.
Aside from the lady troubles, the dialogue was clunky in places (though, not unreadable--just noticeable enough that I wouldn't call it a strength), and the same with prose. Specifically, the tendency to unnecessarily plot movement ("he walked over to her") and describe action with "began to" in front. These are the things writers tend to figure out over time, so here's hoping.
I still plan to read more in the series. W. Chu is pretty great, and the book had a lot of potential. Fingers crossed each book improves on the last.