Time Salvager by Wesley Chu
10 July 2015 
Just finished reading Time Salvager by Wesley Chu which kicks off what promises to be a very good series.
Set in a future where time travel has become possible you would imagine the world would be a bright and shiny place, high tech and advanced. You’d be mainly wrong of course. The planet earth has become little short of a wasteland, so toxic and covered with sludge that most people have abandoned it and sought out life elsewhere in the solar system.
Time travel is a dangerous job, jumping back in time is not exactly conducive to good health and added to that is the psychological impact. There are a whole bunch of rules for jumping back in time which I’m not going to go into! You’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that Chu has managed to write this in a very accessible and clever way. I’m not going to say that you couldn’t pick holes in it if you really wanted to because I have no idea if you can or not – I simply didn’t try. I just read it and accepted the whole ethos behind Chu’s set up. Maybe I’m just easily pleased but I decided to pay more attention to the story than the whole mechanics of it. After all the area of time travel can easily become fraught with ‘what ifs’ so I figured if I’m going to suspend my disbelief enough in the first place to read a story about jumping back and forth through time then I might just as well go the whole hog and believe the how’s and why’s that the author gives me. Simples.
Our main protagonist James is a Chronman (a time jumper). He’s a bit jaded to say the least which isn’t really a surprise when you spend most of your time travelling back to times when massive disasters are taking place and people are dying around you while you just pop in and out and take whatever it is you’ve been sent to retrieve. It weighs on a person’s mind. The most important rule is nobody from the past gets brought back. Nobody has ever broken that rule until James, bogged down by his own ghosts, takes sympathy on a scientist called Elise who has caught his attention whilst on his latest mission and in a moment of weakness he takes her with him. Of course, this isn’t something that can be hidden and the authorities who govern time travel are immediately onto him. Now fugitives, James and Elise have to evade capture and try to stay under the radar and this is where they discover not only new allies but also the potential for a cure and possible hope for a brighter future?
I thought this was a really good read to be honest. It has a very dark feel to it which isn’t really surprising. James is a jaded character haunted by the ghosts of all those people he’s had to watch die before his eyes. The world really holds no appeal for him and he longs for a time when he can just get out from this job. On top of that the world in which he lives is also miserable and seedy and the other inhabitants suitably repressed. Yes, there is a whole feel of doom and gloom but it’s fitting for this part of the story. Chu manages to make you feel the lethargy and you almost become annoyed reading at the way people have simply lost hope and no longer seem to have an inner spark. Then, we have Elise, who unexpectedly becomes part of James world. Being from a different era she manages to bring with her a little ray of sunshine and hope into this world. She simply hasn’t given up yet and she still cares enough about the world and the people on it to try and make a difference.
The Characters. Well, in spite of James hardboiled and prickly exterior I quite liked him as a character and found the interaction between himself and Elise interesting. I think watching his development is going to be very intriguing. Chu has a way of writing characters and relationships that give them time to become meaningful. He doesn’t rush them but allows them to grow and adapt so that you actually feel yourself starting to care about them. Now enter the scene Levin. Levin is an auditor and he’s been given the task to find James. I kind of felt sorry for Levin to be honest. He’s one of those characters that really needs to get a life! He’s just so bogged down by rules and playing everything by the book that he’s become almost inhuman. His adherence to the rule book and failure to see things other than black and white means he basically spends a very lonely existence as people simply don’t like him. Again, i think it will be interesting to see how he adapts. My favourite character so far though has to be Grace. I just couldn’t help liking her. She’s like this 93 year old ‘mother of time’ sassy, argumentative character. She definitely brought a little something more to the story and much like Elise hasn’t been bogged down by the present world’s dire predicament.
The setting is very well done. We have the grime and filth of the city where people shuffle around aimlessly trying to eek out a living. From there we move out to the ‘wilds’ as James and Elise try to evade capture. The landscape then becomes quite a contrast and is vividly imagined. We actually come across areas that don’t seem to have completely fallen into despair yet and groups of people who are still willing to commit to each other.
On the whole I thought this was a really good read and I’m looking forward to seeing where Chu goes next. And after reading the Tao stories I think that what we can expect from this author is the unexpected.
I received a copy of this from the publishers through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
The Rebirths of Tao by Wesley Chu
Just finished reading the Rebirths of Tao. This has been a great series with each book becoming successively better than the last – the ending is just brilliant!
If you haven’t read the previous two books then stop reading now as there may be spoilers for the previous books.
For a quick recap. Aliens landed on earth many many years ago. Unable to exist in the atmosphere they needed a host which they inhabit until the host dies and the alien is released and searches for a new host. During the course of their time on earth a couple of things have happened, some of the aliens have become attached to humans and as a result they don’t necessarily like the treatment meted out to humans and this has resulted in war. The aliens have split into two factions – Prophus and Genjix – and are engaged in a battle to the bitter end. The Genjix are the stronger force however and have the upper hand – until, at the end of the last book, the fates of both sides were thrown wide open.
At the start of book 3 we have again jumped forward. The revelation at the end of book 2 has had dramatic repercussions for both sides – both of them forced to hide their alien nature from the humans who are now aware of their presence and frankly don’t like it! The two sides are still at war – which was a surprise in a way as I wondered if previous events would have pushed them together. Instead of that events seem to have driven the Genjix to step up their own agenda.
Roen is now united with his family, Jill and Cameron and between them they help to run part of an underground operation helping other hosts to get to safe places.
This is a great series it really is. Aliens, spies, war. Body Snatchers meets Bond. There is plenty of action. It’s easy to become attached to the the Tan family and to care about them and their ups and downs. There’s a great supporting cast and there are plenty of twists and turns and on top of that we finally find out what the ‘big’ plan is that the Genjix have in store for the planet.
What I particularly like about this series is it started off by provoking lots of questions. The second book came along and answered my questions whilst delivering a great plot and dramatic finale and then the third managed very successfully to wrap things up – which was great because I really couldn’t second guess how this was going to end.
I also really liked the focus on the friendship that some of the hosts and aliens had achieved.
It’s a difficult book to review though because I don’t want to give anything away about the end.
All I can really say is that I thoroughly enjoyed this series. It started off really well but then continued to grow into a very well thought out and complex drama I found myself going from the question of ‘why would the humans help the aliens’ to ‘why would the aliens help the humans’. A great turn around indeed. Thoroughly good characters, loads of action and all peppered with a wonderful sense of fun. No hesitation at all in recommending.
I received a copy courtesy of the publishers through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu
Just finished reading The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu. This is No.2 of a trilogy. If you haven’t read The Lives of Tao (1) you need to as it’s very good (2) you definitely need to read it before you read this book or you will have no background context for the story and (3) there will undoubtedly be spoilers in this review so be warned.
The Deaths of Tao takes place approximately 5 years after the conclusion of the Lives of Tao. To bring you up to speed. Roen and Jill, who is now the host for Baji, have married, had a child and separated! Roen has then gone AWOL and has been living out in the middle of nowhere in some sort of desered bunker type affair where he spends his time investigating Tao’s conspiracy theories. Jill has a high falutin job in the Government as an advisor to a Senator where she uses her position on behalf of the Prophus to try and influence legislation and sanctions.
So, we’ve moved on a little. Roen has had time to hone his skills a little even if he hasn’t been helping the cause at all, and the Prophus seem to be losing their battle for the planets and it’s human inhabitants. The Genjix are becoming ever stronger. The hosts they use are elite people trained from birth for the responsibility, they have masses of willing people working for them and their scientists are working on a secret project that will have huge ramifications.
Again, I’m not going to elaborate on the plot as these books are packed with intrigue which is best discovered as you read. We yet again have opening chapter headers that take us back through time and bring us the history of the aliens from arrival to date. On top of this the story this time is told from more POVs which I really enjoyed as it gives you a real feel for the people you’re dealing with. You get to see the history between the Prophus and the Genjix and how the civil war came about and more than that, spending time reading from inside the mind of a senior member of the Genjix was very revealing.
In the first book I had issues about why the humans were helping the Prophus, why the aliens were in this civil war together and I even had niggles as to whether the Genjix were as bad as they were made out and wondered if we were really only getting to see one half of the story. All of these issues get resolved beautifully in this instalment. And, yes, the Genjix do appear to be every bit as bad as we’re given to believe! I love it when I have queries, continue with the series and my niggles are answered.
There is again plenty of action. Chu has a great way of writing tension into the story and action scenes that flow well and are easy to envisage and the double narrative between the host and the alien all help to add to this drama. We get a bit of a closer look at the politics although not enough to become the main focus, just enough to give you the bigger picture of just how much power the Genjix now wield and there is also a much more ‘human’ element to the story with the inclusion of Roen’s family unit. We get a lot more insight into their inner feelings, how they really feel about each other – how their resident aliens feel about them, and how guilty they feel not just about the wrong turn things have taken but about the fact that they don’t have time now to spend with their son. All in all it made me feel much more attached to them. I cared about what goes on and when the two were apart I felt concerned about how it would all turn out. It’s something of an achievement to make you feel for these characters – especially when we’ve just jumped forward a few years and missed all the in between years and the good times.
We end it all with a rather jaw dropping finale which completely changes the nature of everything. Everything both sides have worked towards and everything that will now take place in the future. I was quite gobsmacked and can’t wait to read the next!
Basically, there’s so much going on here. Alien intrigue, espionage, war, adventure, politics, well, everything! It’s undoubtedly different than the first – which probably had slightly more humour – but we couldn’t really stay in that situation forever and the time lapse has worked well to bring the characters to where they need to be at.
I definitely recommend this series. It’s got a great concept and has been well executed with style and humour.
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Just finished The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu. I’m a bit late to the party with this one and I don’t know why I’ve waited so long but now I can pretty much read the entire series in short order which I fully intend to do as this was such a good read.
The book starts with a James Bond type action scene in which one man dies and as he takes his last breath the alien entity that lived within him is released and seeks the shelter of a new host. By way of background: many, many years ago aliens crash landed on the planet earth and unable to survive without a host eventually settled on humans. Their ultimate aim is to return home yet during their time here the group of aliens have become divided over the treatment of humans and civil war has ensued. The Genjix are the more powerful of the two groups of aliens. They believe that humans are little more than a means to an end – to get off the planet. The Prothus on the other hand want to protect humans and the planet – they pretty much also want to get off planet but think this can be achieved in a more balanced fashion.
In terms of the alien/host relationship. When an alien takes over a human the two remain in symbiosis until the death of the host – in fact this is the only way for the alien to be released. In that respect humans are groomed from an early age training for the day when they might be deemed worthy to become a host.
The names of the two main characters in the story are Tao (the alien) and Roen (his host). Roen is an unsuspecting and pretty much unwilling host. He’s not ready for this experience and takes a lot of training to get anything up to a standard where he can keep himself alive even! Tao is a very interesting character and shares some of his prior history at the start of each chapter which makes for quite intriguing reading.
I’m not really going to elaborate on the plot but more outline what worked for me with this story.
Firstly, it’s actually good fun. The dialogue between Roen and Tao is amusing to say the least. Chu really set this up well by finding two such opposite characters.
Secondly, I really like the idea that for once the central protagonist is not really ‘the chosen one’. Roen is an unfit, nerdy, tongue tied, computer geek who’s idea of a good time is a big greasy pizza oozing with cheese and a couple of beers. He doesn’t have an inner ninja waiting to break out and frankly even when he has trained hard he’s still no hardass-butt-kicking hero. He frequently fumbles his gun or goes into a complete paralysis stuck like a rabbit in the headlights at the first sign of danger. I just find it really refreshing to have a relatively normal guy. I’m not saying he’s the most easy to like character I’ve ever read because frankly he can be a bit whiney but he feels real with all his flaws.
Thirdly, I like the main concept of the aliens who are really a little like body snatchers – okay, they don’t kill the human or make another version when they inhabit but let’s face it – the only way you’re going to be released from this situation is if you meet the Grim Reaper.
Fourthly, the pacing is fast and there’s plenty of action.
I’m not going to deny that I had a few niggles and conflicting feelings when reading – like, the war between the aliens, I’m not really convinced by it. At the end of the day none of the aliens actually ever seem to die – they just jump ship. The only real casualties are the humans which is kind of ironic given that the Prothus are warring with their kind in order to protect people from mistreatment. I also wasn’t convinced that under the circumstances so many humans would be on side ready to devote or even sacrifice themselves for the alien cause – particularly when ultimately the aliens want to leave. Where on earth would that leave the humans – the aliens after all seem to have been the main instigators of our entire history not to mention the main catalyst for inventions. And, when the aliens are eventually in a position to leave – well, how they going to get out of the bodies that are hosting them??? That’s not going to end well for the hosts methinks. I don’t see what the humans get out of the relationship other than a complete lack of privacy from the moment they become a host to the moment of their quite often untimely death? Not that there’s much you can do about it anyway – you’re not exactly asked for consent before your body is taken over.
But, in spite of my niggles or questions I did really enjoy this and I can’t wait to see where it leads next. Like I said it’s a whole bunch of fun and a little whirlwind of a book where the pages just speed by. Providing you don’t want to scrutinise the detail to an nth degree this is a very enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend.
Books and travelling with Lynn 