The Rebirths of Tao

Executive Summary: This series is a lot of fun. This book was no different, and I had a hard time putting it down. Full ReviewI only found this series last year after Mr. Chu did an interview with Sword & Laser. I really enjoyed the first two books. It was a great find.[b:The Lives of Tao 15981711 The Lives of Tao (Tao, #1) Wesley Chu https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361886088s/15981711.jpg 19932371] almost reads like a stand alone. [b:The Deaths of Tao 17726421 The Deaths of Tao (Tao, #2) Wesley Chu https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1376921492s/17726421.jpg 24804136] on the other hand ended in the worst possible place. So I was really excited to find out this book would be out in December and I only had to wait a few months. Only the book got delayed due to issues with the publisher. NERD RAGE!!This built up an even bigger sense of anticipation. In the meantime I kept recommending the series to friends. As a result by the time this came out a handful of us did a group read over in my group The Not a Book Club Club.This ended up being the best one yet. I had been reading it only a bit at a time in order to savor it. Then I realized that Daredevil was out on Netflix and I suddenly was conflicted. I didn't have enough time to do both. By the end of the weekend this won out. Easily. I read the last 40% in one day, which for me is a lot. I couldn't put it down. It's for that reason I've given it only my second 5 star rating of the year so far.In a genre overrun with gritty dark fantasy and post apocalyptic stories, this series is a breath of fresh air. That isn't to say everything is sunshine and unicorns, but Mr. Chu does an excellent job of mixing action, adventure with humor to keep the seriousness of events from weighing you down too much as you read.The one thing I missed in this book was all the really excellent Retconning of Human history to fit the Quasings in. However in it's place we finally get some history of the Quasings themselves prior to their arrival on earth.For anyone hoping for everything to be wrapped up in a nice pretty package, you may find yourself disappointed. Often times that's how I like my series to end. However, I think that things ended in a good place. I'm happy to know their will be a sequel series set in the same universe, because I'm eager to read more Quasing stories. I'm a bit sad it won't be focused on Tao, but hopefully this won't be the last we hear of him.