Wesley Chu

Wesley Chu's new book is The Rise of Io, the first in a new series set in the same world as his breakthrough Tao trilogy. From his Q & A with Joel Cunningham for the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy blog:

After three books, we thought we were done with the Tao universe. Did you? When did you realize there was more story to tell?

I remember writing the The Rebirths of Tao’s epilogue and getting a little melancholy. Roen will forever be my firstborn, and I love him like I love Eva, and people who follow me on Twitter know I Dean Koontz-level love my dog. But I feel like I left him in a good place.

If you think about it, the guy had something like a thirty-five year arc in the trilogy. That’s a solid run. I’ve put him through the ringer more times than I could count. Not gonna lie; I get a really weird joy out of kicking his ass.

Way I figure, the dude deserves a break, his pizza, and an occasional cameo to yell at the kids to get off his lawn. Same with Tao. I think I explored their relationship to the fullest. It’s time to see what the other Quasing are up to.

As for realizing I had more stories to tell, the original book two for the Tao series was The Lives of Baji. That obviously never happened, but I have always wanted to continue the story from another Quasing’s point of view.

I’m really sorry that point of view ended up being Io. Oops.

What sets the Io books apart from the Tao trilogy?

Roen is by far my readers’ favorite character. He’s lovable, honest, clumsy, and sometimes dumb as a cardboard box. You never question his heart, though. He’s a solid guy who...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue