The Rise of Io (Io, #1)

by Wesley Chu

Ella Patel - thief, con-artist and smuggler - is in the wrong place at the wrong time. One night, on the border of a demilitarized zone run by the body-swapping alien invaders, she happens upon a man and woman being chased by a group of assailants. The man freezes, leaving the woman to fight off five attackers at once, before succumbing. As she dies, to both Ella and the man's surprise, the sparkling light that rises from the woman enters Ella, instead of the man. She soon realizes she's been inhabited by Io, a low-ranking Quasing who was involved in some of the worst decisions in history. Now Ella must now help the alien presence to complete her mission and investigate a rash of murders in the border states that maintain the frail peace. With the Prophus assigned to help her seemingly wanting to stab her in the back, and the enemy Genjix hunting her, Ella must also deal with Io's annoying inferiority complex. To top it all off, Ella thinks the damn alien voice in her head is trying to get her killed. And if you can't trust the voices in your head, who can you trust?

• ISBN13: 9780857665812
• Publish Date: 1 October 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Angry Robot
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Beth C.]

Ella - a girl who lives in the slums of India and gets by as a thief and con artist. Io - an alien who must inhabit the body of a human in order to survive on our planet. One with a smart mouth and street skills with no family, the other with knowledge and a plan. When they end up together, things may never be the same...for either of them.

The Rise of Io is an interesting take on the whole "aliens" concept. Typically, the aliens have come to Earth specifically for a purpose, raise hell (or not), and that is what keeps the story moving. However, this book is more about what happens when the aliens themselves end up splitting into factions and causing war and chaos on the planet they are trying to anxiously to leave. There are no special powers, no space weapons - just the ability to inhabit the bodies and minds of humans, and turn it into a partnership.

The characters are pretty well developed. Ella is a tough-talking orphan that lost her mother during the war and has no idea what became of her father. As the main character, the majority of the story revolves around her and her dealing with the unexpected gain of Io, the alien that unexpectedly decided to join with her when the prior host was killed. Io fails a bit as a character until the last 1/3 or so of the book, being more the voice in Ella's head without much background given. The remainder of the characters were interested, if occasionally a little bit one-dimensional. However, since this is the first book in a trilogy, there is reason to believe that there will be more character development to come in the remaining two books.

The main setting in the book is the slum, Crate Town, that Ella has grown up in. The descriptions of Crate Town, and its surrounding environs, were excellent - to the point that it almost felt familiar while reading. The descriptions of the Quasing planet (where Io came from) however, left some to be desired. Again, it's possible that there will be more information forthcoming, and since the majority of the story takes place in India, it's not too terrible for the story to have little description of Io's home planet. It just sort of feels...incomplete.

Overall, The Rise of Io was a fairly engrossing book, and one that was enjoyable to read. The back-and-forth dialogue between Ella and Io, or...well...Ella and just about *anyone* was entertaining. It did seem to take a bit too long to get to the point at times, but once it started moving, it kept a quick pace. Book #2 will certainly be on the radar when it releases, and Ella has quite a choice ahead of her - as does Io (no spoilers).