I can firmly say that The Deaths of Tao outshines it's predecessor. In The Lives of Tao, readers were treated to an alien spy somewhat thriller with quite a few humorous moments - but in The Deaths of Tao Chu manages to expound on the core concept of aliens having shaped human history and include so many other elements that just weren't there in The Lives of Tao. Of course we still get all of the amazing humor, but truth be told, The Deaths of Toa was a deeper and more realized work of fiction. 
 Instead of being told from one view point we get several. This doesn't always work out in other books but here it gave me all of the dynamic and pieces of the pie that I really needed to get immersed in this story. We get the perspective of several Quasing, which I definitely found fascinating. There were moments I wanted to reach into the pages and face punch some of these high and mighty know it alls! Mostly, I could not get enough of the egotistical maniac, *cough psychopath cough* Enzo - hot diggity I tell you, he was a well written character you'd love to hate. Jill was stubborn, strong and, in my opinion a bit hypocritical but definitely a great character. Roen will always be in my mind a dufus but with a heart in the right place and his mind on food. At this point I have to mention - food! - I swear some of the moments in Deaths that had me chuckling dealt with food. 
 "You know what I live about America? Your food. Now I know why you're all so fat. You have the best food. It's just too bad your tea is so awful." -pg 85 
 He sniffed the air as he passed by a particularly repugnant smelling stall. 
 "What is that?" 
 I believe the locals call it stinky tofu. 
 "Name certainly fits. Smells like road kill." 
 It is supposed to be delicious. They say the stinkier it is, the better it tastes. 
 "Then that tofu must taste like filet mignon drizzled with cocaine. I guess that's the first thing up to bat. I still haven't met a delicacy I couldn't stomach." -pg 123 
 Something of extreme value that was superbly done, also happens to be my favorite element included in the book, and that was the short forwards at the front of each chapter. They served to tell the reader the background story of the Quasings, the alien race that crash landed on earth so many thousands of years ago. Because of these forwards I fully believe that The Deaths of Tao can be read without needing to read The Lives of Tao. Essentially, The Lives of Tao is Roen Tan's origin story. While definitely a great addition to the series, seeing as it is the first book and all, it definitely won't ruin things for readers if they skip right to The Deaths of Tao. while these two books manage to keep the same essence of voice from the writer and characters, Live and Deaths are so vastly different in the style they are told, the story they were telling and the depth to which they dig. 
 I am not kidding when I say The Deaths of Tao has a lot going for it, not to mention a lot going on. With the different perspectives, the alien factions in conflict, and the political and historical elements - there was literally never a dull moment. Normally, I am not fond of books that are heavy on political or historical points but the politics didn't confuse me and the bits of history thrown in were awesome ways of highlighting how an alien race really could have been manipulating us over the centuries. A scary but a cool thing to consider. Genre fans will definitely not want to miss The Deaths of Tao. 
 Plus, free running? - so freaking cool - all I can say is I want to be a ninja!