Meta

Tom Reynold's META didn't hit with me as hard as I had hoped, and me a staunch junkie of superhero prose. Maybe it's because the lead character reads flat to me. Maybe it's because the worldbuilding comes off as banal and rather unremarkable. Or maybe it's because I'd recently read a story that sort of shares a similar premise. Same as in Michael Carroll's Quantum Prophecy series, ten years had elapsed since the last meta-human sighting as META begins. 16-year-old Connor Connolly lost his parents ten years ago during the last big skirmish between metas. Today, he and his older brother, Derrick, are barely scraping by in Bay View City. His brother holds down a crap-paying gig as a reporter *ahem* blogger. So you see why, for the Connollys, life is a constant state of suck.And then comes the day when Connor awakens to mysterious silver metabands on his wrists, these endowing him with a wide range of superhuman abilities. And these wrist bands constitute the one sort of unique element in this book, that they're the source of the metas' diverse powers. Suddenly, a costumed Connor - soon to call himself "Omni" - is out in the streets fighting crime, never mind that he's a hapless amateur. Suddenly, he's being tutored by a grizzled vigilante named Midnight. And, suddenly, he's repeatedly running into a mysterious girl who boasts her own set of metabands. Also, he lands a job picking up trash at the lakefront. Things are looking up, yo.And, suddenly, new metas are surfacing again.META aspires to the grit and realism of Josh Trank's CHRONICLE, but can't quite get there. As a devout comic book-head, there's enough in the story for me to recommend it, marginally. It's a fun enough read, but it's not exactly the world's best executed narration. The writer introduces tropes that feel like tropes, no original twists or fresh takes. The characters all feel familiar, and I mean that they come off two-dimensional. Nothing here surprised me, from Connor's awkwardness and predictable teen crush to his dour mentor Midnight's being too Batman-y. I guess my biggest issue is with the lead character. He's such a generic protagonist and comes across as super-whiny. Frankly, Midnight and Iris are far more intriguing characters. I wasn't into Connor's having so many powers as I prefer my super to have one singular ability that he applies creatively. META is the first in a series - followed by THE SECOND WAVE and RISE OF THE CIRCLE - so the writer wanted to keep the explanations and further developments for the next installments. The most glaring omission is what is up with the metabands? I haven't read the sequels yet so I don't know if we learn the origin of the metabands (the supposition is that they're alien tech). I did like the writer's detailing of other metas' experiences with their metabands (especially the Magician's). Anyway, I need for someone to swear to me that Connor gets more interesting in further books for me to dive into them. Otherwise, there's plenty of other superhero prose that examine what it means to be a hero. In fact, below's a list.I'm not that grammarian who gets off on pointing out editing snafus, but a string of words like "barely conscience little girl" is pretty unforgiveable.Recommended superhero prose:- Marion G. Harmon's Wearing the Cape- Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes- Jim Bernheimer's Confessions of a D-List Supervillain- Matthew Phillion's The Indestructibles- Mur Lafferty's Playing for Keeps- P.S. Power's Proxy (The Infected Book 1)- Trey Dowell's The Protectors: A Thriller- R S J Gregory's Cosmic Girl: Rising Up- Blake M. Petit's Other People's Heroes- C.J. Carella's Armageddon Girl (New Olympus Saga, Book 1)- Rob Rogers' Devil's Cape- Joshua Guess' Next (The Next Chronicle Book 1)- Blake Northcott's Arena Mode- Kirby Moore's Starfall City- Emmie Mear's The Masked Songbird (Shrike Book 1)- Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible- George R.R. Martin's classic Wild Card anthologies

This young adult adventure novel by Tom Reynolds was a fun and quick read.I can't imagine how tough it is to figure out new "superhuman" abilities without the abilities feeling stale or unoriginal. I think Tom Reynolds did a great job of explaining the powers and making them feel new. I especially liked the main character reminiscing about all the metahumans who couldn't understand their powers and then ended up dying. There's no way for me to write that previous sentence without sounding like a psychopath. It was just an interesting plot device and played into the story well. It also helped shape Connor's character. Clearly, hearing stories of metas dying because they didn't know their powers was going to affect the ability of a teenager to use his powers. SLIGHT SPOLIERS: The really fun parts of the story were Connor testing out his powers and Connor using his powers to fight The Controller's minions. There's a really cool scene with a dragon and another with a sea monster. Both battles were exciting to read! The battle with The Controller at the end was really cool. I had not been expecting the battle to go the way it did. It's totally worth it to read the whole book to read the ending battle.Other reviewers complained that the main character, Connor, was whiny and that they stopped reading because they couldn't stand him. I don't get that. This is a young adult novel. The young adult narrator read like a young adult, which is perfectly fine. I don't think he was whiny at all. He moped a bit, but I expect I would too if I had to face some of the problems he faced. The character seemed more real to me because of his flaws.The only thing that I had a problem with was the book's eerie similarities to Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart. It's probably coincidental, but the main characters displayed character quirks (puppy love, an inability to talk to girls, self-deprecating humor) that were really similar. This might be a trope in young adult fiction though. I don't know. I don't read much young adult fiction. I just happened to read these two books within a few days of each other.I blazed through this book in about two days. I'm sorry, Tom, you're going to have to write the sequel to this one pretty quickly! Thanks for telling us about it on The Complete Guide to Everything podcast, it was great to hear Tim bitch about it and hear you get really excited about a fun novel you created!

Ten years ago, Connor Connolly lost both of his parents in an event remembered by the world as the Battle, a final showdown between the world's most powerful superhero, the Governor, and it's greatest villain, Jones. Now, whilst trying to save a little girl in the woods, Connor suddenly finds himself in the possession of superpowers that rival even the Governor's.The first thing that draws you to this book is its excellent cover, featuring a superhero silhouetted in front of a setting sun, hovering above a city, with the title and author name emblazoned just above and behind the character's head. Ladies and gentleman, if you are thinking of self-publishing, this is the standard of cover you should aspire to.The book is basically the origin story of new superhero Omni, aka Conner Connolly. Following the infamous Battle, superheroes, or Metas as Reynolds calls them, disappeared from the public eye, most likely because of the collateral death toll of the Battle, or because the Meta bands (think Wonder Woman's bracelets), which granted normal human beings superpowers, stopped working. Connor is the first of a new wave of Metas who received these bands. It's not clear from the novel how people are picked by the bands, as in Green Lantern, but for Connor, they seem to latch on to him rather like a symbiotic life-form (like Spiderman and Venom). The rest of the novel, Connor spends his time trying to master his fear of the powers he's been given, whilst trying to learn how to use the powers and keep his identity a secret, which is difficult considering the almost omniscience of smartphones and CCTV. Oh, and there is a new super villain, the Controller (not the fat guy from Thomas the Tank Engine), who can manifest huge monsters and has the habit of sending them after Metas. Luckily, Connor is taken under the wing by Midnight, a man who wears a black cape and cowl to protect his identity, has no super-powers but knows how to take Metas down, uses martial arts and an array of gadgets including a grapnel gun (no rewards for guessing who this one is based on), and a new lady Meta, Iris.The story is set entirely in and around the fictional Bay View City. By far the most interesting thing about the setting of the book is of course the Metas. The book briefly explores the theories about the origins of the Meta bands, with the most likely theory being that they are an alien technology that has ended up on earth by design or accident. The Meta bands are made from an extra-terrestrial metal that bond to wearer at a genetic level. They can be removed when powered down, but are useless to anyone else (at least until the wearer is dead). The bands magnify the wearer's physical attributes and grant them various super powers, in Omni's case, flight, teleportation, super-strength and speed, the ability to freeze. The other interesting development in Reynold's world is that human's inspired by the Meta-powered decided to put on masks and become vigilantes too, with varying degrees of success. Some were pretty much fan-clubs and fodder for criminals and super-villains to pound on, others became side-kicks to Metas, but a few managed to make a name for themselves, chief amongst the latter being, Midnight, Reynolds homage to Batman.Connor Connolly comes across as the average teen, trying to get through school without drawing too much attention to himself, which is even more difficult when you're the only person in the class who lost someone during the Battle; especially when the current topic of study is the Battle. Even when he receives his powers, Connor comes across as being well-grounded and morally upstanding, which kind of makes him a little boring. For most part, he follows instructions (from Midnight and Iris) and tries and stay off the Controller's radar. He would have been a lot more interesting if he had shown more angst over his loss and more adventurous in exploring his powers. Reynolds does try to illustrate Connor's internal struggle and perhaps his personal past is what stops Connor from going all out with his powers.The writing is solid enough and the plot doesn't seem to vary much from the typical comic book hero's journey. The comic book influences are clear throughout (leaning more towards DC comics), and yet despite this (or maybe because of this) I found Meta compelling reading. There are better examples of this kind of fiction out there, namely Jade Kerrion's Double Helix series, and the Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart and Legion, but nevertheless this is a decent superhero story and a good YA novel. I wasn't blown away by this book but I most certainly did enjoy it and on that basis recommend this book to you.

Meta is a novel about Connor Connolly coming to terms with his life altering after becoming the first known bearer of metabands in a decade. The bands grant the owner, and only it's owner, super powers that can vary between each metahuman. Unfortunately, the bands don't come with an instruction manual so it is up to Connor to learn exactly what he is capable of as a metahuman.The novel is told in the first person and Connor is instantly likeable in this role with his tragic past, his awkward encounters with his crush, Sarah, and his relationship with his mysterious mentor, Midnight.There are plenty of action scenes as the story unfolds and builds up to the final encounter. Along the way however there are also some funny moments as Connor discovers his powers and tries to keep up his normal life working at the lake.Fans of the podcasts that Tom co-hosts with his good friend Tim will also recognise a few references with one in particular towards the end that caused me to laugh out loud on my morning commute. It was worth the awkward glances I received!Overall I would recommend this as being well worthy of a read as it was fast paced, entertaining, amusing and with some interesting characters for whom there is still a lot of mystery to be solved, perhaps in a future novel..

I purchased Meta whilst on holiday, it popped up as a recommendation on my Kindle, I liked the premise in the description and gave it a try. I can whole heartedly say that I wasn't disappointed, the pace of the story is steady without one of those awful rambling back stories to highlight the angst and emotional confusion of a teenager so often found in these books. The characters are endearing and whilst not fully realised yet, they didn't detract from the story, it actually left me with a desire to learn more about them.I thought Meta was light hearted and fun, with a good mix of action and a couple of the plot lines made me laugh out loud by the pool (did I mention I'm writing this on holiday). I read the book in a single day and was deeply disappointed that I couldn't get the sequel immediately.In summary, a fun and innovative read that I would be happy to recommend to anyone and considering I would not normally write a review that's substantial praise in itself. Give it a shot....

Most YA authors have a difficult time balancing the story and immersing the reader. Not this book though. This is the 2nd time I have read it and I have to say it is even better the 2nd time around.The teen angst that is typical in these sorts of books is there but it does not overwhelm. That would have made me put down the book instantly as most writers seem to either overdo it or not include it at all.I find myself wanting to read more on this character and felt it was too fast paced even though it was the best speed for this kind of book/story.If you are looking for a superhero book that's easy to get into, enjoy and fully immerse oneself in, then this is a perfect example of what you want.

Meta is the story of Connor Connolly a sixteen year old teenager with a tragic past who gains fantastic powers we've all dreamed of possessing and the story of what he does with them.what i liked about Meta is beyond the vivid world that Tom's created is that Connor is like a real person who gains incredible powers through a new medium that i personally found intriguing.he's not got a clue about using them! he makes mistakes learning to wield them and finding his place in the world.the classic uncle Ben quote with great power comes great responsibility.A unique take on superpowers with an ending that makes me anticipate the sequel which hopefully won't be too long away.Meta is a read in a single sitting type of book, that draws you in and makes you place the book as a movie in your head.Get a copy now!