Meta

By: Tom Reynolds

Narrated by: Tom Reynolds

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

It’s been ten years since Connor Connolly lost his parents in ‘The Battle’; a fight between The Governor and Jones, two of the world’s strongest metas. Before ‘The Battle’ the world had been full of metas, super-powered humans whose amazing abilities came from mysterious wristbands. Since that day one has never been seen again.

Now 16-years-old, Connor lives in Bay View City with his older brother Derrick, a meta-obsessed blogger, where he’s just trying to keep his head down long enough to survive high school. All of that changes the night he attempts to save a girl's life and wakes up to find the first new pair of metabands anyone has seen wrapped around his wrists.

Connor soon finds an unlikely ally in Midnight, a masked vigilante who helps him learn how to harness his new abilities, while also trying to balance his summer job at the lake. As a meta, Connor becomes known as Omni, potentially the most powerful meta the world has ever seen, but it isn’t long before he finds out he's no longer alone...

©2013 Tom Reynolds (P)2014 Tom Reynolds

Was surprised it was good.

I was surprised this ended so well. It started weak, and I am impressed it got that much better.

Loved it

What did you love best about Meta?

Loved the story, kept me engaged through the whole story.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was fairly easy to follow, and not completely obvious as to what would happen next.

What does Tom Reynolds bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Well spoken and brought more of the writers expression on how the story was meant to be told.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, because it kept my interest throughout the whole story.

Any additional comments?

I'm a fan of the podcast The Complete Guide To Everything, and so I thought I'd give Tom's book a try and it was pretty good. Great job Tom :) hope you have a second one in progress.

Skip the Audible Version, Go For Kindle

Any additional comments?

The story was okay; there were some general flaws with the pacing and what not, but it was still a fine diversion. The author should not have tried to narrate it himself, however. Every character had the same voice, and there were many times when I couldn't tell if another character had started speaking or it was still the original one, nor could I tell when the hero was thinking to himself or speaking out loud. There was also a lack of gravity during the action scenes, it was just being read out of the book flat. I might consider reading the second book, but unless there's a new narrator I wouldn't get the audible version.

Enjoyable Read

Fans of comics, Renegade X, Super Powereds, the Supervillains Saga, etc will like this. Much more interesting than Please Don't Tell My Parents. Thank you, Mr. Reynolds

A Mixed Bag

What would have made Meta better?

This book would have been much better if it had been performed by a professional narrator. It was a good story, but the author's nonstop monotone was a real buzzkill.

What other book might you compare Meta to and why?

I would compare this book to kid sensation.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

There was no change in tone, voice, or inflection throughout the story.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment.

Awesome Read

Amazing, was a taste of the Reckoners. With a flare of orgilnality. Stellar listen. thanks

Enjoyable Story and Interesting Characters

I really enjoyed this book. The premise made for an interesting storyline, and I liked the character development. would definitely recommend this audiobook.

Solid piece of work

I've been slowly devouring superhero stories for a few years now, intending to eventually write my own. I'm not a comic book reader, but I'm aware of a lot of those stories. Tom Reynolds has created a very decent set of characters and story here. In some ways it reminded me of the Scions series, but I don't think that's a fair comparison. This story was more unique. The premise of metabands is an interesting twist. I wouldn't have used it but I think that's what makes this story cool. It doesn't mirror widely known comic book heroes so obviously, like other books.

Overall, I enjoyed this one immensely. I would have rated higher but I do have some bits I wished were tighter: I think Tom's voice acting isn't as entertaining as in other audiobooks, but then, he isn't a trained voice actor as far as I know. ( I appreciate being able to hear his words actually being spoken by him, for what it's worth.) I enjoy hearing different voices to more clearly define who's speaking, when possible. The power set for our MC is widely varied but aside from the teleportation thing, seems an awful lot like Superman. Still waiting to see if he has laser eyes. The frozen touch is kinda like freeze breath I guess. His mentor seems a lot like Batman. (Hence my Scions comment earlier.)

This is sounding negative. I really enjoyed this book. Tom did a good job and I respect the hell out of him for not objectifying his female characters while still having the male ones express appreciation, attraction, or crushes. This is definitely not a harem story, and I have fallen for Tom because of this. It's clear that he respects women a lot more than other male authors of superhero stories. Good job Tom.

I can't wait to listen to the next one. I suppose it is going to get increasingly difficult to write a unique superhero story, given the saturation in the market over the past several decades. I like Tom. He's my new favorite author right now.

Tom, if you're reading this, I would love to talk to you and maybe meet you someday. I think that would be cool. For now, I will look you up on social media and tell people how cool your first book is.

Not what I expected

struggled to finish it , story line was predictable characters were predictable and plot was predictable. Book is better read by kids and teens

Great book

I already own and read the book but couldn’t pass up having it read aloud again great series I love anything superhero and this is no exception it’s a great story with lovable characters. Thank you Tom Reynolds!!!

New kid on the block writes like an old pro.

Would you consider the audio edition of Meta to be better than the print version?

Yes Mr Reynolds performance was top notch and brought the characters to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Meta?

The equine Easter egg towards the end of the book had me grinning from ear to ear.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I felt the final showdown was really well done and had me rooting for Connor without wishing to give spoilers all I can say is it was an intelligent and exciting climax.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

It ain't easy being super.

Any additional comments?

I would normally have never picked a book with this subject matter up however being a huge fan of Tom's other audio work on the complete guide to everything I thought what the hell lets give it a whirl.I was shocked to discover a wonderfully engaging barnstorming tale of daring do.While paying homage to other comic book greats Tom also innovates and brings a raft of fresh ideas of his own to the party,with Connor we have a hero that we can relate to as he struggles to find his place in the world.

I have friends who enjoy comics or graphic novels if you prefer and one of their great woes is that once they finish one the urge to consume for is overwhelming.This is how I felt after finishing this wonderful romp if there were already more books in this series to buy I would have done so.I feel sorry for anyone discovering Tom's work in 20 years from now when he has a huge body of work behind him because they will be spending a fortune in a very short space of time.

Fantastic

Really unique and creative story and the narration was excellent. It was a really good read.

Poorly written amd even worse marration.

The story is enjoyable enough, if a bit clichèd but it's the boring, unrealistic conversations and dull pace that lets it down.
Also, a cardinal sin is authors narrating their own stories poorly. I totally understand that sometimes it is necessary to narrate yourself due to monetary constraints but how can someone do so and put so little enjoyment into the tale?
I will check out the other books in the series though as I saw a glimmer of excellence in there and hope things get better.

entertaining

had the book for a while but struggled due to read due to time constraints

Easily accessible, even if superheroes aren't usually your thing.

When it comes to superhero stories I'm normally one to pass it up, however after dithering for a while I took the plunge and was not disappointed.

I've listened to Tom on the TCGTE podcast for more than 5 years and was worried his narration would be strange to my ear, however it was well paced, clear and articulated each character well.

The story itself - whilst clearly a superhero story - isn't so stupidly far fetched as to be incomprehensible and you get the sense that each of the characters has a significant back story that you really want to discover (seriously, what *is* the deal with Midnight?!).

I'd really recommend this to anyone.