Review: Trance by Kelly Meding

Title: Trance Series: MetaWars #1 Author: Kelly Meding Publisher: Pocket Books Published: October 25th, 2011 My Copy: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab Fifteen years ago, Teresa “Trance” West was a skilled telepath and a proud member of the Ranger Corps. But ever since the Rangers were inexplicably rendered powerless at the climax of the devastating Meta War, she’s bounced from one dead-end job to another. Now her powers have reappeared just as mysteriously as they vanished— only they’re completely transformed and more potent than ever. And they’re threatening to destroy her. Trance heads to Los Angeles to track down the surviving Rangers and discover who restored her powers—and why—but a phantom enemy is determined to kill them before they can reassemble. As they dodge his deadly attacks and come to terms with their new role as heroes, Trance and the rest of the team set out to annihilate the sinister madman . . . only to discover their own powers are his greatest weapons.

I debated for a long time whether I should pass on this one or not. The post-war, sci-fi blurb had me leaning more towards not reading it. However, when I was presented with the opportunity to read it for free and after discussing its merits with a fellow blogger, I opted to give it a go. I’m happy to report that my time spent reading Trance was not wasted! This is the first book in Kelly Meding’s promising new MetaWars series. Trance is like grown-up version of The Incredibles or a girlier version of X-Men. Small side note, if your favorite color happens to be purple you’ll get an extra bonus from reading this book!

This novel kept me guessing until the very end. Every time I thought I knew who the phantom enemy was my theory was disproved. It wasn’t until the final chapters that the culprit is revealed and it caught me completely off guard. Never once did I suspect this character as being the mastermind! Well played Kelly! Well played. Look at me starting my review off by talking about the ending. It could be worse I guess; at least I didn’t give away any spoilers! Time to rewind a bit. The background story about the MetaWars is quite interesting. I liked the way that Meding develops her new universe. There’s enough info provided so that readers have a good understanding of why things are the way they are without weighing down the story with too many details. The first novel of a series is always a balancing act between world building and intrigue. Kelly walks this thin line with ease and skill.

Teresa was a great choice as the lead character in Trance. It really felt like becoming a ranger was her true calling in life. She was lost without her powers and even then; the ones that she had as a child were mediocre and seemed to have caused her a lot of grief for not being able to hold her own among her peers. Teresa accepts her new powers and de facto leadership role with ease. Of course there were a few transitional bumps but overall it appears as though she’s finally found her place in life.

Cipher is the man candy of this book. There always has to be at least one! I had a hard time understanding his distant nature at first but we learn more about his past as the story progresses and pieces start to click into place. He’s just as messed-up as Trance but in different ways. I enjoyed watching their relationship progress. Both are walking on eggshells when it comes to love. Which is understandable given their histories but I liked seeing them knock down each others walls and learn to trust again. I don’t have much to report in the nookie department but it’s not non-existent. I always get asked about whether there are romp scenes in a book so I just wanted to get that one out of the way! There are! Not many but some. Quality over quantity, right?

The tone of this book is definitely not a happy one. After 15 years of peace the world is once again going to hell in a handbasket. However, Kelly lightens things up with sarcasm and humoristic dialogues. There’s a whole slew of preternatural heroes and villains in this novel that I’m not going to cover in my review so make a note to discover them for yourself! Whether you’re a fan of superheroes, Kelly Meding, Urban Fantasy or even just the color purple; Trance has something for everyone. Don’t be fooled by the back blurb as I almost was. There’s more to this book than meets the eye! My curiosity is peaked and I can’t wait to explore more of the MetaWars world in Changeling due out sometime next summer.

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