Trance
by Kelly Meding
Pocket Books
Mass Market Paperback
Urban Fantasy/Superhero
One of the last my last review copies to arrive in the mail was Kelly Meding’s Trance. I was glad to see it because I always thought her Three Days to Dead looks good but I never got a chance to read it. (Part of the reason I stopped accepting review copies was because it seemed that other people were always making reading decisions for me.)
So when Trance arrived, I cracked it open right away and finished it in just a few days.
Fifteen years, Teresa was a trainee in the Ranger Corps, a group of superhero crime fighters. But during a war with superhero criminals, all their powers mysteriously vanished. The story opens when Trance’s power returns, more potent than ever before, and this time, it’s dangerous.
Now she’s on a mission to find her old teammates, figure out who took their powers, and why they now have them back.
And why her powers are so different.
I liked this novel a lot and I would read the next book in the series. Not only must Trance track down her teammates, but she also picks up a new person who never knew they had powers to begin with. The novel is typical of the superhero genre, with lots of angst, larger-than-life situations and unexpected campy humor. I do have a few nits–one is that the heroes were able to figure out very little by the end, thus necessitating a lengthy villain confession. Another is in an effort to make the villain a surprise, some of the earlier scenarios are a bit implausible. Even within a superhero novel.
(A complaint that has nothing to do with the author: the ebook is priced the same as the physical book. This makes me cranky. In such situations I buy the physical book even though I’d rather get the ebook.)
But I definitely want to read the next book, which comes out this summer.
My kid brother (who’s not actually a kid anymore. I blinked and he grew up on me!) got me into superheroes, and now I love them, so this book sounds very appealing. Had to laugh at the cranky buyer thing. Particularly the `even though I’d rather have the e-book.’ It reminded me of a certain great-aunt, though I definitely understand the sentiment. Someone’s got to stand up to these sellers! maybe if enough people refuse to buy e-books when they’re overpriced someone will get the message. I’m not saying e-books should be under-priced, just that sellers don’t have to pay for the paper, ink, and binding, so they shouldn’t be charging for it!
Well, where they don’t have to pay for ink, binding, etc, they now have to format the book in multiple ways. I’m learning that lesson. And don’t even get me started on cover art image compression. Ack!
But still, I don’t think a discount of 25% or so is unreasonable, mostly because as an ebook owner, I have fewer rights with my copy than I do with an actual physical copy.
She’s baaaack!
The book sounds cool. And I share your cranky 🙂 Lovely review, as always.
Thank you! I’ll try not to go away again.