Meta Game On

by Xander Black

WELCOME TO THE METAVERSE

2065: the streets are abandoned, shops are empty, parks are silent. But is that really much of a surprise when you can connect to the Cybernet?

Everyone can turn on, log in and drop out.

Cyrus, a failed physicist, and drop-out game designer Everett are on the cusp of their big breakthrough into the meta ranks of Neverborn, the world’s most popular game.

But when several high-profile avatars disappear, and their human counterparts are found dead, Cyrus and Everett find themselves under suspicion. They must clear their names and unravel the deeper mysteries of Brith and the Neverborn. In doing so, they will uncover a dark secret, that threatens not only the game-world but the safety of their physical realm.

Satire, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery combine in an epic adventure where no one ever leaves home, perfect for fans of Ready Player One and Douglas Adams.

Genres: Science Fiction

445 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2022

About the author

Xander wasted a lifetime creating cheap disposable ideas to sell cheap disposable products. He’s now focused on creating cheap disposable stories. When not writing he’s reading, watching film & TV, hanging with Sarah, Hesper, and Hattie, and occasionally playing the odd video game. He has a few more stories brewing that may be disposed of soon.

Reviews

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always interesting to me when an author can spin a good story in such a world as the Metaverse. You expect the usual sci-fi components to it. However, I didn’t expect to have the imaginative game aspect as well. I felt like the character's reality versus what we know on the outside was interesting. It’s a peek into a literal world that is created in cyberspace where it doesn’t feel like it's not “real”.
I thought the author did a fantastic job of integrating mystery, suspense, humor, and a compelling storyline that had me guessing. I have a deep appreciation for the use of lingo that was used. For those who are older and played many games like the world that was created, it was a blast from the past. Overall, well written and entertaining.

[Anais (atrailofpages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story mainly follows Cyrus and Everett, who find an artifact, the Tome of Leto, and venture off to get the Tome translated to find out what it says, which rumors state it may have something to do with a secret about the game Neverborn. However, not only does EVERYONE want that Tome, but they’re now suspects in a few murders just for being in the right place at the wrong time.

This story was a lot of fun to read! It gave me major Ready Player One vibes and even a bit of Tron. It’s very enjoyable and the world is huge and very immersive. You learn as you read of different terms used in the world, and the different types of people and beings, and many more interesting facts about the virtual world, or cyberspace, even a history of it and how it came to be. The avatar names are also hilarious and quite creative 😂 It is the year 2064 and similar to Ready Player One, there seems to be an expansive cybernet that practically the entire world accesses for many different activities. The most popular virtual destination in the cybernet is Brith(which is a place featured in a game called Neverborn that was created in 2054). Neverborn was the first fully immersive massive multiplayer role-playing game. Many make a substantial living through the game. Like Ready Player One, there are stats and shows those who are at the top of rankings. Cybercasts seem to be a very popular form of entertainment, and something a lot do.

If you loved Ready Player One, or just love video games, like me! Then I recommend this read for you! The synopsis will be in the comments, and this

Thank you to the author for the gifted free copy to read 🥰

[alan curson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take a look at a future that awaits just a couple of lifetimes away.

META offers an easy to believe prediction of life in the not too far off future, where most people have a more meaningful existence online than in the living, breathing one.
The story is set in the virtual world of Brith where virtual events are beginning to have effects that go beyond the game itself. As we journey through Brith's digital landscape, where everything is possible (sometimes including the impossible), a compelling mystery thriller plot unwinds. And keeps you guessing right up to the last few paragraphs.
Well worth a read, whether you're into SciFi or not.

[Simon Bloomfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to be honest - I've never been a regular sci-fi/fantasy reader, but I was a huge Douglas Adams fan back in the day, and I'm all over any new William Gibson. Then there's my guilty little secret: a crime/mystery novel every now and then. And whilst it's kind of a bizarre combo, Xander Black's META has touches of all of them! Forget the Ready Player One comparisons - sure there's a virtual gaming world parallel; but this story lives in that virtual world, and creates that as a vivid universe for our characters. Sure there are touches of the "real" world, but for most of META's characters they only spend fleeting moments there. As with Gibson, there's a prescience to some of this writing - just the other day I read about some new haptic gaming tech which makes much of the tech Black talks about seem not so far-fetched. And then there's the humour; Black is clearly a Douglas Adam's fan, using the direct aside to readers to provide further detail on aspects of the story when appropriate. They're witty and engaging, and help to fill out the world he's created with some lovely detail. For a debut author, this is pretty damn impressive, and I can't wait to see what these characters get up to next because - no spoilers - it's set up nicely for a sequel or too.

[Delphia Von Heeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meta is the new series: Game On: Ver 1.0 by Xander Black. I thought Xander Black was clever to tell the story through the voice of a narrator. Meta flowed perfectly between the reality of the world and the reality of the game. The main characters are Cyrus and James Everett and sometimes the reality blurs what is real in the world and what is real in the game. Meta is fast paced and I thought the story interesting and I had to pay attention to everything that was going on in the story. Although the story ended, I thought Xander Black did a good job leaving the door opened for Book 2, Game Changer. The teaser left me wanting to read Book 2 now! I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.

[Lucy Nield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review, Book 36 if 2022 ✨️📚

META, Game on, Xander Black.

“longevity in environments like Brith is quire at odds with reality. The longest-lived characters are generally the most uninteresting and undistinguished. To put our findings to a single phrase, longevity in cyberspace is essentially, ‘Survival of the shittest.’

Xander Black’s, Meta: Game On, shocked me. I had no idea what to expect upon opening my review copy, diving into the metaverse and the world of Brith, but it wasn’t this phantasmagorical insight into our collective, speculative future in VR. The bulk of the novel is set in Brith, a VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), and Brith is littered with SFF Novums, freaky happenings and game-play cliches. From the Cult of Virtualism spreading religious teachings across the virtual world to Zombie-riots interrupting the games narrative, Black packs in an incomprehensible amount of detail and satirical nuance, challenging our contemporary and ever-changing relationships with technology, the world and each other.

"Live to play"

Full Review on https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2022/05/me...

[Liam Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meta by xander black is a very pleasing, fun read, covering crime, mystery, thriller and sci fi, with a dash of Douglas Adams, set in the near future where the world of being logged into virtual reality is the normal and most people work, play, date and fall in love and spend most there time in VR

Cyrus and Everett are on a verge of a breakthrough in neverborn the world's most popular game when avatars start dissapeering and real life player turn up dead and cryrus and Everett are under suspicion

while trying to clear there with there two sidekicks they travel through the amazing rich detailed world, meeting assassins, cults elves and much more

The books is a fast paced book, with element of humour, well developed likeable characters, and amazing worlds

It's hard not to compare this book with Douglas Adams (hitchhikers guide) and Ernest Cline (ready player one) but it easily stands out as a it's own fresh new book worthy of being mentioned in same senence as the forementioned 2 books

The book is left open for book 2 while still wrapping up. The story of book 1, very enjoyable read, can't wait for book 2

[Chris Jacko · Rating 5 out of 5]

While a simplified analogy, this book is like the lovechild of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Ready Player One, in the best possible ways. Highly recommend this.

[Sofia Kyriaki Kouloufakou · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the year 2065 and Neverborn is the world's most popular game. But what happens when all these avatars start disappearing and their real-life players are found dead? What will Cyrus (a failed physicist) and Everett (brilliant game-designer), two phenomenally mediocre players, do? Will they clear their name or sentenced?

I LOVED this book! First of all, it's live action video game based and I found that quite refreshing. The narration was amazing, by adding small comments here and there, it was like having Samuel L. Jackson telling you what will happen. Cyrus and Everett's camaraderie reminded me so much of Crawley and Aziraphale from Good Omens, because they also made me laugh quite a lot, and their friendship was undeniably sweet. Also, there are so many powerful female characters that you can't help but love, especially Ava. Finally, Wang is basically Deadpool's counterpart and his mannerisms are hilarious.

It was funny, it had a great storyline and an elaborate virtual world building. It was also quite emotional at some points, especially when describing Cyrus' relationship with his dad and how it motivates him in the end. I'm so looking forward to the next part of the story!

Thank you @inkeditorial for showing this book to me, and of course thank you Xander for sending me a copy of your book in exchange for an honest review, your work is amazing

[Patrick Catanzariti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a whole lot of fun. I've only recently gotten back into reading regularly and was really glad this was the book I started with! I'm very fascinated by emerging technology and virtual/augmented reality, work in the industry, and was curious to see how Xander Black would imagine the future! He's done such a great job, creating a world that has depth and intelligence in how it's all put together. Xander has thought about what the future might look like and a lot of his ideas are legitimately things we could see in our future. I wish everyone thought about the future and implications of technology like Xander Black.

The storyline itself also was very fascinating and I liked the twists within it!

Looking forward to sequels :D

[Mish Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I binged this book - a page-turner that had me laughing out loud. I love the deftly handled transitions between rollicking in-game action and the protagonists' downtime and IRL experiences. Regular updates from the company behind the gameworld where most action takes place humorously reveal its business model and corporate culture.

Without ever jarring the tone, the near future context is revealed - socio-economic, geo-political, cultural and scientific, while themes around ethics, AI sentience, commercialism and relationships with parents, friends and love interests are handled sensitively within the humorous text. Thought provoking in the best way. Highly recommended.

[Treece Stubbs PA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fellow nerds, please do yourself a favour and read this book!

The idea that you could nearly live your entire life in a RPG VR game excited me. It reminded me of my WoW days, raiding with my guild. It made me feel nostalgic.

I know if the game in his book were available to me now, I would be in there, probably tanking in a dungeon, kicking butt!

I loved this book! I loved the little easter eggs that made me think 'ohhh, I see what you did there'. And the (virtual) world he built was so believable. It felt like the future he built in his book could potentially happen.

Please do yourself a favour and add this book to your TBR! You won't regret it!

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is much closer to the experience I hoped for but did not get with Ready Player One. Instead of beating you over the head with obvious references to pop culture, the author just told the story and let you giggle at those bits by yourself. Highly recommended for anyone who's enjoyed a video game or been killed off by the DM in a DnD game :)

[Heena Rathore Rathore-Pardeshi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meta by Xander Black is a new science-fiction fantasy adventure novel based on the concept of MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) in a PSW (a persistent state world) where millions of players can develop their characters in virtual reality. In simple terms, this book is based on a future where people spend most of their lives in virtual reality instead of living a normal life in the real world.

This book was a decent read though it did remind me too much of Ready Player One (which I thoroughly loved.) At some point, it got a bit overwhelming and I wanted to quit reading it, though knowing better, and trying not to draw comparisons between the two books because of their common concept, I kept reading. I finished the book in the hopes that it would be different and I'm glad that I did because this book proved to be a good read with a nice ending.

I liked the writing because it had a good flow but the efforts of the author to try and sound like Douglas Adam-ish felt pretty annoying and seemed to have killed the author's natural writing style. I found the satire a bit forced and not correctly executed. Also, the book felt to have been lacking decent editing, it may be because I was sent a review copy and not the final book, but the copy if the copy I have and the final book are the same then the book obviously has editing issues. If the book's final version is well-edited, it should make for a better read. Apart from these issues, as I previously said, the book was a decent read and would be a great fit for sci-fi and adventure genre readers.

You can also read this review on thereadingbud.com

[Cynthia Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of comedy SFF. Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett are two of my favourite all-time authors. Reading ‘Meta Game On’ gave me a similar sense of satisfaction. The prose reminds me of those classics. It’s the freshest, and most fun book I’ve read this year.

Meta delves into gaming and cyberspace. It's a little like ‘Ready player One’. They’re similar in the same way my mother thinks Star Trek and Star Wars are similar. There might be some crossover with fans of cyberpunk and gamelit, but the bigger draw card for me is the throwback to classic comedy SFF.

The story follows two ne’er-do-wells who find themselves in possession of a unique game item that everyone wants. They also become suspects when high profile avatars are murdered in game and real life. The story includes religious fanatics, tea parties, evil knights, assassins, cyber detectives, zombies, a fresh take on AI, social engineering, and even questions the nature of reality.

I’ve been recommending this book to all my friends. Scifi and fantasy geeks will love the story, ideas, and diverse cast. But this will appeal to anyone who loves a good laugh.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Ready Player One took the lead on the “futuristic living of our world inside a VR game,” Meta follows along well enough. There is a less engaging (or maybe less clearly delineated) overall main story linking IRL and life inside the game, but the way the various storylines interweave and connect kept me reading. We have enough real world details to build character, but the large majority of the story takes place in game. I’m curious about what may happen next and was ready to keep reading when the story ended.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Elyse Jewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this weird Metaverse. Its was really very original and had some really silly bits in it. The sillier bits were my favorite part. Futuristic with a mix of medieval flavors. Can't wait to read the next one.

[Graham | The Wulvers Library · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meta is the new novel by Xander Black. Cyrus is a failed physicist, along with game designer Everett they are on the cusp on a breakthrough in Neverborn - the worlds most popular game. When several avatars disappear and their human counterparts are found dead, Cyrus and Everett are under suspicion. They must attempt to clear their names and unravel the mysteries of Neverborn. They will uncover a dark secret that is a threat to the physical and game-worlds.

This was a fun read but was really reminiscent of Ready Player One in a way that actually began to draw me out of the story. There was a Douglas Adams-esque adventure that was perfect for these types of fans but i couldn't help feeling like it could have been more of its own story.

[Geoff Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

I really enjoyed this and can't wait for the next one.
More of a comedic version of Ready player one/two.

[Elpis G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meta was a very unique read. It takes place in a VR game known as Neverborn and explores themes involving AIs, religion, and death in both game worlds and real world. The game switches view points fairly often but mainly follows failed physicist Cyrus and Everett, a former Neverborn employee.

I found this to be a really slow, but interesting read. Meta feels similar to older Sci-fi books I've read but was still very modern. It also takes a lot of current events happening now and puts a different spin on them. There were also a lot of little memos from Arktik studios and parts of the story to update the reader with current history of the real world that did a good job reminding me that the story was very much still in a game despite it's real world connections. I can see some people being put off by this storytelling method but I really liked it. The storyline was interesting for the most part too but at times it felt very slow and I had a hard time keeping track with what was happening. It also had some cool plot twists throughout the story.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Andhisnosestuckinabook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This Book Was Sent To Me Directly By The Author For An Honest Review. 📖

#metagameon By #xanderblack Is A Book Based Inside A #mmorpg Set In A Distant Future. In 2065 The World As We Know It Is Quite Different. The Streets & The Outside World Are Pretty Much Barren. This Is Due To The Cybernet. The Cybernet Can Provide For All Your Needs: Hunger, Thirst, Entertainment & Even Pleasure, So Why Would You Leave Your Home? 😏

This Book Follows Cyrus Who Is A Failed Physicist & His Friend Everett Who Is A Recent Drop-Out Game Designer. They Find Refuge Within The Game Neverborn & Are On The Brink Of Reaching The Metaranks. Suddenly Some High Profile Players Disappear & Are Discovered Dead In The Real World. What Is Happening & Can It Be Stopped? 😮

The First Thing This Book Gave Me Was Serious #swordartonline Vibes Especially The #gungaleonline Arc Mixed With #readyplayerone You Have A Real Band Of Eccentric Characters Who Are Going On A Quest For An Item While Twists, Turns & Enemies Appearing When Least Expected. 🤪

First & Foremost I Have To Talk About The World Building. The World Building Was So Intricate That At Moments I Completely Forgot That This Book Was Based Inside Of A MMORPG. Such Fine Attention To Detail From The Buildings To Blades Of Grass Was Like You Could Truly Feel Like You Were A Part Of This Quest! 🥰

The Characters Truly Are Such An Assortment Of Personalities That Shouldn’t Work But Do. You Have Cyrus Who Is Hesitant Through His High Intelligence. Everett With His Impulse Nature Through His Creative Mind. Ava Is The Strong & Fearless Female Character Driven By Her Loyalty & Devotion To Those She Cares About. Then Wang Who Is The Comedy Relief At Both The Appropriate & Inappropriate Moments 😂

The Pacing Was The Only Issue I Had With This Book. In Moments Especially During Those True Quest Moments Of Travelling To & From Felt A Little Slow & Repetitive At Times. Just A Personal Preference & Did Not Impact My Reading Experience As A Whole. 😃

Overall I Enjoyed My Reading Experience & I Am Definitely Intrigued To See The Direction The Sequel Will Take!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Liv Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is the perfect combination of adventure and humour. I started reading this as an ebook, and was thrilled to see that it was being released as an audio. So, I started again. It was such a great decision.

Xander's novel feels like the best kind of combination between Douglas Adams style humour and an MMORPG.

Then, we have the sublime narration of Rob Rackstraw, who brings both the characters and setting to life so perfectly.

If you have an interest in any of those things I mentioned above, do yourself a favour and give META a go. You won't regret it.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok

I did like the virtual reality game that became a lifestyle. And I enjoyed parts of the adventure. The history of the world and all of the random facts that were told to us, sometimes in the middle of an action scene, dragged the story down a bit. I also felt like there were a lot of plot lines that didn't fully come together. But it was a good mindless entertainment story.

[Cynthia Armistead Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Fun Read, But It Needs Proofreading!

This was a good yarn, and I would probably like it even more if I played World of Warcraft or any similar games. The constant errors were distracting, though. Using Grammarly or something similar would have given the author another star. There’s a good reason publishers use editors!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thought it was a really fun story. All the characters were very likable.