The Game of Lives by James Dashner

Series: The Mortality Doctrine (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Action-Adventure

Subjects: action, adventure, artificial intelligence, gamers, games, hackers, technology, thriller, video games, virtual reality

Setting: The VirtNet, Atlanta, Georgia

POV/Tense: Limited 3rd person POV, past tense: Michael

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 336 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “Michael used to live to game, but the games he was playing have become all too real. Only weeks ago, sinking into the Sleep was fun. The VirtNet combined the most cutting-edge technology and the most sophisticated gaming for a full mind-body experience. And it was Michael’s passion. But now every time Michael sinks, he risks his life.

The games are over. The VirtNet has become a world of deadly consequences, and Kaine grows stronger by the day. The Mortality Doctrine—Kaine’s master plan—has nearly been realized, and little by little the line separating the virtual from the real is blurring. If Kaine succeeds, it will mean worldwide cyber domination. And it looks like Michael and his friends are the only ones who can put the monster back in the box—if Michael can figure out who his friends really are.”

My Review:  It may be just me, but I enjoyed this final book less than the previous 2. There were not as many crazy mid-blowing twists are part of the reason. It could be that I’ve had a stressful past week and instead of reading the book consistently, I had to work of projects. Still, I love the idea of this series. It’s so creative. It kind of make me think of the Matrix because the VirtNet’s life-like virtual reality. If you haven’t read the previous two books, you shouldn’t read this review because. (SPOILERS FROM PREVIOUS TWO BOOKS AHEAD).

As a review, Michael is a Tangent and he’s in the body of Jackson Porter. Michael and his friends are trying to stop VNS and Kaine’s enactment of the Mortality Doctrine. Tangents are continuing to be downloaded into people’s bodies, possessing them and creating chaos around the world. Michael’s nanny appears to him in a real body and she and other have a plan to fix the situation.

They’re going to an embassy to virtually witness a UE meeting (Like the UN). They get side tracked and end up meeting other tangents that want Michael to join them. Bad stuff happened along the way. Some die, some live. Michael finds out there’s a lot more to what’s going on, and he doesn’t know whom to trust. His greatest enemy might just be his greatest ally. 

I did enjoy the action and all the stuff about coding and the VirtNet. The characters still feel a bit flat personality-wise, but the dialogue is good. I like Bryson’s sense of humor, and Sarah’s okay. I really liked the funny possibly connection of this series to The Maze Runner. Bryson says he has Griever nightmare, supposedly from a game, and “Flare-infested Crank” is mentioned near the end. Also, in The Kill Order, the VirtNet is mentioned.

Overall, it’s a good finale. I might not have read it at the right time. I hope James Dashner continues to write fun action-packed book series like this one. I’m sure I’ll read it. I recommend this to fans of James Dashner. Also people who enjoyed these books: Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam, Insignia by S.J. Kincaid, and Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza. Fans of the Matrix movies, and Transendence and any sci-fi movie about technology will enjoy this.

Cover Art Review: It fits the book, but it’s kind of boring. I wish the title wasn’t so big and centered.

The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

Series: The Mortality Doctrine (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Action-Adventure

Subjects: action, adventure, artificial intelligence, gamers, games, hackers, technology, thriller, video games, virtual reality

Setting: The VirtNet, New York City and Atlanta, Georgia

POV/Tense: Limited 3^rd person POV, past tense: Michael

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 328 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “From the New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series comes The Rule of Thoughts, the exciting sequel to The Eye of Minds. Fans of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth and The Hunger Games will love the new Mortality Doctrine series.

Michael completed the Path. What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.

He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated, and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.

Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael’s completing the Path was the first stage in turning Kaine’s master plan, the Mortality Doctrine, into a reality.

The Mortality Doctrine will populate Earth entirely with human bodies harboring tangent minds. Any gamer who sinks into the VirtNet risks coming out with a tangent intelligence in control of their body.

And the takeover has already begun.”

My Review:  This is such a creative and interesting dystopian series. The fist book blew my mind. This one continued from where it left off. It makes you question reality. Michael was a Tangent. An AI in Lifeblood Deep and he never knew it. Now he’s been downloaded into a real body and experiencing real life for the first time, but it’s not all that different. He has to find his friends in the real world so they can go to VNS and stop the Tangent called Kaine. When he meets Sarah for real, some bad stuff happens and they have to leave and find Bryson. When the threesome and together, even more trouble happens. Michael, who’s in the body of a boy named Jackson, has a warrant out for his arrest because they think he’s a cyberterrorist.

I love all the games and worlds of the VirtNet. I’m not a gamer, but I love the idea of being whisked away into a different world, even if it’s only virtual. People can change their appearance and do cool stuff they couldn’t do in real life. Also, Michael and his friends know how to hack the VirtNet, which is illegal, but useful. This book is all action and adventure. Lots of stuff happens. So much happened that I cannot even remember what else I wanted to say. Just know that it’s a great sequel. Not as good as the first book because that one blew my mind, but still awesome.

I definitely enjoy this series more than the Maze Runner series. There’s a lot more tech stuff. I noticed how in the book The Kill Order, which is the Maze Runner prequel, VirtNet and NetTabs and whatnot are mentioned too. So, is Eye of Minds on the same time line as The Maze Runner? Is this the pre-flare world? If so, then I wonder if the 3^rd book will end with the VirtNet being destroyed by the solar flare. James Dashner, you are one devious world-builder and plotter. I’m onto you!

I recommend this to fans of James Dashner. Also people who enjoyed these books: Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam, Insignia by S.J. Kincaid, and Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza. Fans of the Matrix movies, and Transendence and any sci-fi movie about technology will enjoy this. If this series even became a movie I’m sure it would be even more epic than the Maze Runner.

Cover Art Review: Good illustration but the title is less interesting looking this time.

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Release Date: October 8^th, 2013

Series: The Mortality Doctrine (bk. 1)

Genera: Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: virtual reality, video games, games, technology, futuristic,

Age/Grade Level: Teen/12 & up

Length: 323 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “An all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure from James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.

The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.

And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.

But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.”

My Review: This book was kind of mind blowing. It started out just fun and interesting and turned into a crazy thrill ride. The book is set in a world of virtual reality called VirtNet, and mainly in a game called LifeBlood. Michael, Sarah and Bryson are all gamers and hackers. They’re selected by VNS to find Kaine. Their search takes them deeper into the game than they’ve ever been before.

The characters didn’t seem completely developed because we didn’t get any background on their pasts, but that doesn’t matter because we didn’t get background in Maze Runner either. We did get their personality and a lot of humorous dialogue and banter. This book reminded me so much of Insignia by S.J. Kincaid, which has a similar trio of characters and virtual reality. Michael is the main character, and Sarah is kind of his love interest, but really they’re just friend because they never met in real life. Bryson is the funny friend who always does something ridiculous.

The world building was good. I loved the way virtual reality was used in this book. There’s just so much you can do with it. Anything goes really. It’s like magic, but it’s really technology and coding. You can enter different games and worlds, even fantasy one. It’s just so awesome, and so life like. It’s like the Matrix. It has just as much action. There’s a lot more adventure, though. I kind of made me think of the Percy Jackson series in a way. Instead of mythology, it’s virtual reality. Instead of a labyrinth, it’s the Path.

That ending! I so saw it coming (kind of). I KNEW IT!!! (I am amazing at guessing plot twists. There’s always a little foreshadowing by the author that gives it away.) It made me think of this movie, but I can’t remember what it was called. I have no idea how the next book, Rule of Thoughts will go, but I wish I had a copy now just to find out. I recommend this book to gamers, Matrix fans, and people who liked Insignia by S.J. Kincaid. Or if you just love sci-fi. It’s a really fast and fun read. Hope you all enjoy it.

Cover Art Review: Awesome cover. Love that it’s metallic and love the cool, crazy buildings that look like something out of Inception. I like that it all reflects, even the guy and the title.