The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine, Book One)

Michael is an average kid. Or so he believed. He spends most of his time playing games with his friends, Bryson and Sarah. They are hackers that can manipulate the games that they play in the VirtNet, the life-like program they spend all of their free time in. But when a cyber terrorist threatens everything Michael and his friends love about the VirtNet, security officials are unable to stop him alone. They call on Michael for help. The name of this terrifying beast: Kaine. He is an astounding hacker, who has managed to trap people in the virtual paradise. No one can leave the technological world alive if Kaine attacks them. So what can Michael and his friends do? They are just a trio of playful teenagers that love spending time in this virtual world, hacking stores for free nachos. Are their skills really enough to save the virtual world, AND all the REAL lives of the players before Kaine completes his plans for the Mortality Doctrine? The lives of millions may be in his hands. Does Michael have the right hacking skills to venture into the dangerous Path to stop Kaine? Will Michael, Bryson, and Sarah make it out alive? Good luck, readers. You can enter the VirtNet, but I can't promise you'll get out alive. Overall, this is another captivating novel by James Dashner, and in an excited to read the rest of the series. I love how complex everything is. With most books, I can usually predict many of the important events, but with this... well, I still have no clue with what will happen. The ending blew me away, so I read the book a second time. It at first seemed impossible that this could be the conclusion of the tale, but now that I've read the novel a second time, I know that there can be no better ending. I have high expectations from you, James Dashner, and I know you won't disappoint. V. Peach 15

I only had 14 days to read this and it was easy to complete in 2. The premise is interesting, but I gave a 4, not a 5 because I feel like the story skims the surface of the idea without developing it fully.

{WARNING: SPOILER ALERT. THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT WILL SPOIL THE BOOK FOR A NEW READER.} This book was an amazing story of a teen named Michael who loves to play video games, and is great at coding. The video games in this book are realistic, you experience the pain and emotions in-game whilst actually controlling the artificial character that you've created . You can also meet and make friends with players that you've met. Michael encounters a girl on a bridge, through a mission, in the game Lifeblood, one of the most popular games in the VirtNet (The virtual network in which the games, players, data and AI are held) who codes out her Core, a term referring to the thing that differentiates between virtual death, and real death, which is located inside of your character. She then commits suicide (In game, yet she really died) because of some entity that's been harassing her in her mind, that she refers to as Kaine. That's just the beginning. To sum some more of the story, a major organization know as the VNS, contacts Michael about his experience, and makes him track and find the villain behind this; Kaine. He is not allowed tell anyone except for his friends, Sarah and Bryson, who harbor an equal skill at coding. Together, they must venture through The Path, the way to Kaine, and obtain information on the Mortality Doctrine. ~Any term not explained, to the new readers who dare read this review, will be further told and explained throughout the story~ P.S. I'm a big fan of James Dashner's The Maze Runner. James Dashner is an amazing author who can make a great story!

The book starts off in a virtual world where a teenager, named Michael, has to try to stop someone from killing there own aura, which is what their virtual body is called, but things quickly get out of hand. The girl rips her core out, the only thing keeping the virtual and real world apart in the user's mind, and then kills herself in not only the virtual, but real world too. (I left out some details) So now things quickly get out of hand. Michael is scarred after seeing what has just happened and now the VNS (VirtNet Security) has contacted him to help take down a man named "Kaine", who was the reason the girl killed herself. It turns out he has been killing people all over the VirtNet not only virtually, but in reality too. And Michael is now tasked with taking him down.... ***MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW***POSTED FOR NO REASON BESIDES ME WANTING TO***READ AT YOUR OWN RISK (RAYOR)**** -Kaine ends up being a tangent (A.I, Artificial Intelligence) -Michael is a tangent too -Tangents are trying to become humans by stealing there bodies -Michael ends up being the first to be put into a human body I warned you, yep :3

I'll have to be honest, the reason I picked this book up was because of the cover and the title. I've never read Maze Runner (James Dasher's other series) so I didn't know what to expect. So I'll start off with the basics and give no spoilers to the best of my ability. The book setting is in the future where technology for the younger generation (and the younger at heart) run around in a Virtual world, VirtNet for short, doing everything and feeling everything one could ever imagine. That's right, they can FEEL it too, after all what's the point of a game if it isn't realistic? Now the main character, Michael has the dream of being the best gamer in the world and is one of the many after the notorious "Life Blood Deep", an even more realistic dimension of "Life Blood" where, as mentioned above, you can do and be whatever you want (so long as you have money). So in the present age it would be like going to a local casino, and after pulling so many slots, you get a free all access pass to Las Vegas! Cool Right? Well bad news there's a cyber terrorist who has the VNS (VirtNet Security) going mad! Seriously, this organization makes the Secret Service look like punks and they still can't get a hold of this one terrorist. However, for some reason the VNS believe Michael and his two friends can and they send them on the mission of hunting the cyber terrorist down. The reward, being set for life and not getting in trouble for doing anything illegal in the VirtNet (sweet!), the penalty for refusing, no technology access (heavens above not that!) and suggestive death threats to friends and family. Now, all of this opens up the book and the rest is laid out in a typical quest format that James Dashner does well, although, fair warning it is extremely graphic! I won't go into detail but I found myself just wanting to skip ahead to see if the characters actually got anywhere. And another thing I didn't like was the fact that the main character always seems to be in pain. I mean geez this kid could take a beating, both physiological and physical. On a good note the world building and settings of "Life Blood" were simply incredible! The world seemed so large and detailed that it just exploded out of the book. It was hard not to get sucked in and see what the character saw down to the neon wire. This includes the characters. I loved all of them and they were developed in such a way that I felt an attachment, meaning I wanted what they want and were rooting or boo-ing them when they did something good or bad. The villain (cyber terrorist) is done really well too, with enough mystery to keep the reader going. Now villains come in two varieties, ones you love to hate or ones who you can relate but still believe they are going about things the wrong way. The cyber terrorist is a unique blend of both where at first you love to hate him but then, once you get a closer look, you realize he does have a compelling purpose. So to conclude the book is really easy to get into but once there you find the story stalls a bit from the constant violence and graphic scenes. It picks up though and the ending is well worth it! The twist is truly one that makes the readers think and ingeniously wants one to go back and re-examine the beginning where all the clues are flashing in our faces. I'm looking forward to book 2 to see what James Dashner will do with this twist he leaves with us.

Since I am a bit of a nerd (ok, maybe a big nerd) I really enjoyed the ideas behind this book. It was interesting, as I read it, to see parallels with our dependency and fascination with technology and the internet. With the advent, and more universal acceptance, of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality devices (think Oculus unit and Microsoft's HoloLens) it is not too much of a stretch to believe we could someday find ourselves spending more time in a "virtual" world than our own. That is the case for Michael and his friends in this story. They find themselves more attached to the VirtNet, as it is called, and less attached to the real world. James Dashner does a great job of making the reader care about his main protagonist right off the bat and we begin to get caught up in Michael's "adventure" pretty quickly. Its hard to explain the entire book without getting into too many spoilers. The pace is nice, but at times gets bogged down with too much technical information about the VirtNet and its "worlds". But, I was never bored and looked forward to getting back to reading about what would happen next. In all honesty I was not a big fan of the Maze Runner Series. I actually prefer the movies over the books on that one, which is a rarity for me. But The Eye Of Minds really captured my attention and kept me wanting for more. I have moved on to the final book in the series and have enjoyed each one a little more than the first, which is saying something. The second book was really great. This is a great launching pad for the series though and if you like the YA type of books with a technical and "futuristic" twist then you can't go wrong with this series. Give it a try!

I first heard of James Dashner when I was went to see the first Maze Runner movie. Needless to say, I read the books (feeling kinda sorry that the movie spoiled the first one...) and instantly fell in love with James' style and imagination. When I came across The Eye Of Minds, the description didn't appeal much to me (virtual reality, bla bla...) but I decided to give it a shot. I read it in less than a week while working 10 hours a day. FINALLY! A book with amazing suspense not from page one, but rather paragraph one! A thrilling novelty approach to the future of virtual reality, that kept me afraid for the main characters and their faith. A book that once again made me wish to skip chapters just to feed the enormous curiosity that filled me. A lot of nice plot twists all building up to the final plot twist that shakes you! Great book, highly recommended!

Honestly my favorite series by James Dasher, his attention to detail and story building is so slow yet fast paced that I couldn't stop reading it. I've already recommended this book to half my friends and family.

Ich liebe den Schreibstil von Dashner, daher ist diese Rezension so subjektiv wie nur irgendwie möglich :D Das Buch ist meiner Meinung nach mal wieder klasse, spannend geschrieben und gut durchdacht. Es passiert am Anfang zwar noch nicht viel (kein Vergleich zum Beginn von Maze Runner), die Geschichte die sich aufbaut ist aber erfrischend unerwartet und auf ihre Art echt super. Wie immer endet das Buch mit dem absoluten Höhepunkt an Spannung, daher habe ich mir das zweite gleich mutbestellt und konnte direkt weiterlesen. Von meiner Seite aus auf jeden Fall zu empfehlen :) Wer noch etwas Angst vor Englisch hat den kann ich an dieser Stelle beruhigen, ich finde Dashner schreibt sehr verständlich.

Loved it. Can't wait for the last book in the series!

This book is an amazing follow up to the trilogy'Maze Runner' It has an amazing storyline with twists and turns and plots you will never see coming. Anyone who has nothing to read or has loads to read NEEDS to buy this book. Absolutely fabulous.

Love the plot twist at end. Best book I've read in a long time. Can't wait to read next book!

I am writing this review after my second reading of the book, and let me say it was just as great the second time around. This book made me think, every time I put it down to do something else I found myself thinking about it, and I love when a book makes me do that. I would recommend this book to young-adults or anyone who's enjoys straightforward writing, but a somewhat complex story. It's one of those books I'd recommend to anyone who's willing to read a good book. The book is worth a read just for the ending alone. It's a doozie.