James Dashner

"Michael is a skilled internet gamer in a world of advanced technology. When a cyber-terrorist begins to threaten players, Michael is called upon to seek him and his secrets out"--

The Eye of Minds

Audrey Lord

just like ready player one but so much more suspense

"The Eye of Minds" is about a technology advanced future where video games can be played via a body pod, that transfers the player's consciousness to a virtual reality. Since it's so realistic, video games are an addictive part of society so, of course, our main character — Michael — is an addictive gamer. Not only is he addicted, but he has amazing hacking skills which is not all that uncommon in these games.

With hackers about, there is one particular hacker who is destroying this virtual reality by attacking players and making them brain-dead. The government knows to catch one hacker, they need another. So they recruit Michael and his two, close friends and they start their journey.

I found this book really enjoyable and it easily became one of my favorite books of all time. Because we are a generation of technology-smart people, it was really easy to understand the concepts of the technology, the vocabulary terms and how society works in "The Eye of Minds". However, even if you weren't technology-savvy, the book explains enough details as you follow Michael's life story.

Going from an everyday player/hacker to someone who the government wants to hire for something he may get killed for, this book keeps you on your toes as you watch the choices and actions Michael makes. What I also enjoyed is while the main focus of the book is about the virtual realty game, there are some parts of the book that revolve around Michael's life outside of the game.

The first thought I got when I read the summary was that "The Eye of Minds" sounds a lot like the graphic novel/animation series ".hack". Which isn't a turn off, but it did make some parts of the plot a bit predictable. But don't get me wrong, just like James Dashner's "The Maze Runner" series, you can expect a lot of plot twists that you will never see coming a mile away (especially at the end of the book, which is a huge teaser and makes me wish the second book was out already!).

Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman

It was a bit confusing and the world building wasn't as great. Left a lot of holes. Let's see what the next one holds.

Kaley Catron

This was my second time reading this book and I loved it just as much as the first time. The only part that makes me upset is how long it took me, I mean the first I read it in a day. Anyways, this series is LITERAL PERFECTION. When I first picked up the book I had only read the Maze Runner and I was like eh I'm either gonna love this or hate it, turns out I loved it. 
I just love the VirtNet, Michael, Bryson and Sarah's friendship and sarcastic comments not only to each other but to other people they meet. I just ugh they're the best. I love them and these books, rereading book 2 now before I read the Game of Lives. Wish me luck!!

Kathryn 

IM SO INTRIGUED. I'm wasn't sure about this book for awhile but I have to say I am most definitely hooked. The ending took me completely by surprise, I was so convinced I knew where this story was headed but nope Kat was wrong. 

I'm going to say I liked it more then the maze runner since when I finished that I wasn't really excited to read the next book but I'm definitely excited to read The Rule of Thoughts! The only small complaint I have is I wish the coding and programming was explained slightly better but all in all this was a great and quick read!

(Also anyone else notice James Dashner makes all of his characters walk/run long distances? What's up with that? )

(Also it says I was reading this for almost a month but I've only been reading it for about 2 days)

laura

I really enjoyed this book. I loved exploring a new world by this author and remained me a lot of ready player one. The world building could have been a tad clearer but overall a good unique story with fun characters.

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

Sixth book finished for #TBRTakedown. June 2015.

As seen on Caity Reads.

I’ve been really struggling when trying to write this review. This is mostly due to the fact that I didn’t dislike this book. I thought it was okay, but that it could have been a lot better. As with The Maze Runner, I just didn’t find myself invested in this story or it’s characters. It was entertaining enough that I finished the book, but it took me longer than it should have to do so. In my opinion, the strongest part of the book was the plot twist at the end. I definitely did not see it coming, so props for that.

After reading this, I’ve decided that James Dashner’s writing is just not for me. Like I mentioned before, this book was not bad. I just felt really meh while reading it, and really meh after reading it. At first, I had considered reading the rest of the series, and the rest of the Maze Runner series. However, I have decided I’m not going to continue with either. I just don’t think that Dashner’s writing is for me, and that’s okay.

Overall, I would recommend that if you would like to read this, pick it up from the library. Unless you know that you like Dashner’s writing. It wasn’t bad by any means, just not for me.

Dina

Okay, let me start off by saying that I gave this one a try because I read The Maze Runner trilogy and Dashner's writing style actually clicked with me. I love the wit and sarcasm and the random plot twists that come out of nowhere and make you yell at a bunch of pages while your family and/or friends judge you quietly a few seats away from you. Also, the plot for this series seemed interesting.

Now for this book, I think I managed to connect with Michael much more and much quicker than I ever did with Thomas in The Maze Runner. I like this main character a lot, to the point where I get worried about him and don't want anything bad to happen to him.

I liked his friends, too. They each add a little something to it, be it a larger sense of rationality into their mission or some good belly laughs or just that comfort you feel when you're doing something risky, but have someone you trust and care about walking that path with you, giving you that extra strength. Makes the whole thing seem more real and grounded, I think.

The plot is interesting and scary at times. To think it might come a time in our own very real world where AIs gain full consciousness and free will? Whoa. Talk about frightening consequences! But crazy theories aside, I like that Dashner sort of walks you through this new world. He lets you get familiarized with it, so you don't get confused with how some things work with the Deep and the Wake and all that. It's not always an easy task when books are set in alternative (or alternative-ish) realities or universes.

As for the violence and overall creepiness depicted in this book, if you've read The Maze Runner trilogy, it won't come as a surprise for you, even if you may find yourself thinking you really didn't need that mental image at times.

The ending wasn't as surprising as it could have been. If you pay attention to the clues throughout the book, you get to a point where that seems to be the only logical thing, you know? I'm not saying you'll visualize the whole thing exactly as it happens, but that ending twist? You might find yourself suspecting it, at least, along the way. You may question it and even think "no, that can't be it", but I'm sure it'll eventually cross your mind.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to getting my hands on the second part!

MJ Laird

Honestly, I only read this book because I couldn't find anything to read after The Maze Runner trilogy. I had already tried a few things and I thought that maybe a book by the same author would be good but I didn't like it at all. I found it really weird and hard to get through. I had to stop before I even got to the middle. I do think that a big part of why I couldn't keep reading was because I wanted something a little more like The Maze Runner. I hope to come back to it at some point and try it again.

Lynn Braden

Eye of Minds reminded me of The Matrix and Avatar. In this futuristic story, people spend a lot of time in the VertNet, which is a virtual reality internet where people get into a "coffin" in order to experience realistic game play. It seems as though everyday lives are lived only to earn money to buy game time. The main character, Michael's only friends are Sarah and Bryson, who he has only met through game play but not in real life. Everything in Michael's life changes when he is contacted by the VNS - a kind of VerNet police force - to help them track down a programmer named Kaine who has become a security risk. Reluctantly, Michael agrees and with the help of his two friends goes on a harrowing VertNet quest to lead the VNS to Kaine. The huge twist at the end of the book almost made it worth the read. James Dashner is obviously an excellent science fiction writer, but for me, stories succeed or fail based on character development, and in this one there is almost none. I didn't really enjoy reading this book, so it is unlikely that I will read the sequel, The Rule of Thoughts.

The world is virtual, but the danger is real in book one of the bestselling Mortality Doctrine series, the next phenomenon from the author of the Maze Runner series, James Dashner. Includes a sneak peek of The Fever Code, the highly-anticipated conclusion to the Maze Runner series—the novel that finally reveals how the maze was built! The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and the more hacking skills you have, the more fun it is. Why bother following the rules when it’s so easy to break them? But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And one gamer has been doing exactly that, with murderous results. The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker. And they’ve been watching Michael. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid, to the back alleys and corners of the system human eyes have never seen—and it’s possible that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever. The author who brought you the #1 New York Times bestselling MAZE RUNNER series and two #1 movies—The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials—now brings you an electrifying adventure trilogy an edge-of-your-seat adventure that takes you into a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyber terrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares. Praise for the Bestselling MORTALITY DOCTRINE series: “Dashner takes full advantage of the Matrix-esque potential for asking ‘what is real.’” —io9.com “Set in a world taken over by virtual reality gaming, the series perfectly capture[s] Dashner’s hallmarks for inventiveness, teen dialogue and an ability to add twists and turns like no other author.” —MTV.com “A brilliant, visceral, gamified mash-up of The Matrix and Inception, guaranteed to thrill even the non-gaming crowd.” —Christian Science Monitor

Jeremy Cote

This novel was an interesting one. The first reason I was interested was because I absolutely loved The Maze Runner series. Also, it had a pretty solid concept, so I was hooked from the beginning.

And then, unfortunately, it lost itself a bit.

What I found slightly hard to comprehend was the whole coding part of the virtual reality world. We know that Michael is an avid gamer, and also a hacker. It's this second part that tended to confuse me. Michael and his friends are supposed to be really good coders, but the way it was explained in the novel seemed really abstract. Everytime I tried to wrap my head around it, I couldn't understand. They basically close their eyes and "feel" around for the code, which seems almost too simple. Coding/hacking is supposed to be difficult, but if they can just dip in and out of it like nothing, it would seem like almost everyone would want to do it.

Another thing that I noticed (as did another reader) was that the three of them were in constant danger. Because of that, I became almost desensitized. I almost didn't feel the danger, because it was just a little bump towards the end of the novel.

The last thing that was strange to me was Michael's relationship with his two friends. I understood that they only had one life, so they couldn't help one another when something dangerous attacked them. Still, it made for "deaths" that seemed like they did not affect Michael at all. That bothered me a bit. They just died without fanfare.

Anyway, barring those three things, I enjoyed the novel. The concept was still interesting, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. The main reason being the great ending. I really liked the ending, since it changed everything. I would argue that the ending single-handedly brought the novel back to the top. On Twitter, James had said that this novel had a bit of Inception into it, and before that point in the novel, I would have disagreed. But when the revelation at the end happened, I could see the similarities (which is definitely not a bad thing).

So overall, I liked it, and will be waiting for the sequel. I hope though that more explanation could go into the VirtNet world.

Jariel Tamayo

Lieke 

Aloe Han

Nicholas Barnard

From James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, comes an edge-of-your seat adventure. 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. For Michael and the other gamers, the VirtNet can make your wildest fantasies become real. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Who wants to play by the rules anyway? But some rules were made for a reason. One gamer has been taking people hostage inside the VirtNet with horrific consequences. The government needs Michael to track down the rogue gamer, but the risk is enormous and the line between game and reality could be blurred forever . . .

The Eye of Minds

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