Reality just became a virtual nightmare in The Rule of Thoughts from MAZE RUNNER author James Dashner, the sequel to The Eye of Minds and the second book in the edge-of-your-seat MORTALITY DOCTRINE series.
Michael thought he understood the VirtNet, but the truth he discovered is more terrifying than anyone at VirtNet Security could have anticipated.
The cyber terrorist Kaine isn’t human. It’s a Tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael just completed the first step 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. The VNS would like to pretend the world is perfectly safe, but Michael and his friends know that the takeover has already begun. And if they don’t stop Kaine soon, it will be game over for humanity.
From 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 —comes an electrifying 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 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
From the Hardcover edition.
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From School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up—Beginning where The Eye of Minds (Delacorte, 2013) left off, The Rule of Thoughts finds Michael reeling from the knowledge that he is—or was—a Tangent: a nonhuman string of code that lived only in the VirtNet. Thanks to Kaine's experiments, Michael now possesses the body and mind of human Jax Porter, and he is doing his best to process what has happened. He realizes that Kaine is out to get him and that Agent Weber, from VirtNet Security, isn't going to protect him as promised. Michael/Jax reunites with Sarah and Bryson and the "Trifecta to Dissect-ya" heads back into the Sleep, to code and hack their way to find answers. As in The Eye of Minds, Dashner's action-packed short chapters are divided into numbered sections. The gamers leap from one dangerous situation to another in the Wake and in the virtual reality of Lifeblood Deep. Dashner's descriptions are screenplay-ready, with Portals in malls, virtual battles, and a giant purple Ray of Power. This book will satisfy the author's fans, reluctant readers, and gamers in search of an adrenaline rush. Suggest to fans of Debra Driza's "Mila 2.0" trilogy (HarperCollins) and William Campbell Powell's stand-alone Expiration Day (Tor, 2014). This title will please older teens comfortable with a slower narrative pace.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX
Review
**Praise for the 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, gamifiedmash-up of The Matrix and Inception , guaranteed to thrill even the non-gaming crowd.” — _Christian Science Monitor** _
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"An exhilarating adventure story with touches of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider books and Orson Scott Card’s _Ender’s Game.*"-Booklist.com
“More realistic and addictive than any video game— The Eye of Minds sucked me in from the very first page. *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo meets The Matrix in a vividly rendered world of gamers, hackers, and cyber-terrorists. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!”—Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of Unbreakable _
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“A gripping page-turner , Dashner’s latest is sure to please.”—_BookPage _
"Dashner's descriptions are screenplay-ready...This book will satisfy the author’s fans...[and readers] in search of an adrenaline rush."-_School Library Journal
*“Full of action [and] a rather surprising twist that will leave you flipping pages.”—fanboynation.com
“High on concept , this is an intriguing read for the digital generation.”— Kirkus Reviews
"Dashner once again creates a dystopian world in which nothing is what it seems. "-VOYA
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A Junior Library Guild Selection**
A YALSA Teens Top Ten Pick