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So here it is.  My review of The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

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.

VERDICT:  This book is from James Dashner, the author who wrote the #1 New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series.  I did not read those books, but I did see the movies, which I found very entertaining, except for all the zombies in the second movie!  Yuck!!  But, the stories were good and kept me interested.  The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine series.  It takes you into a world of very advanced technology where the main character, Michael, fights cyber terrorists through computer gaming and programming with his virtual world friends, Bryson and Sarah.

This is the 2nd book in the series, The Mortality Doctrine.

This is the 2nd book in the series, The Mortality Doctrine.

After reading many of the customer reviews of this book, I have come to the conclusion that it might be the perfect book for teenagers who are fans of science fiction and interested in computers and computer gaming, since most of the story takes place in the Virtnet – a very large cyber world with anything you can think of.  You can play games, hang out with friends, eat, etc…  Anything you can do in the real world, you can do in the Virtnet.  It’s all fun and games until a cyber terrorist starts creating chaos in this cyber world, and Michael and his two friends get caught in the middle…

I also think this series will appeal to those of you who are fans of advanced technology and virtual reality.  I’m a fan of computers and technology, but not so much a fan of virtual gaming.  At least not yet.  Maybe if they have some sort of Mario Brothers old school virtual gaming, I might see it differently.  I also think maybe I’m not smart enough to fully appreciate this kind of story??  I did read the entire book, I did understand most of it, and I did enjoy it.  But I will not be running out to the store to buy The Rule of Thoughts or The Game of Lives, the next two books in this series.

But…if computers and virtual reality are your thing, then I highly recommend this series.  Even though I am not planning to read the next two books, I’m pretty sure I will be going to see the movies (if they get made), just to see how this all plays out.  Happy reading, and happy gaming!  Until next time…