Summary
From James Dashner, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, comes the final book in the Mortality Doctrine series, an edge-of-your-seat cyber-adventure trilogy that includes The Eye of Minds and The Rule of Thoughts .
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!
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.
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 cyber-adventure trilogy 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
Author Notes
James Dashner was born in Georgia and attended Brigham Young University. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked in finance. He is the author of The 13th Reality series, The Jimmy Fincher Saga, the Mortality Doctrine series, and the Maze Runner series. The Journal of Curious Letters was chosen for a 2008 Borders Original Voices pick and The Maze Runner won a 2015 West Australian Young Readers' Book Award in the Older Readers category.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Horn Book Review
Michael, Bryson, and Sarah look to finish their fight against both cyberterrorist Kaine and the agency that's supposed to be protecting the world from him. Philosophy and whiffs of The Matrix combine in another mind-bending tale with twists and turns and furious action. Fans of The Eye of Minds and The Rule of Thoughts will want to see how this trilogy resolves. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
James, Sarah, and Bryson are back on cyberterrorist Kaine's trail, trying to stop him from implementing his Mortality Doctrine, which amounts to recycling both humans and Tangents (sentient computer programs) through an endless supply of human bodies essentially stolen from their owners, in order for everyone to live forever. But Kaine is being framed by someone else, and unless the friends and their allies can locate the real game player, all Tangents and their human hosts will die. This concluding book in the Mortality Doctrine series is a flurry of nonstop action and somewhat confusing science that wraps up a little too neatly, relying on convenient returns of characters and sudden reversals of fortune. Still, Dashner's vision of the VirtNet universe is world-class world building, and fans of the series will enjoy the familiarity of the conflict and characters. Read these in order to get the most out of the story. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Dashner's best-seller status and the recent film release of The Scorch Trials from his Maze Runner series will guarantee a crowd for this title.--Welch, Cindy Copyright 2015 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-The cyber adventure continues where The Rule of Thoughts (Delacorte, 2014) left off. Michael has survived his ordeal and doubts not only himself but also everyone around him. Is everyone he knows a Tangent? Where are the souls of those whose bodies are borrowed by the sentient computer programs. Can he trust anyone? Is anywhere safe? Can he even trust himself? And, most importantly, can he stop Kaine from taking over the world with bodies possessed by Tangents? Lovers of science and science fiction alike will thrive in the virtual reality world within the novel. A brilliant merging of reality and fiction, this work doesn't stand alone, so only fans of the previous volumes will be able to jump right in. VERDICT Purchase where the author and the series are popular.-Elizabeth Speer, Weatherford College, Weatherford, TX © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
After narrowly escaping the villainous Tangent Kaine's clutches at the conclusion of The Rule of Thoughts (2014), Michael, Bryson, and Sarah are joined by Michael's old nanny, Helga, and a group of rebel Tangents to thwart Kaine's evil plans once and for all. But not all is as it seems. Tragedy occurs, motives are revealed, and foe becomes friend in Dashner's exciting finale. Dashner throws everything he has in to this volume, making for a breathless, action-packed read that will have readers on the edges of their seats. He further explores his hard sci-fi premise, in which beings flow like water between a computer world and a real world, lending the book as much speculative fun as action. The characterization still leaves a bit to be desired; few characters are given the depth and shading the author gives to Michael and Kaine. Moreover, Dashner doesn't seem to have quite enough guts to keep a particularly painful death permanent; the novel's final pages allude to a resurrection that, while sweet, will make a few readers roll their eyes. However, in the broadest of strokes Dashner has stuck the landing, crafting a complete sci-fi trilogy that has little fat to trim and plenty of action, laughs, thoughts, and emotion. These books have notably improved with each outing, making this the best of the bunch. A fitting end to an exceptional trilogy. (Science fiction. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
When Michael woke up, he had the not-so-pleasant sensation of bile rising in his throat. Not the happiest way to greet the conscious world. He sucked in a slow breath. He wished he'd taken something for motion sickness. Sarah's dad seemed to think he was a NASCAR driver, and the road wasn't cooperating. Gerard the Gear Hound, the country's next great race-car superstar on the world's twistiest, most torn-up track. As they wound their way around the tight curves of the north Georgia mountains, Michael leaned into each turn with his entire body, as if that would somehow keep the car on the road. Lush foliage and trees overgrown with kudzu formed a great tunnel through a cave of green, sparkles of sunlight winking between leaves as they drove. "You're sure she said Helga?" Michael asked once again, his dream fresh in his mind. Go to the Hallowed Ravine. That's what she'd said. Which meant, logically, that his own mind was telling him the same thing. They had to go back to the place where it all started if they wanted to end it. Seemed reasonable enough. Gerard, clutching the steering wheel as if he feared it might try to spin away from him, sighed at the question. His wife, Nancy, shifted in the passenger seat to face Michael. "Yes," she said with a kind smile, then turned to the front again. Her patience made it seem as if that were the first time Michael had asked the question, though, in fact, it was probably the fifth or sixth. He sat in the middle of the backseat, Bryson to his left, Sarah to his right. No one had spoken much since their initial reunion. Between being chased down, imprisoned, and rescued, it had been a long several days, and everyone seemed as dazed as Michael. Michael himself didn't know what to think. Sarah's parents had been kidnapped, then rescued by a group of mystery people. Those same mystery people had then directed Gerard and Nancy to pick up their daughter and her friends and take them to an address in the Appalachian Mountains. But there'd been something about Tangents. And a woman named Helga. It couldn't possibly be his nanny, Michael thought for the hundredth time. Could it? His Helga was gone--wasn't she? As far as he knew, she was a Tangent that had been decommissioned by Kaine, just like his parents. At the very least he'd hastened their Decay. Real or not, their deaths had emptied his soul, and not much had filled it since. Sarah nudged him with her elbow, then awkwardly fell into him, her whole body pressing against his as Gerard whipped around yet another curve. The tires squealed and a flock of birds exploded from the foliage at the side of the road, screeching as they flew away. "You okay, there?" she asked, righting herself. "You don't seem very chipper for someone who just got broken out of jail." Michael shrugged. "I guess I'm still trying to put it all together." "Thanks for the message you sent me," she whispered. While separated, both Michael and Sarah had hacked through the prison firewall systems to send notes to each other. "It helped a lot." Michael nodded, gave a half smile. A horrible image formed in his mind--Sarah dying beside the lava pits, her last struggle for breath before exiting Kaine's Path in the deepest folds of the VirtNet. Michael had dragged her into all this. And her parents. And Bryson. It had broken his heart to see her in so much pain, and he couldn't stop wondering--did worse fates await them than virtual molten rock? Bryson leaned forward to look at them. "Hey, no one sent me a message. That's not cool." "Sorry," Michael said. "I know how much you love your naps--I didn't want to interrupt." As if to rub it in, Sarah clicked her EarCuff, illuminating her NetScreen. Michael's message, We will win, hovered before them. A thrill of happiness warmed his chest to see that she'd saved it there. He smiled, more than a little embarrassed. "Real sweet." Bryson leaned back, eyeing Michael. "I'm pretty sure I haven't slept in, oh, about three weeks--which I blame you for, by the way." "Blame accepted." Michael knew his friend was joking--mostly--but he still felt bad. Bryson might have never said something so simple and yet so perfectly true. The nausea from the roller-coaster driving suddenly shot up a few notches. "Oh, man," he groaned. "Sir? Uh . . . Gerard? Could we pull over a second? I'm not feeling so well." "Turn toward Bryson," Sarah said, inching away from Michael. She rolled down the window. "Does that help?" But her dad had already slowed--the sudden braking sending Michael's whirling stomach up another notch--and was pulling into a little patch of dirt on the side of the narrow road. "There you go, son," the man announced. He seemed familiar enough with the maneuver that Michael was sure it wasn't the first time he'd driven someone to the brink of losing their lunch. "But hurry--we're already late." Sarah's mom smacked her husband on the arm lightly. "Have a heart, honey. For heaven's sake. No one likes to throw up." Michael was already climbing over Sarah. He opened the door and jumped out of the car before she could complain. His horrible prison breakfast was coming up, and there was no stopping it. He found the closest bush and gave it a very unpleasant surprise. Excerpted from The Game of Lives by James Dashner All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.