Kill Order by James Dashner

This prequel to The Maze Runner really had my attention. In fact I found it a more enjoyable read than the  original trilogy. It is set thirteen years prior to the cage landing in The Glade which introduced the reader to the original dystopian novel. I certainly feel closer to Mark and Alec than I did the majority of the characters in The Maze Runner with the exception of maybe Chuck because the main focus of the narration is for the major part on these two alone. Life in the solar flare-ridden pre-maze adventure beginning in the tunnels under  New York really draws the reader in. Mark, Trina and soldiers Alec and Lana survive a dismal existence in the city after the Sun Flares, and the ensuing tsunami  which leave them stranded in a sky scraper. After two weeks they endeavour to make their way to safer territory in the Appalacian Mountains of Northern Carolina. The novel is narrated on two levels, in that these first challenges and battles they face against the Sun Flares are interwoven as dreams relived by Mark within the present (one year on) where the main characters have to deal with the  ravages of the virus the Flare which has been released on the surviving population by an elite group playing God. The remaining world's population turns on itself and Alec and Mark must make some serious decisions and question their own humanity in order to survive and rescue friends. I look forward to Dashner's proposed novel which will provide the final link between this plot line and The Maze Runner triolgy

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

True to James Dashner-style, this is a fast moving novel. It is a cyberpunk thriller which is set in the future in the virtual gaming world. It follows three teenage hackers, Michael, Bryson and Sarah, as they search for rogue "gamer" Kaine who is holding people hostage online in "the Sleep"  (a virtual reality known as VirtNet) as well as harming them in "the Wake" (the real world.) One criticism of the novel is that it is hard to find a real connection with the characters and to be able empathize with them and both their situation and losses due to the fact that the plot drives the action rather than the characters who are only developed in a shallow way. Any ideas formed about the characters has to be arrived at only through their dialogue and actions in the games they play in order to track down the ever-elusive Kaine.  Maybe this is intentional given one of the major twists near the end when the reader discovers something rather disturbing. The characters determinedly trek along the Path through a very bloody war game, a surreal  Alice in Wonderland-like setting and a volcanic landscape as they endeavour to reach the Hallowed Ravine. The futuristic language such as EarCuffs, Tangents, NewsBops, KillSimms, and so on will be a draw card for readers along with Dashner's refreshing use of similes. I really enjoy his books and recommend them to the more sophisticated and mature readers in my classroom. This novel has many twists and turns and the chapter headings (Through the Floor, Three Devils, The Floating Desk etc. ) are another interesting dimension to the story line.