Review: The Eye of Minds – James Dashner
James Dashner is one of my favorite authors. While I would never say to base a person’s storytelling ability on their personality, knowing that the author is a genuinely decent person always helps. I was lucky enough to meet Dashner at a book signing in Dublin. The man is one of the nicest writers I’ve ever met, and seemed genuinely interested in my own interest in writing as much as my love for his books. He even gave me a fist-bump!
Last month saw the cinema release of The Maze Runner, a movie based on the first in a series of teen novels. With the popularity spike around the series I wanted to draw a bit of that attention towards Dashner’s other series, The Mortality Doctrine. The first book was published last year, titled The Eye of Minds.
Imagine a world where gaming and cyber technology has advanced far beyond what we have already. A teenager, Michael, spends almost of his time in the VirtNet – an advanced virtual reality internet – and has become one of the best gamers and hackers around. During one of his sessions he hears of a rogue gamer who has started taking other players hostage inside the VirtNet, leaving their real world bodies catatonic. Soon, the authorities are asking for the help of Michael and his friends to get past the cyber-terrorist’s firewalls to take him down from the inside.
What’s Good:
1. I loved seeing what could be called a “perfect world for gamers” and the darker side to it. Being able to connect to a worldwide virtual reality sounds like an amazing thing… until you consider all of the ways it could be abused and taken advantage of.
2. Being a teen novel I expected some sort o f romance. While there was a teeny tiny hint of flirtation it wasn’t a major part of the plot or the characters. I appreciated reading a story where the romantic interests of teenagers is neither ignored nor all-encompassing.
3. Dashner’s writing style is both simple and complex. It is very easy to read while being intricate with plot and thought. It’s hard to explain his style if you haven’t read it for yourself. You find yourself being tricked into the ease of reading and before you realise it, a fascinating and multifaceted series of scenes has gone by and you’re revelling in the complexity of the story.
4. It has probably the scariest creatures I’ve ever read. Try combining Doctor Who’s Weeping Angels with a Silent Hill’s nurses and line both walls of a one-way corridor with dozens of them. These almost-human things had eyes that followed you and could only move when you made noise. They twitch every time you put your foot down or breathe too loudly, and then freeze with mouths open and teeth bared when you stop making noise. You can’t scream or gasp or run away because they will catch you and rip you apart. Nope.
5. The string of puzzles and ‘levels’ that Michael had to find his way through to get to the bad guy had me thinking and guessing for what seemed like the perfect amount of time. Too often I read a book where a riddle is solved in the same line, or is dragged out so long I’m flicking ahead just to stop myself from going crazy by not knowing for so long.
6. The big twist at the end. I felt like I should have seen it coming, but it was both surprising and emotional. I tipped my hat to Mr Dashner for that one.
What’s Bad:
1. To be honest, I’m not sure whether to put this point in the Good Bits or the Bad bits. The book is full of gore, guts and horror. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to read over and over again in a teen book, it made me uncomfortable enough to doubt how I felt about it. It lent itself to an overarching theme of mortality and fear, and made the majority of the book thrilling to read.
2. The ending, while fantastic, was predictable for some other readers. Personally, I loved it.
3. Some plot points were a little too obvious, like the clues to what was going on were walking around with massive neon signs that read “I’m a clue! But I won’t give you any hints at all. Muahahah!” While I love a good mystery I prefer the some of the mysterious plot points to be, well, as mysterious as possible. The protagonist might as well have stroked his chin and pointed at them, wondering why they seemed so very suspicious.
4. Some of the action scenes were a little repetitive. I didn’t read the book in one go which may have made them seem as such for me, which is why I didn’t judge it too harshly for it.
Dashner drew inspiration from sources such as The Matrix and Inception. I loved being able to pick up slight similarities and can say that if you like either of those two you should give this series a chance.
9/10
[Words By: Cathy McCarthy]
