Book Review: The Eye of Minds

Title: The Eye of Minds

Author: James Dashner

Genre: Sci-Fi/ mind-blowing-twist-ending

Book Blurb: 

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.

The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.

And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.

But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever

Review:

That ending! That ending! Mind=imploded.

Just finished The Eye of Minds about ten minutes ago and I am reeling with emotions. I'm going to start this review off by discussing The Ending. 

 ***Spoiler Alert...Scroll Further Down for the Spoiler Free Zone***

How could Michael be a Tangent?! (A Tangent is someone who is created by computer programs and exists in VirtNet, kind of like an online world.) How did I not see that coming?! AHhhhh.....*runs around screaming*

Michael's life seems so real. I honestly thought he was an real, breathing, living person, and not just some computer character that happened to have developed his (its?) own conscience. *sits in a stunned silence*

***Spoiler Free Zone***

So the premise of the novel isn't too hard to grasp: the whole world has become hooked onto gaming. Players enter something called the Coffin, which is basically, well, like a high tech coffin decked out with sensors and stuff like that which allows user to become completely immersed in the virtual world, aka, VirtNet. In VirtNet, players can "buy things" and play interactive role playing games and so forth. It's also very addicting.

One of my favorite aspects of VirtNet is how someone can manipulate the computer coding found within VirtNet. Of course, some coding is harder to do than others, depending on the type of firewalls that are being used and so forth. Simulations inside the VirtNet are also very realistic--you can feel pain, you can become hungry, you can actually eat, etc. However, you can never truly "die" in VirtNet. Feel like jumping off a building? Go ahead and do it. Yeah, it'll hurt. But you won't die in real life. 

But everything changes when a mysterious character named Kaine suddenly appears in VirtNet. (For for background info on Kaine, read the book blurb above.) Kidnapping players and holding them hostage is a big no-no. So is killing people in both VirtNet and real life. So the government recruits Michael to track down Kaine, thanks to his hacking skills.

Okay, nuff said bout the plot. Let's talk about the characters. Ahhhh....would it be mean of me to say that I didn't reall like/connect with any of them? Some humor/sarcasm is good, yes. But humor only works at the right time and at the right place. Michael and his two best friends, Sarah and Bryson, love to crack jokes with each other....a little bit too much. I don't think a chapter went by without a sassy comment or something like that. Sometimes I just wanted to grab the characters by their shoulders and yell. "You'r running for your lives! Stop making puns/jokes/whatever!"

And the writing. It was very choppy. Usually I don't mind short sentences that don't around the bush (all hail Hemingway's Iceberg Theory!) But some of wording was just repetitive! Like, the character will do something and then summarize it about again. (ie. look at the battlefield before his eyes) and then say, "This is going to be dangerous." Like, duh.)

So....my final thoughts: Characters--meh. Writing style--meh. Plot--unique (kind of reminds me of Erebos, but still very original.) Plot twist at the end--ohmyfreakinggoshwhyisthissoamazing!

I think it was worth the read, mostly because it wasn't a very long book and the plot twist was totally worth it! I will definitely read the next book to see how everything plays out.

Rating: