Book Review: The Rule of Thoughts (The Mortality Doctrine, #2)

About The Book:

 

  Title: The Rule of Thoughts (The Mortality Doctrine, #2)

  Author: James Dashner 
  Pub. Date: August 26th, 2014
  Publisher: Delacorte Press 
  Pages: 325 

  Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian 

  Rate: 2.5/5 stars

Synopsis :

Michael completed the Path. What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.

He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated, and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.

Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael’s completing the Path was the first stage in turning Kaine’s master plan, the Mortality Doctrine, into a reality.

The Mortality Doctrine will populate Earth entirely with human bodies harboring tangent minds. Any gamer who sinks into the VirtNet risks coming out with a tangent intelligence in control of their body. 

And the takeover has already begun. 

Review :

If it is one thing I'm sure of, it's that James Dashner is the king of cliffhangers. With the huge bomb dropped on readers at the end of The first Mortality Doctrine book, I was expecting nothing but shock from The Rule of Thoughts. However, this book lacked that wow factor that James Dashner usually does so well. 

“I've met some brave people in my life. And I've met some awfully stupid people. 

You're one of the rare ones that are both.” 

Fan Cast of New
Michael: Billy Unger

The best thing about The Rule of Thoughts by far is the friendship between the main characters. Michael, Sarah, and Bryson have the kind of friendship that almost every YA book strives to achieve. They work together as a well oiled machine and always have each other's backs (yes, they are like Thomas, Newt, and Mihno). Bryson is still hilarious, always providing comic relief for the group and coming through when he is really needed. Sarah is consistently the stable one, becoming their rock on more than one occasion (almost to the point where I raised a few questions to what she really may know). Michael is confused and is unsure of almost every action he makes. I didn't really get to see as much of a development among Michael and Sarah as I was hoping I would. I hope they finally find a romance together, because they seem so natural together. A new character was introduced in this book - Gabriella. Gabriella is the girlfriend of Jackson Porter, the boy Michael was essentially "downloaded into" at the end of The Eye of Minds. Her intentions are truly never clear with Michael, but she is most definitely not happy with the fact that Jackson isn't Jackson anymore. She certainly adds an interesting new element into the story and I'm excited to see what comes of her in the next book because she posed more questions that answers in The Rule of Thoughts. 

Fan Cast of Sarah:
Aubrey Peeples

The plot of this book had so much info-dumping. I would expect that from a first book in the series, but not so much for the second. I found myself getting bored numerous times throughout The Rule of Thoughts because nothing was really happening in my opinion. There was a lot of waiting around, and throughout that process caused me to ask many questions. I STILL have so many questions - I don't think any of them were answered. In fact, the main conflict wasn't even apparent to me until the last 75 pages of the book. I know there was a novella published between The Eye of Minds and The Rule of Thoughts about the tangent Kaine, and I'm starting to think you have to read it in order to understand The Rule of Thoughts. With that being said, I despise novellas for the most part and will not be reading it. 

All in all, I gave this book a 2.5 out 5 stars because while I still loved the characters, the plot wasn't as intriguing as the first book in the series. As a huge fan of The Maze Runner series, I am not ready to give up on The Mortality Doctrine Series. I will be starting The Game of Lives soon, the conclusion to the trilogy. One of my favorite things about James Dashner is that he produces a realistic ending, instead of the cookie cutter "happily ever after", so I do have high hopes for The Game of Lives. If you are a fan of science fiction and haven't yet picked up The Eye of Minds, I highly urge you to do so. 

- Jocelyn