Ninja-Parents Blog

Title: The Scorch Trials
Author: James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: October 2010
Hardcover: 384 pages
The Maze was only the beginning…
Solving the Maze was intended to be the end. No more puzzles. No more Variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would likely get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of everyday life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was straight forward. They had food, and shelter, and safety… until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was instigated long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal weather conditions, much of the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated–and with it, order–and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the contagious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities fishing for their next victim… and meal.

The Gladers are far from done running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and are available at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to set the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder–does he hold the secret of liberty somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

Stand alone or series: Book 2 in the Maze Runner series . the scorch trials online

How did I get this book: ARC from New York Comic Con (Thanks, lovely people at the Delacorte booth!)

Why did I read this book: I truly enjoyed The Maze Runner, Dashner’s first book in this post-apocalyptic/dystopian/SF adrenaline rush of a series, and so was thrilled when I was able to procure an ARC of this second title.

Review:
The Gladers have fled from their Maze only to find themselves in an even more terrifying and inescapable situation. Having discovered that they have been test subjects in an ongoing experiment from mysterious international conglomerate WICKED (World In Catastrophe – Killzone Experiment Department). According to WICKED, the Gladers are providing them with invaluable data, establishing patterns that will hopefully unlock the key to saving the world – a world that has been scorched dry and ravaged by disease and geographical catastrophe. Due to intense solar flares, civilization has collapsed into chaos as people have contracted a devastating disease called The Flare, gradually turning them into insane, flesh-hungry murderers, or “cranks.” All of WICKED’s manipulations – the wiping of the teenagers’ remembrance, the ritualized tests, the grievers, the murders, and the deathgames – have all been a necessary evil to save the fate of humanity.

Or so WICKED says.
Naturally, Thomas and his associate gladers have a slightly different reaction to WICKED’s meticulous plans and justifications. When the group wakes up, they find themselves in a sanitized environment with a lone adult behind some kind of forcefield. The “Rat Man” (as Thomas dubs him) tells the boys that the next stage of experimentation is about to begin – The Scorch Trials. The rules are simple. The boys are to travel 100 miles across a harsh, arid landscape in two weeks. Their need? Each of the boys has been infected with The Flare, and the only way to get a cure is to reach the so called “Safe Haven” at the end of this final trial. Without any other choice, Thomas and his friends set out on another extremely difficult test, faced with WICKED’s numerous machinations as well as the murderous cranks running rampant in the city. Except Teresa, the one person that matters most to Thomas, has evaporated without a trace, and somehow she is part of WICKED’s next stage of look up.

Just as with The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials is an just fast-paced, action-packed book. Picking up immediately after the dramatic events of the maze, Thomas and his fellow Gladers get about a day’s reprieve before being thrown back into the fire, and the stakes are even higher this time around. While the boys knew basically nothing in the first book, this time around, they at least know who their torturers are, and have some idea of the purpose of their trials. And, as with its predecessor, The Scorch Trials is one of those read-it-in-a-single-heart-stopping-sitting types of literature.

As with most books of this insane adrenaline rush caliber, there isn’t really much in the way of character development or thematic depth – but then again, that’s not the reason why one reads this type of book. Thomas undeniably goes through the grinder with The Scorch Trials and begins to regain memories from before the box and the maze (even though Thomas’s overall significance remains elusive). Although his reactions and advancement as a protagonist are basically superficial, there is this tantalizing question underlying all his actions – for we learn that Thomas figures predominantly in WICKED’s plans, and may even have chosen this for himself. In contrast, Thomas’s counterpart, Teresa, is unfortunately flat and her motivations even more bizarre. At the book’s emotional and climactic scene, Teresa’s choices don’t quite make sense (other than for melodramatic effect) – but then again, WICKED’s plans aren’t exactly clear or logical at this point in the series, so perhaps that’s a point of mystery that will be cleared up in later books. Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention that there is something of a triangle in this book, but with Thomas and two girls for a change! That’s kinda cool and refreshing in a YA landscape completely outclassed by ho-hum girl and superhawt boys falling all over her. Just sayin’.

From a pure plotting perspective, The Scorch Trials does a awesome job of pacing and evolving the overarching storyline, which is no small feat because once the kids are out of the maze, the entire makeup of the series adjustments. The idea of The Flare, the scorched land, and the gradual insanity of the cranks is imaginative and horrifying – for example, at one point in the book, Thomas comes across a self-mutilated man who hunts Thomas depressed because he wants Thomas’s nose. Seriously, this is creepy stuff. Although the novel is not without its cheese factor (the acronym WICKED, for example, is more than a little kitschy) and I still don’t quite see how Mr. Dashner will be able to reconcile WICKED’s actions with anything like a plan to save the world, I’m interested to see how it will all turn out. (Plus, The Scorch Trials ends on – you guessed it – another crazy episode. So at this point, I’m obligated to take on with the series. Bring it on, Mr. Dashner!)

Though lacking in the depth of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games textbooks or Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy, James Dashner’s The Scorch Trials is a heart-thumping hasten of a book. A good idea, especially for reluctant readers.