Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)

by James Dashner

Book two in the blockbuster Maze Runner series that spawned a movie franchise and ushered in a worldwide phenomenon! And don’t miss The Fever Code, the highly-anticipated series conclusion that finally reveals the story of how the maze was built!
 
   Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.
   The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
   There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.
   Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.

The Maze Runner and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure are all now major motion pictures featuring the star of MTV's Teen Wolf, Dylan O’Brien; Kaya Scodelario; Aml Ameen; Will Poulter; and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.
 
Also look for James Dashner’s edge-of-your-seat MORTALITY DOCTRINE series!

Praise for the Maze Runner series:
A #1 New York Times Bestselling Series
A USA Today Bestseller
A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year
An ALA-YASLA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book
An ALA-YALSA Quick Pick
 
“[A] mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of the Flies, The Hunger Games, and Lost.” —EW
 
“Wonderful action writing—fast-paced…but smart and well observed.” —Newsday
 
“[A] nail-biting must-read.” —Seventeen
 
“Breathless, cinematic action.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Heart pounding to the very last moment.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Exclamation-worthy.” —Romantic Times
 
“James Dashner’s illuminating prequel [The Kill Order] will thrill fans of this Maze Runner [series] and prove just as exciting for readers new to the series.” —Shelf Awareness, Starred

“Take a deep breath before you start any James Dashner book.” —Deseret News

• ISBN10: 1299059473
• ISBN13: 9781299059474
• Publish Date: 1 January 2010
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 14 April 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Delacorte Press
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 298
• Language: English

Reviews

[zooloo1983]

I can understand why some people hated this book but I feel this series is getting stronger and more intriguing. There were a few scares in there with the cranks who wanted their noses!(not looking forward to seeing that on the big screen!!) and the story line with Brenda was a little stupid to introduce and then I found myself rooting for her.
I feel the book draws you in giving you little clues to what is going on that you decipher a lot more quickly than the characters which can be frustrating. But I feel they dangle the carrot just enough to keep you wanting more! Already on the final book and it's still intriguing but reałly don't want this to end! Life without newt what will I do!

[ellieroth]

También en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Esta reseña es parte de una especie de Meme que cree en mi blog: Bitching On Wednesday. Todos los libros que tuvieron la suerte de caer en este meme AQUÍ LO PUEDES LEER.



Cuando leí la primera parte de este trilogía (¿aún se considera trilogía? ¿Con tanto libro en medio y futura precuela?), dije que se me hizo un libro interesante, que incluso me había gustado. O sea, no terminé obsesionada con el libro ni estuve exactamente ansiosa de leer la continuación pero el cliffhanger sin duda fue, aunque esperado, chocante. Así que con toda la publicidad que ahora está recibiendo la continuación de El Corredor del Laberinto con su futura adaptación al cine no quería ser víctima de un spoiler.

Una cosa que he mencionado anteriormente sobre mí es mi obsesión con el estudio del comportamiento humano, no soy psicóloga, aun así eso no me ha detenido de leer libros sobre análisis de personalidad y comportamiento en grupo, y que por suerte durante toda mi vida me topé con profesores que siempre estuvieron dispuestos a responder mis dudas. Y con todo eso quiero decir:

¿WTF JAMES DASHNER?

Algo que siempre me es gracioso es como con algunos libros la gente dice “Pero esto no es posible, no tiene base científica”, sobre todo en libros distópicos que están tan de moda (si no me creen, solo basta hacer una pequeña búsqueda en reseñas de Divergente y verán, por darles un ejemplo obvio). Lo que se me hizo interesante del primer libro era como la Empresa / Organización / Fundación CRUEL pone a estos chicos al límite esperando estudiar y adelantar sus reacciones ¿qué megalómano que se digne de llamarse megalómano no disfruta con eso? Sobre todo porque son varones, una especie que tiene la conducta más volátil y desorganizada. Y primitiva. Para mí en el primer libro se me hizo tan extraño que los chicos del Área reaccionarán de una manera tan civilizada a la llegada de Teresa, pero lo dejé pasar. Es un primer libro ¿verdad? Es introductorio, dejemos pasar la ligera misoginia del escritor y demás.

Sólo que en Prueba de Fuego, nuestro querido Dashner incorpora más chicas. Y lo más gracioso es que él quiere hacerme creer a MÍ que una grupo de CHICAS va tener la misma reacción y resultado que los chicos, cuando hay una infinidad de estudios que demuestran que NUNCA vas a obtener un resultado igual entre varones y mujeres.



Y no estoy diciendo esto por “oh, las mujeres somos lo mejor, los hombres apestan, tírenles piedras”. Es simple estudio de comportamiento de género. Hay un ejemplo muy común y simple que un profesor me dijo una vez: separa un salón de clase en dos, en una habitación pon solo a las chicas y en otro solo a los chicos (¿se te hace conocido esto?) y verás que mientras los chicos están haciendo escándalo y desorden, el grupo de chicas será más silencioso y organizado.

No es sexismo, no es feminismo, es ciencia. Así que Dashner, puede que sí, que los dos grupos pueden tener la misma reacción, pero no al mismo tiempo ni en el mismo periodo de tiempo, es absurdo.

Se me hizo tan infantil este libro. Cuando nuestros queridos Habitantes tienen que seguir con la historia y aventurarse a lugares peligrosos, lo único que pensaba es “¿ésta es la mega ultra trama y aventura y acción que medio mundo ama? O sea, ¿EN SERIO?” A pesar de sus incontables desmayos, al menos El Corredor del Laberinto tuvo más acción, Prueba de Fuego se me hizo como leer la transcripción de un video juego simple, sin sorpresas porque ya sabía en qué momento pasaría algo, cada nivel tiene un obstáculo oh oh que miedo.

Mary Sue.

Mary Sue es un tipo de personaje, en inglés así se les conoce a los personajes femeninos que siempre tienen que salvar y todo el mundo queda enamorado de ella y nadie sabe cómo o por qué pero termina salvando el día. O sea una protagonista femenina común de las historias románticas Young Adult que amamos y odiamos. ¿Por qué digo esto? Porque Thomas, Tommy Tom, ES Mary Sue, no su contraparte masculina, este Marie Sue solo tiene la particularidad de tener pene, aunque no lo parezca. Tenemos párrafos y párrafos y más párrafos de Tommy hablando, suspirando y llorando por Teresa. Y no de la manera linda y sexy y desgarradora que algunos escritores se la ingenian para sentir lástima por el llorón… digo, el personaje. Además sufre por Teresa, el personaje más insípido que hay. (Más info de Mary Sue en Wikipedia)

¿Algo bueno?

Minho y Newt, solo ellos hacen llevadera la historia.

No soy el tipo de lectora que es difícil de convencer ¿dragones en el mundo real? Te lo creo ¿Poderes mágicos? Te lo creo, porque para mí son sólo historias, historias que me emocionan de leer durante un rato. En otras palabras soy una lectora poco exigente y aun así, se me hizo interminable este libro, con muy poca gracia. Me ha sorprendido un poco no encontrar críticas del libro que hablen sobre la pobre base científica. ¿Será porqué el escritor es hombre? No quiero pensar que eso pero no sería raro.

¿Leeré el tercero? Pues si le hacen película lo haré, no me gustan los spoilers.

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[Angie]

The Scorch Trials is a hard book to review, because I have no clue what's going on, and anything I do say might be a spoiler or just not make any sense at all. It all starts immediately after the boys' rescue. We find them in their dormitory, which really is nothing but some beds, a bathroom, and it's locked from the inside. Then Teresa disappears, a boy named Aris appears claiming to have gone through the same ordeal as them but with another group, and then a strange man dressed all in white tells them about Phase Two. Immediately, the boys learn that they're being tested for something, since the world has gone to hell. At the end of this second test they'll receive the cure to this disease that has plagued humanity. But what in the world are they being tested for?!

Most of The Scorch Trials is the boys trekking across desert, ruined city, and mountains to reach the Safe Haven. They have no idea why they're going it, but they don't exactly have a choice. It's reach the cure or die trying. And they certainly do face a lot of nearly sudden death. But throughout all of this, I had no idea what to think. Their trials seem really random and unnecessarily violet and cruel. What could WICKED possible gain from this? From the explanation they gave, they're just collecting "patterns" by forcing them to face specific "variables." They're not researching a cure, since they apparently have that--unless they're lying--but nothing else I could come up with makes sense. It just got weirder and more mind boggling by the page.

While The Scorch Trials does provide some answers, it also raises a ton more questions. It didn't captivate me as much as The Maze Runner, but I still enjoyed it. It just frustrated me to no end! Nothing is what it seems, and it's starting to look more and more likely that someone is just screwing with these kids rather than doing anything useful! Also, Teresa! I want to throttle her! I know it's likely that she's just going along with what WICKED tells her to, but aahhh! She's withholding information! I need to know what's happening!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Berls]

My Initial Reaction...

The Scorch Trials was not quite as good as The Maze Runner, but I still liked it and am very curious to see what's coming next.

Note:There are some series spoilers in this review.

The Characters...

I mentioned in my review of The Maze Runner that I felt like it was the story that made it strong, not the characters. I continue to feel that way with The Scorch Trials, but I think that was more of a problem this time around. The mystery has been lifted a bit, so while there are still mysterious elements, you know the bigger picture. And that means that caring about the characters is SO much more important... and that's probably why I didn't like The Scorch Trials as much.

The main character is still Thomas and it's definitely still good that the story is told exclusively from his point of view. But where The Maze Runner had almost no romance, in The Scorch Trials romance is a dominant theme - and, for me at least, it didn't work. Thomas cares deeply for Teresa, but she's disappeared. Meanwhile this other girl - Brenda - shows up and he starts having confusing feelings for her. It seems like maybe she likes him romantically, but he can't see her as anything more than a friend because he still holds out hope for Teresa. I think maybe I'm supposed to see the telepathy that he has with Teresa as something that fostered a really close bond, but I couldn't see that because they hadn't spent that much time together.

The other characters fade in and out so much that I really can't say much about them - this is really Thomas and Teresa's story. And we've seen SO LITTLE of Teresa in the two books combined, that I don't know her at all (neither does Thomas IMHO, which is the problem). So anyway - yeah - the characters were a bit of weak point for me in The Scorch Trials.

The Story...

The story for the The Scorch Trials was still very good - James Dashner manages to pile on layer after layer of mystery. After the Gladers escaped from the Maze at the end of The Maze Runner they believe they've been brought to safety, but after one night they wake up to find out that they are in the middle of another test. And Teresa has vanished - replaced by a boy who just escaped from his own version of the maze. A maze populated by all girls and one boy. A Maze trial that was almost exactly like the one that the boys escaped. This is probably the strongest mystery in the series for me - why the two separate groups? What are they hoping to discover?

The Gladers end up in another test - transported to a land so hot they can't walk under the sun without protection. And they have to walk 100 miles north through a city populated by Cranks (people infected with the Flare) and that brings trials and challenges of it's own, especially when the two groups - the boys and the girls from the mazes - cross each other's path. I enjoyed seeing the two groups come into contact and I'm really curious to see what the story has in store for them after this. Another really interesting element are the memory flashbacks/dreams that Thomas has throughout The Scorch Trials. I'm fascinated by the hints we get about life before the maze and it definitely added to the mystery.

Concluding Sentiments...

I wish that The Scorch Trials held as much mystery as The Maze Runner or that the characters had been a bit stronger. But the story is still compelling and I look forward to seeing the final resolution.

[Rinn]

Also posted on my book blog, Rinn Reads.

I reviewed the first book in this series, The Maze Runner, back in January. I spotted this one in my local library - I wasn't planning to borrow anything, but I knew I had to pick this one up after enjoying the first so much. So I'm a sucker for YA dystopia.

Picking up right where The Maze Runner left off, The Scorch Trials is a whirlwind experience, once again letting the reader know only what the protagonist does, and moving on so quickly that sometimes it is a little hard to really take things in. The Gladers are safe - or so they think - and there is a real sense of relief. But this doesn't last long, and soon things are just as crazy as they were in the Maze - however, this time they seem a whole lot worse, without the shelter of the Farm, and the familiar schedule of their daily life there. No walls surrounding them, no gates closing precisely at sundown and keeping the bad things out - just miles and miles of empty, ruined space.

With much more of a post-apocalyptic setting than the previous book, and really a lot darker, this has a sort of Fallout/Borderlands-esque feel to it. There were actually a couple of moments that made me feel a little sick - Dashner cuts off his descriptions of certain events before they get really bad, but when your imagination runs away with you it is hard not to imagine! Also, to me, there is nothing more terrifying than groups of people becoming feral and turning on one another. Sure, the Grievers from the first book were horrible. But people are intelligent (well... mostly), they have emotions, souls. To go from being human, to something truly animalistic, is a scary thought.

I would have preferred a little more of some of the other characters - Minho, Newt etc - but the focus was very much on Thomas and Teresa. There was also a rather shocking moment that, once everything is explained to him, Thomas seems to just accept far too easily. At times the pace of the story was too quick - as with the ending of The Maze Runner - and although quite a lot happened, it didn't always feel like it.

However, the ending was exciting and I had such a vivid image of the carnage in my head - and it definitely set up for the next book. But it was the same sort of cliffhanger as the first book - the frustrating kind that reveals almost nothing, compared to the kind that gives you just enough information.

[KitsuneBae]

For full review, please visit: Thoughts and Pens

The story started off immediately where the first book ended. And it instantly gave me a ride to the world of nightmares as Thomas and his friends encountered Cranks and dead bodies. Not a pretty good morale booster after you just survived the Maze and those horrifying Grievers.
Another good thing about this book is that it does not give us any idea that it’s book filler. Here, we see a glimpse of the world where everything has fallen into devastation, where majority of the populace became the living versions of one’s nightmare. And the setting of the book, a wasteland desert with a brutal climate that would total spin your world, added a tension to the challenge Thomas and the gang have to face. Everything, the whole world, seemed to come and get you like a hurricane.
I especially liked the scene where Thomas and Brenda played hide and seek with a group of Cranks. It was terrifying and revolting when you try to imagine what would happen if these disease ridden people got hold and eat them alive.

I also love that James hinted about Thomas and Theresa’s future relationship. And it’s making me happy because although I like Theresa for being a bringer of mystery in book 1, I never did like her as a person or someone who deserves Thomas.
There are a lot of things to like about the book: Thomas’ maturity and focus, setting, plot, betrayal, loyalty between friends amidst the odds, the race against time, survival of the fittest, the thrilling scenes and the anxiety whether Thomas and the gang will succeed in getting the cure.

This novel is surely fast-paced, no drags, and definitely a page turner. If you want action, a little bit of drama, grossness, thrill in a dystopian world then this book is a must.

[Stephanie]

Good, but not great. Less impressed with this one than I was with Maze Runner. Gross, but confusing. SpecialBoy!Thomas is starting to grate on my nerves. /shrug

[Artemis]

I liked this way more than Maze Runner, which is always weird because usually I'm a HUGE fan of the 1st book and not so much of the 2nd. But then again I loved Catching Fire more than Hunger Games. I'm glad it didn't take to long to get into the action this time. Looking forward to the 3rd book, The Death Cure!

[sstaley]

I finished this at 2:00 in the morning. I could not stop reading before I headed to bed. Wow! Still shaking my head and wondering what the heck is happening.It is nice to breathe freely again now that the book is read. James Dashner has once again taken you on this thrilling ride. Once you get off, you are dizzy, tired and nauseous. If I could, I would give this book 4 1/2 stars. I hope that my mind can stop buzzing enough to fall asleep. Poor Thomas...all I can say is, how much can one character go through before throwing in the towel?

[rakesandrogues]

Published at http://muggle-born.net/book-review-the-scorch-trials/

THE SCORCH TRIALS does not hesitate to get into the action. Already by the first chapter, the reader is thrust into Thomas’s world after the “rescue” with very little development. It would be impossible for a new reader to the series to jump straight into this book. While the reader is reminded of what happened in the Glade, this limited information would not be enough to establish a foundation for a new reader.

THE SCORCH TRIALS was an enjoyable read but I do not think that it surpassed the standards of THE MAZE RUNNER. The first book was able to make me think. I was there with Thomas, Newt, and Minho solving the puzzle of the Maze. While THE SCORCH TRIALS was entertaining, it did little to make me think. It reminded me of a movie jam-packed with CGI and other special effects. Lots of explosions, lots of gore, lots of dead bodies.

However, there is still a lot of mystery behind WICKED and the Trials. We get a glimpse of Thomas’s past, giving small clues behind WICKED, but the limited information we are given are not substantial enough to lead the readers – and Thomas – anywhere closer to solving the mystery. We are still left as confused as Thomas. It’s difficult to guess what the purpose of the Trials are other than to save humanity – which is more than a little vague.

I felt like Dashner’s writing style is still a bit abrupt and choppy, but it works for the action scenes that he writes. Each chapter still leaves off with a cliffhanger that makes THE SCORCH TRIALS impossible to put down. There was a little bit of romance in THE SCORCH TRIALS, though I was doubtful as to whether or not Dashner could pull it off. While THE SCORCH TRIALS is not the next big romance novel, the romance became a nice touch, adding another layer to Thomas’s character.

THE SCORCH TRIALS is a fast-paced, action-packed book. While it is not as great as THE MAZE RUNNER, readers will not be disappointed. But be warned: THE SCORCH TRIALS will leave you craving for even more than the first book.