The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)

by James Dashner

[Kim Deister]

The Maze Runner had me hooked from the beginning and The Scorch Trials kept that going.  This one was non-stop action and even more of the mysteries of the world they live in are revealed.

The Gladers have been told that their trials are over now, but in reality, they are just beginning.  There is no more Maze, but then they are thrown out into the post-apocalyptic, scorched world with a miimum of resources and told to cross the Scorch.  They are made promises if they make it successfully across within the alloted time.  And then the obstacles begin, different from the Maze, but just as serious and often horrifying.

This air of mystery is something I love about these books.  Secrets are revealed, but never very many at the time.  But instead of being frustrating, it amps up the anticipation.  WICKED, its people and its motives, is still a blur outside of their immediate circumstances and it leaves a lot of room for the imagination.  

There are a lot of new characters in this book and, even though I have finished the novel, I am still not sure how I feel about some of them.  In this series, where what is good seems bad and what is bad may have a positive purpose, it is sometimes hard to neatly categorize the characters into simple "good" and "bad" groups.  But I like this because there is a lot of gray in humanity.

There were some harsh lessons to be learned in this novel, especially that of betrayal and trust.  From moment to moment, it is difficult to determine what is real and what isn't.  Who is sincere and who isn't.  This is not exactly conducive to building a trustful environment.  And once again, we are left with almost as many questions as we got answers.

My Recommendation:  The mystery behind the story is what builds the anticipation for me.  While generally, I gravitate towards more character-driven stories, this one is very much plot-driven and I truly love it.