The Premise
--
The Earth is a fiery wasteland.
At least, it is in the book The Scorch Trials, by James Dashner. This is the second book in The Maze Runner series. In this book, Thomas and his friends had just escaped The Maze, a giant labyrinth surrounding their home, The Glade. After all they had gone through, fighting off monsters called Grievers, and escaping the Maze, they thought they would be safe. That, however, was not the case.
They are set free, only to find that the Earth has been destroyed by massive sun flares, and the only people left are Cranks, humans who have been infected with an awful virus called The Flare. Cranks are crazy, ruthless and ready to kill. Thomas and the rest of the Gladers have to find their way through the barren wasteland of the Earth, and find a cure to the virus before they turn into Cranks themselves.
They are set free, only to find that the Earth has been destroyed by massive sun flares, and the only people left are Cranks, humans who have been infected with an awful virus called The Flare. Cranks are crazy, ruthless and ready to kill. Thomas and the rest of the Gladers have to find their way through the barren wasteland of the Earth, and find a cure to the virus before they turn into Cranks themselves.
--
Criticism
There were a few things in this book that I didn't really like. In the first book in the series, The Maze Runner, we learn that Thomas and all of the other Gladers have had their memories wiped, and have no recollection of their past lives. The Scorch Trials is mostly from Thomas' point of view, but seeing as he himself doesn't know what's going on, it's hard for readers to fully understand what is happening in the book sometimes.
Another thing I don't really like about the book is that there are too many confusing relationships that the characters have to one another. Thomas can communicate with Teresa, a girl he knew in his past life, telepathically. Somehow Teresa can also telepathically communicate with another boy, Aris. And at the end of the book a Crank that Thomas met can also speak into his mind. Overall it's just kind if confusing to follow and a lot of it seems random. I would probably rate this book a 3 out of 5.
Another thing I don't really like about the book is that there are too many confusing relationships that the characters have to one another. Thomas can communicate with Teresa, a girl he knew in his past life, telepathically. Somehow Teresa can also telepathically communicate with another boy, Aris. And at the end of the book a Crank that Thomas met can also speak into his mind. Overall it's just kind if confusing to follow and a lot of it seems random. I would probably rate this book a 3 out of 5.