The Rule of Thoughts (The Mortality Doctrine, Book Two)
Readers rate it 3.6 (54 on Hardcover)
338 pages · Released May 3, 2016 · Ember
Content report card
What's inside
Sexual content
LGBTQ+ themes
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
The Rule of Thoughts is a science-fiction adventure centered on teens fighting against a sentient AI threat, with action sequences and some unsettling themes about identity and consciousness. While violence exists, it's not graphically depicted; the real tension comes from psychological and existential stakes rather than physical brutality. The story emphasizes teamwork, courage, and resilience as Michael and friends work to stop a global threat, making it suitable for mature middle-grade and early teen readers who enjoy complex sci-fi premises.
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From the publisher
From James Dashner, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling MAZE RUNNER series, comes the second book in the bestselling Mortality Doctrine series, an edge-of-your-seat cyber-adventure trilogy that includes The Eye of Minds and The Game of Lives. Includes a sneak peek of The Fever Code, the highly anticipated concl... From James Dashner, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling MAZE RUNNER series, comes the second book in the bestselling Mortality Doctrine series, an edge-of-your-seat cyber-adventure trilogy that includes The Eye of Minds and The Game of Lives. Includes a sneak peek of The Fever Code, the highly anticipated conclusion to the Maze Runner series—the novel that finally reveals how the Maze was built! Michael thought he understood the VirtNet, but the truth he discovered is more terrifying than anyone at VirtNet Security could have anticipated. The cyber terrorist Kaine isn’t human. It’s a Tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael just completed the first step 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. The VNS would like to pretend the world is perfectly safe, but Michael and his friends know that the takeover has already begun. And if they don’t stop Kaine soon, it will be game over for humanity. Praise for the Bestselling MORTALITY DOCTRINE Series: “Dashner takes full advantage of the Matrix-esque potential for asking ‘what is real.’” —io9.com “Set in a world taken over by virtual reality gaming, the series perfectly capture[s] Dashner’s hallmarks for inventiveness, teen dialogue and an ability to add twists and turns like no other author.” —MTV.com “A brilliant, visceral, gamified mash-up of The Matrix and Inception, guaranteed to thrill even the non-gaming crowd.” —Christian Science Monitor
Shelved under
- Young Adult Fiction
- Calibre Import
- Fantasy
- Young Adult
- Adventure
- Science Fiction
- Mystery
- Dystopian
- Computer games
- Cyberterrorism
- Juvenile fiction
- Fiction
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ISBN 9780385741422 · Ember