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A review by cmzukowski
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
4.0
So I flew through this book and liked it a lot more than I did the Maze Runner. Maybe I just love the whole dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting more than the maze, but I also think a lot of it had to do with the story. This book was much most fast-paced than the first and I feel like it was a lot more exciting. The story started to come together more and we got more of an understanding of the purpose of WICKED, the trials, the Variables, etc. Thins started to click in my head and I feel like the story is starting to make a lot of sense and we are getting to the heart of the matter finally. We are learning that this isn’t just about some kids being tortured, it is something on a global scale that goes way beyond a maze and some teenagers and some creatures. It is more of a battle to save Earth and the human race in a story that has many pros and cons.
As I said in the beginning I liked the post-apocalyptic landscape that was caused by the sun flares as well as the extreme weather that was created. During the lightning storm scene I was so fully absorbed and reading so quickly because of the tense nature of the scene and the visual I was able to get in my head. It also strikes a chord in the reader about where we could possibly headed with the changes in our weather and the extremes we could face. Sun flares and extreme heat and devastating storms are a real possibility in our future so I feel like a little of a reality check was forced to happen in regards to extreme weather changes and an Earth in disrepair. I also liked the Flare disease that was created. It was rather zombie-esque in nature yet with a more human aspect to it in that the people could still speak and think and plan. I feel like it showed a good degradation of the human race but I wish it was explained more. They explain something about a disease being unleashed during the sun flares but I feel like it was a little glossed over which disappointed me. I would have been very interested to learn more about it.
I feel like there has also been some character improvement. You still do not get much attachment to them or backstory but it improved from the first book. I think sticking to a few main characters helped for the author to tie you to them a little more and care more and I also feel that as the characters continue to get memories back you will feel for them more. However, by the time that happens the story will almost be completed and I wonder if it will all come too late. I will also say that the emotions of the characters are a little fleeting. I couldn’t keep track of how many times Thomas went from trusting to not trusting, loving to hating Teresa and Brenda. I mean, I get he is a teenager and that may be the case but he is also in a wasteland where he is fighting for his life. I feel like if someone screws you over once then that is one too many times and they don’t deserve your trust. Boy needs to be a man in this case.
On another negative note, I still feel the timeline is off and doesn’t seem to be written in way that makes a whole lot of sense. They had weeks for this trial but the way it is written seems like only a number of days pass by. Maybe Thomas was too busy passing out for us to get the entire several weeks’ worth of story though, who knows.
One of my biggest disappointments was no further explanation about the Grievers and the introduction of a whole new creature at the end, a creature we know nothing of that just came out of nowhere to attack the kids. No explanation whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some biotech but it needs to be explained! Sci-fi and biotech are so interesting and complex and you need to go more in depth into explanations, not just introduce something and then take it away. Just a little explanation goes a long way in stories like this and I feel an elaboration on the biotech creatures would have really added to the story.
Overall, the story had me sucked in from the beginning, even with the open ends still and the holes. I am hopeful that during the third book a lot of these holes will be filled and everything will be brought together. We have already seen the fitting together of some of the puzzle pieces between this book and the first and I would like to think that will continue to happen in the third book.
As I said in the beginning I liked the post-apocalyptic landscape that was caused by the sun flares as well as the extreme weather that was created. During the lightning storm scene I was so fully absorbed and reading so quickly because of the tense nature of the scene and the visual I was able to get in my head. It also strikes a chord in the reader about where we could possibly headed with the changes in our weather and the extremes we could face. Sun flares and extreme heat and devastating storms are a real possibility in our future so I feel like a little of a reality check was forced to happen in regards to extreme weather changes and an Earth in disrepair. I also liked the Flare disease that was created. It was rather zombie-esque in nature yet with a more human aspect to it in that the people could still speak and think and plan. I feel like it showed a good degradation of the human race but I wish it was explained more. They explain something about a disease being unleashed during the sun flares but I feel like it was a little glossed over which disappointed me. I would have been very interested to learn more about it.
I feel like there has also been some character improvement. You still do not get much attachment to them or backstory but it improved from the first book. I think sticking to a few main characters helped for the author to tie you to them a little more and care more and I also feel that as the characters continue to get memories back you will feel for them more. However, by the time that happens the story will almost be completed and I wonder if it will all come too late. I will also say that the emotions of the characters are a little fleeting. I couldn’t keep track of how many times Thomas went from trusting to not trusting, loving to hating Teresa and Brenda. I mean, I get he is a teenager and that may be the case but he is also in a wasteland where he is fighting for his life. I feel like if someone screws you over once then that is one too many times and they don’t deserve your trust. Boy needs to be a man in this case.
On another negative note, I still feel the timeline is off and doesn’t seem to be written in way that makes a whole lot of sense. They had weeks for this trial but the way it is written seems like only a number of days pass by. Maybe Thomas was too busy passing out for us to get the entire several weeks’ worth of story though, who knows.
One of my biggest disappointments was no further explanation about the Grievers and the introduction of a whole new creature at the end, a creature we know nothing of that just came out of nowhere to attack the kids. No explanation whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some biotech but it needs to be explained! Sci-fi and biotech are so interesting and complex and you need to go more in depth into explanations, not just introduce something and then take it away. Just a little explanation goes a long way in stories like this and I feel an elaboration on the biotech creatures would have really added to the story.
Overall, the story had me sucked in from the beginning, even with the open ends still and the holes. I am hopeful that during the third book a lot of these holes will be filled and everything will be brought together. We have already seen the fitting together of some of the puzzle pieces between this book and the first and I would like to think that will continue to happen in the third book.