The Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials was written by James Dashner.  It is the second book in the series of TheMaze Runner. James Dashner has also written another series called the 13th Reality.  The Scorch Trials is set where the equator is located. The Gladers, or the teenagers from the Maze Runner, have recently solved the maze where they were trapped with no memory of their prior life.  They have solved the maze by learning the code on how to escape.  The Gladers have also now learned that a group called Wicked, led by a man they call Rat Man, arranged for their arrival in the maze, memory loss, and variables in their heads for them to solve.  Wicked has now sent them to a barren desert located at a place called the Scorch, or the equator. The Scorch encompasses crumbling cities and rough terrain.  The Gladers need to band together and cross it to reach the Safe Haven.

The Gladers have been told by the Rat Man that they were sent to the maze so they could study their brains.   Thomas, the main character, has lost some friends in their quest to solve the maze, but gains some new ones as he tries to cross the Scorch.  Wicked has taken Teresa, his friend from the maze, to a different group, called Group B.  Aris, a boy from another maze, has been sent to join Thomas and the Gladers.  The Rat Man tells the Gladers that they are infected from a disease called the Flare, which has been caused by our sun’s solar flares.  The Flare causes people to go insane.  The Gladers have many challenges ahead of them.  The Earth has been damaged in many places and the climate around the Scorch is extremely hot and desolate.  To make matters worse, the Gladers meet the Cranks, people that are infected by the Flare, and they want to kill everybody.  The Gladers also notice that they each have tattoos on their necks that tell them what they are supposed to do in the next trial.  Thomas’s tattoo says something that nobody would expect, “To be killed by Group B”.

I highly recommend this book because it is a very important part of the series with several explanations about what the characters are going through and their purpose in the series. The author also paints a realistic picture of the setting and causes the reader to imagine what the Scorch looks and feels like.  New information is provided that helps answer questions that go unanswered in the Maze Runner. The reader learns about the last of the trials for the Gladers and is given just enough information to peak a person’s interest to find out what happens in the next book, The Death Cure.

Book Review by Thomas R.