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The Rule of Thoughts (The Mortality Doctrine, Book Two) by [James Dashner]

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James Dashner

The Rule of Thoughts (The Mortality Doctrine, Book Two) Kindle Edition

by James Dashner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

741 ratings

Book 2 of 3: Mortality Doctrine

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Reality just became a virtual nightmare in book two of the bestselling Mortality Doctrine series, the next phenomenon from the author of the Maze Runner series, James Dashner.

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.

The author who brought you the #1 New York Times bestselling MAZE RUNNER series and two #1 movies—The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials—now brings you an electrifying cyber-adventure trilogy that takes you into a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyber terrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.

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

Reading age

12 - 15 years
Print length

338 pages
Language

English
Grade level

7 - 9
Lexile measure

750L
Publisher

Delacorte Press
Publication date

August 26, 2014
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ISBN-13

978-0385741415
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the 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

"An exhilarating adventure story with touches of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider books and Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game."-Booklist.com

“More realistic and addictive than any video game—The Eye of Minds sucked me in from the very first page. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo meets The Matrix in a vividly rendered world of gamers, hackers, and cyber-terrorists. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!”—Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of Unbreakable

“A gripping page-turner, Dashner’s latest is sure to please.”—BookPage

"Dashner's descriptions are screenplay-ready...This book will satisfy the author’s fans...[and readers] in search of an adrenaline rush."-School Library Journal

“Full of action [and] a rather surprising twist that will leave you flipping pages.”—fanboynation.com

“High on concept, this is an intriguing read for the digital generation.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Dashner once again creates a dystopian world in which nothing is what it seems."-VOYA

A Junior Library Guild Selection

A YALSA Teens Top Ten Pick

From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

James Dashner is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series: The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, and The Kill Order, as well as The Eye of Minds and The Rule of Thoughts, the first two books in the Mortality Doctrine series. Dashner was born and raised in Georgia, but lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains. To learn more about James and his books, visit jamesdashner.com, follow @jamesdashner on Twitter, and find dashnerjames on Instagram.

From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up—Beginning where The Eye of Minds (Delacorte, 2013) left off, The Rule of Thoughts finds Michael reeling from the knowledge that he is—or was—a Tangent: a nonhuman string of code that lived only in the VirtNet. Thanks to Kaine's experiments, Michael now possesses the body and mind of human Jax Porter, and he is doing his best to process what has happened. He realizes that Kaine is out to get him and that Agent Weber, from VirtNet Security, isn't going to protect him as promised. Michael/Jax reunites with Sarah and Bryson and the "Trifecta to Dissect-ya" heads back into the Sleep, to code and hack their way to find answers. As in The Eye of Minds, Dashner's action-packed short chapters are divided into numbered sections. The gamers leap from one dangerous situation to another in the Wake and in the virtual reality of Lifeblood Deep. Dashner's descriptions are screenplay-ready, with Portals in malls, virtual battles, and a giant purple Ray of Power. This book will satisfy the author's fans, reluctant readers, and gamers in search of an adrenaline rush. Suggest to fans of Debra Driza's "Mila 2.0" trilogy (HarperCollins) and William Campbell Powell's stand-alone Expiration Day (Tor, 2014). This title will please older teens comfortable with a slower narrative pace.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Michael was not himself.

He lay on the bed of a stranger, staring up at a ceiling he had seen for the first time just the day before. He’d been disoriented and sick to his stomach all night, catching sleep only in fitful, anxious, nightmare-fueled jags. His life had blown apart; his sanity was slipping away. His very surroundings--the foreign room, the alien bed--were unforgiving reminders of his terrifying new life. Fear sparked through his veins.

And his family. What had happened to his family? He wilted a little more every time he pictured them.

The very first traces of dawn--a gloomy, pale light--made the shuttered blinds of the window glow eerily. The Coffin next to the bed sat silent and dark, as foreboding as a casket dug from a grave. He could almost imagine it: the wood rotting and cracked, human remains spilling out. He didn’t know how to look at the objects around him anymore. Real objects. He didn’t even understand the word real. It was as if all his knowledge of the world had been yanked out from under his feet like a rug.

His brain couldn’t grasp it all.

His . . . brain.

He almost burst out in a laugh, but it died in his chest.

Michael had only had an actual, physical brain for the last twelve hours. Not even a full day, he realized, and that pit in his stomach doubled in size.

Could it really all be true? Really?

Everything he knew was a result of artificial intelligence. Manufactured data and memories. Programmed technology. A created life. He could go on and on, each description somehow worse than the one before it. There was nothing real about him, and yet now here he was, transported through the VirtNet and the Mortality Doctrine program and turned into an actual human being. A living, breathing organism. A life, stolen. So that he could become something he didn’t even understand. His view of the world had been shattered. Utterly.

Especially because he wasn’t sure if he believed it. For all he knew, he could be in another program, another level of Lifeblood Deep. How could he ever again trust what was real and what was not? The uncertainty would drive him mad.

He rolled over and screamed into his pillow. His head--his stolen, unfamiliar head--ached from the thousands of thoughts that pounded through it, each one fighting for attention. Fighting to be processed and understood. And feeling pain here was no different from feeling it as a Tangent. Which only served to confuse him more. He couldn’t accept that before last night he’d just been a program, a long line of code. It didn’t compute. That did make him laugh, and the pain in his head intensified and spread, slicing down his throat and filling his chest.

He yelled again, which didn’t help, then forced himself to swing his legs off the bed and sit up. His feet touched the cool wooden floor, reminding him once again that he was now in a strange land. Lush carpet had blanketed the apartment he’d always known, which seemed homier, warmer, safe. Not cold and hard. He wanted to talk to Helga, his nanny. He wanted his parents.

And those were the thoughts that almost did him in completely. He’d been avoiding them, pressing them back into that pulsing swirl of thousands of other thoughts, but they weren’t going anywhere. They stood out and demanded attention.

Helga. His parents.

If what Kaine had said was true, they were as synthetic as Michael’s programmed fingernails had been. Even his memories. He would never know which ones had been programmed into his artificial intelligence and which ones he’d actually experienced within the code of Lifeblood Deep. He didn’t even know how long he’d existed--his true age. He could be two months old, or three years, or a hundred.

He imagined his parents and Helga as fake, or gone, or dead, maybe never there in the first place. It just didn’t make sense.

The ache that had crept its way into his chest filled his heart, and grief overtook him. He slumped back onto the bed and rolled over, pushing his face into the pillow. For the first time in his existence, Michael cried as an actual human being. But the tears felt no different than they ever had before. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00IBZ3YU4
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Delacorte Press (August 26, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 26, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 9094 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #308,849 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #105 in Teen & Young Adult Science & Technology Fiction eBooks
- #137 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Boys & Men
- #204 in Children's Dystopian Sci-Fi Books

Customer Reviews:
741 ratings

About the author

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James Dashner
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James Dashner is the #1 NY Times Bestselling author of over a dozen books, including The Maze Runner series (movies by 20th Century Fox, now owned by Disney). He grew up in Georgia but now lives in the Rocky Mountains with his wife and their four children. For more information on him and his books, events, etc., please visit jamesdashner.com.
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Customer reviews

5 star		78%
4 star		15%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Nate

Even better then Last one 😀.

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

I am amazed by James Dashner; again. I read The Eye of Minds in 4 days and I read this on e faster. If you thought the first one was good then you'll like this one even more. I like this book because there is a lot of action. No scary nightmares; like Maze Runner. Even though I really enjoyed that series. If you enjoy James Dashner, then you'll love The Rule of Thoughts. I own all of James Dashner's published books (I'm pretty sure) This was my Second Favorite, my first was The 13TH Reality Series. Which is an everybody book. On the other hand, This book isn't all Rainbows and Lollipops the whole way through. Not one part is actually. There is barely any sexual themes involved. Although, as I mentioned, there is a lot of Gore and Action. I recommend this book for preteens and teens, but mature 9 year olds can read.

7 people found this helpful

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Katharine Duncan

love good imagination!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2017

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I'm 67 years old and enjoyed the read! Dashner is one of my favorite authors because of his good imagination! I've read most of his books including the Maze Runner series. Always look forward to seeing the movies even thought they don't really do the story line justice. I think they could do better!!

5 people found this helpful

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madelyn

James Dashner I love your book.

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I love the idea of the technology world, and I love the plot. I love how everything wasn't obvious. I loved all of it. Almost.

It bothered me that Michael (I think that's how you spell it) and Sarah weren't really a thing. Don't you think you could have lengthened it out a tiny bit and at least end it when they kiss?
And, the cliff hanger bothered me. I absolutely hate them. I understand what they are for, but really?! This is almost as bad as Mark of Athena (percy jackson, written by Rick Riordan. The first book is The Lightning Thief. It's amazing, and If yo love Cliffies he is for you) but did you really have to make it that bad of a Cliffie???

Okay, now that I have that off of my chest, let me go to my next point: some things were confusing at first. I'll admit that. But once I caught on, it was amazing. And let me talk about that ending. That ending was nothing close to what I thought would happen. Heck, I didn't even have a clue what I thoughtless happen! I just know that was not what I was expecting. You explained it perfectly.

I want you to know how amazing this was to me: I finished it in a little over a day. And, I ha a play yesterday. And school. I could not stop reading! It was that good! If you are thinking about reading this book, just know it ripped my heart out, and threw it to the ground. And you know it's a good book when that happens. Oh, the FEELS!

2 people found this helpful

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David A. Tatman

Another excellent story in the series.

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2017

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One definitely could not read just one book out of the series and be content with the story. This trilogy could have been just one long book in the way it flows between novels. Dashner is an excellent and very creative author.

2 people found this helpful

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BeeLieve

Great Book for Boys who have a hard time with focusing

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

My son seemed to the books written by James Dashner. He has now turned his other 11yr old comrades into Dashner fans. As a kid diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD I'm shocked he couldn't put it down. For a mom who has spent hours on homework and both of us in tears .. Dashner books are a God-send!

3 people found this helpful

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Jean Fleming

Full of Twists

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

Excellent sequel to The Eye of the Mind. These two books brought the digital world of computers games to my mind that I had never thought of before. The characters were well developed, and the pace was quick. I could barely put this book down and read way into the night to finish it. This book also contains several twists that were not obvious until the end. I highly recommend this book if you liked the first in the sequence or liked Ready Player One.

One person found this helpful

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Laura Lee

WOW!! I loved the Maze Runner13th Reality series' but this one is even better.

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2014

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Dashner is an incredible writer with an amazing imagination of coming up with stories that keep you reading when you're way past bedtime, can barely keep your eyes open, but you can't stop wanting to find out what comes next! The cliff hanger ending is killing me, as I now have to wait a year until the next one comes out. But that's ok as long as they continue to be this good, I'll wait (impatiently!). I don't mind rereading the first two again to remember where things left off, because good books are ones you enjoy rereading over and over. Isn't that why you buy them instead of borrowing or renting from the library? Thanks Dashner for all the great fun of this story so far! I can't wait to see where you take us next in the plot.

One person found this helpful

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Noah Hoffman

The Rule of Thoughts - 5/10

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

Hmmm. I'm disappointed. The first book was so great, I absolutely loved it. But this book kinda let the first one down. It seems like not enough happened in the story to be completely satisfying. I gave it three stars only because I really liked some of the ideas Dashner implemented into the book. The first 3/4 of the book was Michael reuniting with his friends and finding out that Kaine, the villain, was way more powerful than he'd previously thought. And then the last 1/4 was him and his friends planting a device to destroy Kaine, but they find out that something went wrong. I won't spoil anything for anyone, but the ending and the ideas were the only reason this book got three stars. Otherwise I'd have to say to. Please note that you will need to read this book if you intend to finish the trilogy.
-- Content Ratings:
Violence - 5/10
Sex - 2/10
Language - 3/10
-- Quality Ratings:
Plot - 4/10
Characters - 7/10
Beginning - 3/10
Ending - 9/10
Cliffhangers - 4/10
-- OVERALL RATING --
Christian - 5/10
Secular - 5/10

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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer

Great book defiantly recommend

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2021

Verified Purchase

I liked this book however I don't think it's as good as the first one in the series. I found the plot a bit to hard to follow and I couldn't keep up with the pace of the book. I do, however, think it is worth reading.
I'd recommend this book to people over 12 but if you've already read the first book you should be fine.
Thanks for reading and I hope this was helpful!

Mr. N. Malik

Great writer, fast paced story lines and strong characters. Read one book and then went on to read many by this author.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2017

Verified Purchase

Great writer, fast paced story lines and strong characters. Read one book and then went on to read many by this author.

R L Griffiths

Kinda predictable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

I guessed the 'twist' pretty easily and as soon as the main tast was revealed. With a third book it was unlikely to be anythibg else. That said it was an easy quick read. Passes the time at least.

Kindle fan

Morality Doctrine

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

The Morality Doctrine is is one of the best books I've read thanks James dasher before I started reading your books I could never work out what was my favourite book type and you have helped me find it. I would really suggest this book as its one of the best. It has many unsuspected plot twists that really help keep the book interesting.

One person found this helpful