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Overview
The second book in the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series—The Scorch Trials is a modern classic for fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.
In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.
Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.
The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?
From the Hardcover edition.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Hundreds of pages into this sequel to The Maze Runner, one of the teen subjects of a survival experiment on postapocalypse Earth wonders aloud, "hat this is really all about." Readers may be asking that, too. In The Maze Runner, the teens, their memories erased, searched for a way out of a deadly maze; their escape, led by Thomas, was short-lived. As volume two opens, the boys learn they are infected with the "Flare," a virus that has killed millions and produced a population of nearly insane, disease-ravaged "cranks." New orders from WICKED, a coalition of surviving governments, have the boys marching across a wasteland toward a promised cure. Though some facts are teased out, the narrative bogs down under the weight of unanswered questions. What is the purpose of torturing these kids? How is making them into killers ensuring the survival of the world? Why would government leaders name themselves WICKED? Hopefully answers are forthcoming in volume three. In any case, fans who are already hooked will gobble this down, particularly those who don't mind anemic female characters and a high body count. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)Children's Literature -
Safety turns out to be just another illusion when you're the subject in a mysterious scientific experiment. Picking up the morning after the sci-fi prequel, The Maze Runner, leaves off, this volume continues to chronicle teen-aged Thomas's exciting if nightmarish adventures. A representative of a global organization called WICKED informs Thomas and his fellow survivors, the Gladers, that the world has been suffering devastating sun flares as well as a new disease called the Flare. The Gladers are told they have two weeks to travel a hundred miles across a sun-blasted plain to reach a safe haven and a cure for the Flare, which already infects them. The data that WICKED will collect on their efforts to survive may be essential to the future of the human race, they learn—but another, competing team has been set on the same mission. Thomas and company must also battle vicious, crazed Cranks, who suffer from the Flare, along with the killing heat, deadly lightning storms, and much more in their attempt to make it across the Scorch. Meanwhile, Thomas's close friend Theresa seems to have become his enemy, and resurfacing memories of his past make him question his true role amid the grim horrors he's experiencing. Readers of the first book will quickly be swept up in the suspense and nonstop action—this would make a dandy video game, as Thomas confronts one gruesome danger after another. A third volume will be eagerly awaited. Reviewer: Paula RohrlickVOYA
Thomas and the gladers thought they were safe. They thought they were glad to leave the danger of the maze far behind them. They were wrong. In one night, all their new-found security is ripped away, replaced by a new set of dangers: the Scorch, an area of land decimated by solar flares, brutal weather, and populated by the Cranks, people who are infected with a disease called the flare. Teresa is gone, in her place a boy who speaks of having survived another maze. Then a man appears telling them they have two weeks to travel one hundred miles of the Scorch to reach a safe haven, which will make escaping the maze look like child's play. The Scorch Trials is the second book in the trilogy that began with the best seller The Maze Runner (Random House, 2009/VOYA December 2009), picking up right where it left off. Dashner writes at a suspenseful pace, weaving twists and turns into chapters that flow seamlessly together, culminating in a stunning cliff-hanger ending. Themes of moral dilemmas and survival amidst a deadly landscape make the danger even more chilling and heart-stopping. Readers will be on the edge of their seats with this thrilling story, and it is also makes a great match for fans of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press). Reviewer: Susan HampeSchool Library Journal
Gr 7 Up—Thomas and his fellow Gladers thought they were safe at the end of The Maze Runner (2009). They had solved the Maze and were overjoyed to leave the glade. Their joy and relief are short-lived. The Earth is a wasteland and more dangerous trials await them. The boys are instructed to travel 100 miles and cross a vast wasteland that has been ravaged by solar flares. When they reach their destination, each survivor will be given immunity to a virus called the Flare that has infected the population. Along the way, the Gladers battle extreme heat, Cranks (bloodthirsty humans who have an advanced case of the Flare), and more. Narrator Mark Deakins turns James Dashner's thrilling and suspenseful novel (2010, both Delacorte) into a nail-biting audiobook. He masterfully portrays the bewilderment and sheer exhaustion of the Gladers as they try to find meaning in the latest bizarre and cruel experiment. Tension mounts as Deakins plays with the story's pacing. Fans of the first title will not be disappointed and will eagerly await the conclusion to the trilogy.—Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MNKirkus Reviews
Thomas led the Gladers to safety in The Maze Runner (2009). But after just one night's rest, the survivors are told that a true haven is still a long way off.To reach it, they have to pass another trial: crossing an expanse of scorched earth while being pursued by the Cranks, humans infected by the Flare, a disease that inflicts madness. If they can just make it to the designated meeting point on time (and alive), they will be met by a rescue team from the shadowy organization behind these trials, receive the cure to the pandemic and never have to face danger again. Constantly on the run and threatened, the Gladers struggle to win. Thomas tries to protect his friends while searching for Teresa, the lone girl from the Glade, and grappling with elusive returning memories. Taut and bleak, continually intriguing and surprising, this is a solid sequel that keeps both Thomas and readers wondering what is really going on. Hooked readers will hope they won't have to wait long for the answers that have been promised in the next installment. (Science fiction/thriller. 12 & up)