The Eye of Minds
⭐ ⭐
The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine, Book 1) by James Dashner
A simulation of a good idea 🎮
James Dashner’s The Eye of Minds tries to offer a thrilling ride through a virtual reality landscape, following a teenage hacker named Michael on a mission to stop a rogue player in a highly immersive digital world 💡. The setup is ambitious and has potential, but the story never quite lives up to its premise.
One of the main problems is the characters. Michael and his friends are meant to be sharp, tech-savvy teenagers navigating life-and-death situations in a complex and dangerous world, but their behavior rarely reflects that. They don’t speak or act like real people 🙃. Their dialogue sounds unnatural and awkward, and their reactions feel emotionally hollow and unauthentic. This becomes even more distracting, given the intensity of the situations they face. The disconnect between how they’re written and how real teens, especially gamers, would actually behave creates a constant feeling of disbelief. It’s hard to invest in a story when the people in it don’t seem to belong there.
Even more frustrating is the book’s portrayal of gaming culture 😒. The Eye of Minds is packed with digital environments, coding references, and gamer terminology, but it all feels superficial. Rather than coming across as a genuine exploration of virtual reality, the book gives the impression of someone trying to sound like they understand video games without actually playing them. It feels like Dashner wanted to write his own version of Ready Player One but didn’t have the background to make it believable 🤷♂️. The result is a world that lacks the texture and logic that seasoned gamers or sci-fi readers would expect.
For younger readers completely new to this kind of story, The Eye of Minds might work as a light, fast-paced introduction to virtual worlds and cyber-thrillers. However, for anyone familiar with video games or looking for real depth and character development, it's a frustrating read and likely to disappoint.
