The 13th Reality:The Blade of Shattered Hope by James Dashner

The 13th Reality: The Blade of Shattered Hope by James Dashner

"Things have changed for Atticus Higginbottom. After the near catastrophe in the Fourth Reality, Tick’s being homeschooled in the fields of science, trying to master the mysterious Chi’karda. But just as he begins to make progress, Mistress Jane reappears, now hideously scarred and much more powerful. She has tapped into the universe’s darkest secret to create the Blade of Shattered Hope, and in her quest to attaia Utopian Reality for the future of mankind, she’s ready to risk billions of lives—including those of Tick’s parents and sisters—to set her plan in motion. Her vengeance knows no bounds. When rumors begin to circulate about the secret scientific experiments taking place at the Factory, Tick and his friends Sato, Sofia, and Paul are faced with their most dangerous task yet. And they must not fail; the entire universe could cease to exist." (summary from publisher's website)

This is the third book in James Dashner’s 13th Reality series, and his troop of characters have to save the world from Mistress Jane again. One thing that I didn’t really like about this book was that it was kind of a downer. It doesn’t seem like Tick has fun being a Realitant anymore. He is always scared, or stressed out, or being exposed to bad things. It seems the experience of being a Realitant is really negative and so I don’t know why the characters continue being them. I mean they get to help people and stuff, but there isn’t much to balance out the horrible parts. At least in the Pendragon series you get to see some really cool settings and places, and meet some really awesome new friends. The Blade of Shattered Hope didn’t seem to have much of that balancing magic, and so I didn’t find it as fun to read.

I think this book did much better at having an interesting beginning, as the action starts out right away. There were some parts during the book that I got bored, and put the book down for a while, but I wanted to finish reading the series, and so I continued to read. I got to say that Sato has turned into a really cool character. I think he is one of my favorites. He turns into a real hero in this book, I think. Dashner also managed to slip in another riddle, keeping up with the tradition of the previous books. I was totally surprised, but then was surprised that there was only one riddle. I thought it would have been cool if there were more. It was also interesting to see that Tick’s family got more involved in this book, and it looks like they will be more involved in the next book too.

So, for me this was an okay read. It hasn’t been my favorite read of the summer, but it still had some pretty cool scenes, and some cool character moments.
The series Website
James Dashner's Blog

Signed Book: James Dashner

Shadow Mountain gave out a huge number of copies of the 13th Reality to kick off the series, and I got a copy from Dasher when I ran into him at the LDS Storymakers conference. I wasn't attending, but by odd happenstance my family was staying the weekend at the same hotel the conference was taking place at. It was pretty funny.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Thomas wakes up in a strange elevator only able to recall impersonal details about life, and his name. At the end of the elevator shaft a group of boys await him. They slowly initiate him into their world, and as Thomas adjusts to his new life, he learns that there are more questions than answers. The Glade is surrounded by huge walls that surround it, and beyond the gates there is a maze. A maze that these boys have to solve to get home, but each night the walls move around and change. Then there a deadly greevers in that come out at night to attack them.

The day after Thomas arrives a girl comes up from the elevator shaft, nearly dead. This strange new occurrence shakes the boys up. There has never been a girl sent up the elevator before, and usually newbies show up at least a month apart. The girls arrival sets more changes in motion, and if Thomas could figure out why she seems so familiar to him might be able to figure out why they were all sent to the maze in the first place.

I really liked the whole setting of this book, and related to Thomas’s frustration at being in a strange new place. The rules of the boy’s society and the way they survived was fascinating to me. I liked reading about the maze and how they kept trying to solve it. Then the stuff that they remembered about the world before when greevers “stung” them made a whole other mystery element come about. I wanted know not only how the boys would get out of the maze but how they got there in the first place. By the end of the book you learn the general details about why they were put in the maze, but not really all the details.

So, I really enjoyed most of the book, but didn’t like the ending. I’m not sure how to explain it without giving major spoilers away. Let’s just say a certain twist at the end of the story felt very manipulative so the story could be more dramatic. The problem was that it felt forced and weird the way it was written, and I didn’t like it. I’d love to go into more detail of why I didn’t like it, but then I would give away huge major spoilers Eh, the ending is pretty depressing, and has some disturbing violence. I really didn’t want to read or buy the sequel after I finished because the story was such a downer. I’m kind of curious now, but I’ll probably wait to check the book out from the library the next time round.

James Dashner's Blog

The 13th Reality: The Hunt for Dark Infinity by James Dashner

The 13th Reality: The Hunt for Dark Infinity by James Dashner
(dust jacket summary)

It’s been a quiet summer for Tick, Paul, and Sofia, but the latest message from Master George changes everything.

The Realities are in danger — and from something more terrible than Mistress Jane and the mutated Chi’karda of the Thirteenth Reality. People from all Realities are unexplainably going insane. Worse, some Realities are fragmenting, disintegrating into nothingness. Master George has learned that Mr. Chu from the Fourth Reality is working on a mysterious new weapon called Dark Infinity. But no one has any idea how to stop the weapon — or even if it can be stopped.

To make matters worse, Tick and his friends have been kidnapped, forced to wink from Reality to Reality, solving impossible riddles in order to survive the deadly traps surrounding them.

Mistress Jane and Tick find themselves in a race to reach the weapon first — but who will destroy it and who will become its master?

I’ll admit, the sequel to the The Journal of Curious Letters didn’t immediately thrill me. The characters were all gathered at Tick house talking, and talking, and while I like them their conversations were kind of boring. So I stopped reading for a while, and then when I picked up the book again the plot started to pick up. The rest of the book had unexpected and enjoyable twists.

I didn’t expect Dashner to continue using riddles after the first book. Mostly because I didn’t know how he would incorporate it without it seeming odd. Yet, I loved the riddles in this book more than the first. They seemed cleverer, and the challenges were certainly more dangerous since the riddles were not sent from Master George, but from Reginald Chu. Mistress Jane was another surprise, and if people complained about her not being complex enough in book one, they find out a whole new side of her in this one. So, while the book had a really slow start for me, by the end I couldn’t put it down to see what would happen.

More than that I think The Hunt for Dark Infinity is a much better book than the first. The plot is more complex, the characters more authentic, and hook leading into the next book in the series is stronger.

Book Review: The 13th Reality by James Dashner

The 13th Reality by James Dashner
Dear Master Atticus,
I am writing to you in hopes that you will have the courage of heart and the strength of mind to help me in a most dreadful time of need. Things are literally splitting apart at the seams, as it were, and I must find those who can assist me in some very serious matters.
Beginning today (the fifteenth of November), I am sending out a sequence of special messages and clues that will lead you to an important, albeit dangerous, destiny if you so choose. No, dangerous may not be a strong enough word. Indubitably and despicably deadly—yes, that’s better.

Atticus (aka Tick) Higginsbottom opens this letter one day that presents him a challenge. If he does not burn the letter he will receive future letters, which will present him with a riddle to solve, a puzzle, which if solved will cause him to save the lives of many people. Tick is excited about the challenge until strange creatures start appearing to frighten him. Tick must make a decision to accept the challenge presented before him or to discover the mystery behind the letter and its sender.
I enjoyed reading this book. I love the name Atticus! I really liked the humor and the characters, and the quirkiness of the story. I love Sofia, the bossy, rich Italian girl. She is hilarious, and reminded me several times of incidents I had while in Italy. Her strong personality is balanced by Sato, a mysterious and embittered Asian boy, who has a dark mystery in his past. I’m excited to find out more about him. This was an all around good read. The only negative is that you have to wait for a sequel. I was slightly worried while reading through that the climax would be just getting to the place the letters guided the children too, and that would have been lame! Rest assured that there are cool action scenes with scary unnamed creatures of death, and a pretty cool climax.
I would recommend this story to all. James Dashner is a great guy, and a good writer. I look forward to what he has in store for us in the future.
Here is his website: http://www.the13threality.com/
Here is his blog: http://jamesdashner.blogspot.com/