The Maze Runner: Book 2: The Scorch Trials

            The Scorch Trials, by James Dashner, is a book that tells readers what happens after Thomas and the Gladers escape the Maze. Now that they are out, they face a whole new series of challenges. WICKED tells them that they have to cross the Scorch to reach a safe haven in two weeks. But with it, comes difficulty. The world, burned by sun flares, has a climate that has gone out of control and Cranks, people infected by the Flare a disease that makes people insane, are constantly on the hunt for their next meal. Thomas believes that somewhere in his supposedly empty mind rests the secret to defeat WICKED.

            If you ask me, the first book was better. This is still a good book; I just don’t like the ending. It is just too random for it to make any sense. I just don’t like certain things about it. I would specify, but since it is at the end I won’t. The beginning also wasn’t very gripping. The middle is the only part I liked. The entire series is The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, and the prequel The Kill Order.

Skyship Academy: Book 3: Strikeforce

            Skyship Academy: Strikeforce, by Nick James, is the epic conclusion to the series. With the Authority invasion beginning and humankind near extinction, brothers Cassius Stevenson and Jesse Fisher are Earth’s last chance of survival. They have to gather the planet’s corrupt governments to defend them against the merciless attack. However, the Authority still has a few tricks up its sleeves, and they push the brothers to their limits as they discover how closely their fates are linked.

            This is a great book and a great series that anyone who likes action packed sci-fi adventures should read. It is a solid story that has twists and turns throughout. This is one of my favorite books of all time. It did everything that could be done right, right. It has a great plot, great characters, great everything. The entire series is Pearl Wars, Crimson Rising, and Strikeforce.

Skyship Academy: Book 2: Crimson Rising

            Skyship Academy: Crimson Rising, by Nick James, is a book that continues the events of The Pearl Wars in a way that makes the reader not want to stop. After the battle in Seattle, newfound brothers Jesse Fisher and Cassius Stevenson found their world inside out. Skyship Academy is imprisoning Jesse in his home, afraid of his control of Pearls. Cassius ran to Canada to escape the Unified Party, yet they still threaten him. Jesse finds a red Pearl and starts a sequence that reunite him with Cassius and introduce him to Theo, a Pearlhound with a deadly secret. A larger enemy waits in space, and Jesse and Cassius just might set them loose.

            I really like this book, but I have one complaint; sometimes the characters are really stupid. It’s never both of them, but we learn information from one of them that proves the other’s information wrong, but they continue believing it until it’s almost too late. It really bugs me and made me take a break from reading for a while. Other than that, the book is perfect. It is exciting and mysterious. The books in the series are, in order, The Pearl Wars, Crimson Rising, and Strikeforce.

The Maze Runner: Book 1: The Maze Runner

            The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, is a great book. A boy named Thomas wakes up in the lift, remembering little more than his name. When he reaches the top and the doors open, he finds fifty to sixty other boys waiting for him. They explain that every thirty days the lift opens and a new boy comes out and that they are in a large football stadium sized room called the glade in the middle of a gigantic maze. If they solve the maze, they think they can leave, but they’ve been trying for two years and no solution has come up. Worse still, if you get trapped in the maze at night, creatures called Grievers kill you.

            I really like this book because it is action packed and is very mysterious. At the end of every chapter you just want to keep reading and finish the book. It has great characters and puts you in a mindset that you are just as confused as Thomas. It plays out very well and I love it. Other books in the series are The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. There is also a prequel called The Kill Order.

Skyship Academy: Book 1: The Pearl Wars

            Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars, by Nick James, is a great book. On an Earth where most of the planet is scorching hot desert, humanities last chance is the Pearls: small, mysterious spheres that fall from the sky which have the capabilities to power entire cities. The Skyship dwellers–political rebels that live in city-sized ships in the atmosphere–and the corrupt Surface government are fighting for control over them. When Jesse Fisher, a Skyship student, and Cassius Stevenson, a Surface operative, come across each other, they trigger something that could reveal a secret about the pearls.

            I love this book. It starts smoothly and doesn't seem to drag along at any point. It is probably one of my favorite books of all time. I found absolutely nothing bad to say about it. It's just that good. My favorite character is a spoiler, but if you read the book you'll know who I'm talking about. There are two other books in the series, neither of which I've read. They are Crimson Rising and Strikeforce.

The Missing: Book 5: Caught

            The Missing: Caught, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is a book that continues The Missing. Jonah and Katherine were sitting in class thinking that nothing weird could happen again, when time stops.  They have a short chat with JB, about a couple seconds long, before they go flying back in Time. The source of their problem originates in a bad job of returning Albert Einstein's secret daughter, Lieserl. Jonah and Katherine's situation gets worse though, Einstein's wife seems to have noticed them and will do anything to keep her daughter.

             I like this book. It starts taking shape in the first chapter. It starts quickly and keeps going, and I like books like that. The rest of the story is immersive and interesting. It has several parts were I couldn't stop reading and several parts that were like reading a textbook, but it keeps going throughout every chapter. It stops just before the last chapter, and then sets the scene for the next book just as the previous one did for this book. There isn't anything that I dislike about it. The books in this series are Found, Sent, Sabotaged, Torn, Caught, Risked, Revealed (March 2014), and Redeemed (Fall 2015).

The Missing: Book 4: Torn

            The Missing: Torn, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is a great conclusion to Sabotaged. Jonah and Katherine must quickly recover from 1600 Roanoke Island in order to face their new situation. They are in 1611 now and are moments before a mutiny on the Discovery, Henry Hudson's ship in the frozen seas of the James Bay. They struggle to survive as they realize that something is wrong. The history they learned in school is different than what they're in. Jonah and Katherine try to save the future as they uncover the mysterious secrets of 1611 and the Hudson Passage.

            I really enjoyed this book, but it had a slow start. It just did not seem like it would turn into an immersive story, but it did. By the end, it was a great book that wraps up Sabotaged. Katherine is really awkward in this book, but it is fun to read. The books in the series are, in order, Found, Sent, Sabotaged, Torn, and Caught.