The Scorch Trials
| The Scorch Trials | |
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| Author(s) | James Dashner |
| Cover artist | Philip Straub |
| Country | United States |
| Language | American English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult, dystopian future, science fiction |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
| Publication date | October 12, 2010 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 368 |
| ISBN | 978-0-385-73875-0 |
| Preceded by | The Maze Runner |
| Followed by | The Death Cure |
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The Scorch Trials is the second book—preceded by the 2009 novel, The Maze Runner—in a young-adult dystopian science fiction trilogy by James Dashner. The novel was published October 5, 2010 by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House. The trilogy is currently being shopped as a possible film series.[1]
Plot Summary [edit]
The story continues with Thomas and the other gladers, they have escaped the maze and were put into a dormitory where they thought they were safe. The next day though, the gladers are in another dormitory, and people called cranks are moaning and screaming through the windows of the room. The gladers get out of the room, only to find dead bodies hanging on the ceiling. Later they find out that Teresa, a girl in their group has gone missing. Thomas, who has a close relationship with Teresa, tries to find her with his closest friends, Minho and Newt, but have no luck. Instead, they find a boy named Aris in another room, he says that he was in another dormitory, and woke up here. The boys start to suspect something strange is going on when an alarm rings. After it stops, food suddenly appears on a table, and the gladers hungrily eat. After eating, a man in a white suit tells them that they were brought here in the dormitory to perform a test. He says to them that he is representing a group called WICKED, World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department, and that Earth has been ravaged by sun flares, and an extremely deadly disease called the flare. He says that if they work hard and survive on the tests, it could benefit mankind by helping them be able to find a cure for the disease, and that they will each receive a cure for the flare. He tells them that the test is to find open air and travel north for one hundred miles and reach the safe haven in two weeks’ time. The next day the gladers head out into the open through a deep dark tunnel. At the end of the tunnel there is an opening. Outside the opening is a barren, dry, and hot wasteland. The gladers come out of the tunnel, reluctantly. They walk for a couple hours, when it becomes night, it becomes cooler,the screaming girl come out of the shack, Thomas goes to her. When he reaches her, he sees that the girl is Teresa; she kisses him, and tells him that he and the rest of the gladers need to run away from her or else something bad will happen to them. The gladers keep on walking, and get away from Teresa, after her warning. After hours of walking through the heat, they rest. The next day there is a storm, and wind and thunder threaten the gladers. Some of them are killed during the storm, but most of them reach the old town and take shelter, including Thomas, Minho, Newt, and eight others. There they meet a group of people in the town. They work together with the leader of the group, Jorge, and his acquaintance, Brenda. They eat together, but another group of people attack them, and Thomas and Brenda get separated from everyone else. They fight and encounter a few cranks in the town, but eventually find the other gladers and Jorge.
They are together again, but suddenly, a man from one of the groups in the town creeps up to them, and shoots Thomas’s left shoulder with a gun. The gladers defeat the man and escape. Out of the town, a plane called a berg flies down from the air and takes Thomas into the plane. There he is given medical treatment and feels much better. When Thomas and his friends regroup, they are all confused about why the berg rescued Thomas, but they move on. The next day, they meet up with a group of girls and Teresa. Teresa commands Thomas to come with her group or else they will hurt his group with their weapons. He doesn't want his friends to be hurt, so he goes with her. She informs Thomas that she was told to kill him, and she takes him to a special place where he is gassed. He goes unconscious, and when he wakes up, Teresa tells him that she was forced to do this and that it was all an act, but Thomas cannot trust her anymore. They keep on traveling north after that, and finally reach the safe haven. There they meet up with the gladers and the girl group, the two groups have worked together and become allies. The safe haven turns out to be a sign saying safe haven, everyone is depressed. Suddenly, creatures with glowing bulbs on them come out of holes in the ground. There is a creature for everyone, and the gladers and girls of each group fight them with the weapons they have. After most of the creatures are killed, a berg flies down from the air. They rush into the berg and are taken the headquarters of WICKED.
The book has a twist ending in the last few chapters. In the end of Chapter 64, Thomas hears Brenda in his mind telling him that things are going to get a lot worse for him. Then, in the next chapter, Thomas wakes up in a padded white room. He has a short conversation with Teresa, in which he tells her to go away and not talk to him. She responds with, "WICKED is good."
In the epilogue, an email is featured. It basically states that WICKED will soon tell the Gladers whether or not they are immune to the Flare, which determines if they will become Cranks.
References [edit]
- ^ Deahl, Rachel (February 18, 2009). "Page to Screen: Kiddie Spies & a 'Maze Runner'". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on December 19, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
