Review--The Fever Code by James Dashner

 

Once there was a world’s end.

The forests burned, the lakes and rivers dried up, and the oceans swelled.

Then came a plague, and fever spread across the globe. Families died, violence reigned, and man killed man.

Next came WICKED, who were looking for an answer. And then they found the perfect boy.

The boy’s name was Thomas, and Thomas built a maze.

Now there are secrets.

There are lies.

And there are loyalties history could never have foreseen.

This is the story of that boy, Thomas, and how he built a maze that only he could tear down.

All will be revealed.

 

The Fever Code is James Dashner’s final book in The Maze Runner series and in some ways, it’s the second book of the series, if memory serves! Yup, it’s that convoluted! This is yet another prequel to the smash hit series set is a dystopian world where everyone struggles to survive the harsh environment that earth became.

Granted, my memory of The Maze Runner is pretty slim. I binged that series so many years ago, but luckily, since this book was a prequel of sorts, I thought it shouldn’t be too hard! I just won’t really remember who Thomas should not be talking to! Lol. Though honestly, it did throw me through a loop when the prequel opens with Newt’s point of view before turning over to Thomas for the duration of the book. I thought it an odd choice.

We basically follow Thomas from day 1 in his “stay” with Wicked, back when he went by another name and had to learn his new identity. He was just a child when they started their education program for him. He knows there are other kids in the building as well, but he never gets to interact with them. I felt bad for little Thomas in this. No child should have to grow up alone. But it’s not long before he begins interacting with the other kids, if in secret. Kids we all already know too.

As the years pass, Thomas and his friend/neighbor/co-worker, Teresa are brought up to believe that they are doing good by working with Wicked and trying to find a cure for the maddening disease that plagues their world. It’s at a later point they being to help construction of the maze, two in fact, that will help play a role in saving the world.

Even though I know this book was a prequel, I did find it hard to keep up with this very world and the group known as Wicked. To be honest, I think they’ve confused me since day one! Lol. I think it’s more about not fully understanding Wicked and their motives that made this harder for me to get through. But I was still able to keep following along well, but yeah, looking back, I’m still wondering just what their deal was. It’s probably something that could be solved with a series re-read, but I really don’t have that kind of time! Lol.

Looking at this as reading this series for the first time, I found the book to be very enjoyable. If I wasn’t so focused on trying to remember the series and what would come into play, I might have enjoyed it more. But in some sense it was sad seeing the characters that I knew would not make it to the end. It was also a trip seeing Thomas and Teresa, and some of the other guys before they entered the maze too!

Dashner builds up the tension and mystery that is Wicked to an extraordinary amount. Though I held myself back with my trying to remember things, I still ate up these pages eager to see how things would turn out the way they did at the start of The Maze Runner, and yes, that is precisely where this book ends.

If you’re a fan of The Maze Runner series (and haven’t read this one yet, shame on me, I know, I know!) this is definitely one you will want to add to the collection because it does wonders for the timeline procession! And if it’s been a few years since you read the books or watched the movies too, this would be a fun way to look back on how things got started.

 

 

Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars