The Eye of Minds (2013) is the first novel in James Dashner’s Mortality Doctrine trilogy. The young adult science fiction series continues with The Rule of Thoughts (2014) and The Game of Lives (2015). Dashner also wrote a 2014 companion short story called “Gunner Skale.” The series focuses on the increasing stakes of operating in the VirtNet, a virtual world, for protagonist Michael and his closest friends, Sarah and Bryson. In The Eye of Minds, the three teenagers move from their role as gamers who see the VirtNet primarily as a playground to fighters against corruption, as antagonist Kaine seeks to use virtual weapons to take over the real world. 

The teenagers operate both in the real world, called the “Wake,” and the VirtNet, called the “Sleep,” to prevent Kaine from achieving his goal of entirely replacing humanity with artificial intelligence, also known as “Tangents.” Michael’s role in this quest becomes increasingly complicated after he learns, at the end of The Eye of Minds, that he is a Tangent himself and has been allowed to believe himself a real human only because Kaine wished to use him to further his malevolent goals.

The series highlights the power of young people to effect change, particularly when faced with corrupt adults; these antagonistic forces, in the series, are both virtual and “real,” though Michael’s experiences increasingly challenge the difference between what counts as reality or not in hyper-realistic virtual settings. The series also dabbles with the risk inherent in technological landscapes and the complications surrounding personhood in a world of AI entities. The Eye of Minds was optioned for its film rights, but has not been produced as of 2025.