The Eye of Minds is a 2013 young adult science fiction novel written by American author James Dashner, and the first book in The Mortality Doctrine series.

[2] The book was first published on October 8, 2013 by Delacorte Press and is set in a futuristic world where a young gamer must help stop a rogue hacker named Kaine intent on causing mass destruction.

They meet Ronika, the owner, who tells them that to get to Kaine's base in the Hallowed Ravine, they must get through The Path, which can be accessed through a weak spot in the code within the game Devils of Destruction.

However, creatures programmed by Kaine known as KillSims, which suck the life out of VirtNet players' Auras and leave their real-life bodies brain-dead, attack and destroy Ronika.

Michael and his friends then manage to gain access to The Path through Devils of Destruction, which they find very difficult to beat, after hacking through the age restriction.

[4][page needed] While developing The Eye of Minds, Dashner wanted to avoid creating a world that was too similar to his earlier work, the Maze Runner series.

"[10] The Christian Science Monitor remarked that while they occasionally grew frustrated with "Dashner’s love affair with his own slang", they enjoyed the book greatly and thought that it would have a wide appeal.

[11] The Deseret News cautioned that The Eye of Minds had "relentless violence, blood, injury and mayhem", but that it was also "constant tension for a debatable end reward.