Book Review - The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, book #1) by James Dashner

Title: The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: October 6, 2009

Format: Kindle

Genre: Dystopian, YA

Other Books in the series:

The Scorch Trials (book #2),
The Death Cure* (book #3) in 2011

*According to Goodreads at the date of this post

Goodreads Summary:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is black. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as they could remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.The Gladers were expecting Thomas’s arrival. But the next day, a girl arrives in the lift—the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might be able to find their way home . . . wherever that may be. But it’s looking more and more as if the maze is unsolvable.

And something about the girl’s arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he just might have some answers—if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind.

Review:

He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.

Thomas wakes up in a box that is slowly rising, taking him... somewhere. He doesn't know how he got there, where it's going, or even who he is. The only thing he knows is that his name is Thomas. Once the Box's ascent stops, he's pulled up and out into a strange new world that consists entirely of the Glade and the Maze. The Glade is an open green space where the Gladers live. The Gladers, a group of boys, pre-teens to teenagers, have no memories prior to their arrival in the Glade. Each month, like clockwork, a single boy (a Greenie) arrives through the Box. Supplies and food are also sent on a regular basis to the Gladers. They don't know who wiped the memories, who send them there, who supplies them, or what their purpose is. They do know is that little robot beetles, engraved with the word WICKED spy on them, the doors to the Maze shut every night, and while the Maze's walls shift at night its corridors are roamed by the monstrous Grievers.

In order to survive, and cope, the boys arrange themselves by work details, the work keeps them fed, sheltered, and too busy to drive themselves crazy with questions. One of the jobs, the hardest and most dangerous is that of a Runner. The Gladers are convinced that the Maze can be solved, so they send Runners out every morning when the doors open to observe and map the Maze - always searching for the solution to the riddle, and hopefully a way out.

Their world operates on schedule that hasn't failed them for three years. Until the day after Thomas's arrival, when another person is delivered. For the first time ever, two Greenies arrive two days in a row, and this time it's a girl. The gladers find a note clutched in her hand:

She's the last one.

Ever.

So, wow. Just wow. THIS BOOK WAS FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! Sorry, my excitement kinda got away from me there. Whew!

This is one of the few books that I'll say really grabs you by the throat at page one and DOES NOT LET GO, not even at the end. I was exhausted! The Maze Runner is a great psychological-dystopian-action-adventure book. I really liked how Dashner shows you the world of the Maze through Thomas's eyes. You feel that, just like Thomas, you have to rush to catch up in order figure out what's going on, all the while under this enormous stress and pressure of not knowing anything, dealing with confusing changes, and facing the horrors of the Maze. I also liked how Dashner made Thomas acknowledge his fear (fear pretty much being his constant companion) but still strive to get free of the Maze.

As a reader, there were moments when I was working over time to figure out what was going on, but since it was exactly what Thomas's character was going through, it didn't bother me. And while there are some small payoffs, not all questions are answered, but I didn't feel disappointed. I have a feeling that things will be explained over the next two books, so I'm enjoying the ride.

This is a fast paced, emotional and brutal story. The Maze Runner never slows down. Dashner's visceral writing makes readers feel the time crunch, the stress, and the adrenaline just as much as the characters. Events unfold quickly (but not so fast as the reader gets lost) and I found it impossible to put down.

I've included an excerpt from the first page and a half of The Maze Runner. I think it's a great example of Dashner's writing and how the story sucks you in immediately.

He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.

Metal ground against metal; a lurching shudder shook the floor beneath him. He fell down at the sudden movement and shuffled backward on his hands and feet, drops of sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool air. His back struck a hard metal wall; he slid along it until he hit the corner of the room. Sinking to the floor, he pulled his legs up tight against his body, hoping his eyes would soon adjust to the darkness.

With another jolt, the room jerked upward like an old lift in a mine shaft.

Harsh sounds of chains and pulleys, like the workings of an ancient steel factory, echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls with a hollow, tinny whine. The lightless elevator swayed back and forth as it ascended, turning the boy’s stomach sour with nausea; a smell like burnt oil invaded his senses, making him feel worse. He wanted to cry, but no tears came; he could only sit there, alone, waiting.

My name is Thomas, he thought.

That . . . that was the only thing he could remember about his life.

He didn’t understand how this could be possible. His mind functioned without flaw, trying to calculate his surroundings and predicament. Knowledge flooded his thoughts, facts and images, memories and details of the world and how it works. He pictured snow on trees, running down a leaf-strewn road, eating a hamburger, the moon casting a pale glow on a grassy meadow, swimming in a lake, a busy city square with hundreds of people bustling about their business.

And yet he didn’t know where he came from, or how he’d gotten inside the dark lift, or who his parents were. He didn’t even know his last name. Images of people flashed across his mind, but there was no recognition, their faces replaced with haunted smears of color. He couldn’t think of one person he knew, or recall a single conversation.

Random House has posted an excerpt from The Maze Runner here.

Verdict:

Run out right now and get this book. The bookstore, the library, whatever! You need to read this book. Even if the dystopian genre is not normally something you read, the emotions and the pacing of the story are fantastic! Dashner took some serious world building, a variety of characters, some potentially confusing plot points, and compressed it into a roller coaster ride of a book! I will say again that this is a brutal story, and I was so angry that these kids were put through this, but again, it was all part of Dashner bringing you into the Maze.

6 stars, people, go get it!

Related Links & Reviews:

The Book Smugglers review (Heh, we both used the same quote.)

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer review

Tales Of The Ravenous Reader review

Click here for the series website.