The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy (Hardback)) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–10—Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies from below. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in "the glade" for two years, trying to find a way to escape through a maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who plague the boys. Thomas is a likable protagonist who uses the information available to him and his relationships (including his ties to the girl, Teresa) to lead the Gladers. Unfortunately, the question of whether the teens will escape the maze is answered 30 pages before the book ends, and the intervening chapter loses momentum. The epilogue, which would be deliciously creepy coming immediately after the plot resolves, fails to pack a punch as a result. That said, The Maze Runner has a great hook, and fans of dystopian literature, particularly older fans of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember (Random, 2003), will likely enjoy this title and ask for the inevitable sequel.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH END

Product Description

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. 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, open expanse surrounded 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 the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385737947
• ISBN-13: 978-0385737944
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (152 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,161 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Boys & Men > Fiction
  #5 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Fiction > Visionary Fiction
  #14 in	Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Situations > Friendship > Fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An honest review of Maze Runner, July 23, 2009

By	Graham Bradley - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Detailed, well-developed, and hardly a dull moment. The level of description and thought in the pages of Maze Runner is truly up to par. I could see, smell and hear this world on paper as it unfolded. I think my only complaint was that the phrase "Thomas felt as if" appeared a little too often, but the emotion was palpable and, more to the point, equal to the level of the challenges the characters faced.

To classify the book, Maze Runner is a sci-fi dystopia. In this increasingly popular genre (Hunger Games, Forest of Hands and Teeth, Uglies, etc) Dashner stakes his claim to a fair-sized piece of land and blazes a new trail in an unexpected direction.

Simply put, it's about a group of boys that have their minds wiped and get stuck inside a labyrinthine maze that's impossible to solve. There's only one safe spot--an acre in the center--that closes off every night. Every day when the boys wake up, the walls have changed and the maze is different. For years they've tried to think their way out of it and have made little to no progress.

Then one day the game changes entirely when the schedule gets interrupted, and Thomas arrives in the Glade. Some of the boys who've regained a few of their memories know him from somewhere and don't trust him. Tensions rise when one of the boys even tries to kill him.

To complicate matters further, the very next day a girl arrives in the Glade--the first and only one. As it becomes clear that the people trapping these children in the Maze are under more pressure to get them to solve it, things get more and more difficult with each passing day.

Dashner doesn't waste time making things happen in this story. The hooks and cliffhangers are carefully placed, and he's not afraid to beat up on these kids. The most barn-burning part of this book happened for me about a hundred pages in, when Thomas gets trapped outside the Maze at night---a major no-no, because there are savage monsters that roam the Maze and won't hesitate to tear you apart.

Like Dashner's 13th Reality, Maze Runner is a story about problem-solving, but more directly it's about optimism in the face of adversity--something more teens should be reading about. So this novel serves its purpose as it educates and entertains.

The ending is very well set up for the next book in the trilogy, tentatively called "The Scorch Trials".

The only things I could complain about in this book was the oft-used descriptive term that I mentioned before. Plus, the beginning moves just a LITTLE too slow, and the ending was very abrupt. It still worked, and that's probably just my taste, how I personally received this book. Also with the descriptions of the Grievers (the monsters in the Maze), they were much more audible than visual--I could "hear" them in my head but sort of had a tough time imagining what they looked like. Imagine a hippo with no face and no legs, with robotic arms that can pierce through its blubbery skin, powered by a high-torque diesel motor (insert masculine grunting here). The sound effects mostly made up for the visual, but that's my honest observation.

I'm still hooked and it makes me hungry for more. This is the kind of book that will fill the gap left by Collins when you finish "Catching Fire" in September. Bring on the next one, Jimbo!

34 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Read Though Not Very Thought Provoking, August 26, 2009

By	Jarucia Jaycox Nirula (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

(What's this?)

I first heard about this book at an SCWBWI conference where its editor from Delacorte spoke highly of how it grabbed her attention right away.

I have to agree. The one thing that Dashner does right from start to finish is barely provide enough information to answer the questions that form in the reader's mind BUT what information he gives does promote one to keep reading.

Curiosity drove me to read this book straight through...that and the fact that the writing wasn't all that challenging.

I'm not trying to bag on Dashner, but I was a little surprised at the many passed-on opportunities he had to draw me further into the story or even care more about the characters' fates .

I felt consistently disappointed with what I was offered of Thomas's character -- far too sulky and desirous of screaming at people who can hardly offer him the answers, etc. he's so desperate for. And Teresa, for as important as she's made out to be, is so flat. I think it was well within the author's scope to improve the depth of these characters considering the decent job he did on secondary characters like Chuck and Minho.

By the time I reached the end, I all but rolled my eyes. I felt roughly the same as I did when I finished watching 'The Cube'...interesting story, but what was the point of putting the characters through all that? Especially when the characters themselves hardly spend any real time trying to understand their situation. And this latter part actually seems quite critical to the purpose of the situation they're in.

Okay, I know this is meant to be YA but it certainly had room to grow in the 'thought provoking' department. It's a decent and entertaining story, but will it become the topic of critical academic discussion? Not likely.

It's far too light in depth and development as it stands. Perhaps the eventual trilogy as a whole will provide something 'more'.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, weak characters, November 17, 2009

By	Laurel (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

(What's this?)

A hundred or so teenage boys, their memories wiped, are trapped in the center of a gigantic shifting maze, many miles across. As the book begins, Thomas arrives in the "Glade" -- the center of the maze, where they all live. The next day the first girl ever shows up too. And everything begins to change.

While living in the center of a giant ever-changing maze full of monsters is an extremely odd way to live, the boys have made do. After two years, they have a ruling council, they grow food, raise animals, and look after any sick or injured. They also send out trained runners to map the maze every day, in search of an exit, or a pattern, or some clue as to what they're doing here.

With the arrival of Thomas and the girl, the Gladers' carefully-crafted order begins to break down. Now solving and escaping the maze is immediately necessary. Fortunately, Thomas isn't quite like all the other Gladers, and is able to help.

The premise is great, and the plot moves well. There's a lot of action and the tension constantly builds. Unfortunately, the story failed in two important aspects for me.

First, the the maze itself is so absurd, the final explanation had better be pretty impressive for the story to hang together. And at least for me, the explanation was not plausible. Though, at least there *is* an explanation, which is more than can be said for some stories I've encountered!

The second weakness was the characters. I'd be okay with a somewhat implausible scenario if the characters were likable enough. But, Thomas is bland and whiny, and his only moments of greatness arise from his forgotten past. The other boys are mostly hostile and uninteresting. Not, mind you, that I expect deep, sophisticated personalities from amnesiac teenage boys! They were all believable, but they weren't compelling enough to carry the story. Neither was the new girl very interesting. Thomas is attracted to her, but again, that's an artifact of his past, not a real live reaction that we get to watch develop.

Overall, it was a fun read, and I don't regret the time spent, but I won't look for the sequels.