The Maze Runner
(Maze Runner Series 1)
By James Dashner
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Maze Runner series is one that was very popular a while ago. I remember the first film coming out, and completely ignoring it because I had yet to read the books. Admittedly, it had taken me quite a long time to actually get around to reading this series, but after finishing book 1, I am most excited to get started with book 2.
Thomas wakes up knowing his name and nothing else. He quickly finds himself in the midst of a large group of boys, all teenagers, and too many questions that no one will answer for him. Eventually, he learns that they all arrived the same way, that the Glade is their home, and it is in the centre of a giant maze with no exit.
The whole concept of the novel is an interesting one. The belief that, somehow, someday, they will find the way out is enough to keep them all going, and Thomas finds himself thrown into the midst of this world. Especially so when all order is broken by the arrival of a girl, the day after he arrived, when there have been no girls before, and the boys always arrived once a month. Suspicion is thrown around, and there are those who do not trust Thomas. But, there are bigger issues. In the maze, there are things they call Grievers, things that will kill you, or sting you and cause you to go through the Changing, wherein most people remember at least something from their life before the Maze, and it is not always good, and always incredibly painful. So they try to unite against the treat of being trapped forever.
Out of all the characters, I particularly liked Newt. He takes on a sort of leader role in the group, and is a very fair person. Order is a particularly important aspect of the group – without it, there would be chaos – and Newt is someone who works hard to maintain security. He is the kind of person who won’t ask someone else to do something he isn’t willing to do himself, and is supportive of Thomas, if not at least a little quizzical, although you can’t really blame him. Things have been the same for two years, and then Thomas showed up and everything started to change.
Overall, this is a great book, with some very clever solutions to things. There is an epilogue that completely throws off the entire ending of the book, though, so I will have to hurry up and read book 2 as well.
I brought my copy in Waterstones
