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By Tylar Sampson
“The Maze Runner” by James Dashner is a young adult fiction novel that takes place in a dystopian world often compared to “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins.
The novel’s main character, Thomas, wakes up in a strange new place, called the Glade, to find his memory has been wiped. He is one of about sixty boys, called Gladers, all of whom also suffered memory loss upon arrival. The Glade is a small village containing all the essentials the boys need to survive. Surrounding them is a maze of astronomical proportions that appears to be the only possible exit. Sixty boys and one maze seems easy, right? Until Thomas finds out the walls shift each night and after 2 years the Gladers have had no luck finding the way out.
The boys seem to have a simple and orderly life built until Thomas arrives and things quickly begin to fall apart, putting everyone at risk. Thomas, with the help of the other Gladers and a mysterious new arrival, must find a way to escape the maze and find the people that put them there.
The story contains action, thrill, mystery, and suspense with a pace that keeps the reader hooked and intrigued from the beginning.
“The Maze Runner” is written in a way that resembles watching a movie as it is heavily plot driven and told in the 3rd person. Some readers may claim that the characters have no personality or development throughout the story. Because it is told in the third person I would have to slightly agree, the author doesn’t give the readers enough insight into many of the characters’ personalities.
On the contrary, I believe that the relationships of the characters are where most of the development takes place. When Thomas first arrives at the Glade, a lot of the boys are skeptical and untrusting, but as the plot progresses, Thomas builds connections with the Gladers and even builds a sense of camaraderie with them.
Another aspect of the novel I enjoyed is Dashner’s attention to detail. Dashner uses descriptive language to set the scene of the setting and of the characters. This is why the book is a lot like watching a movie; the reader is able to get a clear picture of what is going on and gain an understanding of the situation that very much makes you feel like you’re right there with Thomas in the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone in middle or high school that enjoys dystopia and mystery. However, for those who enjoy more complex characters or have aphantasia (inability to visualize; image-free thinking) I would recommend watching the film adaptation that came out in 2014.
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