The Maze Runner

Delacorte Press

The Maze Runner
James Dashner
2009

The Summary
Thomas has no memory of who he is or where he was before he reached the Glade.  He knows only his name, Thomas, and he knows he was meant to be a Runner in the maze that surrounds them, protects them, and, ultimately, traps them.

But, shortly after Thomas arrives, someone else is delivered to the Glade:  a girl, the first girl ever to arrive to the maze, and she has a message to deliver.  The world as they know it will change.  Forever.

The Good
The Maze Runner is a quick, suspenseful read.  It poses enough questions, throws out enough action and leaves enough bread crumbs, to keep you interested as you search for answers along with Thomas.  Furthermore, James Dashner certainly creates an intriguing concept:  a maze, a group of intelligent and self-sufficient adolescents seeking freedom from the Glade, and a number of sinister creatures known as Grievers.

The Maze Runner falls into the vein of The Hunger Games, pitting young individuals against seemingly insurmountable odds; however, it also calls upon William Goulding's Lord of the Flies.  It's an interesting blend of survival-horror and science-fiction and dystopian-apocalyptic, so it's something that might be worth perusing at least once.

The Bad
I wanted to enjoy The Maze Runner.  I really did try, but I just couldn't seem to sink my teeth into Dashner's novel like I originally hoped.  I mean, I enjoyed it - well, parts of it - but it just couldn't seem to hold my attention for very long.

Moreover, I found too many unanswered questions (yes, I realize there are still three more books in the series, including a prequel, so maybe I'm jumping the gun with such a complaint) and too much bloodshed for so many mysteries to linger.

And the conclusion just felt so peculiarly familiar to me.  I feel like I've read something similar.  Oh, wait, I have:  Lord of the Flies.

I'm not saying The Maze Runner is identical, but I thought it strange how Chuck was like a mirror image of Piggy (and, yes, they do share similar fates), how Chuck's relationship with Thomas seemed to parallel that of Piggy and Ralph.  To be honest, I found it a little eerie - and, confidentially, disappointing.  After a while, it started to feel like a remake of Lord of the Flies set in a post-apocalyptic future.

The Ugly
The conclusion.

Don't even talk to me about the concluding passages of The Maze Runner.  I can handle cliffhangers, I can handle tragedy, and I can handle disappointing conclusions, because I've had extensive experience with all three; however, I cannot seem to overcome my disappointment for how The Maze Runner ended.

For some reason, it just seemed to rub me the wrong way and I was disappointed in the worst way.  I'm talking the kind of disappointment you find when you finish the series finale of Dexter, or season 4 of The Glades on Netflix (and realize there's no season 5).

Let's just say, I was not a happy camper.