Isak Czervenatis
Edge columnist
The Maze Runner is a popular dystopian novel, according to multiple sources, written by James Dashner, the first book in his third series he wrote. This book takes place in a glade surrounded by a huge maze. Everyone who lives in the Glade is a teenage male sent up through a metal box raised once a month through a hole in the ground. The people that live in the Glade have had their memories largely wiped before coming up the box, with them only remembering their first names. Having been in the Glade for two years the residents of the Glade have set up wooden shacks for living in, and has a system set up for living as a group. They have set up jobs for anyone who doesn’t have one to make sure that their society keeps on running.
The main protagonist of the story is Thomas, who has just as little memory as any other person in the Glade. Being the newest member of the Glade, he is shown around and is introduced to some of the jobs around. One job specifically called out to him: Runners. Even before he knows what they do he wants to be one. But being a Runner is reserved for people who pass training to be one, so he has no luck there. Especially because of the horrifying creatures in the . He only knows one thing: they need to escape the Maze.
Everyone in the Glade has been working on ways to escape the Maze, from exploring it, trying to climb it, and even trying to go back down the hole they came… all to no avail. But they still create a new life in the new world they’ve been dropped into, with farms and makeshift houses for people to live in, and a set of rules to make sure that the system they have going doesn’t collapse, especially under dead weights. But they never give up on attempting escape, always trying new ideas when they come and exploring the Maze time and time again to try and find something they overlooked in the past.
This book goes over how people react when being put into new situations, how to deal with people giving up and trying to get others to do the same, and how people will try to do anything for what they consider the greater good, even if others deem it wrong.
Review
The Maze Runner is an excellent example of a dystopian novel, having a good story, cast of characters, and meaning behind the story. From start to finish this book kept a good pace, having several interesting events happening across the story instead of just one large event.
Anyone who enjoys dystopian novels should definitely read this book, as well as the rest of the series. It is incredibly well written and provides a good story and suspense all the way through. Every character in this book feels different and personally unique, such as Thomas, who is curious about this new world they’ve been dropped into. Chuck, who becomes friends almost as soon as they meet. Lastly, Gally, who lives by the rules and is incredibly strict to keep order. Seeing all of these personalized characters going through their well-written adventure is well worth reading through the entire book and reading the rest of the five-part series.
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