Written by Any’ah Caljean
The Maze Runner is a book by James Dashner. Published on October 6th, 2009, it falls under the categories of dystopian, science fiction, and young adult fiction. This book is the first of a trilogy, but there are four other novels, two of which are prequels, one that acts as a sequel to the main trilogy, and one that is from the perspective of a separate character which takes place around the middle of the finale book, The Death Cure. There are also three movies of the main books. You can find them on HBO Max, or Prime Video.
The book begins with the main character, Thomas, waking up in a dark, mesh metal box that is slowly ascending to the top of somewhere unknown to him. He does not remember anything about himself, not even his name. Once the box stops, nothing happens for a few minutes, confusing Thomas, until a crack of light is revealed from the ceiling of the box. It was spreading apart, revealing that there were doors there. When the doors are fully opened, standing above Thomas are dozens of boys who look to be teenagers, staring down at him. One boy jumps down and helps Thomas out of the box. Once he’s out of the box, he looks around, taking in the wide-open area surrounded by skyscraper-tall walls. Those walls are a part of the maze, and Thomas has arrived in the Glade, which is directly in the center of the maze. In the labyrinth, however, are creatures the Gladers call Grievers. They are spider-like monstrosities with robotic legs and a stinger—if you get stung, it changes your mind, causing you to become very hostile and confuse friends for enemies. This stinger also allows the Gladers to remember things from before they were placed in the maze. The Runners—the people who go out into the maze daily—know the most about the maze and try to find an exit, though it’s unlikely as the boys have been stuck in the Glade for over three years.
The secrets of the maze are revealed throughout the book, as well as Thomas’ secrets. He is not who the Gladers think he is. If you want to learn more about the labyrinth and why the boys are there, along with why they cannot remember much about themself, I recommend this book to you. You can find it in the school’s library, on the Sora app on the iPad, or in public libraries.
