The Maze Runner

Maze Runner, Book 1

By: James Dashner

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Book one in the blockbuster Maze Runner series that spawned a movie franchise and ushered in a worldwide phenomenon! And don’t miss The Fever Code, the highly-anticipated series conclusion that finally reveals the story of how the maze was built! When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers - boys whose memories are also gone.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround them is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out - and no one’s ever made it through alive. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying: Remember. Survive. Run.

The Maze Runner and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure all are now major motion pictures featuring the star of MTV's Teen Wolf, Dylan O’Brien; Kaya Scodelario; Aml Ameen; Will Poulter; and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

Also look for James Dashner’s edge-of-your-seat Mortality Doctrine series!

Praise for the Maze Runner series:

A number one New York Times best-selling series

A USA Today best seller

A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year

An ALA-YASLA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book An ALA-YALSA Quick Pick

“[A] mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of the Flies, The Hunger Games, and Lost.” (EW)

“Wonderful action writing - fast-paced…but smart and well observed.” (Newsday)

“[A] nail-biting must-read.” (Seventeen)

“Breathless, cinematic action.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Heart pounding to the very last moment.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Exclamation-worthy.” (Romantic Times)

“James Dashner’s illuminating prequel [The Kill Order] will thrill fans of this Maze Runner [series] and prove just as exciting for readers new to the series.” (Shelf Awareness, starred)

“Take a deep breath before you start any James Dashner book.” (Deseret News)

©2009 James Dashner (P)2009 Listening Library

I really wanted to like it more but

the young-adult-ness of the writing is pretty painfully obvious and really served to distract me from the narrative. It seems the intended audience is more 11-13 rather than teens, per se.(and yeah, I'm 36 but have loved YA in the past, see below) At first I thought it was just the narrator's fault for sounding so didactic, but I eventually came around to the fact that it's also the prose. "there were so many secrets. they all had secrets. I wanted to ask all the secrets, to know their answers, but no one was talking" this is (bad paraphrase, but I heard this sentiment repeated 15 times in the first part of the book. I really wanted this to take me where "Hunger Games" did. and it really didn't.

As usual, the book is better than the movie

Any additional comments?

The Maze Runner is an interesting and entertaining post-apocalyptic trilogy about a group of kids (or test subjects) put through all sorts of tests and trials by WICKED, supposedly all in an effort to find a cure for a weaponized virus that has nearly wiped out humanity. And yadda yadda yadda...

Having read the entire trilogy, the first book was my favorite. As always, the book is much more detailed and interesting than the movie, although I thought the movie was good too. I don't normally listen to teenage fiction stories, but I was in the mood for a post-apocalyptic thriller so I bit. And Mark Deakins is a great narrator.

The narration was great. The writing is interesting. The kids in the book develop their own language and mannerisms to a large extent, which can take the listener a little bit to understand what is going on. The story is interesting enough to keep the pages turning, and confusing enough to keep an answer seeking reader in an endless search.

I just want to say one thing though about the series and how the story is presented. First it really seems like the author James Dashner starts writing with good ideas in his head but never takes the time to plan out an outline for the story - beginning to end. I think he just starts typing the dialogue in and hopes it leads the story somewhere meaningful. The author does this much more frequently in the next two books. But as for this one, I'd try the movie first to see if it's a series worth reading.

Had me hooked until the end.

There was so much mystery in this book. I literally didn't put it down for 2 days. The best thing that I can suggest to you is to read this book with an open mind and to not even base it off of the movie.

To start off, some of the book had me captivated just because I wanted to see what happened next each time. There was absolutely no back story to the characters because the characters had none to give. The memories were gone and they didn't know anything about themselves; so as you read the book, you are learning who they are with the characters. Never read a story that was written in this style but found it captivating, as if I was in the "Glade" with them.

The ending was absolutely awful because of tying the loose ends together it just started to fray. No questions were answered but 100 more arise just by the last 3 chapters.

So many people gave this book an absolutely awful review on Goodreads which almost made me not want to read the book but I am glad I didn't listen to them. They were far to harsh about the book and style of writing. The best way to describe this book was an Intentional Modern Lord of the Flies.

Kinda disappointed

I love Sci Fi but this one just couldn't keep my attention. I really had high hopes for the whole series. I think it will make a better movie.

Drove me a little crazy, but I want to read more

This was a good book. I enjoyed the characters, the plot was interesting, and the approach novel.

The end drove me a little crazy, but I want to read more.

great listen

mark did a great job, I could see the story in my head. I like the book more than the movie

Such great potential, trilogy falls flat

If you could sum up The Maze Runner in three words, what would they be?

This book is awesome. The story is kinda hunger games / enders game-ish, but the content is very creative and unique. I must stress that THIS book is awesome. Scorch Trials is alright, way less imagination, but the character arcs are pretty intense (for the primary characters anyway). The Death Cure is a hodgepodge of tangents and feeble attempts at twists that ends extremely flat. So, if you read this book, you might as well read the others, just don't expect to have the thrill ride span all three novels.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Newt, because honestly, his character is far more rounded than Thomas and frankly has a way more interesting arch throughout the trilogy.

Pretty Good!

At times this book gets long and annoying but it has very good parts that are in the book. Went pretty fast.

Great YA action/suspense story.

Good light YA action/suspense novel in a a sci-fi setting. If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, Insurgent, His Dark Materials, etc. then you should enjoy The Maze Runner and its sequels.

Wonderful!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Maze Runner to be better than the print version?

Though it took me a few chapters to get into this book, once it hit about the middle I could not put it down. Great suspense and wonderful characters! Great dystopian!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Maze Runner?

Finding out Thomas was a telepath.

What does Mark Deakins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Interesting accents. I loved Newts.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed in a few parts. I rarely cry in books.