The Maze Runner (Book 1)

Holy Moses, Batman! I didn't see this one coming! The Maze Runner, by James Dashner has been talked about and recommended, but for some reason I didn't pick it up until now. maybe it was the mediocre cover? I don't know why it took me so long to pick this one up, but now I am kicking myself, that's for sure! This was butt kicking story full of exciting characters, a crazy prison-like world, and enemies of all kinds. The Glade is far from perfect, but the Gladers, young boys who all found themselves transported to the Glade in an elevator with no memories of who they were and how they got there, make do with what they have. Every boy works, either taking care of the animals, slaughtering, cooking, basic maintenance, building, or as runners. The Runners are the best of the best- a group of boys who leave the safety of the Glade's walls every day to explore the Maze outside for a way to escape. When Thomas wakes up in the elevator, he is the beginning of many weird things that bring life in the Glade to a new level of terror. Every night the walls to the Glade close to protect the boys from the horrors of the Maze, the Grievers in particular. Grievers are giant monsters that are part creature, part machine. They look like giant blobs with mechanical arms wielding saws, needles, claws, and other mechanical terrors. When Alby, the leader, and Minho, Keeper of the Runners, get stuck in the Maze just as the doors are closing, Thomas runs to help them and they all get stuck in the Maze. No boy has ever survived a night in the Maze with the Grievers. But Thomas' quick thinking and bravery keep both an injured Alby safe and allow him and Minho to kill Grievers- something the boys never thought was possible. When a girl, the first girl ever, comes up the elevator barely alive, the Gladers begin to suspect things are changing. When the sun disappears and the walls don't close, they know they must find an exit immediately or they Grievers will kill them one by one. But what lies outside the Glade and the Maze is something none of the boys could have expected. This is a GREAT book for anyone who loved the Hunger Games series and is waiting (impatiently) for Mockingjay to hit the stores. The books are very, very different dystopias, but they have the sense of excitement and fervor you can't help yourself from being sucked into. This book is so dangerous and exciting, it would be a great way to suck a student into reading. I would suggest the book for high-skilled middle schoolers to high school students. The world of the Glade is intricate, but not confusing. This is also a wonderful book for male and female readers alike. Even if you aren't into the recent dystopia boom that has rocked the YA genre, you should give this book a chance. It is just as good as Hunger Games, but it contains a world that stands on its own with a vengeance. The Gladers, while still trying to maintain order and live their lives, NEVER give up on the hope that they can escape the Maze. This hope is the backbone of this story and will keep you wanting more. The ending is a little abrupt and opens up so many more questions than it answers, but the sequel, The Scorch Trials, is due out in October, and I am willing to bet it will be just as powerful as the first book. So if you need some adventure and an all-consuming read, pick up The Maze Runner. You won't be sorry!

I want to start off by saying that I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the story; it reminded me a little of a cross between Hunger Games and The Long Walk (by Stephen King) with a completely different sci-fi twist. What is great about the concept and how it was delivered is that it is highly intriguing and makes you want to just keep reading and try to unravel on your own what is going on before the characters do. I can best explain my feelings while reading it as I was reading a sci-fi story that I was also making into a detective story in my mind. And it definitely left me hanging enough to want to continue reading the series so all the pieces of the puzzle can come together so I can get the big picture of what is going on. I also was able to get a good idea of the settings (Maze, Glade) from the description that was given, which is important to me because I like to get good mental images while reading. Maybe I enjoyed the story so much because I have always been a big fan of sci-fi and if you aren’t into sci-fi you may not enjoy it as much. But I can honestly say it was a fun read for me. Now for the bad. I feel like this book was rather simply written. It felt like Dashner’s choice of language could be novice at times and his description of peoples’ moods and the way he expressed their emotions was pretty basic (E.g. “He said in an excited manner” “He said absently”) and the made up slang used by the Gladers really did get on my nerves at times. Also, there was very little character development. By the end of the book I didn’t feel like I really knew and of the characters. I even had a hard time being sympathetic towards them at times when they were going through something tragic because I wasn’t emotionally attached to them at all. I also feel like the timing in the book was off. Gladers had been in maze for years working on it and someone new shows up and a few days later everything is solved. I get that Thomas had some connection but I also feel like the revelation was too fast and slightly anti-climactic. As far as the Grievers, I know a lot of people were unhappy with them but I am intrigued. I am holding out hope that they will be in the other books and that they will be explained more and actually have an interesting back-story. Overall, I did enjoy the book. It is good for a quick read and not too intense in terms of making you overthink things or have to re-read passages. The story is interesting and moves quickly and the mystery behind everything makes you want to keep reading. I wish you could give half stars because I would give this book a 3.5. If I were judging on story concept alone I may give it a four but the problem I keep coming back to is the characters. I am the type of reader who loves to be pulled into the characters’ lives. I want to feel their emotions and I want to miss them when they are gone. For that reason I decided to go with three stars. I am holding out hope that the next two books improve in that aspect and the storyline continues to be good.

Ok, let's get the inevitable Hunger Games comparison out of the way first and foremost. I hold my hands up and admit that I was drawn to this book by the blurb on the cover which tells us that this trilogy is "A must for fans of The Hunger Games". Being a fan of the aforementioned, and in need of some new literary material to dig into, I must admit that I devoured all three books in this trilogy with much enjoyment. With that said though, whilst granted this is another young adult dystopian fantasy novel; The Hunger Games resurrected this is not. And I'm thankful for it too, because this trilogy really does stand up on its own merit as a thoroughly good read. The Maze Runner is the story of Thomas, a young protagonist who wakes up unexpectedly to find himself at the centre of a large glade encompassed by a gigantic and seemingly unsolvable maze. Keeping Thomas company are a group of young boys who call themselves "Gladers", and are determined no matter what to make the most of whatever their strange and peculiar world throws at them, with the hope of one day escaping the maze for good. Thomas soon discovers that he has entered a very strange and sinister world. Just like his fellow Gladers, Thomas has no recollection of his past, and only knows his name. Aside from their sketchy memories and limited knowledge of a distant life, the Gladers have no idea where they have come from, why they are there, or what the purpose of their peril is. The maze is filled with terrifying mechanical-animal hybrid creatures that would do any Doctor Who episode proud, and to make matters worse, the maze never seems to be the same from one day to the next. Will they ever escape? With the arrival of their catalyst, everything in the Glade begins to change. Nasty twists start happening thick and fast, and dark secrets start to emerge that cast doubts over who the Gladers really are, and whether their captors really are the bad guys. From the first page to the very last, the reader is just as in the dark as the characters, and this is something you will either relish or absolutely hate. Every time you think you know where you are, everything seems to change, again. And for me, this is what makes this book such a great page turner. The chapters are short and plentiful, and every single one finishes on some kind of twist or cliffhanger. Nothing is sugar coated, and there is plenty of blood and gore to be had. But what makes this book so great for me is the prevalence of positive human nature. Hope, love and trust are three big themes in this story, and with everything so upturned, it really is hard to know in whom the reader should invest their trust. At first Thomas seems like the hero of the hour, but as the plot unfolds, the reader will begin to question his suspected murky and mysterious past. Who's telling the truth, and what the hell is this dystopian world really about? Can Thomas really save the day, and do we even want him to? Honestly, this really is a great book. So many twists and turns, it's like a literary rollercoaster that hurls you head first into an environment that you really feel you are a part of. At every twist I found myself analysing the evidence and trying to solve the puzzle. This is so much more than just solving the maze... this is trying to figure out how and why the hell this world was ever created or allowed to exist? Of course, there are flaws. The slang jargon that the boys use can be a bit off-putting at first, and the lack of background story for the reader can be a tad frustrating. I have seen other reviewers who claim that this is a major restriction to character development, but I do have to disagree for the most part. This is actually the weakest of the three books in the trilogy for me (they just get better and better...), and if you are willing to see it through to the end, you really will believe you have actually become a part of this sinister world. I really ended up routing for certain characters (I won't tell you which ones...) and by the end of the third book (The Death Cure) I was absolutely hooked. I just hope that the plans to turn this into a Hollywood franchise finally come to fruition, because I really cannot wait to see The Maze Runner: The Movie. Definitely recommended.

カナダからの配送でしたが、手元に届くのが非常に早くてびっくりでした。

The book thrills you since the beginning showing interest characters and scenes. The author inserts you in his world making you fell part of it. The new words and habits become natural to you as you read it. Strongly recommended.

This. Is. The. Best. Book. EVER!! It was recommended by a friend and at first I thought it was going to be boring. Ha. Well, from the second page on I was ashamed to have thought that. I like how the author made up a slang for the boys so as not to make them swear, and (SPOILER ALERT) Thomas and Teresa's telepathical connection is excellent and really adds that extra something. Sorry, what am I saying? This whole book IS that extra something! An amazing book for teens about 11-12 and up (a little violent) and for any age from then! Seriously. This book is only THE BEST.

Un libro que engancha! Una historia muy original y adictiva. No puedo mas que recomendarlo. Lo he leido en ingles y el vocabulario me ha parecido algunas veces algo complicado, pero gracias a WISE y la Kindle lo he podido entender. Me acabo de comprar la segunda parte y no he podido esperar para empezar a leerlo.