The Maze Runner

This well known series of books if very good. I've read all of the books so far and a couple more than once. The first book The Maze Runner leaves you wondering what will happen next.

In this first book a boy named Thomas is sent to a place called The Glade in a box. When being sent up to the land he was sure of anything but that he was in a dark box moving. He wasn't sure of his name or where he was or why it was happening. Everyone else there was like Thomas-they had no memory of anything before entering the glade. Around the glade there is a maze, each day the gladers go in a try to find if there is a way out of the glade but they had to make it back every night before the maze closed. One night the group of boys saw a struggle in one of the people in the maze because the other had been hurt. The maze was about to close when Thomas squeezes his way through the crack in with the other. When in the maze at night there are things that want to kill you and no one ever makes it out alive. Thomas and the other go through the maze at night trying to stay alive. With many close to death experiences the two of them made it out alive the next morning. After that Thomas and some other went in everyday to see what they could figure out about the maze, becoming closer and closer each day.

This book was a very good book and I would rate it a 10/10 because it had a lot of action and made me wanna continue to read the book. I would definitely recommend this book if you like action.

Book Review by Jennifer D.

The Maze Runner

I read the maze runner by James Dashner. The basic plot of the book is that a group of people want to escape from the maze. It's major theme is they all want to escape from the maze but they can only run in the day!

In this book there is something inside the maze that makes the people who go in it be scared, lots of people get sent in the maze but there’s only boys in there they have to find a way to escape.

In this story the important characters are Thomas, Minho and Er. The important conflicts are they need to escape, lots of people dying, and something came up the box!!! One significant external conflict is they need more people to go in the maze and find a way out ! The central idea or theme of the book is that there's lots of people stuck in the maze for years wanting to escape.

I highly recommend you read this book as soon as possible or watch the movie because it is so awesome how they escape the maze it's so interesting. You should also read it now because it has a lot of action in it this is my favorite book and I don’t like to read but it was so good that I couldn't stop reading it! Trust me you will love it :)

Book Review by Moises M.

The Maze Runner

I read The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, James Dashner also made a book series about the book. The book series are book number two: The Scorch Trials, book number three: The Death Cure, book number four: The Kill Order. He also made the book named: The Mortality Doctrine, The Eye Of Minds, The Rule Of Thoughts(sequel to the eye of minds). This book and the eye of minds, are the best selling novels for the New York Times. They both are great books to read, so they're about adventure, and mystery, and many other traits that are really good.

The plot is mainly about escaping a huge maze. In order to get out of the maze, the main characters are Thomas the protagonist, and his friend Minho, Newt, Teresa, Alby, Chuck, Frypan, Gally the antagonist. They have to study the maze, and predict what puzzles will the maze create because, the maze changes shape every night. Thomas Teresa was workers for the corporation named: WICKED, who've sent them both to the maze, they also think themselves as “GOOD”. So they've sent Thomas, and Teresa to the maze with the crew. This book is really great, I don't want to ruined it for you, by the way, you should read the novel before watching the movie. Yeah, there's a movie all about The Maze Runner, and The Scorch Trials.

For me, I really liked the book, it was amazing. I felt like this was a nonfiction book, but it isn’t. But, I heard that the series is really good, right now I'm on book two: The Scorch Trials. The author wrote the book for everyone in the world to read, because he has ideas that should be known, that goes for all of us as well. In my opinion, you should read this book series, or the mortality doctrine series. Both series are really good, wonderful, fast paced, smart, well observed, mysterious, breathtaking. I heard that these series is like the books: Lord Of The Flies, The Hunger Games, and Lost all combined! Oh, and one more thing before you read any of the series, or the books you should take a deep breath, because these series is amazingly good, and they will make you feel like one of the characters! For these reasons, I insist you to read any of James Dashner's, books or series.

Book Review by Chali Y.

The Maze Runner

The book I read was the Maze Runner by James Dashner. This is the first and only novel I have read by the author so I’m not sure how it differs from his other works. The story follows a young teenager, who awakes in an elevator, with amnesia, the only thing he remembers is his name Thomas. As the elevator reaches its destination he finds, another hundred boys the same age as him. The boys are living in 4 sided homestead, called the glade, it is surrounded by stone walls, what is beyond the stone walls is a maze on a time cycle, where the paths change, and at night the maze releases nightmarish creatures. He soon realizes that all he wants to do is to escape. The theme of this book revolves around “friendship can overcome anything” Thomas has to befriend many people to survive the horrors of the maze and, hopefully, escape.

Thomas is thrown into the Glade with no explanation, everyone is as confused as him. Thomas has to befriend many people in the Maze, who each have a special trait to them. Whether they have a positive attitude toward the situation or they’re a good cook Thomas has to work with them in order to escape. We get to see Thomas as a confused and scared individual, and as he eventually starts to regain memories and receive visions of his past life, he has to become strong and powerful. This evolution is very interesting to see, his growth is very substantial from the beginning book to the end.

I have to say the Maze Runner is a read I would suggest to everyone. It’s very interesting and original, with great devolved characters, and it keeps you reading for more. I would definitely suggest it to anyone if they’re looking for a book that is adventurous and suspenseful, at times. The author Dashner does a very good job at pacing the booking so it keeps you and interested and coming back for more. If you’re looking for a book with incredibly great paced heart and suspenseful action all in on, then I can’t recommend any other book then the Maze Runner.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Maze-Runner-Book-1/dp/0385737955

Book Review by Max M.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner was written by James Dashner in 2009.  Dashner also wrote many other books including The Scorch Trails, The Death Cure, The Kill Order, The Eye of Minds, The 13th Reality, and the Infinity Ring.  Dashner’s writings are fantasy type books and many of them are geared towards young adults.  The Maze Runner is about a boy names Thomas who wakes up with no memory of who he is and why he is in a metal box.  Thomas remembers only his name.  Thomas is taken to a place called the Glad, which is a community of young boys who live together on what seems like a farm, that’s surrounded by high walls.  Outside the Glade is a Maze that has monsters (known as Grievers).  The theme of The Maze Runner is friendship and bravery.  It shows that friends are willing to have their life taken for another friend.  The Gladers are all good friends with each other and they all pull together to make sure that all gets done as it should.  The Gladers are very brave people since they have so many weird and bizarre things that happen to them.  The boys who did not make it through to the end of the book were brave also because they gave their life to help others. There were also many brave boys who were killed during their battle of the Grievers.

Thomas learns that if a Griever stings you that you then go through a process which is very traumatic and is known the Changing.  Gally (one of the Gladers) is not sure on how to take Thomas and actually accuses him of being a spy.  The leader of the Runners is Minho.  The Runners are the Gladers who run into the maze in hopes of mapping it and then finding a way out of the maze.  Thomas meets Teresa, who is the first girl ever to be sent into the Glade.  Thomas finds that he has a bond with Teresa and he becomes obsessed with her.  Teresa goes into a coma after she tells everyone that things are about to change.  Thomas decides that he would like to become a Runner even though he has a lot to learn about the Glade as well as the Maze.  Thomas is attacked by a boy who has gone through the changing, named Ben.  Alby (the ruler of the Glade) is stung by a Griever while out in the Maze.  Minho tries to get Alby back to the Glade before the walls close but Thomas knows they are not going to make it so he went out to help the two.  He is now trapped in the Maze with Alby and Minho during the most dangerous time- night.  Minho freaks out when the Grievers approach and runs away leaving Thomas with Alby.  Somehow the three of them manage to live through the night which is something no one else has ever done.  Thomas gets in trouble for his role in the overnight Maze stay.  Alby believes that he has seen Thomas before and thinks that Thomas had some part in the design or maybe even the building of the Maze.  Thomas visits with Teresa, who is still in a coma, and Teresa communicates with Thomas telepathicly.  Thomas is scared by this and runs into the Maze just so that he doesn’t have to hear her voice in his head anymore.  Teresa tells Thomas that they were both involved in the building of the Maze.  After Thomas’ punishment for the Maze incident, involving Alby and Minho, he starts to train to be a runner with Minho’s help.  Teresa lets Thomas know that she has started the end.  Thomas figures out that the Glade is a made up place where the sky really isn’t a real sky.  Teresa drops a bombshell that to Thomas that the Maze is a code.  Teresa wakes up so that she and Thomas could meet in the Glade.  Thomas is very much attracted to Teresa although Alby is very apprehensive of her.  For the first time ever, the doors to the Maze don’t close like they should so Alby takes Teresa because he believes she has something to do with this.  A large house in the Glade is where the Gladers stay as they wait for the Grievers to do their thing at night.  All the maps of the Maze that the Runners have made throughout the years are destroyed by fire.  Thomas figures out a new way to look at the map information although he was able to find the real maps as the ones burned were just fakes.  Teresa and Thomas look at the maps together and find that there are letters hidden in maps that spell out words but the words don’t make sense together.  Thomas allows himself to get stung by the Grievers to hopefully bring back some memories.  Thomas recovers from this sting and tells everyone what he has remembered. He then tells everyone that he knows how to get out of the Maze. Many people listen to him more now that he has gone through the Changing because they know that he’s remembered things. Thomas leads the Gladers into the Maze, knowing the risk he puts himself, and his friends at.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure and science fiction/ fantasy.  There were so many twists and turns to the book; putting it down became very difficult. To read this book, you don’t have to like a certain genre of books, however: when I read this, it was as a project in Language Arts and I ended up reading more of the books in that series. You’re never sure what’s going to happen next, which is the best part of the book. 

Book Review by Breanna S.

Maze Runner

The book I read was Maze Runner by James Dashner. This is the first book in the three part series. Other books he has written include The Scorch Trials and The Death cure. You can purchase these books on http://www.amazon.com/The-Maze-Runner-Book-1/dp/0385737955. The theme of this book is things are not always at it seems.

   

This book is about a kid names Thomas who was mysteriously put into a "maze" with about one hundred other boys. None of the boys have any memory of life before the maze but all that they know is that they need to get out of the maze. Thomas meets many people in the pace they live (the glade) but his best friend is a kid named chuck. Chuck is Thomas's "mentor" and he teaches him new stuff about the glade.

 

I would recommend this book to someone else because it is an all around good book with action, adventure, mystery, and even a little romance. This book also has a lot of lessons In it and shows that anyone and everyone is important. This book was also a New York Times best seller.

Book Review by Sam M.

The Maze Runner

The book that I am writing about today is the Maze Runner by James Dashner.  This book is the first in a series of four books. The other three titles in the series are as follows: TheScorch Trials, The Death Cure, and The Kill Order.  James Dashner has also written another series called “The 13th Reality”.  The Maze Runner is an action packed science fiction story about teenagers trapped in a maze with no memory of how they arrived there.

The story begins with Thomas, the main character, who wakes up in a lift.  He is then brought into the maze.  He wakes up not knowing where he is or what is going on.  He goes into the maze and finds himself in a position that everyone else has already been through.  Many boys have been sent to solve the maze, but none of them can remember how they got there.  They are trapped in this maze made out of stone walls which move, and they need to figure out how to escape.   Every day the stone walls open and every night the stone walls close, and none of the boys want to be in the maze at night.  Thomas meets several people in the Maze Runner, however, the individuals that stand out are Teresa, Minho, Newt, and Alby.  Their relationships develop throughout the course of the book and their relationships develop through the course of the book as they try and figure out a way for everyone to make it out of the maze.  However, when Thomas meets Teresa as she arrives in the lift, everything changes because he thinks this girl is familiar to him, but he cannot remember how.   The boys begin to question why she has arrived in the maze.

I recommend this book because it is action packed the entire way through.  It makes a person believe that it could happen.  It caused me to go buy the next two books in the series immediately. 

Book Review by Thomas R.