Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Maze Runner

by James Dashner

Dedication: "For Lynette. This book was a three-year journey, and you never doubted."

First paragraph: "He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air."

Review: Thomas wakes up with a knowledge of the world but no memory of ever living in it. All he can remember is his name. Before long he is thrown headfirst into a bizarre world where everything is centered around solving the maze that surrounds him and 50 other teenage boys. He doesn't know why but things about this new home seem familiar to him, like he's been here before, and he has the strangest desire to become a runner - the most dangerous job he could possess in this new place. The day after his arrival things start to really change. Everything that the other boys know about this place comes crashing down and they find themselves needing to solve the puzzle before time runs out.

This book was really good. Dashner tells a captivating story and uses creative elements to make it bizarre and "other-worldly" while still taking place on Earth. I don't think an actual time frame was ever given in the book but it's definitely a point in the far future.

One of my favorite things about this book is that you want the boys to escape but along the way things happen that make you almost think the world outside of their little maze is worse. But you never know for certain which is the best choice, not until it's already been made - or not.

A great story coupled with interesting characters made for an intriguing read. Even the characters you hated you still felt sorry for at times and the ones you liked you got annoyed by. I wouldn't say they were the strongest characters ever written into life but they were great, nonetheless.

One of my favorite reads in quite awhile. I would definitely suggest this book if you are looking for a great read you won't be able to put down until you get to the end. And then you'll just wish it was October 2010 so that Dashner's next book in this series, The Scorching Trials, was released.

Click here for The Maze Runner's official website.

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