I just happened upon James Dashner’s The Maze Runner. I’d had no
intention of starting with a new YA series, but I came across it in an
Amsterdam bookstore for 5 euros so I just picked it up. Synopsis and review
after the jump.
When the doors of
the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But
he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade - a walled
encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the
Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there - or what's happened to the
world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back,
they will risk everything - even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror
that patrol its corridors, to try and find out.
There is
something to be said about the secretiveness of this novel. Not much, if
anything is explained. Why they are actually in the maze, what their purpose
is, who is terrorizing them. Some things are somewhat answered, though they may
just be lies, all which will probably revealed in the sequel. I understand the
lack of information. It makes you identify with all these boys who can’t
remember anything before they came to the maze. The narrative is a bit jumbled
moving at slow paces at some points while going at seemingly break-neck speeds
in others. Few characters are actually likeable, which always makes for a bit
of a tedious read, though that didn’t really bother me that much in this case.
It is nice to find a post-apocalyptic/dystopian/YA book centered on a male
protagonist rather than a female one. There is a lot of action and violence
akin to Michael Grant’s Gone series.
All in all, it is not a bad read for when you want to enjoy an adventurous
story with some terrifying monsters.
You can buy The Maze Runner here,
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