Do you know what it feels like to be stuck in a completely unknown world with know idea how you got there? The Maze Runner by James Dashner explores this topic. Written in 2009, a time where fiction seemed to be fixated on a futuristic world, The Maze Runner really follows suit in that regard. The time period of the writing of this book was greatly shown by the creativity and the unique descriptions of the scene. The style of James Dashner, with great imagery, blends perfectly with the futuristic style to grip all readers into the story.
The story of The Maze Runner is a very unique and creative one. James Dashner has said that this story was highly influenced by movies, such as The Shining, and books such as The Lord of the Flies. The story begins with the main character, Thomas, waking up in an elevator with no idea of how he got there. He gets out and there are other kids just like him in the foreign place that he just arrived. Characters such as Alby, Newt, Ben, Mino, Gally, Chuck, Minho, and Teresa, the only girl, are standing above him as he gets up from the elevator. All of these characters look to find a way out of this foreign world with walls all around, and the only escape is to solve the trap lined paths of the maze that lays behind them.
The great thing about this book is how well described the scenes and characters are. The way it can grab the reader makes the story much more interesting. Even though some of the imagery is very in detail about some strange things, it really grabs the reader. A great description of this is shown by “Eyes opened or not, he could swear he kept hearing the moist thunk of the arrow slamming into Ben’s cheek” (Dashner). This is a great example because it not only shows the imagery of the action but also shows the mental toll that the setting is taking on the characters. The great imagery grabs the reader and keeps them hooked on the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read it. It is a fascinating and very unique story line and is very well written. The great language and descriptions set the scenes so well that it makes the reader feel there and that they are doing everything with the characters. If you enjoy a little futuristic almost sci-fi story then this book will be as good as it gets.
4 of 5 Stars
Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. New York: Random House Children’s, 2009. Print.
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