It takes place in a world suffering from a coronal mass ejection and whose surviving civilians fight to avoid an apocalyptic illness called the Flare.

An organization called WICKED controls the world politically, seeks a cure to the Flare, and uses the youngest generation of civilians who are immune to it as test subjects.

The novel was published in 2009 by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House with cover art by Philip Straub.

A film adaptation, directed by Wes Ball, was released in 2014 by 20th Century Fox and stars Dylan O’Brien as Thomas.

He gradually discovers that the Glade is run by two boys: Alby, the leader, and Newt, his second-in-command, who maintain order by enforcing simple rules.

The group of boys, who call themselves Gladers, try to stay alive as well as to solve the Maze by appointing "Runners" to run through it as fast as they can while tracking the movements of the walls and trying to find an exit.

When they hear the sounds of Grievers approaching, Minho runs away, knowing they don't have a chance of survival, while Thomas uses the ivy on the maze walls to pull Alby up.

Newt, as interim head of the Gathering due to Alby's condition, proposes sending Thomas to the Slammer (their version of prison) for a day, and then having him start training to become a Runner.

The food is running low, the sky is permanently gray, the box is not coming up, and at night the Maze doors stay open.

Thomas later discovers that Minho and Newt secured the maps in the Weapons Room a couple of hours earlier, saving them.

After copying more maps and layering them, they find that the complete code spelled out by the Maze is: "FLOAT CATCH BLEED DEATH STIFF PUSH".

A rescue team comes crashing in seconds later, killing all the scientists and taking the Gladers with them to another facility, where they have dinner and go to sleep.

In November 2005, Dashner had an idea for a book "about a bunch of teenagers living inside an unsolvable Maze full of hideous creatures, in the future, in a dark, dystopian world.

[7] Kirkus Reviews wrote of The Maze Runner: "Hard to put down, this is clearly just a first installment, and it will leave readers dying to find out what comes next.

"[8] Jessica Harrison of the Deseret Morning News labeled The Maze Runner as "a thrilling adventurous book for kids ages 13+ that will get readers' hearts pumping and leave them asking for more," though she noted the "fictionalized slang" as a drawback.

[14] Sandra Bennet wrote in The School Librarian that the book is "an absorbing and tense novel which mid to older teens will devour.

[19] Ki Hong Lee, Blake Cooper, Will Poulter, and Aml Ameen were added to the cast as Minho, Chuck, Gally, and Alby, respectively.

The new installment was described as "not a redo of the story nor [...] a direct sequel to the original trilogy" but "a sort of continuation [...] yet also return to the elements that made the first movie connect with its audience.