The Maze Runner (book series)

The Maze Runner is a series of young adult dystopian science fiction novels written by American author James Dashner.

[1][2] The series consists of The Maze Runner (2009), The Scorch Trials (2010) and The Death Cure (2011), as well as two prequel novels, The Kill Order (2012) and The Fever Code (2016), a novella titled Crank Palace (2020), and a companion book titled The Maze Runner Files (2013).

[1] The sixth novel, titled The Maze Cutter, set 73 years following the events of The Death Cure, was released on October 4, 2022.

The Glade is surrounded by four doors, leading to the Maze, that close every night at sundown and open in the morning.

The Glade consists of multiple buildings including a homestead, map room, and "the slammer" which functions as a makeshift jail.

[6] Beyond the walls of the Glade is the ever-changing Maze, populated by horrifying, biomechanical creatures, called Grievers.

Together with new friends, such as Chuck (the second-newest newbie), Newt (second in command of the Gladers), and Minho (Keeper of the Runners), he begins to solve the mystery of the Maze and search for a way out.

Thomas leads his group to make it out of the maze find a way back home and defeat WICKED.

The book primarily focuses on the training that Thomas and the others undergo before being sent into the Maze, however, it also explores the relationships between the Gladers before they underwent "the Swipe" that suppressed their memories, describes "the Purge" that is briefly mentioned in The Death Cure, and the lives of the Gladers before Thomas' insertion into the Maze, since during the events in the book he is working for WICKED.

It also reveals events such as Thomas and Teresa's first conversation, Minho's Phase Three Trial, Frypan's past, e-mails between WICKED correspondents, and more.

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."

She noted that it "starts out a bit slow" but as it matched Thomas's confusion and picked up pace as he became more accustomed, she wrote that "it's almost as if Dashner is easing the reader into what becomes a fast-paced, nonstop action."