The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) - James Dashner
Genre: YA Dystopian/Sci Fi# of pages: 374 (hb)
Publisher: Delacorte, Random House
The Maze Runner @ Parental Book Reviews
Poor Maze Runner! It sat on my shelf since March before I got around to reading it. Luckily, it was definitely worth the wait. I highly enjoyed this book, even if it did take me a long time to read.
The author, James Dashner, really did an excellent job maintaining the suspense and a strong feeling of foreboding, and he also did a great job, I think, of describing the world of the Glade and the Maze to us. As far as dystopians go, this book has it all: futuristic, post-apocalyptic feel, absence of useful adult characters (absolutely no adult characters, in this case), which intensified the drama, a perfect blend of action and suspenseful quiet, and the brain-itching question of "What is going to happen next?!"
It seems to me that Dashner treats his readers the way he treats Thomas, the story's narrator - he drops them into this storyworld, right in the middle of all the action, and presents no answers (at first). Thus the purpose of the book is not only to survive and to overcome, but also to figure out what the Sam Hill is going on. And I think he did a fine job. It helped me relate to Thomas and the other boys to feel just as lost and confused as they were.
It seemed like we didn't get any answers until the last 100 or so pages. I would have liked the revelations to be a little more gradual and spaced out, just because it felt like I was being hit with a tidal wave worth of information. Also, there really only seemed to be one "thing" out there in the Maze, the Grievers, and they really weren't that scary to me, so segments that really should have been "exciting" or "borderline scary" just weren't. I would have amplified the creepiness factor of the Maze, made it more terrifying. However, the ending (especially the last few chapters) was EPIC. As in, best spankin' way to conclude a book. It sets up for The Scorch Trials so tantalizingly!
The only thing that could have been better was the story's characterization. The narrative seemed at times to be inexpressive and matter-of-fact, and I didn't really feel like there was a lot of character depth. The narrative told me what Thomas was feeling, for example, but it didn't really show me. I'm interested to see if characterization becomes stronger in the next book.
The 'language,' too, seemed a little overdone. I found the made-up expletives very amusing, but a bit overused. On the other hand, I can't be certain that boys wouldn't speak so colorfully, if they were by themselves in a big shucking maze. :)
Highly enjoyable and highly recommended! And whadaya know! The Scorch Trials is available now!
Final Grade:
Publisher: Delacorte, Random House
The Maze Runner @ Parental Book Reviews
Poor Maze Runner! It sat on my shelf since March before I got around to reading it. Luckily, it was definitely worth the wait. I highly enjoyed this book, even if it did take me a long time to read.The author, James Dashner, really did an excellent job maintaining the suspense and a strong feeling of foreboding, and he also did a great job, I think, of describing the world of the Glade and the Maze to us. As far as dystopians go, this book has it all: futuristic, post-apocalyptic feel, absence of useful adult characters (absolutely no adult characters, in this case), which intensified the drama, a perfect blend of action and suspenseful quiet, and the brain-itching question of "What is going to happen next?!"
It seems to me that Dashner treats his readers the way he treats Thomas, the story's narrator - he drops them into this storyworld, right in the middle of all the action, and presents no answers (at first). Thus the purpose of the book is not only to survive and to overcome, but also to figure out what the Sam Hill is going on. And I think he did a fine job. It helped me relate to Thomas and the other boys to feel just as lost and confused as they were.
It seemed like we didn't get any answers until the last 100 or so pages. I would have liked the revelations to be a little more gradual and spaced out, just because it felt like I was being hit with a tidal wave worth of information. Also, there really only seemed to be one "thing" out there in the Maze, the Grievers, and they really weren't that scary to me, so segments that really should have been "exciting" or "borderline scary" just weren't. I would have amplified the creepiness factor of the Maze, made it more terrifying. However, the ending (especially the last few chapters) was EPIC. As in, best spankin' way to conclude a book. It sets up for The Scorch Trials so tantalizingly!
The only thing that could have been better was the story's characterization. The narrative seemed at times to be inexpressive and matter-of-fact, and I didn't really feel like there was a lot of character depth. The narrative told me what Thomas was feeling, for example, but it didn't really show me. I'm interested to see if characterization becomes stronger in the next book.
The 'language,' too, seemed a little overdone. I found the made-up expletives very amusing, but a bit overused. On the other hand, I can't be certain that boys wouldn't speak so colorfully, if they were by themselves in a big shucking maze. :)
Highly enjoyable and highly recommended! And whadaya know! The Scorch Trials is available now!
Final Grade:
