The Maze Runner (2009)

by James Dashner

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Maze Runner (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations / Mentions
11,836	703	399	(3.78)	1 / 344
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

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Recently added by	The_Literary_Jedi, KatieSod, meddz, jawhite2401, beabecker, PaulaLourido, Arafyn, meggm1202, SaraRotherham, Terri.Gundlach
Legacy Libraries	Tim Spalding

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▾Member recommendations

420
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (smammers)
220
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (aeleone)
aeleone: More sci-fi than Maze Runner, but the characters experience a similar situation as the boys in the maze. Plus, it's super classic.
132
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (bookworm12, wordcauldron)
wordcauldron: When I read this, it reminded me of an orchestrated Lord of the Flies.
80
Gone by Michael Grant (stephxsu)
stephxsu: Incredible world-building and suspense-building featuring a plethora of interesting and sympathetic characters.
50
Running With the Wolves by J.E. Reed (paigemartin)
paigemartin: The characters are placed in a foreign environment without an understanding of how they got there or who put them there. The battle to escape back to reality is filled with monsters and adventures that lead to an incredible amount of character development.… (more)
40
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (bluenotebookonline)
bluenotebookonline: Bit more fantasy than The Maze Runner, but a similar setup (hero who's trapped) and pace.
31
Wool by Hugh Howey (KatyBee)
10
The Last Girl by Joe Hart (LiteraryReadaholic)
00
The Roar by Emma Clayton (Anonymous user)
Anonymous user: Has a lot of action. A dystopian setting where Kids are force in to a competition to service.
11
The Final Trade by Joe Hart (LiteraryReadaholic)
00
House of Stairs by William Sleator (gaialover)
00
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Anonymous user)
22
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (bluenotebookonline)
bluenotebookonline: Also action packed, has a dystopian setting, includes quite a bit of kids vs. adults, etc. Prinz award winner.
00
Das Labyrinth erwacht by Rainer Wekwerth (Friederike.Geissler)
00
The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen (kaledrina)
33
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Waterbuggg)
Waterbuggg: Both books are action-packed and have a similar premise and secret.
01
The Unknown by J. W. Lynne (Anonymous user)

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

	Group › Topic	Messages	Last Message
	Book talk: the maze runner series	2 unread / 2	Ennas, February 2016

» See also 344 mentions

▾Member reviews

English (691) Spanish (7) Catalan (1) German (1) Dutch (1) French (1) Italian (1) All languages (703)

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Showing 1-5 of 691 (next | show all)

The movie preview for this story drew me into to check it out before release. With a lot of recent young adult novels in a similar world being made into movies (Hunger Games, Enders Game), this one looked like it could be another hit.

The book though seemed like a copy of too many other stories -- namely the above two. Without storyline spoilers though, the feel from the book is similar, but the connection to the characters was limited. I'm undecided if I'll listen to the other two books in the series. (

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adamfortuna | May 28, 2021 |

Meh. It was fine. I enjoyed listening to it with my kid but it's not something I would have finished if it were just me. We'll be listening to the second one in the near future. (

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amcheri | May 25, 2021 |

I have absolutely no clue how to rate or review this and if I should keep going. I need to think. (

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Stacie-C | May 8, 2021 |

Really, really good book. Kind of a combination of [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512] and [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775]. Good action, interesting characters, and enough mystery to keep things interesting. I have the next book, but am taking a break for a little while so I can process this one. (

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ssperson | Apr 3, 2021 |

This book moved so incredibly fast that I couldn't put it down and was able to finish more than half of it in several hours. I can't wait to read the next books!

A lot of this book reminded me of other books (Lord of the Flies, Hunger Games, and other survive or die type stories... even Chuck reminded me of Piggy from Lord of the Flies). I would highly recommend this book to anyone regardless of their age or gender. This book was fum and a thrill to read. (

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courty4189 | Mar 24, 2021 |

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Showing 1-5 of 691 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

8 reviews

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thingScore 82

added by Shortride | editLos Angeles Times, Sonja Bolle (Feb 14, 2010)

The story reads like a maze with erroneous turns, dead ends, and a plot that should work but falls short.

added by Katya0133 | editLibrary Media Connection, Constance G. Pappas (Nov 1, 2009)

James Dashner has created a thrilling dystopian novel.

added by Shortride | editOpen Letters Monthly, Kristin Brower Walker (Nov 1, 2009)

The Maze Runner has a great hook, and fans of dystopian literature, particularly older fans of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember (Random, 2003), will likely enjoy this title and ask for the inevitable sequel.

added by Katya0133 | editSchool Library Journal, Kristin Anderson (Oct 1, 2009)

With a fast-paced narrative steadily answering the myriad questions that arise and an ever-increasing air of tension, Dashner's suspenseful adventure will keep readers guessing until the very end.

added by Katya0133 | editPublishers Weekly (Sep 21, 2009)

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (45 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
James Dashner	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Deakins, Mark	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Musselman, Dan	Executive producer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Reichler, Mitchell	Author photo	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Straub, Philip	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

The Maze Runner (1)

Belongs to Publisher Series

Narrativa Fanucci

Is contained in

The Maze Runner Trilogy by James Dashner

The Maze Runner Series Complete Collection (Five Books) by James Dashner

The Maze Runner Series Complete Collection (Four Books) by James Dashner

The Maze Runner / The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

The Maze Runner Series, Five Books by James Dashner

Has the adaptation

The Maze Runner [2014 film] by Wes Ball

Is parodied in

The Maze Bummer: A Parody of The Maze Runner by Steve Lookner

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Maze Runner

Original title

Alternative titles

Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

Im Labyrinth

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

The Maze Runner (2014 ∙ IMDb)

The Scorch Trials (2015 ∙ IMDb)

Awards and honors

Whitney Award Finalist (Speculative Fiction, 2009)

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (2011)

Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee (2012)

Wyoming Soaring Eagle Nominee (2012|2nd Runner-up 2012)

TASL Volunteer State Book Children's Choice Award (Young Adult, 2011-2012)

(show all 26 items)

Epigraph

Dedication

For Lynette. This book was a three-year journey,
and you never doubted.

First words

He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

The Maze Runner

▾Book descriptions

Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary

Teen must run through maze
To figure out his past and
Survive scary plot.
(legallypuzzled)

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