The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner
By James Dashner

Okay, think The Hunger Games morphed with The Lord of the Flies. There you would have The Maze Runner.

I really enjoyed reading this book but it is fairly depressing.

Thomas wakes up in a metal box. He has no memory of his last name or where he came from. He does have certain basic memories like language and how the physical world works. However, he does not know why he ended up in the box.

When the doors to the box open, he is introduced to the world of the Glade and the Maze. He has several questions about the Glade but it is the Maze that calls to him. He instinctively knows he must be a runner in the Maze. But he learns quickly that you never go out there right before dark. Because then the gates to the Glade close and the Grievers come out.

All the other kids in the Glade are boys, some who have been there for years and others for mere months. They have strict rules for survival and no one seems particularly friendly except for Chuck who is assigned as Thomas' guide. The range in age from twelve to sixteen. They receive regular deliveries of food and clothes from the box and once a month a new boy is sent by those they call the Creators.

Then everyone's world turns around when, in less than twenty-four hours of Thomas' arrival, another kid is delivered to the Glade. And she is a girl.

I can't tell you too much more or I will spoil quite a bit of the plot. It was very intriguing how Dashner revealed facts about the Glade to Thomas and the reader at the same time. I thought that was well done and it was also what kept me up late trying to finish the book. There are several mysteries to solve and  Thomas is a wonderful character who is courageous and self-less.

How did this book resonate with my faith? In one of the pivotal scenes from the book, Thomas makes a decision that changes how the boys think about the maze and how they look at Thomas. As two runners come back from investigating a dead Griever, the sound of the giant gates is heard. Thomas is standing in the gateway and realizes that they won't make it in time as one of them is injured. He bravely leaves the safety of the Glade to help the other two boys. Although the uninjured boy runs away, Thomas cleverly figures out a way to save the unconscious leader as well as himself from the nasty Grievers.  And because of Thomas' self-less actions, the boys all figure out a crucial factor about the Maze that ends up saving them in the end.

My question is: how often are my decisions self-less? I think of Jesus and his decision to be arrested, put on trial and executed was the biggest self-less decision of all. He thought of others rather than himself. As his follower, should I not do the same? Yet, I wonder if I would have had the compassion to help others over saving my own skin.

I recommend The Maze Runner but I warn you that it is only the first in the series!

Happy reading!

Amelia