Book Review: The Maze Runner
The era of dark science fiction continues with another young adult dystopia from James Dashner. The Maze Runner is another story about our dark future and the importance that the youth will play in our redemption. The movie comes out soon and is generating some buzz. It is a good read, but doesn’t have the depth of its more successful cousin, The Hunger Games.
The Maze Runner begins with a boy named Thomas, dropped into a huge maze with no memory of his previous life. The amnesia isn’t total, as he is able to recall how to speak, and how the world works but doesn’t remember his family, friends, where he was before the maze. He meets a community of boys, mostly teenagers, all sent there for some unknown reason. They live a fairly comfortable existence as long as they stay within the safe zone of the maze, a large space in the middle of the maze they call the Glade. The maze surrounding the Glade is filled with dangers.
The maze walls move and there are creatures, half beast, half machine, known as the grievers. They were a neat innovation of Dashner’s, serving as its minotaur of the labyrinth. Thomas and his good friend Chuck are very likable and admirable. The descriptions of the maze itself are interesting, making the challenge of getting out daunting. Dashner does a good job revealing the mysteries of the maze little by little, keeping you hooked.
While it is labeled dystopian fiction, there is no dystopian element to The Maze Runner. It is the first book in a series, with the sequels focusing on a post-apocalyptic reality outside the maze. Within the maze, there is no broken or failed society. If anything the Glade society is close to ideal, almost utopian. The boys cooperate as a fully functioning community, almost self-sufficient. They build a semi-democratic hierarchy, a rule system, and solid respect for one another. Comparisons to Lord of the Flies are not accurate or fair. There is no breakdown here, no examination of the dark side of human nature. Peter Pan might be a better analogue.
The ivory covered walls, the shifting paths, the bizarre creatures, and shipments of supplies through an underground shaft all make the maze surreal. It isn’t the real world. The memory manipulation all suggest a contrived reality but its purpose is unclear. It is so elaborate that you’d think its purpose has to be of vital importance, given the time and cost of such a place. Otherwise, it is more of a fantasy similar to the maze of the movie The Labyrinth or the maze in Alice in Wonderland.
There is also a lack of a political element to this dystopia. There is no capital here, only elusive and mysterious Creators (Dashner capitalizes it), who you learn nothing about. Dystopias are supposed to be used as a commentary or indirect criticism of the world. The Maze Runner doesn’t attempt a critique.
If you take it as more of a fantastic challenge rather than a dystopic vision, it does better. It is not a broken world, but one filled with heroes. Some of the boys are just too good to be true. The lack of memory, deadly grievers, and mysterious maze is a lot to deal with. Yet, the boys seem to handle it well.
There is the beginning of a love story in the book, but it doesn’t really progress. The first girl to show up in the maze has a connection to the main character Thomas, but you never find out what it is. They are telepathic, which is an odd little detail that is never explained. It creates a layer of intimacy for two kids that don’t remember one another. Dashner doesn’t bother with the obvious hormonal impact of having one attractive teenage girl in the middle of a village of teenage boys who haven’t seen a girl in months, even years.
Delving into teenage sexuality probably would’ve shifted the book out of the young adult category, something Dashner probably wanted to avoid. Still, even teenage readers, especially boys, are going to notice this glaring detail.
It becomes clear that Dashner’s boys, who call themselves the Gladers, are special. They seem smarter, wiser, and mentally tougher than normal teenage boys. Even the girl seems to have a special inner strength and intelligence. They were all chosen for the maze. There is no evidence of post-traumatic stress, emotional problems, violent tendencies, or anything else that can come with incarceration. Perhaps it is because they don’t remember their previous lives. The sequel probably sheds some light on it.
Overall, enjoyable just not terribly deep. Had it not been for the wake of The Hunger Games phenomena, this novel probably would be getting a lot more attention. The movie release will probably change that.
4 Stars.
J
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