How original is main story of the Maze Runner series?

[hannah renee.]

So, I haven't read too much dystopian besides Hunger Games and Divergent, and I'm wondering how original the story of the Maze Runner is. I guess this can apply to the first book and the other two books (though I haven't read The Death Cure yet). Thanks!

[Emma]

What do you mean?

And after people read THG and divergent, they all say TMR is just like them. Yet in truth it was written (not published) at the same time or possibly before THG.

[Ilana]

so i think that it's fair to say that they all have a similar theme in the sense that there are teens who are living in a world that's post apocalyptic (of sorts) and they are coming into their own after being told one thing about life and the world that may not necessarily be the case.

Where this story differs and is semi-original is the sense that the situation that they are in is very different from Divergent or THG or The Testing or any of those. I think that they are in a situation where the impetus for everything is quite different, the result that puts them into this situation is different and while it stems from a typical dystopian place, it verges on the sci-fi / fantasy for a bit.

[hannah renee.]

LOL I'm not talking about how similar they are to HG and Divergent, I'm wondering from any Dystopic nerds if the idea of the story itself is original. There are other dystopic books besides the two I mentioned. Maybe not just dystopic books, but just the story in general.

[Emma]

Well I'd say it is original because it was sort of 'before' dystopian ya became such a popular thing. There are so many these days they're almost all the same.

[Emma]

Lord of the Flies is pretty similar to The Maze runner, in the way that's its a bunch of boys trapped on/in a place with no escape, trying to survive. In LOTF, the boys are younger and they turn on each other, but in TMR the boys work together. I don't know about the other two though.

[Kelly Brigid ♡]

I've never heard The Maze Runner compared to Battle Royale...that's the book that everyone compares Hunger Games too.

[Dramapuppy]

Specifically, the idea of a giant maze with a community in the middle is unique. But the actual plot and themes were not unique at all. Maze Runner follows the same mold most YA dystopia does.

I don't know Cube, but I've read Lord of the Flies and Battle Royale. (They're both excellent books, WAY better than Maze Runner). I wouldn't really compare either of them to this. Lord of the Flies is a very meaningful book about society. It focuses on the definition of "civilized." Maze Runner just takes civilization as a given; and the boys unite against the common enemy of Grievers. (Like Emma mentioned).

And Battle Royale... I'd compare it to Hunger Games (obviously), but not this. It has much higher stakes. There is constant danger. I mean, the whole story is less than a week long. There's a ton of violence. There isn't much to solve. There's no common enemy. It's just a battle (hence the title).

I WOULD compare Maze Runner to Testing, and other popular YA dystopia today.