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jojofant 's review for:
The Maze Runner Files
by James Dashner
3.5 stars:
Maze Runner--heat-pounding action, plot that moved forward at breakneck speeds, twists and turns: all the makings of a real page-turner. I finished the book in 48 hours and if I don't think about it too much I feel satisfied. Maze Runner is entertaining, exciting, and a fast read. The world-building is vibrant and the dystopian society we see glimpses of in the first book is at least pretty unique to the YA genre (no Big Brother tropes, as far as I can tell). I will absolutely read the rest of the series.
But it's not perfect. For one thing, Dashner's writing of the one female character in the entire book was flawed. Teresa (at this point in the series) seems to exist merely as Thomas' partner. She doesn't do much--in or out of the coma--except talk to Thomas telepathically. The rest of the boys conveniently ignore her. Dashner seemed to have trouble writing his one female protagonist and often places her in isolation from the rest of the group, as if he's not quite sure what to do with her.
Characterization was bumpy at best. Most of the boys had the same personality except Chuck and Thomas. Newt and Alby were pretty much interchangeable. We never got to meet more than a handful of the 50-some-odd boys in the Glade. They were totally nameless faces in the background until killed by Grievers.
*******SPOILERS*************
I saw Chuck's death coming from a mile away. Much like Rue in The Hunger Games, the innocent, younger child signs his own death warrant as soon as the protagonist utters the words, "I promise to protect you."
Finally, for a book that is so clearly influenced by Lord of the Flies and Casino Royale, the boys get along suspiciously well. No sacrificial killings and very few scuffles (most of which were not physical). Chuck supposedly represents Darwin, so it would make sense for the boys to fight for Survival of the Fittest, right? Well their little almost utopian society runs pretty smoothly until Thomas comes along: mostly everyone doing their jobs (save the occasional Griever accident), a microscopic community created in just TWO YEARS that seems far-fetched at best. Dashner could have dug deeper into the psychological implications of the experiment. Surely madness would have run rampant among the "rats running in a maze"?
Maze Runner--heat-pounding action, plot that moved forward at breakneck speeds, twists and turns: all the makings of a real page-turner. I finished the book in 48 hours and if I don't think about it too much I feel satisfied. Maze Runner is entertaining, exciting, and a fast read. The world-building is vibrant and the dystopian society we see glimpses of in the first book is at least pretty unique to the YA genre (no Big Brother tropes, as far as I can tell). I will absolutely read the rest of the series.
But it's not perfect. For one thing, Dashner's writing of the one female character in the entire book was flawed. Teresa (at this point in the series) seems to exist merely as Thomas' partner. She doesn't do much--in or out of the coma--except talk to Thomas telepathically. The rest of the boys conveniently ignore her. Dashner seemed to have trouble writing his one female protagonist and often places her in isolation from the rest of the group, as if he's not quite sure what to do with her.
Characterization was bumpy at best. Most of the boys had the same personality except Chuck and Thomas. Newt and Alby were pretty much interchangeable. We never got to meet more than a handful of the 50-some-odd boys in the Glade. They were totally nameless faces in the background until killed by Grievers.
*******SPOILERS*************
I saw Chuck's death coming from a mile away. Much like Rue in The Hunger Games, the innocent, younger child signs his own death warrant as soon as the protagonist utters the words, "I promise to protect you."
Finally, for a book that is so clearly influenced by Lord of the Flies and Casino Royale, the boys get along suspiciously well. No sacrificial killings and very few scuffles (most of which were not physical). Chuck supposedly represents Darwin, so it would make sense for the boys to fight for Survival of the Fittest, right? Well their little almost utopian society runs pretty smoothly until Thomas comes along: mostly everyone doing their jobs (save the occasional Griever accident), a microscopic community created in just TWO YEARS that seems far-fetched at best. Dashner could have dug deeper into the psychological implications of the experiment. Surely madness would have run rampant among the "rats running in a maze"?