The Maze Runner by James Dashner (the whole series, really)
Okay, okay, let the protests begin now. I can handle it. I'm ready for them.
In all seriousness, I am somewhat enjoying this series. I'm currently on the second book, The Scorch Trials, and I'm about 40 % of the way through it. The story line is extraordinarily creative and feels a little bit different from most of the dystopian novels I've read recently (Hunger Games and Divergent among them). I don't want to give anything away (although most of you probably know more spoilers than I do), but James Dashner does keep the plot twists coming, pretty much every chapter. That, however, is where part of my issue with the series comes from.
It's ALL conflict. Every single twist, turn, plot event, line of dialogue...there is NOTHING happy in this series so far. I understand the importance of conflict in a story, believe me. I am a writing teacher, and in Creative Writing I right now, we are talking about the absolute necessity of a well-developed conflict in our stories. However, we also talked about how you have to let good things (no matter how small) happen to your characters every now and then in order to keep your reader satisfied. Warning - potential spoiler alert ahead: For example, last night as I was reading, I thought maybe Thomas was going to be happily reunited with Theresa and maybe a teeny bit of joy could exist in Thomas' world for 10 seconds, but NO. Of course not. Theresa says to Thomas, "'Get away from me, Tom...all of you need to get...away...from me. Don't argue. Just leave. Run.' Her neck tensed with the effort to get those last few words out" (116). For those of you who would counter this quote and say, "but she's doing it to protect him!" yes, I realize that, but it's still not a happy situation for Thomas to have to leave her. So there.
Speaking of the conflict, here is the "official" movie trailer. I know lots of you have already seen the movie, and I'm looking forward to doing so myself soon!
I will definitely finish The Scorch Trials because I'm too invested NOT to at this point, but I don't know if I will continue on with the rest of the series. Those of you who have read it - give me your opinions! Should I keep going? Will I be rewarded with happiness at some point, or will I continue to be put through the emotional roller coaster that is this series? I look forward to your comments!
I'm reading this series too and am nearly done with the first book. Thanks for warning that there was a spoiler so I was able to stop reading! And I agree, it seems like all of the characters are always getting some bad news... and I'm only on the first book. I can't wait to finish it and move on to the next one!
ReplyDeleteI never read this book, but I saw the movie on Sunday, so that sort of continues with my pattern of seeing the movie first. I'm actually getting sick of the whole idea of a dystopian teen novel and now. I loved the Hunger Games, the whole idea of Divergent seemed kind of boring and the maze Runner, well, listening to that teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off would have been more fun then the movie.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the Maze Runner or seen the movie but the mention of many plot twists makes me want to read the books! I love plot twists. I love being fooled by the author. In my mind, plot twists are just another way to see a potential outcome of the situation presented. Can't wait to read this series!
ReplyDeleteI finished to series, and the ending is definitely not what you would expect. Plot twists everywhere but yes, keep reading. Its worth it, my favorite series. Also you should notice the foreshadow that Thomas is not giving up on Theresa even when she is pushing him away. Things will also get gruesome and sad but there will be happy moments, almost as if its a war being fought against a disease.
ReplyDeleteI just started the first book of that series and it seems pretty good so far. I'll have to see what you mean as I read more into the book. So far, nothing has been told to us, so there hasn't been any good or bad, which is a bit confusing because I don't know what to feel. I'm excited to see what the main conflict is and what surprises the author has for us.
ReplyDeleteI've read the whole series and now that I think about it, there is a lot of bad stuff happening to all of the characters. I'm actually not really sure that there are any really legitimate happy parts in the series.
ReplyDeleteI just started reading the first book and so far, the author hasn't really told us anything, which is wierd because I don't know how to feel other than confused. I am excited because I love conflict in books and I can't wait to see what surprizes the author has in store for us!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I read this series about a year ago, and I still like learning about the book. I completely agree with you on all of the plot twists and struggles in the book, there is really only one happy moment in each book which just ends up being bad or dangerous. I'm happy to see that you are enjoying this book, and really recommend that you finish the series, it is one of my top favorites next to the Percy Jackson series. Make sure to keep us posted, I would like to know how you feel about the ending!
ReplyDeleteI have not read the book but it seems really good. I will have to add that to my list of books to read in the future. the movie also looks good and since I am the kind of person who usually likes the movie more than the book i might actually end up watching that first.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I decided to start reading this book. I finished yesterday and partially agree with you. I think this story didn't have any happy scenes, but it was less noticeable because Dashner tried to involve humor into this book. Chuck, for example, who I thought was a pretty funny character. I also think that there are some popular movies and TV shows in which there are no happy scenes. For example, the movie Gravity. The movies had one of the highest ratings of all time, so I decided to go and watch it. In this movie, nothing good happened to Susanne Bullock. Everything kept going wrong for her, and she was a really unlucky person. Even with the lack of unhappy scenes, I really liked this book and will definitely read the next one, as soon as I get it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this series yet but I've seen a lot written about it. There are a few different takes on it and I think this is a unique perspective compared to others out there. Unfortunately, as always I've been left wondering if I should pick up the book!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I was planning on reading the Maze Runner series, but for some reason I can't bring myself to it. That's a really big pet peeve of mine, when there is way too much conflict in a story. I feel like its so much harder to connect to the main character, and it makes the story so unrealistic and a little annoying to read, to be honest. So i can see where you're coming from.
ReplyDeleteI finished this about two months or so ago, and I remember having the same talk with my grandma about how there is NO happy in his life for the majority of it. Also how everyone is upset or not happy with someone or something. I had to start making a list every chapter of every conflict so I can keep it straight. I personally LOVE conflict in a book but I even found it too much, and I can easily relate to you with that.
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