How does Dashner patch them up? Telepathy! Seriously. Thomas, who has always been slightly unlikeable and jerky becomes even more unlikeable and jerky, and the plot holes start opening up like the really bad similes peppered throughout the narrative. Just keeping the haters at bay.)įor those of you paying attention, here's where the running into a brick wall metaphor arrives full gale.ĭashner, whose prose has heretofore been mediocre but serviceable, completely fails his audience.

And because I advise you not to read this book, you should click them. (From here on I'm covering up 'spoilers', even though I think they're total nonsense and hilariously awful. They talk like teenagers, they (generally) act like teenagers, and they form cliques and factions the way teenagers would. The constant psychological mystery keeps nagging doubts at bay and the variety of personalities that populate the Glade is totally believable. Let's just say one untrustworthy soul is unwittingly tossed into the Maze at night and then a girl (not a boy!!!!!!!!) suspiciously arrives the day after Thomas.Īll of this, despite the Unnecessary Capitalization and the boys using completely pointless terminology like klunk and shuckface, is totally kitty fantastico. Find A New Stylistic Approach That I Can Later Become Exasperated With.Īnyway, Thomas' situation is bleak, made bleaker when a number of unfortunate coincidences causes him to bear witness to some truly awful acts of violence. What Is It With Authors Of Dystopian Novels Capitalizing Really Important Words? It's Annoying. They can also sting you, which causes much mayhem and requires the administering of Grief Serum, which triggers the Changing. These are half slug/half woodshop tools that enjoy slicing and dicing apart anyone unfortunate to encounter them. During the day, the Maze is (kinda sorta) safe. The Glade is surrounded by stupendously tall walls, outside of which lays the Maze. He remembers nothing, and the boys are uncooperative, refusing to reveal any details regarding their home, the Glade. Thomas, our empty-shell-of-a-protagonist is thrust, via the Box, into a curious and unfriendly world populated by dozens of teenage boys.

The first half of James Dashner's The Maze Runner maintains a superbly frantic pace. I guess this is kind of like Lot's wife looking back on Sodom only to be turned into a pillar of salt.Īnd it is also kind of like reading The Maze Runner. You know how sometimes you're running really fast from a horrible creature and, in a moment of panic, you turn around to see how close it is only to run straight into a brick wall?īut that inattention to detail would probably totally screw you over because a.) now you're knocked unconscious and b.) the creature is going to devour you.

The scorch trials james dashner