The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Reviewed by Ambrea

Thomas has no memory of who he is or where he was before he reached the Glade.  He knows only his name, and he knows he was meant to be a Runner in the maze that surrounds them, protects them, and, ultimately, traps them.  However, shortly after Thomas arrives, someone else is delivered to the Glade:  a girl, the first girl ever to arrive in the maze.  She has a message to deliver—and the world as they know it will change forever.

The Maze Runner is a quick, suspenseful read with an intriguing concept.  James Dashner’s novel falls into the vein of The Hunger Games, pitting young individuals against seemingly insurmountable odds; however, it also calls upon William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, creating an interesting blend of survival-horror and science-fiction and dystopian-apocalyptic genres.  Moreover, Dashner manages to give it his own twist by adding a maze, a group of intelligent and strikingly self-sufficient adolescents, and a number of sinister creatures known as Grievers.

The Maze Runner is a novel worth perusing, at least once, but I can’t say I would read it a second time or readily pursue the rest of Dashner’s series.  Although I enjoyed parts of the novel, it couldn’t my attention for very long.  I was dissatisfied by the conclusion of The Maze Runner, which left too many questions unanswered and too many mysteries lingering, and I thought the end of the novel felt eerily familiar.

Honestly, I was surprised by how much The Maze Runner resembled The Lord of the Flies.  I found it strange how Chuck, Thomas’s closest friend and confidante, mirrored Piggy from Golding’s novel.  They possess similar attributes, often developing identical attitudes and sharing similar fates, and they form relationships with the main character that run parallel to one another.  Their similarities were peculiar and, confidentially, disappointing.  After a while, The Maze Runner started to feel like a remake of The Lord of the Flies set in a post-apocalyptic future.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Reviewed by  Meygan

From my own reading experience, I would say that there are two types of “good” books. The first category consists of books that you take your time reading because you want the story to last forever. Then there’s the second category. This category is comprised of books that you read within 24 hours, taking the risk of falling asleep at work or school the next day because your love for the book has become almost an addiction and you can’t function without knowing what happen next. This, my friends, is the category where the YA novel The Maze Runner by James Dashner belongs. I was hooked within the first two chapters. By the time I reached the half point of the book, I realized that World War III could have happened outside and it still wouldn’t have pulled my attention away from The Maze Runner. 

As the book opens, a young man named Thomas wakes up alone in a crate. He is startled, to say the least.  He also realizes that his memory has been erased. He is lifted up through a concrete-looking tunnel, only to be greeted by the sun and a group of guys he does not know peeking down at him. The guys poke fun at Thomas, calling him “Greenie” (a term for the “new guy on the block”), but they do at least help him out of the crate. When lifted out of the crate, Thomas notices something is peculiar about the forest setting he stands in—the entire area is surrounded by stone-like walls. When he questions what the walls are for, one of the guys inform Thomas that the walls are a maze which open and close. They go on to explain that during the day, the walls to the maze open, allowing enough time for the “runners” (a group of the fastest runners that are voted in by the others) to try and find a way to escape the maze. Thomas is full of question: why are they in the maze? Who put them there? How can they escape? 

Unfortunately, no one has the answers to those questions However, Thomas is warned to never walk outside of the maze’s walls. Only the runners are allowed to leave during the day, and if they aren’t back by a night then the walls will close, leaving them to face the “grievers” (a semi-mechanical monster) that lurk the walls of the maze. Thomas is told that no one has ever stayed a night outside of the maze and survived. 

Do the anyone survive the maze? If so, how? If not, who will pick up the pieces and try to find a way out of the maze? Also, even though everyone’s memory has been erased, some of the guys do have recollections of their past. One boy in particular recalls that his life before the maze isn’t something he wishes to return to, leaving him to wonder if he should leave with the others or stay in the maze. There is a catch to remaining in the maze though—eventually the grievers will pick the boys off one by one if they stay. Do any of the guys choose to remain in the maze and take their chances with the grievers? Or will they fight the grievers and escape? Is escape even possible? Who has put them there and why? All these questions should keep you turning pages. 

I cannot finish a book if I don’t like or can’t relate to any of the characters. I’m sure I have passed on great reading opportunities because I just couldn’t set aside my hatred for the characters. Luckily I did not have this experience while reading The Maze Runner. Thomas, the main character, is very likeable and there were parts where I literally cheered for him. For example, Thomas forgets the rule of not leaving the maze when two of the guys are on the outside of the maze—one limping from an injury and the other trying to carry his partner. The boys know they will never get through the walls in time, but the one guy refuses to leave his injured friend’s side.  Thomas, despite the boys’ pleading, begins to run, barely making it through the maze in time. (This is the part where I cheered out loud while sitting, thankfully alone, in the staff lounge, shouting cries of, “Yes!”, “Hurry! Run!” and other words that I do not wish to mention.) Although Thomas isn’t the “leader” per se, I would have to say that he certainly becomes the leader when the others give up. 

What I enjoyed the most about this book was the characters. The setting was cool, too. I couldn’t help but to think of The Maze Runner as being a modern version of The Lord of the Flies. If I had three thumbs, I would give The Maze Runner three thumbs up. I hope to finish the complete series in the near future. Maybe then all my questions will be answered as well!

Nevermore: Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, Roger Tory Peterson, Brandi, and Otzi!

Reported by Meygan

The Sirens of the Titan by Kurt Vonnegut was the first book Nevermore discussed on October 1st. This science fiction novel will take readers through space and time. Wicked, filthy rich Malachi Constant is presented the choice to travel through space and visit different worlds. Of course, this story wouldn’t be complete with a beautiful woman on his arm. Like all too-good-to-be-true propositions, there is a catch. Science fiction fans will love this tale of Martians, space, and prophetic visions. Although he hasn’t yet finished the book, our reader is enjoying it so far because even though the story is somewhat crazy, the book does a good job demonstrating human situations in a science fiction setting. 

Elizabeth Spencer’s collection of short stories titled Starting Over was also discussed in Nevermore. When asked if the short stories had anything in common (i.e. all love stories, horror, etc.), the reader stated the stories are simply about life. This book contains nine of Spencer’s short stories. All of the stories reveal family flaws and some focus on how one may piece together a broken home.

The third book discussed was Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God. Set in East Tennessee’s Sevier County, Child of God is a grotesque tale about a man who is a squatter and inhabits backwoods, seeking victims. The reader didn’t want to give a lot away since there were a few people in Nevermore who wanted to read this book, but he did say that the main character is a killer. The reader enjoys this book because of the language and how the story is told. This book can be compared to A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannary O’Conner, and the reader believes it would be interesting to read them beside of each other. The reader enjoyed Child of God So Much that he wants to read McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men just to see the language and how it is written. Child of God does feature a lot of violence, so be prepared as a reader to deal with gore. But, according to the reader, the writing is almost poetic and is certainly worth reading. McCarthy’s The Road was a recommended read as well. 

Birdwatcher by Roger Tory Peterson was highly praised by one of our Nevermore readers. While people may know Peterson’s name, very few know what he did. Birdwatcher is a biography about Peterson’s life and how he was the first person to create a field guide for bird watching and bird identifying. The reader discussed how in 1913, people were becoming aware that the Passenger pigeons were diminishing. Peterson helped spread recognition of why birds were becoming extinct. Before Peterson’s field guide, people mainly learned about birds from museums, but his field guide came at a crucial time for people who fancied birds. According to the reader, Peterson urged people to grab their camera and/or binoculars to watch the birds because they were fascinating. His findings focused on birds in the wild, which he encouraged people to study. Not only was Peterson notorious for developing the bird guides, but he was an artist as well. (I bet readers can’t guess what his paintings centered around!) If you guessed birds, then you would be 100% correct. Birdwatcher was described as being a warm, sympathetic biography. The reader also liked that in the book there were pictures of Peterson painting birds. Another Nevermore reader commented that Peterson made people realize that birds are meant to be enjoyed and not killed. This led to a discussion about the possible extinct of the Monarch butterfly and the cause of the butterflies diminishing. 

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is a popular book, especially with young adults. One of our Nevermore readers enjoyed the dystopian tale of a boy named Thomas who wakes up in the middle of a maze with no recollection how he got there or anything else about his past.  Thomas and the group of guys in the maze must decide how they are going to escape before whatever roams outside the maze kills everyone. However, some of the boys start to remember the world before they were placed in the maze, and they are left wondering whether or not they want to reside in their new “home” or face a world that has come to an end. According to the reader, this science fiction young adult novel does a great job with using building and using character development to hook readers from the first chapter until the very last sentence. The reader highly recommends this book to those who liked The Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games. 

The next book discussed was Drinking and Tweeting and Other Brandi Blunders by Brandi Glanville. If you are a fan of the TV show The Real Housewives, then you have already been introduced to unfiltered Brandi Glanville—a woman who lost her husband to Leann Rimes. The reader stated that if someone liked celebrity gossip then this was the book for them! While the reader hasn’t finished Drinking and Tweeting, she has liked what she has read so far. When asked if the reader thought Glanville wrote this book for revenge, the reader replied that she thought it was written for money but also for awareness about celebrity relationships. Glanville does not hold back on her cheating, no good ex-husband, but most of her bitter words are saved for Leann Rimes. Thanks to Glanville’s offensive language and laugh-out-loud moments, readers will appreciate this piece of celebrity sleaze. 

A Nevermore reader recommended a book she purchased at the library’s book sale titled The Iceman. This is the true story of Otzi, a man who was discovered in the Otztal Alps of Europe in 1991. He is well-known for being Europe’s oldest natural human mummy. What the reader found so interesting about the book is that it revolves around many scientists in many different fields working together to preserve Otzi’s body.  Readers of European history, mummies, and non-fiction should enjoy this book!

Books into Movies 2014: Pam's Take

Several of the highly touted films for this fall are based on books. Increasingly Young Adult books are the source of these films, which leads our Pam to both delight and despair:  delight when one is well adapted and despair when it isn’t.  Pam loves both YA books and movies, so she’s the perfect source for opinions.  Anyone who knows Pam knows that she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, so here are some of her takes on some recent YA films from books:

The Giver, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, and Katie Holmes

Young Jonas has a perfect life in a perfect world.  No war. No fear. No pain. Life is worry free because every person is assigned a particular occupation within the community, leaving no room for competition or trouble. When Jonas meets an elderly man called the Giver, his life changes forever as he begins to see the world is not quite what he had believed it to be.

The movie was based on the classic book The Giver by Lois Lowry.  The book won the Newbery Award when it came out in 1993 and has been a favorite ever since. Lowry has since written three other books set in the same society, Gathering Blue, Messenger and Son.

Pam:  Oh, the disappointment!! I had such high hopes for this film.  The book is wonderful, and they somehow just didn’t get it right.  The age of the kids was a problem for me—they’re much younger in the book—and they changed the ending completely.  Read the book. 

The Maze Runner, starring Dylan O’Brien, Aml Ameen, Ki Hong Lee

When Thomas awakens in the middle of a maze with a group of guys he does not know, he is disturbed to discover that he has no recollection of how he got there or anything else from his past. What Thomas does know is that the maze is not a place for fun or comfort. In this dystopian young adult novel, the group will be forced to survive the horrors that rest inside the maze, all while figuring out how, and if, they can escape.  

The Maze Runner by James Dasher is the first of a trilogy, and based on the reception of the first film, we can expect adaptations of the other two books, Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. Dasher has also written a prequel to The Maze Runner entitled Kill Order.  

Pam: This is, hands down, the BEST adaptation of a YA book to film.  It’s better than the Hunger Games.  I knew this one was going to be big. For one thing, Dylan O’Brien is very popular and a very good little actor.  For another thing, it’s a boy’s movie.  So many of the dystopian books have featured female main characters, and this one doesn’t.  It’s easier to draw boys into this one.  The acting was exceptional, and the story really moved.  You were right there with that kid all the way. It is a great, great movie.  Now, some of my kids who read the book were disappointed because the movie left some things out, but I thought it was great.  Really, the book is another take on Lord of the Flies.  If I were an English teacher today, I’d have the kids read those two books together.  Highly, highly recommended!

If I Stay, starring Chloe Grace Moretz

Mia Hall’s life is drastically changed after a car accident puts her in a coma. An out-of-body experience lets Mia see just how different her life will be if she chooses to wake up. Will she choose to accept her fate or will she choose an unknown future that will be completely different from her previous life? 

The movie is based on the book of the same title by Gayle Forman and has been embraced by a lot of teen readers as well as their parents. There is a sequel, Where She Went.

Pam:  I was pleased with this one as a whole.  It was true to the spirit of the book and Chloe did a good job with the part.  

Mockingjay, Part 1 starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman

The adaptation of the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy, as if you didn’t know! Katniss has survived the Hunger Games twice, but now she faces an even greater test with even higher odds.  The Capital blames her for the unrest and intends to punish not just Katniss but those she loves. With Peeta held hostage, Katriss must decide how much she is willing to sacrifice.

Many credit Suzanne Collins with starting the recent wave of dystopian YA novels; after all, The Hunger Games was not only a best-seller but was the basis for a blockbuster movie.  The sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay both proved equally popular in print and film—so popular that the final book is split into two movies, with part one scheduled for November 2014 and part two for 2015.  

Pam:  I’m really curious about this one.  Mockingjay was my least favorite book in this series, but the trailer looks really good.  I have enjoyed the Hunger Games movies.  I think they’ve done a good job with them.  Now, another film I’m looking forward to is Insurgent, based on the second book in the Veronica Roth dystopian series (Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant). Insurgent was my favorite book in that series, but the movie doesn’t come out until 2015.  They did a pretty good job with the first one, and Shailene Woodley is a fine actor. She gave a good performance in The Fault in Our Stars, which was another good YA movie and of course she nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in The Descendants.

Read 'Em Before You See 'Em: Young Adult Books

The rush to turn Young Adult books into movies has not abated! Many adults are discovering that YA books can definitely be worth reading:  a good book is a good book. Here are some upcoming movies based on YA books coming to a theater near you:

·         “If I Stay” is the story of a young woman who is in a coma after an accident. She sees her life as it was, where she is now, and must make a choice: to face a very different life or to go to the light. The book (and its sequel, Where She Went) is by Gayle Forman and is a teen favorite.  The movie opens August 22.

·          “The Maze Runner” is based on the YA series by James Dasher.  Thomas awakens in a glade inside a maze, but has no memory of anything before.  He’s one of a group of boys struggling to survive and to find a way out in this futuristic movie due in theatres this September.  It joins the very popular “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” series as a big budget movie with strong teen following. It’s coming to theaters September 19.

·         Speaking of “Hunger Games,” the final book has been split into two movies.  “Mockingjay, Part I” is scheduled for release on Nov. 21.

·         “The Giver” stars Jeff Bridges in an adaptation of the award-winning book by Lois Lowry.  Jonas lives in a seeming idyllic community where everyone gets along and there is no war or suffering. Then he is singled out to be given the memories and secrets of his world from an old man known as The Giver.  The book came out in 1993 and became an instant classic. Let’s hope the movie does it justice! We’ll find out starting August 15.

·         “White Bird in a Blizzard” is based on the novel by Laura Kasischke. Sixteen year old Evie is trying to move into adulthood, struggling to escape the tightly proscribed world her parents have created.  Then her mother disappears. Shailene Woodley and Christopher Meloni star, and the opening is scheduled for September 25.

        While YA books seem to be the most prized for movies, children’s books have made their own impression.  Recent titles turned into film have included “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” and William Joyce’s "Epic" which was based on his book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.   Next up will be “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” based on the book by poet Judith Viorst. Viorst wrote the book after noticing that  her youngest son, Alexander, was prone to having "bad days."  The book became a musical play, and now it's going to be a movie.   Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner star in the family comedy which opens October 10.