I've always loved a good adventure story. The mystery, the adrenaline rushes, the excitement, the discovery, and getting to know the characters is what I read books and watch anime for. So, when I heard about a series called Maze Runner, it sounded like the adventure series that I've waiting for since I finished Harry Potter and Percy Jackson (don't get me started on the sequel series...but that's besides the point). Though, I did go in with some doubts; I had tried to read another book by the same author, and wasn't able to finish it. After reading the entire series, well...I was partially correct? Sit back, relax, and read on as I review the Maze Runner series by James Dashner. This will not include the prequel, The Kill Order. That will get a separate review eventually.
The Setup:
Thomas has no memories. He wakes up in a dark box, that for whatever reason is moving upwards. When the box stops, it opens, revealing a clearing filled with around 50 boys. They welcome him to the Glade, a patch of land surrounded by moving walls, known as the Maze. The only way out is to solve the Maze. And from there, well, stuff REALLY begins to go wrong, and these events may cost everyone their lives. The best aspect about this setup is how simple yet enticing it is. You are given little to no information until around the halfway point, but it's never frustrating because the characters don't really know any more than you do. The amnesia aspect really adds to this mystery, and while it has admittedly been done to death, it always seems to work for me. Not to say that you can't mess up an amnesia story, because you can, but my point is that the story element of amnesia is a gold mine of character conflicts and mystery. Speaking of characters...
The Characters:
The characters are the definitely the weakest part of the Maze Runner trilogy. Not to say that they're bad per say, but a good majority of them have pretty flat personalities. Firstly, Thomas. He's basically the definition of a generic main character. He's polite, smart, quick on his feet, considerate of others, cautious, and is an overall nice guy. I wish the book focused more on Thomas's past, because the past Thomas seemed completely different from and a lot more interesting than present Thomas. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the amnesia aspect of Thomas' character is the only interesting thing about him. To compare him to Samantha from Don't Look Back, who also had amnesia, you got to learn about her old self, but you also get to see her develop into practically a different person, learning from her mistakes and moving on as she pieced together her own mystery. In Thomas' case, the mystery of who he was before was never solved. I suppose it is in the prequel, but that's irrelevant because The Kill Order is an extraneous addition to the original trilogy; in other words, it shouldn't be necessary for the prequel to answer every single open-ended question, and trust me, there are a LOT of them. As for the other characters, I liked them, but none were very deep or complex. A lot of them do die, and not just side characters either; a couple main ones get killed, and yes, the final book did make me shed a tear at one particularly cruel death. So, while the characters aren't the most developed, they're decent.
The Story:
Oh, boy, the story. Firstly, the pacing is pretty much flawless, except for the slower start of the second book, which in all honesty is because I wasn't able to just sit down and read it for around a week. The story also threw me for a loop quite a few times. The plot holes, however, are ginormous due to the earlier problem of not looking into Thomas' past. I'm going to have to spoil some plot points to explain myself, so if you don't want to be spoiled then skip to the Writing Style/Grammar section. Okay, here goes:
The main issue within the story is why Wicked put humanity's last hope through all those trials, like the Maze and the Scorch. What exactly were they trying to accomplish other than basically killing everybody off? I know that it was to study their brain patterns in different situations, but always putting them in situations of near death would most likely get the same results: "Oh god, I was just in a dangerous situation! Well, I must persevere!" I also know that they were trying to get the strong to survive and kill off the weak, but that, in all honesty, is a terrible idea. The majority of the group are immune to the Flare (the disease that ravages the world within the book), so why is a good idea to kill them off? They're humanity's last freaking hope! Let them be, and study those who have the disease to see if you could find any way to stop it! If that doesn't work, find a willing Immune that wants to save humanity and put him or her through different trials that DON'T involve certain death! It would certainly be a lot easier, and you wouldn't have to take children from their families, blind them with propaganda, and then wipe their memories so they'd complete some tests! The entire idea of the Maze, the Scorch Trials, they're all a huge waste of time! If Wicked wanted to find a cure, whose bright idea was it to try and kill off mankind's only hope? I'd like to have a talk with them, so that I could tell them that they're goddamn insane. Oh, and there's also that ending. Not to spoil anything, but the ending is one of the worst that I've come across in a very long time. Which is saying something.
The Writing Style/Grammatical Errors:
The writing style is probably my favorite part of Maze Runner, aside from the addictive pacing. It had a way of hooking you in and creating elaborate settings, along getting into the minds and emotions of characters. It also didn't linger on irrelevance, which is a plus. The action scenes were written beautifully, using tense and suspenseful language and keeping my eyed glued to the page. I couldn't find any grammatical errors, aside from some character dialogue, but I get the feeling that was on purpose.
ScoreCard:
Final Judgment:
While not exactly the amazing adventure story that I expected due to flat characters and lackluster explanations, I still really enjoyed the Maze Runner trilogy. Its writing style, addictive story that twists and turns, and a unique setting makes the books worth reading. I give The Maze Runner a 3.5 out of 5, The Scorch Trials a 3 out of 5, The Death Cure a 2.5 out of 5, and the overall trilogy a 3 out of 5. If I were basing this off of enjoyment, the books would get a 4 out of 5, but as a critic, I can't really give them any higher. But, like always, it's up to you to decide your own opinions.
Further Recommendations:
Morpheus Road
Another book series with an amazing plot in the first book but then gets progressively more messy and confusing as it goes on, I would argue that the series as a whole is better crafted then Maze Runner, but suffers from some of the same issues. It's still a great book series, though...except for the third book...
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Probably my favorite adventure series of all time. Not sure if older people would like it, but these books hold a lot of nostalgic value for me, as they really are the books that got me into reading and crave adventure.
I've already made an announcement as to what the next review will be. See you on Sunday!
No comments:
Post a Comment