Review for the Book I Had Read Prior to the Book I Had Planned to Review

by Peter M.

The Death Cure is the third installment in James Dashner's The Maze Runner series. The series is unique and interesting in the fact that throughout this post-apocalyptic, science fiction series the reader only knows information that the protagonists know and only discovers new information as the protagonists discover it. The series begins in the first book where the protagonist, Thomas, wakes up in a maze full of other teenaged boys remembering nothing but his name. The series follows their struggle to escape the maze, to cope with what they discover about the outside world, and to overcome the obstacles the they face as they work to gain their freedom from the organization that put them in the maze, WICKED. The Death Cure follows the events that occur after they finally escape to the outside world and as they try to bring down WICKED and gain freedom from the long arm of the organization once and for all.

The fact that the reader only knows the information that the protagonists know works very well in this series as in the beginning of the series the reader is completely left in the dark as to what is happening in the outside world. This causes the reader to stay on the edge of their seats as they want to discover more about the world. The first book only drops small hints about the outside world throughout the book as the characters learn the information. The series does such a good job at keeping a sense of mystery about the outside world, that the reader cannot even tell that the world is a post-apocalyptic, science fiction one until the end of the first book. This sense of mystery about the world and the fact that the reader only has the knowledge of the protagonists allows for Dashner to take unexpected twists and turns in the plot. He is also able to make the reader make certain judgments and question the judgments through misinformation or a lack of information gained by the protagonists.

Throughout his series, Dashner executes this sense of mystery very well. The story as well as the information gained by the reader is very well thought out. Dashner also does a good job of giving insight into the mind of his protagonist, Thomas. The fact that the reader only has the information Thomas has allows the reader to sympathize with him. However, I feel that at times the characters are indecisive in their relationships. Also, the story can leave the reader a bit confused as to who to believe within the story and plays on the misinformation a bit too much. The ending of the story feels abrupt instead of wrapping up nicely it leaves many loose ends and unanswered questions. The ending does resolve the character's struggles to escape WICKED, although the manner in which it does so is a bit deus ex machina, but it does not resolve the overarching problems and questions about the outside world that the characters discover as they escape. The story seems to abandon the outside world, leaving an unsatisfying resolution. The ending feels like it was made to set up the story for continuation when it really should have been ended in this book.

Overall, I enjoyed the series and the book. I found James Dashner's style of writing interesting. The Maze Runner series makes for a good lighter read. If you are looking for a series that would be a lighter read while also remaining serious at times, you should read it.