The Maze Runner

For the electronic design routing method, see Maze Runner. For the film based on the book, see The Maze Runner (film).
For other uses, see The Maze Runner (disambiguation).

The Maze Runner
2009 edition cover
AuthorJames Dashner
Cover artistPhilip Straub
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Maze Runner series
GenreYoung adult, science fiction, post-apocalyptic
PublishedOctober 6, 2009
PublisherDelacorte Press
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book
Pages375 pp.[1]
ISBN978-0-385-73794-4 (first edition, hardcover)
OCLC299381315
LC ClassPZ7.D2587Maz 2009[1]
Preceded byThe Fever Code (in narrative order) 
Followed byThe Scorch Trials[2] 

The Maze Runner is a 2009 dystopian novel by American author James Dashner. It takes place in a world suffering from a coronal mass ejection and whose surviving civilians fight to avoid an apocalyptic illness called the Flare. It is written from the perspective of Thomas, a 16-year-old boy who wakes up with no memories inside an artificially produced maze. An organization called WICKED controls the world politically, seeks a cure to the Flare, and uses the youngest generation of civilians who are immune to it as test subjects.

The book received critical acclaim from major reviewers and authors. It won the Young Adult Library Services Association Best Fiction for Young Adults award in 2011,[3] is a #1 New York Times Best Seller and was on the list for 148 weeks,[4] and was a Kirkus Reviews Teen Book of the Year. The Maze Runner is a popular pick by educators teaching middle-grade readers in schools.

The novel was published in 2009 by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House with cover art by Philip Straub. The Maze Runner is the first novel in The Maze Runner series, followed by The Scorch Trials (2010) and The Death Cure (2011). A film adaptation, directed by Wes Ball, was released in 2014 by 20th Century Fox and stars Dylan O’Brien as Thomas.

  1. ^ a b "The maze runner" (first edition). LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  2. ^ Shill, Aaron (25 November 2009). "'Maze Runner' on 'right track'". Deseret Morning News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  3. ^ "2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association. American Library Association. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Children's & Young Adult Series Books - Best Sellers - Books". The New York Times. 23 August 2015. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 September 2024.