Please avoid the rest of this post if you have no interest in the Maze Runner series (by James Dashner) and do not want to hear my pointless ramblings about why I love it so much.
There are four books so far in the Maze Runner series. The main three being (in order): 'The Maze Runner', 'The Scorch Trials' and 'The Death Cure'. The first three books follow the same main characters throughout.
There is also a prequel book, 'The Kill Order', set 13 years before 'The Maze Runner', following a different set of characters in the same world. I don't want to give any spoilers, but 'The Kill Order' aims to explain the situation that sparks the plot for the other three books, and sets the scene of what the world is like.
James Dashner is also releasing a fifth book, 'The Fever Code', in 2016 (though I don't know how I'm supposed to wait that long). 'The Fever Code' will be set in between 'The Kill Order' and 'The Maze Runner', a second prequel, if you will. The book will follow the same main characters from 'The Maze Runner' and the next two books. I am unaware of when the story starts in their childhoods, but it ends as, or just before, Thomas enters the maze.
As you can see from the picture above, my copy of 'The Maze Runner' doesn't match the rest of the series, but I couldn't not get the movie cover. I am going to buy the first book to match the rest of the series, because I am an obsessive and need multiple versions of the same book. I have my eye on at least three variants of 'The Maze Runner' cover.
'The Maze Runner', 'The Scorch Trials' and 'The Death Cure' are told from the point of view of our main character, Thomas. I am only going to do the briefest of summaries, because I don't want to give any spoilers. Thomas wakes up a lift, plunking him in the middle of a maze inhabited only by teenage boys. All the boys have had their memories wiped, aside from their names, and they have no clue why they are in the maze, their purpose there, or who put them there. And that is all I can say.
What I love about this series, and what I find really interesting, is the fact that the reader knows just as much as the characters- which is absolutely nothing. Because the story is told from Thomas' point of view- and because he has had his memory wiped- everything he discovers is also new to the reader. Whereas stories like the 'Hunger Games' have a brief summary of the world the characters are living in, and why the world leaders act as they do, there is none of this with the Maze Runner. I'm explaining it awfully, but I love the way the reader is just as clueless as the characters, and I love the way we get to discover everything with them. You are left with some unanswered questions, though I think 'The Fever Code' is meant to clear some of them up. The whole series is a major mind fuck.
I am a major hypocrite and I did watch the movie first- though I went and bought the book the day after. The film of 'The Maze Runner' came out in September 2014, and I have got to say that the whole cast is beautiful. There are some differences between the book and the film, though I am okay with this as there are some complicated parts to the book that would have ruined the film by keeping them in. The second film, 'The Scorch Trials', is coming out in September 2015, and I am beyond excited.
In reference to the characters, I just love them all so much, each one holds a very special place in my heart. Minho is my favourite character, and though he is great in 'The Maze Runner', you have to wait until 'The Scorch Trials' before he really comes into his own, and then he is just fantastic. The whole Maze Runner series has fortified my belief that I actually prefer teenage boys as characters to girls.
I just love this series so much, some of the dialogue made me laugh out loud, and I cried at least once in each of the four books. I can't express my love for this series enough, it's up there in my favourite books of all time.
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