The Maze Runner

I just finished the book 'The Maze Runner' by James Dashner and I gotta tell you, I was pretty impressed.

A friend of mine said that the plot--a maze that the protagonist has to get out of--was pretty used up, but I honestly have never read one. Of course, I'm just starting to delve into this whole darker side of speculative fiction, so I may not be the best judge of these things.

The one drawback of the writing style is that Dashner uses the word 'curious' (or variants of it) a lot. It's kind of like Robert Jordan's fascination with eyes (please tell me I'm not the only one whose ever noticed that).

So, what song did I choose to go with the Maze Runner?

Well... let me back up a bit and tell you more about this book. Let's see if I can do it in three sentences, just for fun:

Boy wakes up in a new place with no memory beyond his name, Thomas. After only a day Thomas starts to make some connections--one, he's in a maze with a bunch of other boys and two, he's pretty sure he recognizes everything and three. Within a week of his arrival, things start going down hill fast and it becomes apparent that Thomas is some sort of catalyst.

Did I do a good job?

Snippet from the book, you say? Well, alright:

   "Out there's the Maze." Alby jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, then paused. Thomas stared in that direction, through the gap in the walls that served as an exit from the Glade. The corridors out there looked much the same as the ones he'd seen from the window by the East Door early that morning. This thought gave him a chill, made him wonder if a Griever might come charging toward them at any minute. He took a step backward before realizing what he was doing. Calm down, he chided himself, embarrassed.
   Alby continued. "Two years, I've been here. Ain't none been here longer. The few before me are already dead." Thomas felt his eyes widen, his heart quicken. "Two years we've tried to solve this thing, no luck. Shuckin' walls move out there at night just as much as these here doors. Mappin' it out ain't easy, ain't easy nohow."

Now I'll tell you what song I picked.

Bring Me To Life by Evanescence. I couldn't stop thinking of how well it fit, not just the words, but the entire tone of the song. The story is about these kids who have no clue who they are, and all they really want is to figure out how to get out and home. Their memories are wiped clean, their lives are completely empty. They become, essentially, nothings. No history and no foreseeable future. Bring Me To Life... just worked.

"I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without a thought without a voice without a soul
Don't let me die here
There must be something more
Bring me to life

Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I’ve become"

The book is the first in a trilogy--the second of which (The Scorch Trials) comes out October 12, 2010. I am excited to see it out, hopefully my library will pick it up soon after that so I won't have to buy both books... because, really, who wants to own the second book in a series without the first?

Books: The Maze Runner by James Dashner
           The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Other noted Authors: Robert Jordan

Music: Bring Me to Life by Evanescence