December 4, 2013
You know how sometimes you're running really fast from a horrible creature and, in a moment of panic, you turn around to see how close it is only to run straight into a brick wall?
No?
I don't know what that's like either.
But that inattention to detail would probably totally screw you over because a.) now you're knocked unconscious and b.) the creature is going to devour you. Good job.
I guess this is kind of like Lot's wife looking back on Sodom only to be turned into a pillar of salt.
And it is also kind of like reading The Maze Runner.
Stick with me.
The first half of James Dashner's The Maze Runner maintains a superbly frantic pace. Thomas, our empty-shell-of-a-protagonist is thrust, via the Box, into a curious and unfriendly world populated by dozens of teenage boys. He remembers nothing, and the boys are uncooperative, refusing to reveal any details regarding their home, the Glade. The Glade is surrounded by stupendously tall walls, outside of which lays the Maze. During the day, the Maze is (kinda sorta) safe. But at night, the Grievers emerge. These are half slug/half woodshop tools that enjoy slicing and dicing apart anyone unfortunate to encounter them. They can also sting you, which causes much mayhem and requires the administering of Grief Serum, which triggers the Changing.
SIDEBAR!
What Is It With Authors Of Dystopian Novels Capitalizing Really Important Words? It's Annoying. Find A New Stylistic Approach That I Can Later Become Exasperated With.
Anyway, Thomas' situation is bleak, made bleaker when a number of unfortunate coincidences causes him to bear witness to some truly awful acts of violence. Let's just say one untrustworthy soul is unwittingly tossed into the Maze at night and then a girl (not a boy!!!!!!!!) suspiciously arrives the day after Thomas.
All of this, despite the Unnecessary Capitalization and the boys using completely pointless terminology like klunk and shuckface, is totally kitty fantastico. The constant psychological mystery keeps nagging doubts at bay and the variety of personalities that populate the Glade is totally believable. They talk like teenagers, they (generally) act like teenagers, and they form cliques and factions the way teenagers would.
(From here on I'm covering up "spoilers", even though I think they're total nonsense and hilariously awful. And because I advise you not to read this book, you should click them. Just keeping the haters at bay.)
Then Thomas the Maze.
And the book falls apart.
For those of you paying attention, here's where the running into a brick wall metaphor arrives full gale.
Dashner, whose prose has heretofore been mediocre but serviceable, completely fails his audience. He writes himself into a corner. He knows it, we know it. Thomas, who has always been slightly unlikeable and jerky becomes even more unlikeable and jerky, and the plot holes start opening up like the really bad similes peppered throughout the narrative. How does Dashner patch them up? Seriously.
Yup. The girl who mysteriously appeared and tells him . It doesn't. It just creates a frustrating deus ex machina that could have been avoided, but isn't.
As Thomas's character stumbles upon more and more unbelievable clues, like the book loses its momentum significantly.
In fact, despite tearing through the first half of the book, I had to put it down. Afterwards, every time I looked at that stupid green cover, I found myself filled with dread - knowing full well that what remained would irritate me.
And it did.
Sometimes when the first book of a trilogy ends on a cliffhanger, I feel compelled to continue. I don't care what happens to Thomas and the rest of the characters. Maybe they'll smoke lots of pot, form a commune, and grow daisies. Maybe they'll turn into Grievers. Maybe they'll run into Katniss and Peeta and become BFFs.
But I will let you, gentle reader, find that out for yourself.
No?
I don't know what that's like either.
But that inattention to detail would probably totally screw you over because a.) now you're knocked unconscious and b.) the creature is going to devour you. Good job.
I guess this is kind of like Lot's wife looking back on Sodom only to be turned into a pillar of salt.
And it is also kind of like reading The Maze Runner.
Stick with me.
The first half of James Dashner's The Maze Runner maintains a superbly frantic pace. Thomas, our empty-shell-of-a-protagonist is thrust, via the Box, into a curious and unfriendly world populated by dozens of teenage boys. He remembers nothing, and the boys are uncooperative, refusing to reveal any details regarding their home, the Glade. The Glade is surrounded by stupendously tall walls, outside of which lays the Maze. During the day, the Maze is (kinda sorta) safe. But at night, the Grievers emerge. These are half slug/half woodshop tools that enjoy slicing and dicing apart anyone unfortunate to encounter them. They can also sting you, which causes much mayhem and requires the administering of Grief Serum, which triggers the Changing.
SIDEBAR!
What Is It With Authors Of Dystopian Novels Capitalizing Really Important Words? It's Annoying. Find A New Stylistic Approach That I Can Later Become Exasperated With.
Anyway, Thomas' situation is bleak, made bleaker when a number of unfortunate coincidences causes him to bear witness to some truly awful acts of violence. Let's just say one untrustworthy soul is unwittingly tossed into the Maze at night and then a girl (not a boy!!!!!!!!) suspiciously arrives the day after Thomas.
All of this, despite the Unnecessary Capitalization and the boys using completely pointless terminology like klunk and shuckface, is totally kitty fantastico. The constant psychological mystery keeps nagging doubts at bay and the variety of personalities that populate the Glade is totally believable. They talk like teenagers, they (generally) act like teenagers, and they form cliques and factions the way teenagers would.
(From here on I'm covering up "spoilers", even though I think they're total nonsense and hilariously awful. And because I advise you not to read this book, you should click them. Just keeping the haters at bay.)
Then Thomas the Maze.
And the book falls apart.
For those of you paying attention, here's where the running into a brick wall metaphor arrives full gale.
Dashner, whose prose has heretofore been mediocre but serviceable, completely fails his audience. He writes himself into a corner. He knows it, we know it. Thomas, who has always been slightly unlikeable and jerky becomes even more unlikeable and jerky, and the plot holes start opening up like the really bad similes peppered throughout the narrative. How does Dashner patch them up? Seriously.
Yup. The girl who mysteriously appeared and tells him . It doesn't. It just creates a frustrating deus ex machina that could have been avoided, but isn't.
As Thomas's character stumbles upon more and more unbelievable clues, like the book loses its momentum significantly.
In fact, despite tearing through the first half of the book, I had to put it down. Afterwards, every time I looked at that stupid green cover, I found myself filled with dread - knowing full well that what remained would irritate me.
And it did.
Sometimes when the first book of a trilogy ends on a cliffhanger, I feel compelled to continue. I don't care what happens to Thomas and the rest of the characters. Maybe they'll smoke lots of pot, form a commune, and grow daisies. Maybe they'll turn into Grievers. Maybe they'll run into Katniss and Peeta and become BFFs.
But I will let you, gentle reader, find that out for yourself.
