I’ve always preferred reading the book before watching the film. I feel like if I see the film first, I’m cheating on the book, hurting its feelings. In books, you learn so much more about the characters; how they feel and what they think in their own words, rather than an onscreen interpretation from an actor.
So when I heard about all the fuss of the The Maze Runner books being made into films, I decided to find out what all the excitement was about, so I could watch the film, guilt free, in the cinema when it came out.
James Dashner, the mastermind behind the works, wrote the trilogy first, and then wrote a prequel as a final goodbye. I’m convinced the books are aimed more towards the boys and girls, but that didn’t stop from tearing through the books over the summer holidays… okay, maybe it was only over a week or two. Right from the get go, you’re left with tons of questions about what has happened to Thomas, the main character from whose perspective the books are written.
The plot, in a nutshell, involves a group of teenage boys, otherwise known as the Gladers, being trapped in giant stone Maze, with known way out. Each morning, the 4 doors into the Maze open, and the Runners spend their days running through the maze, desperately trying to find a way out, making sure they return to the Glade (the centre of the Maze where the boys live) before the doors shut again for the night. Thomas wakes up in a rickety metal box of a lift, which opens out into the Glade, where he is greeted by the Gladers and a whole lot of questions.
The books, set in a dystopian world, are laced with action, horror, humour and even a little romance in the form of the only girl glader, Teresa, who arrives a day after Thomas does.
The books are infinitely amazing, and definitely worth a read. I’m sure the film will be just as good, with Teen Wolf’s Dylan O’Brien filling the role of Thomas and Skins’ Kaya Scodelario playing Teresa.
I’m excited, to say the least.
