The Maze Runner is a series of young adult science fiction books written by American author James Dashner. The main series includes three books: The Maze Runner (2009), The Scorch Trials (2010), and The Death Cure (2011). Two earlier books, The Kill Order (2012) and The Fever Code (2016), were also written. A shorter book called Crank Palace (2020) and a guidebook titled The Maze Runner Files (2013) are part of the series. A new set of three books, called The Maze Cutter, takes place 73 years after The Death Cure and includes The Maze Cutter (2022), The Godhead Complex (2023), and The Infinite Glade (2025).

The series tells the story of a world that was harmed by powerful bursts of energy from the sun, called solar flares, and large amounts of charged particles sent from the sun, called coronal mass ejections.

Novels

The Maze Runner is the first book in the series and was released on October 6, 2009.

A group of teenagers, who call themselves "Gladers," are left in a strange place they call the "Glade." The Glade is surrounded by four doors that lead to the Maze. These doors close every night at sundown and open in the morning. The Glade includes several buildings, such as a homestead, a map room, and a place called "the slammer," which acts as a jail. Other areas in the Glade include "deadheads" (where Gladers who have died are buried), animal pens, and a tree grove. Beyond the Glade is the Maze, which changes constantly and is filled with frightening, biomechanical creatures called Grievers.

Every month, a new person arrives at the Glade. These newcomers are called "Greenies" and are sent through a lift called the Box. When they arrive, they lose all their memories, except for their names. They are watched by mechanical beetles called "beetle blades," which have the word "WICKED" stamped on their backs. The main goal of the Gladers is to find a way out of the Maze. To do this, some Gladers called "Runners" enter the Maze each day to map it and look for patterns that might lead to an exit.

The main character, Thomas, arrives at the Glade. Soon after, a girl named Teresa is sent through the Box and arrives in a coma. She carries a message: "Everything is going to change." She also has a note that says, "She's the last one. Ever." Thomas becomes a subject of interest, suspicion, and admiration from the Gladers because of his connection to strange events in the Glade. This interest grows after Thomas survives a night in the Maze, something no one else has done. With friends like Chuck, Newt, and Minho, Thomas works to solve the mystery of the Maze and find a way out.

The Scorch Trials is the second book in the series and was released on September 18, 2010.

The Death Cure is the third book in the series and was released on October 11, 2011.

The Kill Order is the fourth book in the series and was released on August 14, 2012. It is the first book in the story's timeline, set 13 years before the events in The Maze Runner. It is followed by The Fever Code in the story's timeline.

The author, James Dashner, said he wanted to expand the world of the series but focus less on the main characters from The Maze Runner trilogy. He originally planned to write a prequel but did not make it official until after completing the third book in the trilogy.

The Fever Code is the fifth book in the series and was released on September 27, 2016. It is the second prequel and the fifth book in the series. It is the second book in the story's timeline, coming after The Kill Order and before The Maze Runner. The book takes place between the events of The Kill Order and just before The Maze Runner. It is told from the perspectives of the Gladers. The story focuses on the training Thomas and others receive before being sent into the Maze. It also describes their relationships before they lost their memories through a process called "the Swipe," explains an event called "the Purge" mentioned briefly in The Death Cure, and details the lives of the Gladers before Thomas joined them. The book ends with the final moments before Thomas enters the Box, where he is betrayed and sent into the Maze at the start of The Maze Runner.

The Maze Cutterseries

The Maze Cutter is the first book in a new trilogy that is part of the same series as The Maze Runner. It was published on October 4, 2022, and on November 1, 2022, in North America. The story focuses on the children and grandchildren of the Gladers, who meet a ship from the mainland 73 years after the events of The Death Cure.

The Godhead Complex is the second book in The Maze Cutter trilogy. It was published on November 14, 2023.

The Infinite Glade is the third and final book in The Maze Cutter trilogy. It was announced in October 2024 and was released on September 9, 2025.

Other releases

The Maze Runner Files is a book that goes along with The Maze Runner series. It was published on January 1, 2013, as an e-book and has 50 pages. The book is split into three sections: Confidential Files, Recovered Correspondence, and Suppressed Memories.

It includes details about the Flare, a disease caused by a man-made disaster, the organization WICKED, and some of the characters known as the Gladers. It also explains events such as Thomas and Teresa’s first conversation, Minho’s Phase Three Trial, Frypan’s past, and emails between WICKED members.

Crank Palace is a novella released on August 25, 2020. The story focuses on the character Newt and happens during the events of The Death Cure. It was first released as an audiobook on August 25, 2020, and the print and e-book versions were released on November 23, 2020.

Critical reception

Kirkus Reviews stated, "Dashner knows how to create stories that make impossible things seem real. This book is hard to set aside, and it is clearly the first book in a series. It will make readers eager to learn what happens next."

Jessica Harrison of the Deseret Morning News described the book as "an exciting adventure that makes readers' hearts race and leaves them wanting more." She noted that the story "begins slowly," but "as Thomas becomes more comfortable, the pace increases. It is almost as if Dashner is helping readers prepare for the fast-paced, nonstop action that follows." Her only criticism of the book is Dashner's use of "made-up slang."

A reviewer for The Guardian praised the book, saying, "I really like the characters and their different personalities. I think James Dashner has done a good job of creating characters with the various emotions and traits someone might experience in a situation like being in the glade."

Film adaptations

The first movie, The Maze Runner, was made after 20th Century Fox bought the rights in January 2011. Main filming took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from May to July 2013. It was released on September 19, 2014, and received positive reviews.

The second movie, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, had main filming in Albuquerque, New Mexico from October 2014 to January 2015. It was released on September 18, 2015, and received mixed reviews.

The third movie, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, had main filming in South Africa starting in March 2017. It was released on January 26, 2018, and again received mixed reviews.