In the book, “The Maze Runner,” Thomas wakes up in a maze to find himself among other kids called Gladers, who were forced to build their own community to survive. After many dangerously brave antics and innovations, as well as encounters with man-made monsters, Thomas and the Gladers beat the maze only to find themselves facing many more trials and loss as the series progresses.
A new section of the mystery was added to the New York Times Bestselling series, called “The Fever Code” on Sept. 27. As the new and final addition to the series, readers face the last piece that could solve how and why the main character, Thomas, and his friends ended up in the maze and under observation. Readers can only hope now that the new pieces will solve unanswered questions that came about in Oct. 2009.
The author, James Dashner, is a rising name in the young adult science fiction genre. Within the last two years, “The Maze Runner” has become a worldwide movie phenomenon, along with the second book, “The Scorch Trials.” The third movie, “The Death Cure,” is currently on an indefinite filming hiatus, but is expected to be released in early 2018.
Ever since the first book, there have been glimpses and clues into how Thomas is connected to the maze and the group’s ominous observers – whether he remembers everything or not. But there is one thing that readers should know for certain as they begin to see the person he was before his memory was wiped: he worked with the people who put them there.
“The Fever Code” follows Thomas, the other Gladers and Teresa – the only girl who was sent into the maze – as they grow up under the controlling eye of “WICKED,” which stands for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department.
On the inside cover of the book, the phrase, “This is the story of that boy, Thomas, and how he built a maze that only he could tear down,” could easily be the catchphrase for the whole series. With all spoilers in full view, it is made clear that Thomas played a key part in the making of the maze and the experiments, but the degree in which he was involved could come as a shock as more truth is revealed. The shock factor begins in the first chapter, where Dashner starts off by revealing Thomas’ real name and how he was taken by WICKED at only four years old.
Throughout the series, Dashner has created a parallel between readers and characters, having them both experience and witness the hardships before knowing the full backstory – sometimes even allowing readers to know secrets before the characters can solve them. This is the second prequel, the fourth book, “The Kill Order,” being another prequel that showed readers exactly how the dystopian world came into being.
The prequels add an intriguing dimension that allows readers to know what happens in the end without fully knowing or understanding the beginning; that is, until now. The characters, who had their memories wiped before going into the maze, stay in sync with the readers as they learn their past after the fact. Watching the characters come into their own and fight for themselves is a great aspect of the series that readers have become accustomed to, but now they can watch them fight for themselves in a time where they are truly young and watching their whole world change.
The series as a whole brings innovation, heartbreak, twists and turns that mimic the trials that the characters face. The release of “The Fever Code” brings closure to the story that has held countless questions and mysteries, finally helping readers understand the entire journey Thomas and the other Gladers experienced from start to finish.
