The Maze Runner 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 which they call the "Glade". The Glade is surrounded by four doors, leading to the Maze, that close every night at sundown and open in the morning. The Glade consists of multiple buildings including a
homestead, map room, and "the slammer" which functions as a makeshift
jail. It also consists of areas such as the "deadheads" (where the dead Gladers are buried), the
animal pens, and a
tree grove. Beyond the walls of the Glade is the ever-changing Maze, populated by horrifying, biomechanical creatures, called Grievers. Every month, a newcomer, nicknamed "Greenie", joins the Gladers, sent by a lift they call the Box. Each newcomer has all memories (except language and other common things) wiped out. The only thing that they remember is their name. They are watched by mechanical beetles, called 'beetle blades' which belong to their 'creators'. Each beetle blade has the word "WICKED" stamped across its back. The ultimate goal of the Gladers is to find a way out of the Maze. To do so, certain Gladers called "Runners" venture into the Maze every day, to map it in an attempt to find a pattern in the Maze that would lead them to find an exit. The main character, Thomas, arrives at the Glade. Shortly thereafter, a girl (Teresa) is sent up through the Box, arriving in a coma, and bringing the message: Everything is going to change. She bears a note saying "She's the last one. Ever." Thomas becomes an object of reverence, suspicion, and great curiosity to the Gladers due to his ties to all of the strange happenings in the Glade, fueled greatly after he becomes the first to survive a night inside the Maze. Together with new friends, such as Chuck (the second-newest newbie), Newt (second in command of the Gladers), and Minho (Keeper of the Runners), he begins to solve the mystery of the Maze and search for a way out. Thomas leads his group to make it out of the maze find a way back home and defeat WICKED.
The Scorch Trials The Scorch Trials is the second book released in the series, on September 18, 2010. :The Gladers thought that getting through The Maze was it. They were wrong. The Maze was only the beginning, and now WICKED demands they undergo the Scorch Trials, in which they must cross The Scorch——a barren wasteland left burned and scarred by violent sun flares. What's worse, the denizens of The Scorch are being consumed by an infection known as The Flare, corrupting their very minds until they lose all that makes them human. The game is set again, and WICKED controls the board, but if the Gladers want another chance at freedom, they must play WICKED's game and survive The Scorch Trials.
The Death Cure The Death Cure is the third book released in the series, on October 11, 2011. :In the third book of "The Maze Runner" Series, Thomas is locked up in solitary confinement for four weeks. Upon his release, Assistant Director Janson (Rat Man) reveals to him and the other subjects (including Group B) that there is no cure for the Flare, but that most of the Gladers and Group B are immune. He warns them that many people in the outside world hate them because of their unnatural resistance to the Flare, and that if they escape they will most likely be in more danger. Later, all Gladers and Group B members' memories are restored and they escape. Thomas, Newt, and Minho refuse restoration and they later escape with Jorge and Brenda. They then go to a city and have WICKED's devices in their brains disabled. They join forces with "Right Arm", an organization fighting against WICKED.
The Kill Order The Kill Order is the fourth book released in the series, on August 14, 2012. It is the first novel in narrative order, set prior to the events of
The Fever Code and 13 years before the events in
The Maze Runner. It is followed in narrative order by
The Fever Code. Of the novel, Dashner stated that he wanted to expand the world, but not focus on the main characters of the main
Maze Runner trilogy. He also stated that he had originally planned to write a prequel for the series, but that the plans did not become official until he had completed the third book in the trilogy. :Before WICKED is formed, before the Glade is built, and before Thomas enters the Maze,
solar flares hit the earth and mankind was ravaged by disease. Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and survived. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there's something suspicious about its origin and it's mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees. Mark and Trina are convinced there's a way to save those left living from descending into madness.
The Fever Code The Fever Code is the fifth book released in the series, on September 27, 2016. It is the second prequel and the fifth installment of
The Maze Runner series. It is the second book in narrative order, preceded by
The Kill Order and followed by
The Maze Runner. The book is set in between the events of
The Kill Order and immediately before
The Maze Runner. The novel is written from the various points of view of "The Gladers". The book primarily focuses on the training that Thomas and the others undergo before being sent into the Maze, however, it also explores the relationships between the Gladers before they underwent "the Swipe" that suppressed their memories, describes "the Purge" that is briefly mentioned in
The Death Cure, and the lives of the Gladers before Thomas' insertion into the Maze, since during the events in the book he is working for WICKED. This book gives a background of the series, providing the reader with information they have been asking themselves. The book ends with the final moments before Thomas enters the Box, when he is betrayed and sent into the Maze at the beginning of
The Maze Runner. ==
The Maze Cutter series==