Good, but not great, ending to the Maze Runner series.

11:43 am 14 January 2014
The Death Cure - James Dashner

Hmmmm, the end to the Maze Runner trilogy had some hits and misses for me.  There were several very suspenseful parts, but I felt a lot of the plot was really rushed, especially the conclusion.  I also thought it was hampered by the fact that Thomas chooses not to recover his memory when he's offered the option by WICKED, so he ends up jumping from crisis to crisis with no real rhyme or reason.  I know there's a prequel that probably explains a lot of Thomas and Teresa's past with WICKED, so hopefully that helps explain the story a little more. There also seemed to be huge parts of the story missing, since the book introduces several new characters, then doesn't flesh them out at all. 

For example, Brenda tells Thomas very early on not to trust anyone but her and the Chancellor.  Then the Chancellor is never discussed again until the very end.  Another example is the Right Arm.  The characters are introduced, but never get anything more than the most basic treatment.  We never learn anything about them, other than that they hate WICKED.

(show spoiler)


Overall, this series felt a little like the show "Lost" - it started out with an intriguing premise, but then didn't really know how to wrap up all the strange things they'd created in the world, which made the ending feel rushed and muddled.  I still like it, but it does fall victim to the big "I don't know where this is going or how to wrap it up" pitfall that I think a lot of YA series encounter.