This one kind of fell flat to me. Perhaps it would’ve been different reading a hard copy book, but with the audio book I just couldn’t keep track of all the different people and storylines.

3.5⭐
"The Maze Cutter" explores the lives of descendants from the original series and new members from two other factions almost a century after the original series ended.

The Maze Runner survivors' settlement is on an island (Alaska) the grandchildren are known as islanders. They are thriving a normal and peaceful life until a big rusty boat arrives with grim news from the mainland.

There is quite a bit of jumping around and many characters. It starts off a bit confusing in the first part. The Godhead (the Glades) and the Remnant Nation (cult-like from Nebraska plains) both have agendas.

With many characters, I don't see anyone in particular who stands out except "Minho" and Roxy. They are my favorite characters. Roxy seems to have more personality than the other characters. It's nice to have Old Man Frypan there, I wish he told more stories. Maybe in book 2? Book of Newt ties the new series to the old.

"The Maze Cutter" didn't quite check all the boxes for me but the ending was very unexpected and gave me goosebumps so I'm definitely going to have to read book two!

Mark Deakins did an excellent job with the narration. It was a joy to listen to his performance.

I finally had to give up on this.

DNF at 66%

I am sorely disappointed. The original series was fine, but then I read all the prequels which made the whole series more endearing to me. I was so excited to see a “epilogue” book; I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to several characters and what their world was now like 50+ years later.

Unfortunately after being incredibly slow and boring, I lost any hope of interest when secret societies etc were introduced. This book is nothing of the magic and thrill ride of the precious books.

I read the first two books in the original series about the time they came out, and I have recommended them for many, many students. Thus, I was excited when I saw this new offering, taking place in the stories’ future.
Sadly, I was a little disappointed. Unlike the earlier books, this just didn’t have anything that grabbed me or kept my attention. It also felt like I was dropped into the middle of a story and since I hadn’t reread the older books (nor read all of them) it was confusing at times and boring at times. Other than “the orphan,” I honestly didn’t care about any of the characters and am unclear about how they fit into the big picture. Maybe this book is just meant to be a set-up for the future ones, but I am not a fan of books that must exist within a series, I much prefer books that can be stand alone, but leave the reader wishing for more.
The whole plot line with the “godhead”? I must have missed something. There’s a brief scene towards the end that seemed about to provide some context, but then it was dropped. Alexandra was intriguing when first introduced but then … I have no idea what happened. The ending scenes with her were disturbing and a bit too graphic. Most of her scenes seemed like they were from a completely different novel.
The descriptions of the settings were well done and I could picture them being created in a movie (which I’m sure is in the works).
As a whole, The Maze Cutter just felt overall disorganized and other than kids going on an adventure… I couldn’t give you a real plot summary. I definitely wasn’t left with an interest to read the next book… which it was made abundantly clear, is coming soon.

I had a blast going back into the world of The Maze Runner.
The Maze Cutter is filled with new characters to love. It was nice to see Old Man Frypan and see some references to some of our favorite gladers.
I loved the setting, and the path this new generation of kids are going. The new organizations that are there and claim to be the good ones. It’s so hard to tell at this point which organization is the “good one”. I really enjoyed the twist and turn and this one kept me guessing. This was a fast pace read for me and now I must wait for the next one.
I think all of the fans of The Maze Runner series will enjoy returning back to this changed world.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I liked the books in the Maze Runner series, but even though the writing and atmosphere were very familiar I didn't get drawn into this world. Plus, I thought that since the world of Maze Runner had already been created in the first books in this series Mr. Dashner assumed he didn't have to re-build and introduce the world. This takes place over seventy years after The Death Cure and there hasn't really been a solid entry in the Maze Runner series in about 10 years. I think the author should've done some world building or refreshed our memories. This was so frustrating to me that I barely got an hour into the audiobook before I had to abandon it. If I feel motivated enough, I may go back and listen to the series again before attempting this book. Sorry I couldn't give a more positive review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Quick Need to Knows: This is set 73 years after The Death Cure. While this book could stand on its own, I do recommend having read the rest of the series. That being said, if you've read the series, but it's been a while, I do not necessarily think you need to reread this book.

The Maze Runner series is one of my favorite Dystopian series of all time. I loved everything so far in this universe so I was so excited to read this one. In this book, you are introduced to a pretty large number of characters, which is a little hard to keep straight at times, but all of these characters are so interesting. You are introduced to three different factions of people - the Godshead, the Remnant Nation, and the immune (who seem to be about the only "normal" people in this story).

A lot of time spent is spent building the world out and setting the stage for the story to come. The action really starts to happen in the last half to two-thirds of the book, and gets a little crazy. But because it makes a good story in the end I didn't mind that the action took a while to get to At the end of the day I was hooked and want to know where this story goes.

I'd give this a 4.5 if I could and can't wait to read more in this world!

I received a copy of this book as an ARC on NetGalley, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

True to Dashner form, hold on! While it starts slow to introduce you to all the descendants, as soon as all the key players are in play, it’s non-stop. In a thrilling way that you would expect from this series. I know I was wondering what else could this story line have to offer when so much time has passed, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story is told from multiple perspectives so there’s a constant awareness of actions and motivations. The evolution of the Cranks, the godhead, the scientists, the remnant nation, and the islanders all come against each other in this new installment. I enjoyed the creativity with how the virus mutated and many variations are present. We find out there’s more to the original characters and their stories continue to pave the way for another generation. This new group is a tight knit group and their dynamics are just as fun as their predecessors. I’m hanging on for the next book as it cannot end where it left off!
I received a complimentary audiobook from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

This book definetly has the Maze Runner feel. Several children are on the run from several different factions wanting to use them to change the world.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I was excited to go ahead in time, 73 years later, and learn about the descendants of the original Gladers who survived and started over on the island. I loved hearing the exerts from the "Book of Newt" and that Frypan, now "Old man Frypan" was still kicking. The story kept my interest and I was happy to hear that the same narrator was used from the other Maze books. Unfortunately there were a lot of new characters introduced and not a lot of character development for any of them. And the Alexandra character was just bland and confusing to me. I didn't feel connected to any of these new characters like I was in the original series. Some of them died and I couldn't even remember who they were or where they came from. I will probably read the next book in this series but I think it needs to have some major story line developments to keep my interest
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen to an ARC in exchange for my honest review..

When I saw the name of this book, I was excited about reading it. Unfortunately, it's basically the same idea as the Maze Runner...a group of kids that are trying to fight to save the world. At points, it was so confusing that I couldn't quite conjure up the fight in my mind. I will most likely will not read the following book to this series.

I loved the maze runner series as a young adult and thought this was a good follow up. The writing was still as intriguing. I would recommend.

This was not what I was expecting but it was still amazing. It's set about 70 years after the maze runner series. It's about the descendants of the maze runner survivors returning to the main land in hopes so saving the world from the flare. I was sucked in very quickly and am already begging for the next book!

Thank you for letting me listen to an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley as well as James Dashner, and Tantor Audio for the audio book ARC of The Maze Cutter in exchange for an honest review.

The Maze Runner was the book series that got me back into reading in 2020. I was excited to read James’s new book because of this. The narration of this book as well as the voices and characterization were engaging and very enjoyable.

The first half of this book was world building upon world building in a world that most of us who have read the pervious books know quite well. But I understand how the author had to set these books apart from the original series with the further world building. It just felt as if it dragged a little. It felt as if we didn’t get to the meat and potato’s of the book until the end when the story really picked up.

Over all this audiobook was enjoyable, based on the ending I will probably read the next book in the series, mostly because I love the world. But this series doesn’t seem to have the same pull for me as the original. It’s hard when authors put out more books in a world without a majority of the old characters that most of us grew to love.

I wanted to love this so badly, but unfortunately it fell victim to "too much of a good thing-itis". I was and still am a huge fan of The Maze Runner books so obviously I was excited when I saw that a new book was coming out, and unfortunately it fell flat. I never got a full grasp of what the plot was supposed to be and frankly the main characters seemed to be as disinterested in it all as I was.

Here's the thing: the way Dashner ended the Maze Runner series was harsh, but it was unique. Like, in our modern day, now that we've gone through the Covid-19 pandemic, it's easy to see how unhinged and immoral the isolationist ending would be in the real world, but in the post-apocalypse of the Flare, taking your one chance at species survival and faffing off to a remote island...it was interesting.

In this book, Dashner says "You know my bittersweet ending? Fuck it, let's start this all over again."

Humans come from the mainland to the island of Glader survivors, and convince several people to return across the ocean to find a final cure for the Flare. This is somewhat an intriguing idea, again, in the mid-Covid world. A cure? Love it, cures are great, let's see what happens to this world when the literal madness ends! If this had been ONE book, I think it would have been interesting. But splitting it up into a TRILOGY isn't going to work. It's spreading the plot too thin and expecting to keep our attention too long.

I got an advanced review copy of this book, which means, hey, I listened for free. But when book 2 comes out, I'm not motivated to continue. I'll BUY something else.

The audiobook narrator? Lovely! Keep hiring them, their voice has a lot of range and emotion.

But Dashner...stop beating dead horses!

I was so excited to receive this audiobook! I really enjoyed The Maze Runner Series and Prequels. I knew I would enjoy this and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a different storyline than I was expecting but I thoroughly enjoyed this. A few things threw me off but having had an open mind I had fun with this audiobook and I would most definitely recommend it to a friend or twenty. Thanks to NetGalley once again.

Audiobook Review - This is a fantastic addition to the world of the Maze Runner. New characters and new adventures with familiar themes and a few familiar names. This book will be enjoyed by fans of the original series and made create some new fans as well.

I read “The Maze Runner” series as it came out in 2009-2011. I was in high school then. I distinctly remember outlining the differences between the book and the movie, but I truly enjoyed both. Clearly, I am now far outside the target demographic for this new series. Nevertheless, I was so excited for the chance to review an advanced reader copy of the audiobook. Thanks to NetGalley, James Dashner, and Tantor Audio for providing me with it. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

The danger, adventure, and dystopian vibes from The Maze Runner series are back, but with a new cast of characters. 73 years after the events in TMR, the descendants of the original crew are alive and building a culture and new world. However, they will face new pressures from the evolving race of cranks, other civilizations, and evil scientists.

Overall, I enjoyed the storyline and didn’t think it was a carbon copy of the original series, which was my concern. It was a higher level look, encompassing viewpoints from multiple age groups, religious affiliations, and governments. Some of the themes are different because you’re starting not with a small group of boys in a maze, but with multiple groups with opposing beliefs. If you enjoyed Dashner’s style of complex problems and problem solving, this book brings that in droves.

If you’re like me, there’s a special feeling the first time reading a book, and I never expected to be able to revisit this storyline for new content. I felt childlike joy while reading this book.

What wasn’t great? The pacing was a bit off. I thought that there was too much going on in the first 40% of the book, with world-building, a new cast of characters, and an alternating perspective between multiple characters. It was a lot to keep track of. I don’t think enough space was given to any one set of characters to make me care about their motivations. By the 60% mark, the pacing had resolved itself, and I was more invested in each storyline.

What if I didn’t read “The Maze Runner?” This is a standalone series, and you can certainly read this series without TMR. A rough understanding of the original series would unravel Easter eggs, though.

How old are the main characters? there are people from several age groups, but the main young people are 20-21 (compared to TMR: 15-17)

Final thoughts: I would recommend these books if you fall into the target demographic (older teen who likes dystopian books) OR if “The Maze Runner” series was a favorite. I wouldn’t recommend if you’re interested in character-driven plots or if you have little patience for remembering dozens of characters.

Content warning: a lot of violence; a few bad words; no sexual content or sexual violence

Wonderful prequel to one of my favorite book series of all time. The narrator is believable as all the characters which is frankly quite rare. This is great!