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Without the maze this book series would never have been created. It is the core concept James Dashner bases the plot around in many of the series books. The psychs at WICKED use the maze to stimulate the brains of children. When stimulated the info the psychs get is supposedly creating a platform to find a cure to the flare. Overall the maze is the core idea Dashner can always come back to when their is a slow time in the plot.

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This disease impacts the entire world by spreading like a wildfire. Many different groups of people struggle daily to try and find a cure to this horrid disease. This conflict was never actually solved in the book due to the immensity of the tragedy. The characters only gain a small knowledge of the disease in the decade they spent learning. Overall the conflict seems to be unsolvable.

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The main conflict in this story is the struggle to fight the disease called the flare.

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Kirkus Reviews did an excellent job summarizing and explaining what made this story a fantastic read. I completely agree with this review writer when he/she says that it feels as if there is more to come regarding the maze and plot. The author also compares Thomas to a piece on a parcheesi board meaning that he always is popping in and out places seeming to fit in. I had read the previous four books in the series, and I must agree with the review writer when he/she states that you will be satisfied by reading this book. There are too many unforeseen circumstances and actions that occur for someone to not enjoy this read.

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KIRKUS REVIEW

Dashner returns to his dystopian future in this second prequel to the blockbuster Maze Runner series, detailing how the maze came into being.

Solar flares inflicted horrible damage to the Earth, and the resulting illness known as the Flare has mown down much of the human population. A few survivors, primarily children, are known to be immune to the disease that is driving their loved ones into madness and death. Taken to a hidden scientific research complex in Alaska known as World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department, they grow up in near isolation, with little human contact. Thomas is a “munie,” taken when he was only 5, destined to be an elite subject in a long-range study to find a cure. It’s only after several years he meets other munies, developing friendships with many. But it’s Teresa who becomes more than a friend, his partner in developing the maze, meant to help scientists understand how different stimuli impact munies’ brains. Along the way, Thomas sees incredible cruelty inflicted on his friends, all in the cause of developing an elusive cure. He’s been taught that “WICKED is good”…but how long can he actually believe it? While the story details how the maze was built, it is still confusing as to why, giving this the feeling of simply a preface to set up all that follows. Thomas (evidently white, though his comrades are a multiethnic crew) goes from scene to scene like a piece on a Parcheesi board, moving in fits and starts to a predetermined end.

Will satisfy die-hard fans of the original trilogy. (Science fiction. 12-16)

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In my mind a syringe represents so much in this story. It represents every child that died during the outbreak of the flare and every child WICKED ever stuck a syringe in. Hundreds of children were brought into the complex only to be poked and prodded at for years. If an antidote ever came we can assume the victims of the flare would be injected by a syringe. For every child/adult that died there could of been one more syringe with an antidote that WICKED had tried to create.

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Dr. Paige had always been the closest to Thomas of the staff in WICKED. She became so power hungry that she would go into the senior staff lounge and infect the entire bunch to become the new Chancellor. She forced four children to murder 18 staff members. Before Thomas was sent into the maze brainwashed,  she confessed that she was the person behind the outbreak of the flare. Thomas is shook, he felt betrayed by the only staff member he had ever cared for. He feels guilty for all the lives he ended. When Chancellor Paige says this everything the reader knew and what the children new felt meaningless.

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"It was me who infected Chancellor Anderson and his senior staff, they wanted to give up, and I could never allow that, could I? (Dashner 336).