The Maze Runner Files By: James Dashner Series: The Maze Runner Book Number: 5.5 Star Rating:

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Synopsis

The Maze Runner Files is a 50+ page collection of classified records and concealed information about the world of The Maze Runner. It contains lost emails and memos exchanged by WICKED employees that should have been destroyed, as well as a selection of the Gladers' suppressed memories that offer new glimpses into this world.

Review

The Maze Runner Files is a short, novelette-length ebook of about 56 pages by my e-reader's count that provides supplemental material to the Maze Runner series. It mostly consists of internal memos and emails exchanged by the powers that be at WICKED regarding the Flare virus. I would say that these things only offered some mild insights into certain events in the story. There are also three short scenes involving the memories of three different characters, Thomas, Frypan, and Minho. "Thomas's First Memory of the Flare" can be downloaded for free online, so this wasn't even new, original content. The other two characters' memories were somewhat interesting. Frypan's added a few tidbits of info to his background. However, with Minho's scene, while well-written and engaging, I couldn't quite figure out what was going on or how it fit into the greater story-arc. The only other thing included was a graphics-based image of a PSA flyer about the Flare virus, which unfortunately my e-reader wouldn't allow me enlarge, so I couldn't really read it. I would imagine that other black and white e-readers with smaller screens similar to mine may also have issues with it. More than half the "book" consisted of excerpts from James Dashner's other books, The Fever Code and The Eye of Minds.

I picked up The Maze Runner Files, partly for the sake of completeness and also thinking it would offer more insights into the world of the Maze Runner. Because I love the series and the new-to-me parts were somewhat interesting, I gave it three stars, but ultimately I felt rather let down by it. IMHO, there isn't enough original material in it to justify the $1.99 price tag. I think it would have been better served to be released as free bonus content for loyal fans, or at the very least, it shouldn't have been priced above $0.99.

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James Dashner