James Dashner writes for young adults because that age group defines his love of reading.
“There’s just something magical about that time of life and the joy you can get from an awesome book,” James told Cracking the Cover. “This is my way of staying in that time period.”
James, the author of the 13th Reality series, is celebrating the launch of the third and final book of his Maze Runner trilogy, “The Death Cure.”
“The Death Cure” picks up where “The Scorch Trials” left off. Thomas and his friends have made it out of the Maze and across the deadly Scorch, but WICKED isn’t done with them, not yet. The teens’ final mission — completing the blueprint needed to create a cure for the Flare, a disease which most of the human population has contracted.
The problem is, most of the Gladers don’t trust WICKED, they never have. And now seems like a bad time to start, unless they have no other choice…
Making sure that every single loose end from the entire Maze Runner trilogy was wrapped up in “The Death Cure” was a challenge for James. So was making sure that the ultimate end was satisfying while being realistic. The book, he said, went through a number of revisions.
Working on “The Death Cure” wasn’t all challenges though. “The highlight was writing the climax,” James said, “something I’d been planning for years.”
James always does a simple outline for his books, but he says a lot changes along the way and a lot of the plot twists come as he’s writing.
Looking back at the series as a whole, James says he “would’ve done a little more work in the beginning to make sure I had everything worked out about the world and the consequences of all the bad stuff that has happened to it.”
Writing is a growing process says James, who thinks his own writing has a lot more depth to it now. ” In the beginning I was very impatient, hurrying to get to the next scene. Now I take my time more and ensure that we’re feeling all five senses and developing the story at a pace that makes sense.”
Part of that growing process also includes learning how to deal with pressure; something James felt tons of while writing “The Death Cure.” Fans, editors and James himself had certain expectations he felt he needed to live up to. It was a long road, but in the end, James says his ultimate vision for the series carried through. “I feel very proud of the final installment, something that I worked very hard on with my editor.”
Finishing the book and the series has been bittersweet for James, who says he’ll “miss this world and these characters, but I’m also champing at the bit to work on something new.”
And what is that something new? “All I can say” James quipped, “is that I have two projects in the works that will be announced this fall. Sorry!”
The success of the Maze Runner trilogy is beyond James’ top expectations. It’s turned into movie options, further book deals and a celebrity status of sorts.” I’m thrilled and excited and thankful,” James said. “But I believe that the release of the third book will actually take it to a new level, which will be fun to watch.”
*James took a lot of time and care to answer Cracking the Cover’s questions. Read a complete transcript of his interview.
**James will be at The King’s English, 1511 S. 1500 East, in Salt Lake City this Tuesday at 7 p.m.
