Maze Runner Books in Order

The Maze Runner is the dystopia built on the cruelest hook of its generation: a boy wakes in a lift with no memory, delivered into a glade surrounded by a maze that rearranges itself nightly - and the story of why is told across three novels and two prequels that reveal the dystopia's origin in reverse. James Dashner's series sold over ten million copies, became three films with Dylan O'Brien (2014-2018), and has exactly one order question that trips up every new reader: the two prequel books are set before the trilogy but written after it, and this page settles whether that changes how you should read them (2009–2023).

Where to start

The Maze Runner (2009), book one - the lift opens, the glade, the maze. Do not start with The Kill Order no matter how 'book one of the prequel' it looks on a cover; it is written for readers who know what WICKED is.

Does the reading order matter?

Publication order, which is also the intended order: The Maze Runner (2009), The Scorch Trials (2010), The Death Cure (2011) - one continuous story with a genuine ending. Then the prequels, both written for existing readers: The Kill Order (2012), set thirteen years before the trilogy, and The Fever Code (2017), set between the prequel era and the trilogy's beginning - read in that order, Kill Order first, because Fever Code assumes you know both shelves. Reading the prequels first is the classic mistake: The Fever Code's entire power is watching the trilogy's setup get built while knowing what it is for. The Crank Palace novella (2020) slots after the trilogy. Then the shelf jumps seventy-three years: The Maze Cutter (2022) and The God Complex (2023) open a sequel trilogy with new characters in the same ruined world, with a third volume to come. The films (2014, 2015, 2018) track the trilogy with growing liberties, and a continuation film was announced in 2024.

Which one is the best?

The Maze Runner (2009), the hook that still works; The Death Cure (2011), the ending that divides; The Fever Code (2017), the prequel that earns its existence.

Covered in depth here

An 8-question quiz, reading time, club questions and verified quotes for The Maze Runner (how long), The Scorch Trials (how long), The Death Cure (how long).

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: The Hunger Games books in order, Percy Jackson books in order, The Mortal Instruments books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.