How Long Does It Take to Read The Maze Runner?
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (2009) runs about 112,000 words — roughly 374 pages in a standard paperback. At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, that is 7 hours and 51 minutes of reading. The tables below break it down by pace and by daily reading sessions, and you can calculate reading time for any book or test how well you know this one with the Maze Runner book quiz.
Reading time by speed
| Reading pace | Time to finish The Maze Runner |
|---|---|
| Slow (150 wpm) | 12 hours and 27 minutes |
| Average (238 wpm) | 7 hours and 51 minutes |
| Fast (350 wpm) | 5 hours and 20 minutes |
| Speed reader (450 wpm) | 4 hours and 9 minutes |
Reading in daily sessions
Prefer a nightly page goal? Here is how long the book lasts as a daily habit:
| Session length | Days to finish |
|---|---|
| 15 minutes per day | 32 days |
| 30 minutes per day | 16 days |
| 60 minutes per day | 8 days |
Where the numbers come from
The average adult reads 238 words per minute for non-fiction and around 238–300 wpm for easy fiction, according to Marc Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis of 190 reading-rate studies — the number most reading-time tools use. The Maze Runner’s word count (112,000) is an estimate for a standard text or translation; translations and editions vary, so treat both word and page counts as planning figures. For a custom edition or your own pace, the reading time calculator does the math for any word count.
Is The Maze Runner hard to read?
Moderate - quick, plain YA narration with invented slang (shuck, klunk, Greenie) that explains itself; the mystery structure does the work.
A boy wakes in a rising elevator knowing only his first name - Thomas - and is delivered into the Glade, a walled meadow surrounded by a maze that re-lock every night and hunts. Two years of order built by teenage survivors starts to come apart the day after he arrives, and ends the day the first girl ever sent up arrives carrying a note. Think you know it already? Take the Maze Runner book quiz — eight questions, two minutes — or see how you do on the full mixed-classics book quiz.
A realistic pace plan for The Maze Runner
Numbers help, but habits finish books. At 30 minutes a day — one coffee break or one commute — you are done in 16 days. Prefer the one-sitting test? You would need about 7 hours and 51 minutes in a single stretch, which most readers split over a weekend. And if you read 37 pages a night, the book lasts roughly 11 nights — the point is that a 374-page classic shrinks fast once the session is fixed. Readers who finish long books almost never “find time”; they pick the session size first and let the days accumulate.
Your pace may vary from chapter to chapter, especially when the language or ideas are unfamiliar. Leave a little room in your plan for slower passages. When you turn the last page, the Maze Runner book quiz is a quick way to see how much stayed with you.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read The Maze Runner?
At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, The Maze Runner takes about 7 hours and 51 minutes. At a fast 350 wpm it is 5 hours and 20 minutes; a slow, careful 150 wpm reader needs about 12 hours and 27 minutes.
How many pages is The Maze Runner?
About 374 pages in a standard paperback edition — editions vary, so treat it as a close estimate.
How many words is The Maze Runner?
Approximately 112,000 words, the figure used for every calculation on this page.
Is The Maze Runner hard to read?
Moderate - quick, plain YA narration with invented slang (shuck, klunk, Greenie) that explains itself; the mystery structure does the work.
Is The Maze Runner worth the time?
A boy wakes in a rising elevator knowing only his first name - Thomas - and is delivered into the Glade, a walled meadow surrounded by a maze that re-lock every night and hunts. If that sounds like your kind of book, 7 hours and 51 minutes is a reasonable price for one of the most-read titles in its genre — and the quiz linked above tells you whether an earlier read already stuck.
What reading level is The Maze Runner?
About Grades 7-10, typically read by ages 13+. The suggested age is a guide; reading experience varies from person to person.
How long other classics take
Counting sessions instead of hours? The Maze Runner has 62 chapters, about 1,806 words each. Every title on the shelf is timed the same way in how long to read: 133 classics, timed — from Animal Farm’s single afternoon to War and Peace’s two-week campaign. For scale, The Maze Runner is the 45th longest of the 133 classics timed here — shorter than The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but longer than Insurgent.
Planning a whole-author project? The James Dashner books in order guide lists the full shelf in reading order.