How Long Does It Take to Read The Scorch Trials?
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (2010) runs about 101,000 words — roughly 360 pages in a standard paperback. At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, that is 7 hours and 4 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 Scorch Trials book quiz.
Reading time by speed
| Reading pace | Time to finish The Scorch Trials |
|---|---|
| Slow (150 wpm) | 11 hours and 13 minutes |
| Average (238 wpm) | 7 hours and 4 minutes |
| Fast (350 wpm) | 4 hours and 49 minutes |
| Speed reader (450 wpm) | 3 hours and 44 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 | 29 days |
| 30 minutes per day | 15 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 Scorch Trials’s word count (101,000) 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 Scorch Trials hard to read?
Moderate - plain, fast prose with a slang of its own (shuck, klunk, Crank) and a plot that withholds as much as it shows. The reading is easy; trusting the narrator is the hard part.
WICKED's survivors of the Maze wake in a dormitory, are told the trials have only begun, and get two weeks and a Flat Trans to cross a hundred miles of sun-scorched wasteland - past Cranks, storms and a betrayal that was scripted before it happened. Book two of the Maze Runner trilogy widens the maze to the size of a desert. Think you know it already? Take the Scorch Trials book quiz — eight questions, two minutes — or see how you do on the full mixed-classics book quiz.
A realistic pace plan for The Scorch Trials
Numbers help, but habits finish books. At 30 minutes a day — one coffee break or one commute — you are done in 15 days. Prefer the one-sitting test? You would need about 7 hours and 4 minutes in a single stretch, which most readers split over a weekend. And if you read 36 pages a night, the book lasts roughly 10 nights — the point is that a 360-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 Scorch Trials book quiz is a quick way to see how much stayed with you.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read The Scorch Trials?
At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, The Scorch Trials takes about 7 hours and 4 minutes. At a fast 350 wpm it is 4 hours and 49 minutes; a slow, careful 150 wpm reader needs about 11 hours and 13 minutes.
How many pages is The Scorch Trials?
About 360 pages in a standard paperback edition — editions vary, so treat it as a close estimate.
How many words is The Scorch Trials?
Approximately 101,000 words, the figure used for every calculation on this page.
Is The Scorch Trials hard to read?
Moderate - plain, fast prose with a slang of its own (shuck, klunk, Crank) and a plot that withholds as much as it shows. The reading is easy; trusting the narrator is the hard part.
Is The Scorch Trials worth the time?
WICKED's survivors of the Maze wake in a dormitory, are told the trials have only begun, and get two weeks and a Flat Trans to cross a hundred miles of sun-scorched wasteland - past Cranks, storms and a betrayal that was scripted before it happened. If that sounds like your kind of book, 7 hours and 4 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 Scorch Trials?
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
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 Scorch Trials is the 57th longest of the 133 classics timed here — shorter than A Thousand Splendid Suns but longer than Mockingjay.
Planning a whole-author project? The James Dashner books in order guide lists the full shelf in reading order.