Dashner returns to the world of the Maze Runner seventy three years later for a brand new mysterious adventure of the world at war between the Godhead in Alaska, the Remnet Nation in the Plains, and the islander descendants who may have the solution to the Cure.

Just as before, Dashner creates an immersive world so different from our own and from the Maze Runner’s in the original trilogy. Here, Crankheads are more diminshed as more variants popped up creating in-betweens, and other Crankheads that are as intelligent as they are vicious, making an even more deadly combination.

But that’s not the biggest danger in this new world order. The Godheads seem to be descendants of the original WICKED creators, now in the grips of a Flare variant. They’re able to keep their violence under control for the most part and have now fashioned themselves as gods with legions of fanatical religious worshippers.

The Remnant Nation are a more primitive but just as intensely religious front that recruits survivors and orphans to their ranks, making them uniformed, nameless and hardened warriors to fight against Crankheads and Godhead pilgrims. They’re the ones who believe the Cure is still out there and is the only way to stop the Godhead’s from pursuing their plans of Evolving the Evolved.

And Kettler is from one of these compeating nations who sail to the island where the Gladers’ descendants have lived a peaceful albeit unexciting existance from the wastelands. In fact, it is this safe ordinaryness (and potential to save the world) that prompts Isaac, Sadina, Trish, Jackie, Old Man Frypan and others to join Kettler when she says that Newt and Sonya’s descendant-Sadina- is the answer to the cure.

Dashner’s reoccuring trope of not knowing who to trust and constant deception/manipulation from higher-ups continues its course, creating a frustrating narrative since no one has the full picture of what is happening.

But there’s great differences to the story to separate any comparisons to the original trilogy. The chapters are not the short 2-4 pages but longer and separated by chapter subheads, and the length is half of the average Maze Runner novel clocking at 250 pages instead of 350.

It’s also narrated by a total of 4 protagonists. Isaac, a boy who has been recently orphaned and is still struggling with the guilt, Minho aka Orphan who has secretly named himself after the Glader hero and has decided to forge a new path for himself, Jackie, an islander from the West Side whose joined the adventure, and Alexandra Romanov, a Godhead who believes that her fellow Gods are trying to push her out and will do anything to complete her vision for the world. (I certainly wonder why Dashner chose that name and if the Godheads have a particular affinity for Russian royals?)

The rotating narrators adds a bigger albeit more confusing picture and helps to break the motony by creating a very action packed narrative where you can see the same situation (or fight) from different POVs. It’s almost like a movie experience in my opinion.

However, the differing characters may have some drawbacks as I felt less connected to them. Jackie, for one, didn’t get her POV started under halfway through and although there is implied to be some resentment between west islanders and east islanders, it’s not divulged. I feel like she’s going to break out more in the next book but right now she’s very bare numbers.

And while I said the differentiations help to keep readers from comparing to the original trilogy, Isaac’s POV sort of reminded me of Thomas and Mark with some minor differences. He’s sort of the everyman.

But Minho and Alexandra are very distinct, fanatical and creepy in their own ways. They’re fantastic.

Even with these minor complaints, readers will enjoy this return to the familiar yet vastly different world with easter egg references to the original Gladers and actually some hope for the future.

4 stars.