Maze Runner Crank Palace by James Dasher.

If you are a Maze Runner fan like me who was devastated to read the last book and find that the series had ended and there were going to be no more new books, you might be surprised and happy to learn that the author, James Dashner, has written a new novella. This novella is about one of the characters in the book, Newt.

A novella is a short novel or a long story. Spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read the Maze Runner: In the book series, Newt ends up getting the flare, a deadly virus that’s sweeping the nation. He ends up leaving to go find a home somewhere where he can live out the rest of his days with the virus without his friends having to see him going crazy from what the sickness does to your head. So, Newt sets off, and that’s really all we ever see from him again, despite a few more interactions.

However, Crank Palace is a book all about Newt’s perspective going into a flare-infested city, and eventually being sent to a place called “Crank Palace” where he must learn what it means to be independent and experience a world like no other. Upon reading the novella, I found that you could definitely tell that James Dashner wrote it. He uses lots of imagery and depicts the characters’ emotions really well. I was also really entertained by the book, and it gave me some closure I needed.