What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Maze Runner
Wes Ball · Film · 2014
If you loved The Maze Runner, start with Severance (Dan Erickson, 2022) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Maze Runner across media.
If The Maze Runner left you breathless, you will love these stories about characters trapped in mysterious, high-stakes environments.
Books on the same thread
Divergent
Veronica Roth · Book · 2013
Shares a thread with The Maze Runner: Young Adult Science Fiction.
Like The Maze Runner, this story follows a youth navigating a strictly controlled society where the rules of existence are designed to test their survival and sense of identity.
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins · Book · 2008
Explores: authoritarianism, class inequality, spectacle of violence.
Much like the desperate struggle for survival in The Maze Runner, this story forces its protagonist to face a brutal, spectator-driven competition where the only option is to fight.
The Martian
Andy Weir · Book · 2015
Explores: Resourcefulness, Human Ingenuity, Isolation.
Fans of the resourceful problem-solving found in The Maze Runner will appreciate this intense tale of a lone survivor using scientific ingenuity to overcome a hostile, isolated environment.
Divergent trilogy
Veronica Roth · Book · 2011
Explores: Faction-based society, Coming of Age, Identity Crisis.
This trilogy echoes the central mystery of The Maze Runner, where characters must challenge the foundations of their reality to uncover the truth behind their confinement and control.
Series on the same thread
Severance
Dan Erickson · Series · 2022
Shares a thread with The Maze Runner: Dystopian Fiction.
If you were intrigued by the memory loss in The Maze Runner, you will find this psychological thriller equally compelling as it explores the dangers of manipulated human consciousness.
Lost
Jeffrey Lieber · Series · 2004
Shares a thread with The Maze Runner: Survival.
Just as the group dynamics define the experience in The Maze Runner, this series focuses on survivors struggling to cooperate while trapped in a place filled with hidden secrets.
Stranger Things
Ross Duffer · Series · 2016
Explores: Government Experiments, Telekinesis, Monsters.
This series captures the same sense of conspiracy found in The Maze Runner, following a tight-knit group as they uncover unsettling experiments hidden just out of public view.
Westworld
Jonathan Nolan · Series · 2016
Explores: Artificial Intelligence, Existentialism, Free Will vs. Determinism.
Like the characters in The Maze Runner, the inhabitants of this park are trapped within a controlled system, forcing them to question the nature of their own existence.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
These cinematic audio stories mirror the suspense and constant shift in perspective that made The Maze Runner so engaging, offering new worlds to explore in every single episode.
The Realignment
The Realignment · Podcast · 2026
Explores: institutional change, populism, technological disruption.
If you enjoyed the systemic critique found in The Maze Runner, this podcast provides an analytical look at the institutional shifts and technological disruptions shaping our current world.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Maze Runner about a boy trying to escape a walled enclosure?
Yes, The Maze Runner follows a teenager with no memory of his past who joins a group of boys living in a walled enclosure. He must adapt to their society while searching for clues to escape the massive, ever-changing maze that surrounds them.
What is the primary setting of The Maze Runner?
The Maze Runner takes place within a walled enclosure. This area is surrounded by a massive, ever-changing maze that serves as the central mystery for the group of boys who reside inside the confinement.
Does the protagonist in The Maze Runner remember his past?
No, the protagonist in The Maze Runner arrives at the walled enclosure with no memory of his past. Throughout the film, he struggles to adapt to the rules of the group while attempting to uncover the truth behind his confinement.
Is The Maze Runner focused on the mystery of the maze?
Yes, The Maze Runner centers on a teenager who must navigate a society trapped by a massive, ever-changing maze. The plot follows his efforts to uncover clues hidden within the structure that may lead to the truth behind their confinement and a potential escape.