Finished (E-Reader) - "Maze Runner" and "Scorch Trials" - James Dashner

Finished the first two books in the "Maze Runner" 4-book trilogy.

My daughter has a like of dystopian novels (e.g. Hunger Games, City of Ember series), "The Maze Runner" being the most recent she's read through.

I thought the books were OK.  Characters (all young teen boys) are trapped, with wiped memories, in a small settlement surrounded by a maze.  Every evening, the maze is patrolled by killer machines and the walls from the settlement to the maze are closed.

The inhabitants feel that there is a purpose in the maze, and have a crew of "maze runners" who explore the maze every day looking for exits or other clues to solving the mystery.  They map the maze, which changes every day, and look for patterns.

The first book starts with the main character, Thomas, being delivered into the maze, memory wiped, and his trying to figure out what is going on.  The second takes surviving characters and puts them (and a new group) into a more local context - apparently the world as it looks in the post-disaster phase (which seems to be linked to solar flares, making the equatorial region arid and very hot - not very compatible with human life).  Their task is to traverse a few hundred miles, in a given timeframe, and reach a particular safe zone, of course, facing danger, death and confusion along the way.

I didn't find the "Maze Runner" as compelling a story as "Hunger Games" nor "City of Ember", all of which deal with cultures and situations derived from a hazy disaster in the past.

I'll withhold my final opinion of the series pending the finishing of the remaining books, as the "whole story" of why these kids are being put through the trials has not been revealed, and may provide the overriding context that brings the story together.

At this point (2/3 of the way through the initial trilogy) I don't find the "back story" defined enough to really care about what the characters are doing, and it seems like random fantasy dangers being faced.  The "scientist" characters are shadowy and it is unclear whether or not they are evil, which, I presume, is the key revelation in the 3rd book, and the subsequent sequel.