James Dashner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
James Dashner
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Dashner in 2014
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| Born | James Smith Dashner November 26, 1972 Austell, Georgia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Period | 2003–present |
| Genre | Fantasy, science fiction, children's literature |
| Notable works | The 13th Reality, The Maze Runner, The Mortality Doctrine |
| Spouse | Lynette |
| Children | 4 |
James Smith Dashner (born November 26, 1972) is an American writer. He is famous for writing exciting speculative fiction books. These are stories about things that aren't real yet, like science fiction and fantasy.
Many of his books are written for children and young adults, usually between the ages of 12 and 18. He is best known for The Maze Runner series. He also wrote the fantasy series The 13th Reality.
In 2008, his book The Journal of Curious Letters was chosen as a special pick by Borders bookstores. This helped make him more well-known.
In 2014, the first The Maze Runner movie came out. Two more movies followed in 2015 and 2018. Together, these three movies made a lot of money. They are one of the highest-earning film series based on young adult books.
Contents
Early Life
James Dashner was born on November 26, 1972. He grew up in Austell, Georgia, and was one of six children. When he was about 10 years old, he started typing stories on his parents' typewriter.
He finished high school at Duluth High School in 1991. Later, he moved from Atlanta, Georgia, to Provo, Utah. There, he studied at Brigham Young University and earned a master's degree in accounting.
Career as a Writer
Dashner published his first novel, A Door in the Woods, in 2003. This book, like many of his others, is a fantasy story for teenagers. It follows a character named Jimmy Fincher who sees something strange in the forest. This event changes Jimmy's life forever.
A Door in the Woods was the first book in a series called The Jimmy Fincher Saga. Two more books in this series, A Gift of Ice and The Tower of Air, came out in 2004. The series ended with the fourth book, War of the Black Curtain, published in 2005.
The 13th Reality and The Maze Runner
After finishing The Jimmy Fincher Saga, Dashner started two new series. These were The 13th Reality and The Maze Runner.
In 2008, he released The Journal of Curious Letters, the first book in The 13th Reality series. This book was very popular and won an award called the Whitney Award that same year. It was also recognized by Borders bookstores in 2009.
In 2009, Dashner released two more books. One was The Hunt for Dark Infinity, the second book in The 13th Reality series. The other was The Maze Runner, which was the first book in its own series.
The Maze Runner's Big Success
The Maze Runner quickly became very popular. In 2010, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to make it into a movie.
By late 2012, The Maze Runner appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list for children's books. It was listed alongside other popular stories about a future where things have gone wrong, like The Hunger Games and Divergent. The Maze Runner stayed on this list for many years, becoming one of the best-selling children's books ever.
Movies and New Books
In 2013, it was announced that The Maze Runner movie would be released in September 2014. Fox also decided to make a movie based on the second book, The Scorch Trials, as a possible sequel.
Dashner then released The Eye of Minds in 2013. This book is about a hacker named Michael and was the first in The Mortality Doctrine series.
When The Maze Runner movie came out in September 2014, it made a lot of money worldwide. Fox then announced that the second movie would be released almost exactly a year later, in September 2015.
A third movie, The Maze Runner: The Death Cure, was planned for 2017. However, an actor was injured during filming in 2015, which caused long delays. The movie was finally released in January 2018. Like the first two films, it also made over $250 million at the box office.
In July 2018, Dashner shared that he was writing a brand new book. This was the first time in 15 years he had started a book from scratch. In October 2021, he released a horror novel called The House of Tongues, which received good reviews.
Awards
- 2008: Whitney Award, Best Youth Fiction, for The 13th Reality
- 2011: ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults, for The Maze Runner
- 2012: Young Reader's Choice Award, intermediate grades, for The Maze Runner
Personal Life
James Dashner is married to Lynette Anderson. They have four children and live in Utah.
Published Books
James Dashner's books are written for young teens. They are usually exciting adventure, survival, and science fiction stories.
His most famous book, The Maze Runner, was on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Series for 100 weeks. This happened on September 21, 2014, just two days after the movie version of the book came out.
- The Jimmy Fincher Saga
- A Door in the Woods (2003)
- A Gift of Ice (2004)
- The Tower of Air (2004)
- War of the Black Curtain (2005)
- The 13th Reality series
- The Journal of Curious Letters (2008)
- The Hunt for Dark Infinity (2009)
- The Blade of Shattered Hope (2010)
- The Void of Mist and Thunder (2012)
- The Maze Runner series
- The Maze Runner (2009)
- The Scorch Trials (2010)
- The Death Cure (2011)
- Crank Palace (novella) (2020)
The Maze Runner prequel books
- The Kill Order (2012)
- The Fever Code (2016)
The Maze Cutter series (sequel trilogy)
- The Maze Cutter (2022)
- The Godhead Complex (2023)
- The Infinite Glade (2025)
- The Infinity Ring series
- A Mutiny in Time (Book 1) (2012)
- The Iron Empire (Book 7) (2014)
- The Mortality Doctrine
- The Eye of Minds (2013)
- The Rule of Thoughts (2014)
- Gunner Skale (online-only short story, 2014)
- The Game of Lives (2015)
- Adult/Horror
- The House of Tongues (2021)
See also
In Spanish: James Dashner para niños
