Sunday, November 20, 2011

Announcement: The Maze Runner Prequel

I'm very happy to finally share some exciting news that has been brewing for a very long time. It's a story that was born even before The Maze Runner was written.


I can't say it any better than the press release from Random House and Delacorte Books. So, here goes. Be sure and visit the official website for more information (and to play the new Scorch Trials game!): CLICK HERE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Delacorte Press Books

Announces Prequel to James Dashner’s

New York Times Bestselling Maze Runner Trilogy

THE KILL ORDER to be published in August 2012

New York, NY, November 21, 2011Fast on the heels of the publication of The Death Cure, the third novel in James Dashner’s New York Times bestselling trilogy, comes the news that Dashner will be releasing a prequel to the series, entitled THE KILL ORDER on August 14, 2012. The announcement and acquisition was made by Beverly Horowitz, Vice President and Publisher of Delacorte Press Books from Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. Krista Marino, Executive Editor with Delacorte Press Books, who worked with Dashner on The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure, is also the editor of THE KILL ORDER. Rights for the audiobook, which will be available on CD and as a digital download, were secured by Rebecca Waugh of Listening Library, a division of Random House, from Lauren Abramo of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares seared the earth and mankind fell to disease. THE KILL ORDER tells the story of that fall. “The prequel is something that has churned in my mind since before The Maze Runner was even complete. It's been hard to keep it a secret! I'm excited to finally share the news and I can't wait for my readers to see how it all began," shared Dashner. Since the inception of the series, fans have clamored to know more. THE KILL ORDER will answer their most burning questions.

There are currently one million copies of The Maze Runner books in print. All three volumes have been New York Times bestsellers. On October 11th the riveting conclusion, The Death Cure, was published and became an instant bestseller. In the novel, the truth behind WICKED was finally and thrillingly revealed. The first volume in the series, The Maze Runner, was published in October 2009 to both great anticipation and critical acclaim. Packed with intrigue and action, The Maze Runner was a hit upon publication, becoming a standout in the dystopian genre which has since exploded in popularity among young adult readers. The sequel, The Scorch Trials, followed in October 2010, with the story picking up a mere four hours after The Maze Runner left off. The heart-stopping sequel brought further acclaim and a widening fan base to the series.

James Dashner is also the author of the 13th Reality series. James was born and raised in Georgia, but now lives in the Rocky Mountains with his family. Visit him at www.jamesdashner.com or follow him on Twitter (@jamesdashner).

Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company. Visit us on the Web at www.randomhouse.com/teens.

Visit TheMazeRunner.com & become a fan of The Maze Runner Trilogy on Facebook

67 comments:

Camila said...

Oh James! is amazing!, I can't wait for this book!

Congratulations, and we count the days for august.

Bethany said...

MORE?!! This is fantastic news!

Stephanie Black said...

Congratulations, James!

Anonymous said...

New Maze Runner book, New Maze Runner Book, new Maze Runner book!!! *freakstheflipout*
The Maze Runner has to be my FAVORITE book ever. I was so sad when I thought the series was over!! Thank you so much, James!

Melissa Cunningham said...

How very exciting! Can't wait to read it.

Renee Collins said...

Wow!! Such awesome news! Huge congrats!

MIke Knudson said...

Righteous!

Stephen said...

...and now I know why so many questions weren't answered in the Death Cure... you wanted to make another book. You could've said something earlier. Well, might make the death cure get a 2 star rather than a 1 star from me :D

Stephen said...

Added to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13089710-the-kill-order

Okie said...

Ooooh. Very fun! I just finished the Death Cure (still need to write up my review over on my blog, but I loved it).

I love the idea of stepping back to see more of the details of what brought us to the Maze...really looking forward to this!

The Book Heroine said...

OH MY GOSH! I had no idea this was coming. I cannot wait to read this. My bloggers and students are going to be thrilled!

Sandra said...

That’s awesome!! I really hope we’ll get to know more about what happened to the world because of the sun flares, the virus and especially how Thomas, Minho, Newt and the others got in contact with WICKED. About their lives before the Maze. I can’t wait!! So happy, the series isn’t over yet :D

Kayla said...

Fantastic! :D

Zac Harding said...

Wow! This is so cool! Bring on August 2012.

Sara (of the Page Sage) said...

This is so exciting!!! Congrats, Mr. Dashner!!! (:

NutFreeNerd said...

Oh my gosh I can't believe this is happening! This just made my day!!! :0) You're sooo awesome, James Dashner!!!

Ankush said...

oh.wow thats amazing have an idea what you can make for another book.tell me if you want to hear it.

Juliette said...

You are going to be so BUSY until August! But I can't wait to have another "Dashner" book in my collection :)

Vanessa M. said...

No freaking way! *scream of excitement*

Aliah E. said...

I'm guessing this won't have a happy ending?

Aydel said...

OMG!
OMG!
I can't wait for this book!!

Totally Booked Solid said...

nothing like making your husband and daughter look at you funny when you suddenly squeal in excitement ... so very excited


chek out my blog if you have some time http://totallybookedsolid.blogspot.com/

booksforyas said...

Wow, this sounds exciting! But I'm thinking this is just one of the projects you're working on; i got the impression at the book launch that you had more in the works? I know, I know, you can't talk about it...
More to look forward to! Congrats, James!

Anonymous said...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THIS makes 2012 EPIC!

Aun-Juli said...

Oh man! I'm super excited! Congratulations! :D

Taffy said...

That is so cool, James! Congrats!!

Pen master said...

Yay!! You mentioned this at your book signing and I have been dying for you to formally announce it!! I am soooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Melissa R said...

This is GREAT news!!!! I just told my 9 year old and he is as excited as I am!!! Thank you, thank you!

Laura said...

Awesome!

Jill the OWL said...

Such great and awesome news!!! I've gotten so many kids hooked on this series right now :) They'll love this news.

Abriel said...

13th Reality 4? :(

Hakate Paty said...

SO EXCITED!
*heart attack*

Kelly said...

So excited! I'm dying to know how it all started and what the world was like before WICKED. AND it will be released the day before my 18th birthday! :)

Anonymous said...

OHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW STOKED I AM FOR A PREQUEL!!!!!!!! THIS JUST MADE MY LIFEEEEEEEEEE AHHHHHH *SPAZES OUT DANCING AROUND THE LIVING ROOM AND THEN COLLASPES*
<3JULIE<3

Kay said...

My grandson lent me The Maze Runner. He'd gotten it for his birthday, liked it very much, and knew that I would, too. Indeed, I enjoyed it so much that, after finishing it, I went to Amazon to buy Kindle versions of the next two books for my grandson and me...only to discover that they were $9.99 and $10.99.

Sorry, but I refuse to spend that much on an electronic book. Heck, I won't even spend that much on a paperback! Not to mention that Amazon is selling new and used copies that, even with shipping, are less than the electronic versions!!!

Yes, I realize that Random House sets the Kindle price, not you. And that they won't give two hoots that one person won't buy two books. (Although I'm sorry that *you* won't benefit because of *their* pricing decision.)

But the fact is that there is so much entertaining reading out there available for ebook readers costing *far* less than $10-$11 each that, much as we'd have preferred to keep reading, both my grandson and I will soon forget The Maze Runner series as we discover other delights. So would you please beat Random House with a stick for us??? Thanks!!

web development india said...

That's really cool.Thanks for sharing this post.

Kiana said...

OMG I can't wait!!! Wow, I need to take a breather...

Okay, wow, now I know what I want for my 13th birthday!! Thanks dude!! :D

Colby said...

Huhm.
Not sure how I feel about this.
Is this why the death cure answered, like 1/5 of the questions it was supposed to? I was seriously disappointed in that one.

I'll be sure to blog about this later.

Anonymous said...

My entire family has read the series! We are excited :D

MissE said...

I hope the next announcement has to do with movie makin' cause people on my articles keep buggin' me about. Like I know. :)

Anonymous said...

This is my favorite series ever, and I have read hundreds of book. From horror, science fiction, to realistic fiction. The plot of this book is just so amazing. I loved The Death Cure, but I thought there was something missing in the series. I think this will be that thing that was missing and now I am tremendously excited. Thank you so much James Dashner.

UK said...

The Maze runner is definitely a must read. I have enjoyed reading this book from start to finish.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Yay! I can't wait to tell Wyatt. Two VERY HAPPY Montana fans!! :-)

Anonymous said...

I JUST DIED.... OF EXCITTEMENT!

Anonymous said...

EPIC!!!!!!!

TaylorluvsMinho said...

EPIC!!!!!! The Maze Runner Series is my new favorite series.

Anonymous said...

this is awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i love his books they so exiting and i can never ever stop reading them. keep writing dashner!

Kat said...

OMG!!!!! I read the scorch trials, thought it was amazing then the death cure came out and I wanted to see how that was. It was great too. But I never read the first book ( The maze runner ) about a day or two ago I finished the Maze runner and now I am sooo obsessed with james dashner's books!!!!! Can't wait for the Kill Order to come out!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Not being a party pooper, but I'm kinda disappointed after knowing that there's going to be a whole new cast of characters, and that we probably won't ever get to know Thomas' history. But, I'm confident in your writing skills, and I know the prequel will be awesome when it's published.

The chocalate said...

I think you should also right about the final immunes

The chocalate said...

I dont think they should make a movie beacuse they could never make a movie as good as the books so compared to the book it would be bad

Anonymous said...

You should make a book on the girls side of veiw like the boys what happened

Colin Suckow said...

Yay!!!!!!!! All the time during the death cure i was literally yelling at thomas to go get the swipe cleared so we could find out what really went down. I do hope that it will include something about thomas and teresa working for WICKED.

Eweisberg said...

holy cow! And just when I thought the awesomeness was over! I really hope you'll do a contest to win a signed one early!(please,please,please!)Can't wait! PSYCHED!!!

Anonymous said...

thank you james :)

confusedcitizen said...
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confusedcitizen said...

OMG OMG OMg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Me and my best friend are completely obsessed with this series and it's the only thing we talk about when we are together. We got depressed when we finished reading the Death Cure. Now I'm soooooooooooooooo happy that a new book is coming out and I can't wait to tell her. Thank you so much!!!!!!

confusedcitizen said...
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confusedcitizen said...
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Kaykay Obi said...

Definitely one of the best YA series ever.

Lexi said...

Ahh! om my gosh! i seriously can't wait!!

Ryan Cooney said...

hey you need to allow your books to be published on a kindle i have heaps of friends who love your first book cause it was in the libray but we all have a kindle and wana buy the others PLEASE!!!

Anonymous said...

this boooooooooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk is awsome can wait to read it

Anonymous said...

Dude, are you serious? You're complaining about $10-11? I bought The trilogy for at least $20, and I sure as hell don't regret it. Sure, the ending to The Death Cure made me wish I'd never bought it, but they're all definitely worth a measly $10. Stop being such a tight-arse and buy them, especially if you can afford an electronic reader.

Anonymous said...

I bought each book of the trilogy for at least $20*

Anonymous said...

Thanks sooooo much james, such a big fan. Can't wait for u to answer all my questions about everything. Such a fantastic seris

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a