James Dashner is an American author of speculative fiction for children and young adults. Dashner is best known for The Maze Runner series and the fantasy series The 13th Reality. The novel The Journal of Curious Letters (2008) and the debut of The Maze Runner (2009) helped establish his career.
James Smith Dashner was born in Austell, Georgia. Dashner was one of six children and was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the age of ten, he typed stories on his parents’ typewriter. Dashner graduated from Duluth High School in 1991 and then moved to Provo, Utah. A master’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University followed.
The first novel, A Door in the Woods (2003), introduced The Jimmy Fincher Saga. Three sequels appeared between 2004 and 2005: A Gift of Ice, The Tower of Air and War of the Black Curtain. After the series ended, Dashner began work on The 13th Reality and The Maze Runner books. The Journal of Curious Letters launched The 13th Reality in 2008 and received a Whitney Award. Borders named the book an Original Voices pick in 2009.
The Maze Runner appeared in 2009 and became a bestseller by 2012. Two sequels followed: The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure, alongside the prequels The Kill Order and The Fever Code. The Mortality Doctrine series began in 2013 with The Eye of Minds and continued with The Rule of Thoughts and The Game of Lives. The 13th Reality continued with The Hunt for Dark Infinity in 2009.
Fox released a film version of The Maze Runner in 2014, followed by The Scorch Trials in 2015 and The Death Cure in 2018. The three films earned an estimated $949 million. In 2018, accusations of sexual harassment led to the loss of his agent and publisher. Dashner stated, “I am taking any criticisms and accusations very seriously, and I will seek counselling and guidance to address them.”
In 2021, Riverdale Avenue Books published The House of Tongues, an adult horror novel. The Infinite Glade (2025) concludes The Maze Cutter trilogy and ends The Maze Runner saga.
Awards include the Whitney Award for Best Youth Fiction in 2008, an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults citation in 2011 and a Young Reader’s Choice Award in 2012.
James Dashner lives in the Rocky Mountains with his wife and their four children.
Photo credit: www.jamesdashner.com
