James Smith Dashner (born November 26, 1972) is an American writer known for
speculative fiction. Many of his books are primarily aimed at children or young adults. He is best known for
''The Maze Runner'' series and the
young adult
A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
fantasy series ''
The 13th Reality''. His 2008 novel ''
The Journal of Curious Letters
''The 13th Reality'' is a young adult science fiction book series by American writer James Dashner. The first book in the series (''The Journal of Curious Letters'') was published in early 2008 by Shadow Mountain Publishing. The second book was ...
'', first in the series, was one of the annual
Borders Original Voices picks.
In 2014, a film adaptation of ''
The Maze Runner'' was released, followed by another two films in 2015 and 2018. Collectively, the three films grossed an estimated $949 million. The three films collective box office earnings make it the fourth highest-grossing film series based on young-adult books, after the film series of ''Harry Potter'', ''The Twilight Saga'', and ''The Hunger Games'' respectively. In 2018, Dashner was dropped by his agent and publisher following accusations of sexual harassment; Dashner replied in a statement, "I am taking any and all criticisms and accusations very seriously, and I will seek counseling and guidance to address them."
Early life
James Dashner was born on November 26, 1972, in
Austell, Georgia
Austell is a city in Cobb and Douglas Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,713.
History
The area that is now Austell was frequented by game ...
, as one of six children in the family. He was raised a
Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into seve ...
. At the age of 10, he would type on his parents' typewriter.
He graduated from
Duluth High School in 1991.
He moved from
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
, Georgia to
Provo, Utah to study at
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
, where he received a master's degree in accounting.
Career
Dashner released his first novel in 2003, titled ''A Door in the Woods''. Like many of his books, ''A Door in the Woods'' is a
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...
aimed at teenagers. The story follows Jimmy Fincher, who notices person in the forest acting suspiciously. What he witnesses then sets off a chain of events changing Jimmy's life.
''A Door in the Woods'' became part of a series of books, known as The Jimmy Fincher Saga.
In 2004, a second and third book were released as part of The Jimmy Fincher Saga. The second instalment was ''A Gift of Ice,'' which again follows Jimmy in his journey to save the world from The Stompers. The third instalment of the series was released later in 2004, titled ''The Tower of Air''. A fourth and final book concluded the series, ''War of the Black Curtain'', which was published in 2005.
Following the conclusion of his Jimmy Fincher Saga series, Dashner began working on two new series. The first became known as ''
The 13th Reality'' book series and the second was
''The Maze Runner'' series. Dashner published ''The Journal of Curious Letters'' in 2008, which was the first book in the 13th Reality Series. The book became a highly acclaimed children's book, receiving a
Whitney Award the same year it was published.
In 2009, the novel was recognized again as a
Borders Original Voices pick. During 2009, Dashner released two more books. ''The Hunt for Dark Infinity'' was his second instalment in ''The 13th Reality'' series and ''
The Maze Runner'' was the first book in a series of the same name. The popularity of ''The Maze Runner'' led
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...
to obtain the rights in late 2010 for a film adaptation, with
Catherine Hardwicke set to direct. ''The Maze Runner'' appeared on
the New York Times Best Seller list
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States.John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
for the first time in late 2012, in the Children's category alongside dystopian novels, ''
The Hunger Games
''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel se ...
'' and ''
Divergent''. ''The Maze Runner'' remained on the list for years, making it one of the best selling children's books of all time.
In 2013, it was announced that
''The Maze Runner'' film has been pushed back to a September 2014 release. During the same period, it was announced that the second instalment, ''The Scorch Trials'', had been picked up by Fox as a potential sequel to the currently unreleased first film. Dashner then released ''The Eye of Minds'', which follows the life of Michael, a hacker employed by VirtNet. The book went onto become the first instalment of ''The Mortality Doctrine'' book series. In September 2014, ''The Maze Runner'' film adaptation was released and had a worldwide
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is f ...
total of $348.3million.
Fox announced that the sequel to the first film would be released nearly a year to the date in September 2015.
A third film, ''
The Maze Runner: The Death Cure'', was set to be released in 2017. Actor
Dylan O'Brien was injured on the set of the film in 2015, resulting in lengthy delays to filming while he recovered. The film was released in January 2018, and like the two previous films in the trilogy, broke $250 million in box office revenue. In July 2018, Dashner stated that he was writing a new book from scratch, the first time he had done it in 15 years.
Following the release of ''Maze Runner: The Death Cure'', comments were posted anonymously on the ''
School Library Journal
''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...
'' website, alleging that Dashner had engaged in sexual harassment.
Four comments claimed harassment by Dashner, and two more said that they had reported him in a
Medium survey about harassment. A commenter later claimed to have been one of the accusers, and said that they "made it up".
One of those commenters claimed to have been subject to "months of manipulation, grooming and gaslighting".
Following this, Dashner's agent, Michael Bourret, stated that he "couldn't in good conscience continue working with
im.
Dashner published a statement on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, which said, in part: "I didn't honor or fully understand boundaries and power dynamics. I can sincerely say that I have never intentionally hurt another person. But to those affected, I am so deeply sorry. I am taking any and all criticisms and accusations very seriously, and I will seek counseling and guidance to address them."
Dashner's publisher,
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House.
On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase o ...
, stated that it will not publish any further books by him.
The accusations were part of the larger
Me Too movement
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media ...
.
In October 2021, Dashner released the adult
horror
Horror may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Genres
*Horror fiction, a genre of fiction
** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction
**Korean horror, Korean horror fiction
* Horror film, a film genre
*Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...
novel, ''The House of Tongues'' with
Riverdale Avenue Books. The storyline follows single father David Player, who is trying to raise four children while dealing and processing a childhood trauma. It follows David's recollection of events both past and present in first person. The book received mainly positive press and reviews following its release.
Awards
*2008:
Whitney Award, Best Youth Fiction, ''The 13th Reality''
*2011:
ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults, ''The Maze Runner''
*2012:
Young Reader's Choice Award, intermediate grades, ''The Maze Runner
Personal life
Dashner and his wife, Lynette Anderson, a former student of Brigham Young University,
have four children and are now living in Utah.
Published books
Dashner's books are written for young teens. His work is typically within the adventure, survival, and science-fiction genres.
''
The Maze Runner'', his most widely distributed book, reached 100 weeks' standing on
the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list for Children's Series on September 21, 2014, two days after the release of
the motion picture adaptation of the book.
;''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
''The 13th Reality'' is a young adult science fiction book series by American writer James Dashner. The first book in the series (''The Journal of Curious Letters'') was published in early 2008 by Shadow Mountain Publishing. The second book was ...
'' (2008), selected as a
Borders Original Voices pick
*''
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
''The Scorch Trials'' is a 2010 young adult post-apocalyptic dystopian science fiction novel written by American author James Dashner and the second book, fourth chronologically, in ''The Maze Runner'' series. The novel was published on 18&nbs ...
'' (2010)
*''
The Death Cure'' (2011)
*''
The Kill Order'' (2012)
*''
The Fever Code'' (2016)
*''Crank Palace'' (2020)
*''The Maze Cutter'' (2022)
;
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
James Smith Dashner (born November 26, 1972) is an American writer known for speculative fiction. Many of his books are primarily aimed at children or young adults. He is best known for ''The Maze Runner'' series and the young adult fantasy seri ...
'' (2015)
;''Adult/Horror''
*''The House of Tongues'' (2021)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dashner, James
1972 births
Living people
American children's writers
American science fiction writers
American fantasy writers
Latter Day Saints from Georgia (U.S. state)
Brigham Young University alumni
Novelists from Utah
People from Austell, Georgia
American male novelists
Writers of young adult science fiction