Crank Palace - James Dashner (2020) - Summary at Celsius 233

Crank Palace, a 2020 novella by James Dashner, is a companion story to The Maze Runner series, set during The Death Cure and also acts as a prequel to The Maze Cutter series. It follows Newt, one of the beloved Gladers, as he grapples with his infection from the Flare virus. Facing his inevitable descent into madness, he separates from his friends and ventures into the infamous Crank Palace—a refuge for the infected. Through his journey, Newt encounters new allies and dangers, offering readers a deeply emotional and tragic perspective on his final days.

Plot Summary

Newt watches from the Berg as his friends – Thomas, Minho, Brenda, and Jorge – make their way toward Denver, leaving him behind. His heart feels like it’s caving in on itself, but he doesn’t call out. He can’t. The Flare is inside him, eating away at his mind, and he won’t put them through the pain of watching him turn into a monster. He grips his backpack tightly, fingers brushing over the journal he found on the Berg – a journal where he will record what’s left of his thoughts before they slip away forever.

Steeling himself, he descends into the chaos outside the city walls, into the world of the infected. Cranks roam the streets in various stages of madness – some are like him, still aware, still fighting, while others are too far gone, driven only by rage and hunger. Newt doesn’t know how long he has before he becomes one of them. The thought terrifies him, but there is no cure, no hope.

The streets are filled with desperation. Cranks, rejected from society, scramble for scraps of food, shelter, anything to cling to life a little longer. Newt moves among them, blending into the ruin. His limp slows him down, but he pushes forward until he comes across a woman – dark-skinned, tough, her arms wrapped protectively around a small boy. She eyes him warily before deciding he isn’t a threat.

Her name is Keisha, and the boy is her son, Dante. She has lost nearly everyone she loved, and Newt can see in her eyes that she expects to lose herself soon too. She asks where he’s headed, and he doesn’t have an answer beyond surviving for a little while longer. She scoffs at the idea of the so-called Crank Palace – a place where the infected are supposedly cared for – but Newt finds himself drawn to it. Maybe it’s the last place he belongs.

Their fragile alliance is cut short when soldiers descend on them, rounding up Cranks with brutal efficiency. Keisha fights back, but the odds are impossible. Newt is tackled to the ground, his body heavy with exhaustion and the weight of his illness. Before he can react, they are tossed into a truck, the city growing smaller in the distance.

The ride is rough, jostling them like cargo rather than people. When they finally stop, they are hosed down with freezing water – a half-hearted attempt at sanitation before they are thrown through the gates of the Crank Palace. Newt expected chaos, but what he finds is something stranger – an uneasy sense of order. Tents and makeshift huts scatter the area, filled with the infected, some still clinging to reason, others waiting for the madness to take hold.

Keisha stays close to Dante, her eyes darting to every shadow, every movement. Newt understands. There is no real safety here. The Crank Palace is nothing more than a waiting room for death.

Terry, an older man with a voice rough from past illness, recognizes Newt – not as the Glader he once was, but as something else. Word spreads fast, and soon Newt realizes why he was brought here instead of being executed like so many others. Someone wants to keep track of him. Someone who still has power. He doesn’t have to ask who – he already knows.

WICKED.

Memories drift at the edge of his mind, ghosts of a past he was never meant to remember. He tries to push them away, but the Flare makes it harder. His thoughts slip, his temper flares, his control weakens. He can feel the disease working its way into him, twisting his emotions into something unpredictable.

Keisha doesn’t trust the Crank Palace any more than he does. She speaks of escape, but where would they go? The world outside is just as cruel. Newt, for all his resistance, feels the pull of resignation. He isn’t meant to survive this. He doesn’t want to. But before he loses himself completely, there is one last thing he has to do.

His journal.

He writes as much as he can, pouring the last of his sanity onto the pages, desperate to leave behind something – a record of his descent, a message for the friends he left behind. He wants them to understand why he made the choice he did. He wants them to let him go.

But fate isn’t done with him yet.

A riot erupts in the Crank Palace. The infected, too many and too desperate, turn on one another. Some are past the Gone, violent and uncontrollable, while others fight for scraps of control. Fire spreads through the camp, the world turning into a nightmare of screams and blood. Newt grips his journal tighter, his mind splitting between reason and madness.

Keisha shouts for him to run, to get out before he’s swallowed by the chaos. But he can’t leave. Not yet. The soldiers will come soon, wiping out what’s left of the Crank Palace. He needs to get his journal out before that happens.

Through the smoke and destruction, he finds a way to slip out, to get back into the city. He is no longer thinking about survival – only about delivering his words. He makes his way to the meeting point where Thomas and the others will pass through, hoping – praying – that he will see his friend one last time.

The streets of Denver are different now. The infection is spreading, the city teetering on the edge of collapse. Newt blends into the crowds, unseen, unnoticed. His hands shake as he clutches the note he has written for Thomas, the final words he will leave behind.

He reaches the checkpoint. Soldiers are everywhere, scanning, testing, hunting. He has to move fast. With careful precision, he finds a way to slip the note into a place where Thomas will find it. It isn’t much, but it’s enough.

He takes one last look at the city before slipping away. There is nothing left for him here. Nothing left anywhere.

The Flare hums in his skull, louder now, drowning out everything else. He lets it.

There is nowhere left to run.

He walks toward the darkness, toward the inevitable.

Toward the end.

Main Characters

Newt – A former Glader and a close friend of Thomas and Minho. As a non-immune to the Flare, he faces his slow descent into insanity. Despite his situation, he remains selfless, determined to spare his friends the pain of watching him succumb. His internal struggle, loyalty, and tragic fate make him one of the most emotionally compelling characters in the series.
Keisha – A strong-willed woman Newt meets in the Crank Palace. She is a survivor, fiercely protective of her young son, Dante. Her pragmatism and determination provide a brief sense of companionship for Newt in his final journey.
Dante – Keisha’s young, mostly silent son. He represents innocence in the face of devastation and unknowingly provides Newt with a last fleeting sense of purpose.
Terry – A resident of the Crank Palace who recognizes Newt as one of WICKED’s test subjects. His past losses fuel his curiosity about Newt’s journey and what it might mean for the fate of those taken by WICKED.

Theme

Isolation and Acceptance of Fate – Newt’s journey is one of self-imposed exile. Knowing his fate is sealed, he distances himself from those he loves to protect them from his inevitable downfall.
The Loss of Humanity – The Flare virus strips people of their sanity, and Newt struggles against the monstrous transformation he knows is coming. His interactions with those past the “Gone” highlight the tragedy of losing oneself.
Friendship and Loyalty – Even as Newt pushes his friends away, his love for them remains central to his decisions. His note to Thomas and his continued acts of kindness demonstrate how deeply he values their bond.
Desperation and Survival – The world outside Denver is bleak, filled with people trying to survive however they can. The Crank Palace itself is a testament to humanity’s futile attempts at managing an unstoppable disease.

Writing Style and Tone

James Dashner’s writing in Crank Palace is deeply introspective, giving readers an unfiltered look into Newt’s crumbling mind. The prose is raw, emotional, and filled with a sense of impending doom. Unlike the action-heavy pacing of The Maze Runner series, this novella leans more into psychological tension and character-driven storytelling.

The tone is melancholic and tragic, with brief moments of warmth and humor that only highlight the inevitable sorrow. Dashner expertly balances the chaos of a world overrun by the Flare with the intimate, personal struggle of a single character. The atmosphere is bleak but profoundly moving, ensuring that readers feel every ounce of Newt’s pain, fear, and love.

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