Arc of a Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman

Another recommendation from the BookTube community is the Arc of a Scythe series, where we face the questions of human immortality, the absence of disease and the impending risk of overpopulation and how a group of trained scythes are tasked to kill to keep the balances of the population in check.

Scythe

The story begins with Citra and Rowan as we embark with them on the journey as apprentices under Scythe Faraday and we learn about how the Scythedom works, how people are selected by Scythe to be gleaned, or killed, and that the family members of the deceased get one year of immunity. Scythes are not under the jurisdiction of Thunderhead, which is an advanced form of artificial intelligence that overlooks the rest of the world. The thunderhead is an all-knowing, omnipresent being. People have the power to communicate and learn anything they desire from this encyclopedia, thus making it difficult to have real professions or earn an education since there is no financial motivation required, as everyone is looked after. Revival centres bring people back from the dead from almost all injuries other than the works of a Scythe, and everything appears to be of working order.

However, the Scythedom is separate, and therefore we as readers discover many flaws, corruption, and immoral scythes whose gleaning resemble massacres rather than humane killings to control the population. The book ends as we find out if our main duo successes or fails in becoming a Scythe.

The Thunderhead

My favourite book of the trilogy, this plot is indeed thunderous, and answers many questions of the origin story of how the world came to its current stage, and how Scythe Goddard’s legacy continues to dominate and fears to disrupt everything – and ultimately the realization of the terrific plan is brought to life as the Thunderhead loses the trust of the humanity it adores. I love the development of Scythe Anastasia, Lucifer, Curie and Faraday, and of course, Munira.

The Toll

The finale is a big one, literally, with almost 700 pages, the book, for me was a toll to read. Greyson, Rand, Laurina, Pusselo and Jeri play more important roles than Citra and Rowan, as we know they are incapable of doing anything for the first bit of the book. Greyson’s relationship as the Toll with the Thunderhead is fascinating, as we see the Thunderhead begins to question itself and makes unethical decisions that are not wrong, but not correct either. We also feel for the people trapped on the island, and I felt that the Thunderhead’s plan of sending humanity up to colonize other exoplanets is a weak point of the plot. It’s an easy way out and does not make sense given the lack of space scientists that exist and previous colonization failures and only taking tonists. The world development of other regions of the Scythedom is well written, as with Greyson’s growth and Rand’s short but satisfying conclusion.

Overall, I miss these characters and want more books about the aftermath of the events at the end of The Toll. The questions raised that Shusterman wants the reader to think about immortality and how we deal with death are important conversations to have. The ending of how death is controlled more “naturally” instead of in the hands of people aligns with what I expected. I am also looking forward to powerful cloud technology, and where knowledge is shared with all, with no economic barriers. Not sure if immortality my cup of tea though ha-ha, but now please go read it!

Cheers,

Kelly