Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the Scythedom, putting them at odds, in the chilling sequel to the Printz Honor Book Scythe from New York Times bestseller Neal Shusterman, author of the Unwind dystology. The Thunderhead cannot interfere in the affairs of the Scythedom. All it can do is observe–it does not like what it sees. A year has passed since Rowan had gone off … passed since Rowan had gone off grid. Since then, he has become an urban legend, a vigilante snuffing out corrupt scythes in a trial by fire. His story is told in whispers across the continent.
As Scythe Anastasia, Citra gleans with compassion and openly challenges the ideals of the “new order.” But when her life is threatened and her methods questioned, it becomes clear that not everyone is open to the change.
Will the Thunderhead intervene?
Or will it simply watch as this perfect world begins to unravel?more
This is the 2nd book in the Scythe series. Since I liked the first one so much, I read the second one.
Our girl Citra is now a Scythe. She has taken the name Scythe Anasthasia, and she has decided to stay with Scythe Curie while she is a junior Scythe. Rowan has become Scythe Lucifer – an unofficial Scythe who has taken upon himself to kill Scythe’s that he feels are unjust. So far he has avoided capture but has caught the attention of the entire Sycthdome.
A year has passed since the first book ended. Anasthasia has found her rhythm. Rowan is being hunted. The Thunderhead cannot interfere in Scythe activities, but it doesn’t like what it is seeing. Anasthasia is challenging the “new order” of Scythes and soon her life, and the life of Scythe Curie is threatened. The Thunderhead cannot intervene directly, but it knows it is must. It finds a way to intervene without actually speaking to any Scythes. The Thunderhead starts to worry more and more about human behavior and what is happening in the blind spots of the world. The Thunderhead is trying to decide if it should take action when it feels like humans cannot take care of themselves.
This book was almost as good as the first. The world building continues. We see what kind of Scythe Anasthasia has decided to become. Faraday has returned but remains underground. Only a handful of people know he is alive. The Scythes become a divided front – half want to have less regulations when it comes to gleaning and the other half want to follow the old ways – the old rules. Half of scythes are worried that unlimited gleaning could lead to disaster – not just population control.
Shusterman left us with a heavy, heavy cliff hanger. We came to the top of a very steep hill at the end of the book – a lot of peopel are dead – a lot of things were left unanswered. Let’s hope that since Thunderhead was written last January, that the 3rd book will be coming out soon. I have to know how this one ends!
Wow! What an amazing series!!
I was really hoping this was a two-book series, but apparently it isn’t, which means I have to wait with baited breath for the third to come out.
The Thunderhead is perhaps the most interesting character of all, and very worthy of a title role. The debate in the real world more or less between Peter Diamandis and Elon Musk poses this question: when (not if) superintelligence arises, will it be a benevolent god? Or will it spell doomsday for mankind?
Shusterman’s answer is that the Thunderhead is benevolent–in fact, the way he describes the Thunderhead is very similar to the way I understand the Christian God, so I find it interesting that the Thunderhead sees himself so very different from the gods of all previous religions (and specifically different than the God of the Bible). He is wise, kind, loving, and perfect–and yet, bound by his own rules. He knows almost all, and he could be omniscient, except that he chooses not to be. He sets limits with good reason, and his own integrity prevents him from crossing those boundaries. But there are consequences to the Thunderhead’s limitations, and he has to find ways around them in order to try to save humanity from itself. Therein lies the story.
From there, as in Scythe, we follow Citra (now Scythe Anastasia), Rowan (not technically a Scythe, but calling himself Scythe Lucifer), and a new character named Grayson Tolliver. Citra is a junior scythe under Scythe Curie still, but someone seems to want her (or Scythe Curie, or both) “ended”–meaning not dead-ish, but unrevivable. Rowan, meanwhile, stalks those Scythes of the New Order who have become corrupt, acting as a vigilante. They have almost no interaction in the book until the very end, but their romance still acts as a motivating factor.
And then there’s Grayson–a normal human for the most part, raised by the Thunderhead. Grayson becomes the Thunderhead’s “wild card.” He cannot directly intervene in matters of the Scythedom, which means he cannot even directly give information to a human to encourage him to intervene. The way the Thunderhead circumvents this problem and divulges what he needs Grayson to know is fascinating.
Other minor characters from Scythe become critical in Thunderhead, as well. Spurred by these peripheral characters, the story is filled with twists and turns, and nonstop action from beginning to end. So creative! I can’t wait for the conclusion!
Full of twists and turns! I love the wording that Neal Shusterman uses. I can’t wait until the next book comes out!
God, it was so good, like the first book in the series, scythe. The author truly is a genius. A must read.
I couldn’t believe the ending
This is one of the best books I have had the pleasure to read from this gender.
It was even better than the first on the saga, warning it ends in a cliffhanger.
In this book Citra is finding her own way to glean people as Scythe Anastasia while Rowan tries to take justice in his own hands.
I really enjoyed reading about the thunderhead and it’s thoughts, and I loved Greyson, can’t wait to read more about all this characters.
In Book 2, Scythe being the first, we find out more about the Thunderhead…the cloud evolved to benevolent omniscience (almost). It is, additionally, capable of pathos and certainly pouts from time to time. The Scythes, specially trained humans whose job in a world where natural death is virtually nonexistent, is to kill other humans—quite dead—and can choose the manner of the “gleaning”. They are given a quarterly quota and most are quite humane (or at least quick) in their methods. However, being humans, some are just mean. Power + mean = adversaries worth fighting.
I charged through Book 2 in a matter of hours, only to discover Book 3 is not yet finished.
Hurry, please, Mr. Shusterman!