Arc of a Scythe – BookBunnies

A few weeks ago Marshmallow read and reviewed Scythe, the first book in Neal Schusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series. Today she shares with us her thoughts on Thunderhead, the second story in the series, originally published in 2018.

Marshmallow reviews Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman. — Marshmallow reviews *Thunderhead* by Neal Schusterman.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked Scythe, the first book in Neal Schusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): At the end of Scythe, Citra Terranova was ordained as a scythe while Rowan Damisch fled from the scythedom. At the beginning of Thunderhead, their lives are going in two very different directions.

Citra chooses the name Scythe Anastasia (for the patron historic of Anastasia Romanov) and begins gleaning in a different way; this is poorly received by some and lauded by others. When she selects someone to be gleaned, she tells them a month in advance and gives them that time to prepare. Then they seek her out at the end and tell her how they would like to die (those who try to flee are killed by a location-triggered device she implanted in their arm). This is a very unconventional method of gleaning given that most kill their victims almost instantly—and that is generally deemed the most merciful manner of death. However, Scythe Anastasia finds her version of death to be more acceptable to her conscience.

Some scythes don’t really care about mercy at all though. One such scythe is Scythe Brahms who plays his patron historic’s lullaby each time he gleans, which is generally with bias. A new scythe, Scythe Lucifer, begins to take out corrupt scythes like Scythe Brahms, burning them so their bodies cannot be revived. Scythe Lucifer spares Brahms, but the endings of the many other corrupt scythes he did not begin to alert the scythedom to his presence. They call him a vigilante and soon realize that he is none other than Rowan Damisch.

After seeing the rise of the ‘new order’ (a movement within the scythedom that ignores the founding ideals of discipline and modesty in order to actively encourage bloodlust, self-indulgence, and corruption for scythes), Rowan has vowed to take as many bad scythes out of the equation as possible. Of course, this doesn’t go over well with the scythedom, even though some like Scythe Anastasia acknowledge that the scythes removed were undeserving of their roles.

While the scythedom reels with shock over Scythe Lucifer’s actions, the Thunderhead (the ambivalent, benevolent A.I. consciousness that rules over humanity as a guardian angel, running everything perfectly to create the perfect world) stays quiet. Scythes are not allowed to communicate with it—in order to create a separation between the two institutions—but they are puzzled by why it has not done anything to stop Rowan. The Thunderhead, it is revealed, worries that the new order will topple the balance that has kept their utopian world at peace for so long. And while the Thunderhead can’t do anything to stop the new order, it can hint certain things to a certain Grayson Tolliver, an ordinary man who was essentially raised by the Thunderhead after his serial parents left him (serial parents are people who spend their immortal lives starting families but never sticking around to raise them). Through Grayson, the Thunderhead saves Scythe Anastasia and her former mentor Scythe Curie from a murder attempt. This begins Grayson’s new life as the Thunderhead’s vessel for action, action it is technically not supposed to be taking.

Through the perspectives of Scythe Anastasia, Scythe Lucifer, Grayson, and the Thunderhead (though sometimes we witness another scythe’s life), we see the glitches in the system—both real and metaphorical—grow. The scythedom has protected their utopian world for centuries, but everything seems to be changing for the worse. This is the one thing the Thunderhead cannot fix; it cannot save humanity from the scythedom if it cannot save the scythedom.

Marshmallow is reading Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman. — Marshmallow is reading *Thunderhead* by Neal Schusterman.

Marshmallow’s Review: Thunderhead was an amazing book! I was absolutely fascinated by the first book and reading the second book has made me even more enveloped in the story. In Thunderhead, Schusterman shows how the characters we met earlier in Scythe have changed and how they have made new roles for themselves in their world. Furthermore, in this book, Grayson Tolliver is introduced and quickly becomes a central character. We get to witness his development and I am really, really curious to read more about him and how he will affect the plot.

The story line is ingenious and I found myself not even trying to predict what comes next. That was not out of a lack of interest; I was so enjoying the story that I was content to just continue reading to find out. After all, I didn’t really stop long enough to try to foretell the future. I am really excited to read the next book and find out what will happen.

Of course, both the third book and second book are irrelevant to someone who hasn’t read the first book. After reading Scythe, reading Thunderhead is the immediate instinct. Both books require the same reading level and maturity. Neither is particularly inappropriate and I think an eleven year old would find both intriguing. There is some violence and something sexual is implied at the end, but nothing is ever described in detail at all. This was perfect for me because I don’t mind those two things as long as I don’t have to read about it for more than a sentence! This was a good decision on Schusterman’s part because I think it makes the books more accessible and open to a broader audience.

That said, I felt his prose was slightly less flawless in Thunderhead. Certain sentences were worded a little strangely. Yet, this might have been a good thing overall because it made me feel like the book was from a future era, one you fall into when you start the first chapter.

Even though these books are set in a different time, the discussions about mercy, empathy, humanity, love, and what we owe to each other are relevant to everyone today. Thunderhead is very entertaining and interesting, but it also teaches values and morals that I think are crucial to a society hoping to reach utopia one day. As a whole, this book was absolutely amazing and I would completely recommend it to everyone.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Thunderhead* by Neal Schusterman 100%.

Marshmallow starts off the new year for the book bunnies blog with a review of Scythe, a 2016 book by Neal Schusterman that she read during the winter break.

(The book bunnies got a hold of this book after Caramel had read and reviewed an earlier book, Full Tilt, by Schusterman and wanted to read more from him.)

Marshmallow reviews Scythe by Neal Schusterman. — Marshmallow reviews *Scythe* by Neal Schusterman.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like sci-fi books about fascinating futuristic possibilities, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Now, in this new future world, death no longer exists. The Thunderhead, an omniscient AI consciousness, runs the world; however, this is not a typically dystopian situation. The Thunderhead has a “purer” soul than any human and society is managed perfectly with everything running smoothly. Without death but with technology, humans are able to “turn the corner” (reverse their aging) whenever they wish. Revival centers are everywhere, so if there ever is a fatal accident, it is never truly fatal.

However, there is a catch. Without death, a population would grow unchecked; scythes serve in death’s place and must glean (accepted euphemism for taking the life of someone) a certain quota in the time between each Scythe Conclave (meeting). This keeps the fear of death alive to an extent, but in most people there is little more than a distant memory and a feeling of vague danger. At this point:

“The growth of civilization was complete […] there was no more left to learn. Nothing about our own existence to decipher. Which meant that no one person was more important than any other. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, everyone was equally useless.”

Most humans go through life, turning corners and reliving life yet again. Citra is at the actual beginning of her life, around sixteen. When Scythe Faraday (Scythes choose new names for themselves based on a ‘patron historic’) comes to Citra’s house and stays for dinner, she and her family presume he is there to glean someone. While most people try to kiss up to Scythes (hoping to avoid being gleaned), Citra doesn’t care. She thinks he will glean someone so he might as well make it clear without playing games with them. Her angry outburst impresses him and he reveals that he was just hungry and their neighbor—who wasn’t home yet—is the one he intends to glean. He leaves Citra’s family, but not without saying that Citra would make a good Scythe because she can “see through the facades of the world.”

Rowan is also like Citra. He was in proximity to one of Scythe Faraday’s gleanings. The victim this time was a popular football player, Kohl, at his high school, but no one was brave enough to stay with him when the end came…except for Rowan. Scythe Faraday notes that Rowan was the only one who was brave enough to face death in order to be there to comfort Kohl. That is not what other people think though. They think he was there so he could watch Kohl’s gleaning and perhaps was even the cause. Gleanings are supposed to be random, but Rowan knew there must be something else. Indeed, Scythe Faraday reveals during Kohl’s last moments that he was chosen because he is a teenager with a car who likes to drink and Scythe Faraday then chose randomly from that demographic. But no one else knows this and, by association with this morbid event, Rowan becomes a social pariah.

In other words, both Rowan and Citra find themselves in the wake of Scythe Faraday’s reaping, and eventually they are both selected by him to be mentored as Scythes in training. As they become more and more immersed in the Scythedom, they learn that there is politics in play everywhere. A new movement—led by a Scythe Goddard—of younger Scythes who commit massacres almost for fun and material enrichment begin pushing against the “old guard” Scythes, those who believe in mercy and dignity for those gleaned.

Scythe Faraday teaches Citra and Rowan his philosophies and ideals, those of the “old guard.” But eventually, through the orchestration of Scythe Goddard, it is declared that only one of Scythe Faraday’s apprentices will be allowed to join the Scythedom. The one selected will have to kill the one who is not. This was never Scythe Faraday’s intent when he selected them, but it seems that there is only one way out and someone’s blood will be spilled.

Marshmallow is reading Scythe by Neal Schusterman. — Marshmallow is reading *Scythe* by Neal Schusterman.

Marshmallow’s Review: Scythe is an amazing book! The philosophical nature of it made it extremely intellectually stimulating and the plot was engrossing. I read this at the same time that Sprinkles and Caramel were reading it and we kept fighting who got to the read first. When we all finished, we immediately wanted to read the second book!

The world imagined by Schusterman is a bit of a utopian version of our world, with things running more smoothly. Yet life has become rather artificial and everyone is essentially immortal. Purpose is rather absent from humans’ lives, except for the Scythes who have to take on a traumatizing role that shapes them forever. Once a Scythe, always a Scythe. Citra and Rowan learn that Scythes all glean in different ways, yet as Scythe Faraday says: there is no right way to glean, but there are definitely wrong ways. In this imaginary world, Schusterman sets up a struggle for power between Scythes and places Citra and Rowan in the midst of the chaos.

Honestly, Scythe was one of the most fascinating and engrossing books I have read. I really want to read the next book! The ending was very satisfying but it also leaves some things untold. The story does continue (I think there are three books in total in the series, Arc of a Scythe) and I am excited to read more!

Scythe is a really well written book and I think it is amazingly stimulating. It does force one to consider what life without purpose would be like and how mortality affects humanity. It also makes you appreciate life a lot more and makes you look for purpose in your own life. I would highly recommend reading this book. There is some violence, so I would not share it with bunnies younger than twelve. But this is an amazing book and I would completely recommend reading it for anyone else!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Scythe by Neal Schusterman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Scythe* by Neal Schusterman 100%.