Scythe

By: Neal Shusterman

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in this Printz Honor-winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times best-selling Unwind Dystology series.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: Humanity has conquered all those things and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life - and they are commanded to do so in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe - a role that neither wants. These teens must master the "art" of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Scythe is the first novel of a thrilling new series by National Book Award-winning author Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

©2016 Neal Shusterman (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Amazing

This book was a beautiful take on life and death written from a world where no one dies in the perspective of the only killers there are. This book was a wonderful amazing journey that I am so glad I went on.

Entranced from the very beginning

I loved this book!! This is officially my new favorite book of all time! All the characters were so unique, the story line never had a 'dull' or 'hurry and get through this part to get back to the good stuff' moment. I couldn't put it down.

Family read

My 4 kids (aged 11-17) and I absolutely loved the story. We had lots of good discussions regarding the story.

not as good as hunger games

similar genre and audience but not nearly as good as hunger games series. 2nd book won't be a priority purchase, but not out of the question

Engaging plot, lush world

I'd give Scythe 4 gleanings out of 5.

This is a fun book filled with well-rounded characters, an engaging plot, and a very interesting world draped in religious overtones with hints of sci-fi. For me, this amounted to a curious mix of environment and feeling that the author, Neal Shusterman, pulls off well.

Scythe is set in a distant future but feels like its set in the near future in some ways. Countries are organized and named a bit differently, but they still feel familiar. America is called midmerica, for example, and you'd recognize many of the same things we do today, like pool parties. But there are bigger things that are quite a bit different from our world today. Civilization is more, well, "civilized." There is no real crime, and, ironically, everyone has agreed to let the Scythes, modern-day grim reapers, stalk the world and "glean" people in order to keep the population totals under control. The book explores how people hold the honorable Scythes on a pedestal and the various human traits that surface in an environment with those dynamics. Very interesting stuff.

Technology has also evolved. The cloud *(Internet and data accessible from anywhere) has become the Thunderhead, a benevolent overseeing Skynet type that is in the background of the story until... it's not.

Nanites have been made available to everyone to help them heal, or deal with the pain that would have been experienced in the "age of man." Society can even leverage the nanites to shape or reshape their bodies to their liking.

This makes the whole notion of killing almost moot. If someone dies, they are "deadish," and can be revived at a healing center. Only when someone is gleaned (or burned) are they truly gone, and beyond help.

In short, the plot revolves around two children that are selected to become Scythe apprentices, both under one single honorable Scythe—an unprecedented move. Their worlds are turned upside down as they come together only to get torn apart by warring factions and belief systems within the Scythe conclave.

What results is a fantastic adventure that easily held my attention, and drug me along for the wonderful ride.

 

Good potential, shaky execution

While the base of the plot and thematic work well with the story, the forced romance subplot really takes away from the big picture and drags the book into Twilight territory

A great fresh story

Great book with a fresh story and great narrator performance. I recommend it. Will definitely listen to the next installment.

I enjoyed this book

you should read it, or listen to it and then you should recommend it to people.

Golden

I was engaged by the end of the first chapter. I couldn't stop listening! It's golden from start to finish.

Scythe

Scythe is an intriguing story with a very interesting plot line, I loved the futuristic aspect. Even though the whole the story is about death it still maintains a good message. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys action, suspense, and sci-fi. If you liked this story I would suggest the Throne of Glass series, Hunger Games, and Maze Runner.