Scythe
Neal Shusterman
Imagine a world where war doesn't exist, all sickness have cures, and you can turn back your age. You have the ability to live forever, that is until a scythe comes to visit you.
In Scythe, the world has found the ability to avoid war, disease, pain, and death. All of this is done with the help of the internet which they call "The Thunderhead". This is basically a large iCloud that stores all of humanities knowledge. This world has achieved all knowledge and everyone knows everything. And because everyone now knows everything, immortality is for everyone.
Because the world is quickly becoming overpopulated, Scythes have come into place. Scythe are like grim reapers. They have the ability to kill and make it permanent. Their gift to society is to keep population in control. They can kill whoever they want, whenever they want, however they want.
As we figure out more about this world we are introduced to our two main characters: Citra and Rowan, two teens who have been chosen to be a scythe's apprentices so that one will become a new scythe. Neither want the job, but neither have a choice. The catch, the winner kills the loser.
Neal Shusterman paints a very vivid world where immortality is possible. The characters are intriguing and make you root for both. It does make you ask the question about morals and make you wonder about yourself. What would you do if were stuck in a position like Citra and Rowan? What if you had the right to kill without consequences. Shusterman does a great job in reaching his audience.
Pros:
The book is really well written and developed.
Although, you probably can't relate to the world in Scythe, you can relate to the characters.
Cons:
It's a hard book with a large vocabulary. I love learning new words so I had no problem, but there was definitely a lot of stopping to read so I could quickly look up the definition.
Links
Neal Shusterman's Website:
Trailer for the book:
Great post! Sounds like an interesting read. It seems that Citra and Rowan have to make tough decisions and I'm sure they will learn a lot about themselves during the process. I really like books with a unique premise because the author can explore all kinds of ideas even the most abstract ones.
ReplyDeleteI like your post, especially with the challenging questions at the end. This book sounds really interesting. As I was reading your review of the book, I was wondering about how crime factors into this immortal world that the author has created. I may have to read it to find out!
ReplyDelete