Scythe by Neal Shusterman | Review
[image error]Neal Shusterman is a world-building genius. There is simply no better way to say it. He takes the earth we live on and morphs it into these societies that should seem far fetched, but don’t, with customs and peoples that provoke fascinating–oftentimes frightening–questions. Because when we look at our world, how far off the mark is he really?
Scythe is the newest addition to the already rather vast collection of stories Shusterman has produced. In this futuristic sci-fi dystopian society, where humans no longer die natural deaths, we meet the Scythes. These individuals are those burdened with the task of preventing the population from expanding too far–by “gleaning” the population at random.
Yes, it does sound a bit crazy. But it works. The story follows two teens who are chosen as apprentice Scythes and enter the political power game that is the Scythedom. Advanced technology may have eradicated death, a computer may rule the world, all of your basic needs may be met, but it is the Scythdom that decides if you live or die. But not all the Scythes take the moral high ground. Some enjoy to kill for pleasure.
The world crafted in this was brilliant. Aspects of it were a little over the top, but it was still overall a believable society. This world was very vivid in my mind and I think that owes to Shusterman’s attention to detail. There is an explanation for everything.
I was a little underwhelmed by the characters at times and found myself somewhat detached from them. They were all facing some extreme challenges, but I was never able to feel that invested in their overall development. Rowan (one of the two leads) and Scythe Faraday were definitely my favorite characters (although I was even a little detached from them part of the time) and it was painful to see what they had to face.
The only other real downside to this was the touch of romance we were given. I found it quite unnecessary. Since it wasn’t a central focus I could ignore it most of the time, but then it would pop up and annoy me. I think this could have been handled differently and still packed just as much of a punch.
This novel is the beginning of a series, but I think it stands well on its own. There is just enough closure that you don’t immediately need a sequel, but enough of an open ending to allow more development. I am excited to see where Shusterman takes Rowan and Citra in the next installment.
