Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)

by Neal Shusterman

The Scythe Commandments 1) Thou shalt kill. 2) Thou shalt kill with no bias, bigotry, or malice aforethought. 3) Thou shalt grant an annum of immunity to the beloved of those who accept your coming, and to anyone else you deem worthy. 4) Thou shalt kill the beloved of those who resist. 5) Thou shalt serve humanity for the full span of thy days, and thy family shall have immunity as recompense for as long as you live. 6) Thou shalt lead an exemplary life in word and deed, and keep a journal of each and every day. 7) Thou shalt kill no scythe beyond thyself. 8) Thou shalt claim no earthly possessions, save thy robes, ring, and journal. 9) Thou shalt have neither spouse nor spawn. 10) Thou shalt be beholden to no laws beyond these.

The scythe commandments begins with “Thou Shalt Kill,” an intentionally provocative statement, but only the beginning of a list that took a great deal of thought. I decided to make them commandments, because there is something very old-testament about scythes in general. I wanted to invoke that sense of awe and the idea of a single set of inviolate rules. Coming up with the scythe commandments took a lot of time. I had more than twenty at one point, and had to whittle them down, combining some of them, removing the ones that didn’t feel important enough to be laws. After solidifying them, the challenge was to build the scythedom around them. These laws are the basis for everything that scythes do. Of course, as with any law, there are ways to manipulate the interpretation. The last one is the most important: “Thou shalt be beholden to no laws beyond these.” The idea that scythes are above all other law gives them an incredible amount of power. Power that can be wielded wisely, but also corruptly…