Scythe

by Neal Shusterman
Hennepin County Library hardcover 435 pages
genre: YA SciFi

Oh my word. I don't remember where I heard about this book, but I think it is Shusterman's best ever. I'm not sure I can give a fair summary, so look for that on Amazon. This book was both horrible (I had to put it down, because it is very dark in places) and wonderful (offering insights on morals, philosophy, history, culture) in the guise of a new book for teens. Amazing!!!

Page 53 describes the Thunderhead. "The greatest achievement of the human race was not conquering death. It was ending government." That made me laugh. I would quote more of that passage here, but I'll just tell you to read the book. (The Thunderhead is what today's "cloud" becomes with AI.)

Page 82 ". . . he could tell it was in fine penmanship. It figures she would take penmanship in school. It was one of those classes people took just to be superior. Like Latin." Interesting observation. Taking classes to be superior to others who lack that knowledge or ability.

Page 85 I need to include this entire page. No commentary, except that I'm glad I have faith in God and His plan for eternity.

Page 118 Another journal entry from Honorable Scythe Curie. A passage on religion and the tone cults. I really would love to discuss this book with another reader! Also, I appreciate the scythes taking a name of a Patron Historic. The names were a really interesting part of the story.

Page 235 (Citra) "She resolved not to feel guilty about that. She'd had more than her share of guilt. 'Guilt is the idiot cousin of remorse,' Scythe Faraday had been fond of saying." Yes! Guilt is an idiot cousin and a waste of time.

page 262 From the gleaning journal of H.S. Prometheus - "Human nature is both predictable and mysterious; prone to great and sudden advances, yet still mired in despicable self-interest." Truly, this book has some amazing gems.

page 339 "The idea of truly wishing to end one's own life is a concept completely foreign to most post-mortals, because we can't experience the level of pain and despair that so seasoned the Age of Mortality. Our emo-nanites prevent us from plunging so deep." The nanites in the bloodstream that dull pain, heal, and do other health maintenance are an intriguing concept. Immortality is not something that I think human beings will ever attain on this planet, but as a future innovation in biomedical technology, some of this stuff might be prophetic (like some of the predictions in 1984).

Page 388 Another page contemplating religion and prayer, this time from Faraday's journal.

Page 433 I don't want to include a spoiler, so I'll just say I smiled like crazy when I read this page. If this book doesn't sound that fascinating, I'll just say that Citra and Rowan are two young people who could overpower Katniss Everdeen in a heartbeat. (And I *love* the Hunger Games series.) I MUST buy this book for PRMS and my avid readers. The violence is intense, but the story is amazing.

One irritating thing that I find more and more when I read new books . . . typos! Seriously?! What ever happened to proofreaders? I didn't mark the pages, but it really irked me. How do these get through the publishing process? Here's a new one for me:


(How do you spell "you" with a comma???)

Note added 2019.01.13: I re-read this blog entry when I saw that it had over 100 views. I laughed at myself when I saw an error (now fixed) in the place where I wrote about page 339. (I had "out" instead of "our.")  Then I got to this last note on proofreading and laughed at my own arrogance and carelessness! Sigh. I am only mortal, after all.