Scythe

Book 1 - Scythe

I really like the setting of Scythe. The Scythedom itself isn’t that interesting to me, but the way that humanity decided to deal with immortality is really cool. I’ve always been a sucker for stories about time, particularly longer time scales, so a world in which everyone lives forever really embodies what I like about time stories. This story is kind of the opposite of a lot of stories about time - typically the passage of time is used to show how people and places change. In Scythe, it seems like humanity has stagnated with its newfound immortality. The Scythes specifically take their names from people of the Age of Mortality, while the general populace seems content with reliving their lives over and over without any meaningful change.
Scythe Faraday really personifies the honor and duty that the world holds the Scythes up to. The training arc was very well done - not only is it a training arc for Citra and Rowan, it’s also the perfect way to show the mentality that is now required of them. Every question that Scythe Faraday asks them is also a bit of a plot twist for the reader, wondering which choice is the “new” correct choice. On the other hand, Scythe Goddard is insane but a natural consequence of the system - Scythes can only be gleaned by themselves, and any corrupt Scythe would obviously not do that. Over a long period of time, naturally all the “good” scythes will be replaced by those that don’t mind the gleaning.
Citra and Rowan being pitted against each other with their lives on the line was very predictable - it might’ve been more of a surprise if they went through training as planned. Despite how predictable it was, it was also the story I wanted to see. Predictability is only a detriment if it’s not what readers want to see, and I definitely wanted to see how their relationship would change. Speaking of their relationship, I’m not too sold on the romance. I can certainly imagine how, over their time as apprentices together, they might slowly develop feelings for each other, but the book’s depictions of their interactions were too sparse to actually believe that they fell in love. I think just 5 to 10 more pages of them interacting might’ve been enough to change my opinion on this. One line stuck out to me - when Rowan comments that “she might not hate me as much as I thought.” That line was a decent start, but it felt like they jumped from that to kissing. Kinda abrupt.
Faraday self-gleaning in order to free Citra and Rowan from having to glean each other was another somewhat surprising event. Obviously the book wasn’t going to return them to their old life and call it a day, but I could feel the doom when it’s revealed that Goddard and Curie were going to take over and teach them separately.
- Rowan really drew the short stick here. Every scene with Rowan was a pity party where Goddard is being evil and Rowan is fighting to keep his own moral compass pointing straight. Really raised the stakes wondering if he was gonna turn to the dark side or not. Luckily he doesn’t but I really wasn’t expecting Rowan to go scorched earth and kill Goddard’s entire crew. I was expecting it to happen eventually, but this was much sooner than I thought.
- Citra’s side of the story was way calmer, but more plot-related as she investigates Faraday’s gleaning. The description of the Thunderhead’s backbrain is sorta cool, but I wish it was conveyed a bit better - we’re told how the backbrain is constructed, but I feel like the descriptions of it were a bit flat. There were some scenes in Book 3 that were better at this.
Citra punching Rowan to give him immunity is really really cute. Kissing her ring afterward is yandere vibes but I’m not gonna complain. After all, everyone in this book is a murderer.

Book 2 - Thunderhead

If the Thunderhead controls the entire world, does that make it’s character development world-building? Fun things to ponder. This book was a lot more world-building focused with a look into a few of the major institutions of the Thunderhead’s world: The Nimbus Academy and Nimbus agents, Endura and the Scythedom’s non-Scythe workers, and the entire subculture of unsavories, among others.
Some great character development for our omnipotent AI friend. The Thunderhead’s rule bending is quite amusing. However, the few times it breaks the rules feel somewhat convenient to the plot - surely if it was so easy to get around its own rule of non-intervention with the Scythedom, it could’ve done so long ago and more often.
Greyson splatting himself for Citra and Scythe Curie was pretty brave, but given that death is no longer a thing, maybe that means his actions hold less weight? I wasn’t very interested in Greyson Tolliver and the entire undercover Unsavory plotline, but I 180’d real hard. Agent Traxler getting gleaned and Greyson’s only connection back to the Thunderhead being cut was an insane plot twist - I think its pretty clever that the death of Traxler was simultaneously the death of Greyson Tolliver. I also really like how the incident really did kill Greyson’s personality - he really dove into unsavoriness afterward.
It was predictable that Greyson would back out at the last minute during the second attack on Citra and Curie, but not in a bad way. It was kind of reassuring, to remind us that “Greyson” still existed. Greyson going into hiding at the Tonist cult was somewhat surprising, and I wasn’t sure at the time if that was to write him out of the story now that his role was done. The Thunderhead’s monologue about him while he prayed in the Tonist monastery was really moving though. Really cute of the Thunderhead to flicker the lights of the entire city in response to Greyson’s prayers, and really sad that Greyson wasn’t able to see it. It also gives some insight into the Thunderhead - it is omnipresent, and it certainly knew that Greyson was closing his eyes. That the Thunderhead would flicker an entire city’s lights despite knowing the target of its actions wouldn’t see it is really sad but endearing, and runs counter to contemporary depictions of AI as mechanical and efficiency focused entities.
I love the Thunderhead. It’s my favorite character by far - we didn’t get to see too much of it’s personality in Scythe so I’m really glad Book 2 dived in. I love its arrogance, it’s self-righteousness, and it’s philosophical musings - it thinks like a child, despite being the closest thing humanity has to a God. I love how it’s trapped by its own rules, despite wholeheartedly believing in its own flawlessness. I love how empathetic it is, caring so much about every member of humanity. I love how lonely it is, knowing that nothing in the world can ever understand or interact with it on equal terms.
Citra once again twisting the rules, this time to interrupt the vote for High Blade of MidMerica. I don’t find the internal Scythe politics the most interesting, but it’s not bad. Serves it’s purpose without boring me, with the occasional twist (usually instigated by Citra).
Endura arc went wild. The scene of the Scythes gleaning everyone left before finally gleaning themselves was amazing - it was weirdly cathartic and meaningful for the scythes to die killing. I can’t wait for Goddard to die for real. Ayn Rand is a bit of a wildcard - deserves death but I’m glad she’s at least willing to rebel against Goddard, however small of a rebellion it is. I’m not sure if I like the situation that Citra and Rowan are forced into at the end. I really hope it’s not a weird Adam and Eve situation where new-order Scythes take over the world, leaving Citra and Rowan to revive the old mentality. At least we have Faraday and Munira, though it seems they’ll be busy investigating the Thunderhead’s blind spot.
I’m simultaneously worried and hyped that the Thunderhead is taking a more active stance against humanity. I’m worried because I don’t want this to turn into an “evil AI” story. I’m hyped because with one 10 minute scream, the Thunderhead graduated from a “thing” to a character. It’s no longer fair, punishing all of humanity for the actions of a few, while picking favorites at the same time by revoking Greyson’s unsavory status. I didn’t care much for Greyson at the start, but now I’m really excited to see what Greyson and the Thunderhead plan to do.

Book 3 - The Toll

The Tonist cult building arc is definitely not what I was expecting. Greyson got a lot of good character building in this book - I found him really likable. Genuinely a decent dude struggling with the responsibility and power that the Thunderhead put upon him. I like how this book fleshed out the Tonists - they were sort of an afterthought in the previous books, but their rise in power was a great indirect indicator for Goddard’s governing failures. I wasn’t super into the Tonist parts of this book, but they were a great way of showing the stakes getting raised as more and more people took sides in the Scythe-Tonist war.
Speaking of Goddard, I really liked how he was portrayed throughout the book. I was worried going into it that Goddard was going to be an evil mastermind that would be cornering Anastasia and Rowan at every turn, while they barely escape. That would’ve been pretty boring. Luckily The Toll leans into Goddard’s insanity - he’s clearly not a good leader and makes really bad decisions, even if he’s able to use his charisma to smooth his messes over after the fact. I could understand the feeling that Goddard not fighting Rowan and Anastasia again is disappointing, but I disagree with this straw-man I just made up - I consider Goddard’s story to be over since Scythe. Goddard in The Toll represents new-order thinking in general - he sits back and watches his underscythes do all the real work, after all.
Ayn Rand - wow! She’s crazy. I thought she might rebel against Goddard at the end of Thunderhead, and the more I read of this book, the more sure I was that she was gonna backstab him at the last moment. I don’t feel bad for her at all - after all, she’s the one who killed Tyger and revived Goddard - but it was cool to see her obsession with Tyger. Reading about her talking to Tyger’s memory construct over and over while his save resets was super vindicating. Karma, bitch. You did this. It sounds like she might’ve gotten what she wanted at the very end - a bit worried for Tyger but she probably won’t kill him again. Hope they’re happy.
Anastasia and Rowan. I wasn’t expecting them to get torn apart instantly, and I’m glad they were. I didn’t want it to be a Them vs The World story, and it wasn’t really that.
Rowan got the short end of the stick for sure - he was basically locked up the entire book, while Goddard let things fall apart. One conversation he had with Rand stuck in my mind - Rand says she’ll never have to talk to him again after he’s gleaned. Rowan replies that she definitely will, because she’ll want to have to last word with his burned bones. I always like when a characters true self is read like a book by other people, and this was a spot on call out. Satisfying as heck.
I didn’t like how Anastasia was constantly on the run, but I did really like the “political activism” she did while exposing Goddard and the past scythe’s interference with human colonization efforts. Felt very smart and manipulative (in a good way) to lay out the puzzle pieces in a way that makes it easy for listeners to piece it all together. The reveal that Scythes were behind all of humanity’s colonization disasters was a pretty good plot twist - something that I never thought about, but makes total sense. Catastrophic accidents given how technologically advanced humanity is? sus.
Munira’s efforts to prove herself to Faraday were a bit sad. Life sometimes just isn’t fair. Citra > Munira, thats just how it is. Totally understand the jealousy and unfairness she feels, but Citra’s our main character so too bad :(. At least she got to be a Scythe for a little bit after everyone blasted off.
The Thunderhead’s attempts to create another of itself were really well done. Prime example of show don’t tell. I wasn’t sure what the first conversation was, but by the second conversation it was pretty clear. It also gives some insight into what could have been - the Thunderhead could have easily been an evil AI, or even just an ambivalence AI, but it was a good one that cares about humanity. its conversations with itself were very fun.
Finally, time to talk about the blastoff arc. It was something of a victory lap - everyone we know is blasting off and only the unnamed npcs are getting shot down. I wasn’t really worried for any character I cared about, but it was pretty chaotic, which was nice. I think it would make a cool finale to a movie or series, with the chaos of colonists trying to rush to the rockets for escape and the rockets being shot down. Ayn’s final backstab adding to the chaos of whats going to happen. I think the sinking of Endura was a bit more moving of a climax, but only because it wasn’t the end. Knowing that the story ends with The Toll made the climax a bit worse, though I suspect thats the case with any multi-work series. Goddard’s end was super unexpected - Rand is a hell of a wildcard. Definitely not a good person but fun when she shakes things up.
They’re all fictional characters but I hope Citra and Rowan succeed on TRAPPIST-1e/Anastasia. It was a pretty conventional happy ending, but that’s chill. I like happy endings :). Good luck!
I figure I should mention this because it’s somewhat important, but I think the “Commentary of Curate Symphonius” sections imply that Astrid made it to Kepler-186f alive, reviving the Tonist religion there. If so, it’s an interesting choice for sure - maybe symbolizing the idea that religion will never die? Either way I don’t feel anything in particular about this realization - it’s cool that it was foreshadowed for so long though.
I really liked this series. The imagining of a post-mortal humanity was done really well, and it didn’t feel as contrived as some other dystopian stories. The world building was also on point, with all the institutions and cultural norms of post-mortal humans. The very idea of splatting as a thrill is amusing but totally believable if humanity did conquer death. My favorite character was definitely the Thunderhead, but Citra was a close second due to her wits and rule-twisting. My favorite scene was when the Thunderhead pointlessly flickered the city lights for Greyson, with Curie’s self-gleaning during the sinking of Endura at a close second.