Thunderhead Book Review (Book Two of the Arc of Scythe Series)

As promised, this week I will be reviewing book two of the Arc of Scythe series, Thunderhead. This book, like the original, boasts fantastic characters, themes based on the current issues of today, and a strong plot. Two characters, in addition to the further development of Scythes Lucifer and Anastasia (Rowan and Citra), make significant page time: Greyson Tolliver and the Thunderhead itself. Greyson helps readers explore other parts of Shusterman’s world that a scythe wouldn’t be able to enter--such as the life of a Nimbus agent (people who intercede on the Thunderhead’s behalf), an unsavory (the closest thing the “perfect” world can have to criminals), and a Tonist (the closest thing to a religion). Despite these extremes, he depicts a regular guy scenario, which gives the reader a lull between the crazy things the two scythes get involved in. The Thunderhead, however, is anything but normal. Its insights foreshadow the next events, lament and give its opinion on the previous events, and/or display thematic questioning on what it means to be human, which in the end Shusterman leaves up to the reader to determine. I love that its speeches come after the chapter in special formatting, as if the separation of scythe and state (the Thunderhead replaced all government) also appears within the text itself. Of course, none of this would mean anything without a solid storyline to withstand it. Much like the last book, the plot slows once in a while for character development but speeds up soon after, ending with a finale worthy of a conclusion. Scattered throughout the text are little pieces of foreshadowing, not just for book two but also book three; but of course, like all good authors, Shusterman leaves enough up his sleeve to entertain the reader (wait until you figure out where he takes the space colony destructions the Thunderhead off-handedly mentions!). Overall, a book that leaves the reader wondrous on how it will top itself in the conclusion.

“‘Nature is the sum of all selfishness, forcing each and every species to viciously claw its way to survival by snuffing others in the suffocating mire of history. … I have supplanted nature with something far better: mindful, thoughtful intent. … To call me unnatural is a high compliment. For am I not superior to nature? --The Thunderhead”

Recommended for anyone who isn’t afraid to handle hard concepts.

--Grace Nask