The book Scythe is staged around a future where humans have essentially stopped death due to their advanced technology. However, n this world, there is a certain group of people known as “Scythes” that are responsible for keeping the population from gettin out of control. Their task is to go around picking people they see fit to die, and kill or “glean” them. Throughout the book we follow Citra and Rowan, two apprentices learning from their master, Faraday. The duo have been chosen to be scythes, and both attemp to grapple with the big turn their life has just taken. The story really digs deep into the moral struggles that come with such a job, and we watch how Citra and Rowan deal with those problems. Throughout both the characters arcs, they realise that not all Scythes view their job as a sacred duty, and rather abuse their power for all kinds of mishecvious things. As the duo navigate the dangerous world, they encounter more and more scythes with mixed views on their duties, and learn valuable lessons and ideas that come with their job. This book really forces the reader to think about how life and death play important roles in our soceity, and what it means to have power over humanity. Designing a fictional story to portray the message is a lot more captivating than just talking about an issue, which is why this book is an effective thinking piece. I think the book was a worth while read, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of book im interested in. While it does touch on some important moral topics, it could have been summed up pretty early on as a short story. But instead, the author tried to force a whole dragged on backstory and character arc in, which kind of ruined the the book for me.
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