The Thunderhead is a dystopian science-fiction novel written by Neal Shusterman. The Thunderhead is the sequel to the book Scythe by the same author. Scythe and The Thunderhead are about two characters named Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova, who has become the infamous Scythe Lucifer and Scythe Anastasia. What is a scythe? Why do they choose the names they do? What do they do? To answer these questions I would recommend to anyone interested in reading The Thunderhead to read the original book, Scythe, first.
In this future society, proposed by the author, immortality has been reached and people can be reborn again and again. Scythes act as population controllers and are given the task of “gleaning” their targets. “Gleaning” is the only way of killing someone for good with no chance of revival. The Thunderhead is an artificial intelligence created to help humanity survive. The Scythedom (the scythe government) is not controlled by the Thunderhead, which controls everything else with its vast array of cameras and intelligence. This dystopian world is run by two separate powers seemingly in balance. However, in reality, people constantly fear being gleaned and there is a civil war inside the Scythedom between the old guard and the new. The Old Guard wants morals and rules to guide their work, while the New Guard wants to enjoy the gleaning that they take part in. Having read Scythe in the past, I was looking forward to revisiting this world. Little did I know that I would be forced on a rollercoaster of twists and turns of intrigue and baffling character decisions made by the author. I was surprised at how apocalyptic the book became. The Thunderhead shares some similarities with other dystopian novels such as George Orwell’s book, 1984, and Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451. However, both Neal Shusterman’s main characters are teenagers, and these other books have thirty- to forty-year-old protagonists. The way Neal Shusterman portrays these teenage lives makes this a young adult novel. I would recommend The Thunderhead to anyone looking for a new and interesting adventure into the dystopian science-fiction world. It is an intriguing and thrilling world that the author weaves and portrays through the eyes of the deep and well-written characters. Rowan, Citra, and the newcomer Greyson develop and mature into well-rounded protagonists that you can really believe in.
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