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Scythe

By: Neal Shusterman
Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
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Publisher's Summary

Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in this Printz Honor-winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times best-selling Unwind Dystology series.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: Humanity has conquered all those things and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life - and they are commanded to do so in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe - a role that neither wants. These teens must master the "art" of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Scythe is the first novel of a thrilling new series by National Book Award-winning author Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

©2016 Neal Shusterman (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Scythe

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Absolutely love this book!

Phenomenal!!! Must listen and read. The narrator is amazing as well. Just fantastic!!! Loved it so much!

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brilliant

awesome and unique story, wonderfully written and performed perfectly. will be moving straight on to the second book in the series.

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Love love love

Narration equals perfection.
Story equals perfection.
Could not stop listening to this book. Found myself trying to find ways and opportunities to continue listening.
Cannot recommend enough. On to the second book.

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plot writing, mystery, lovable characters

a great base idea that evolved into a mystery with great plot writing that kept me guessing.

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Great premise

interesting philosophy and ideas well told. Unconventional star crossed lovers. A few twists and turns but comfortable and considered pace

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Interesting

A very interesting and original plot. I probably rate this book a 3.6 which rounds up to 4. I haven't yet raced off to buy the second book in the series but I might in the future.

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Fantastic!

This was a great read with a brilliant narrator. I can’t wait to read more of Shusterman’s book. Definitely recommend!

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Amazing book

This book is amazing but it is quite dark, I do highly recommend this book.

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Masterpiece

This whole book is truly amazing, as I got to the end it immediately became one of the best I’ve ever heard.

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An Important Story That Will Inspire.

About 200 hundred years hence humanity has attained immortality and is governed by a beneficent A.I called the Thunderhead (not god but godlike). But for the presence of the Scythes, humanity exists in a state of near Utopia.

The Scythes were created in response to the potential problems of over-population brought on by immortality. The job of the Scythe is to kill a predefined quantity of people every year in order to maintain viable population levels. They exist outside the Thunderheads control and answer only to themselves. The Thunderhead is able to revive anyone killed by accident (deadish), but a person killed by Scythe is properly dead and cannot be revived.

The Scythes have become increasingly corrupted by their power and the Thunderhead is unable to stop their rising extremism and so decides upon a secretive world changing plan of action that would end the Scythes but the Scythes have become entrenched in their own immutability and are not going to let go without a fight.

In his three part trilogy for young adults Shusterman examines prescient problems like populism (Scythe Goddard, the villain of the piece, is an allegory for Trump), religious extremism, environmental degradation and social inequality (he advocates for the UBI as a solution to the age old problem of poverty) but primarily the Scythe trilogy is a speculative sci-fi novel about near future and its burgeoning technologies, notably artificial intelligence.

If I had read this as a kid it would have turned me upside down with its vision and wisdom. Shusterman is a smart guy and his guide to the near future is a handy primer for young folk with an interest in technology and creating a socially equitable world. Cannot recommend it enough.

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