Problems in Utopia

Why do utopian experiments fail? Many people wonder what life would be like in a society without poverty and natural causes of death, but in this scenario, life is not necessarily perfect. The dystopian genre exists to answer this very question, and Neal Shusterman's Arc of Scythes trilogy has done an amazing job at speculating the future thus far.

Thunderhead

Thunderhead is Shusterman's second novel in the trilogy, and it answers most if not all questions that formulated after reading Scythe. The main reason I loved this book was because each chapter was prefaced by thoughts from the Thunderhead, the artificial intelligence that governs the world. Instead of the Thunderhead being this mystical aspect of the novel, Shusterman gives his readers insight into the thoughts and feelings of this being, and looking at humans from a different perspective was a fascinating experience.

This book picks up about a year after the first one concludes; Scythe Anastasia is a junior scythe who is ruffling feathers of the scythedom, and Rowan is on the run as Scythe Lucifer, hunting scythes who kill for pleasure and with cruelty. Instead of focusing on these two stories, however, Shusterman introduces many other characters and adventures, enriching the story and making me anxious to read the third novel.

So far, this series is turning out to be one of my favourite science-fiction stories ever! And Thunderhead is my favourite over the first with 4.5 stars. If you have any questions, comments or review requests, please comment below, email me (theopinionatedbookworm@gmail.com) or follow me on Instagram (@theopinionatedbookworm1).

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The Literary Adventures of an Opinionated Bookworm

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