Scythe (novel)

Scythe is a 2016 young adult novel by Neal Shusterman and is the first in the Arc of a Scythe series. In the far future, death, disease, and unhappiness have been virtually eliminated due to advances in technology, and a benevolent artificial intelligence known as the Thunderhead peacefully governs a united Earth. To replicate natural death and keep population growth in check, a group of humans known as Scythes are mandated to kill.

Author Neal Shusterman had written multiple teen dystopia fiction novels and wanted to create something that was a "truly perfect world" along with its consequences. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he explained that within this "perfect" world, where even death had been conquered, he realized that humanity would need to take on the role of sole distributor if nature was not doing so. He said that he "envisioned a world where a Jedi-like order" would be the ones responsible for population control.^[1]

270 years after the Mortal Age, teenagers Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch each meet Scythe Michael Faraday, both of whom he chooses to become his apprentices. They then live with Faraday and learn Scythe laws and customs, ways of gleaning, and how to determine who to glean.

A few months later, Faraday takes his apprentices to the Triennial Regional Conclave of Scythes, where Scythedom policies are discussed and various ceremonies are performed. At each Conclave, apprentices are tested; the first test is on knowledge. When Citra is asked what her greatest wrongdoing was, Scythe Marie Curie deems her to be lying. Rowan intentionally fails his question so that he remains on the same level as Citra. Scythe Ayn Rand objects to Scythe Faraday training two apprentices simultaneously, and High Blade Xenocrates decides that only one can become a Scythe, and whomever is chosen will glean the other.

Soon after the conclave, Citra and Rowan are informed that Faraday self-gleaned (died by suicide). The Scythedom believes that Faraday chose to end his life to free them from their apprenticeships, but Citra believes he was murdered. Citra and Rowan are separated and taken on by other Scythes: Citra by Scythe Curie, and Rowan by Scythe Goddard.

While Citra works to solve the mystery of what really happened to Scythe Faraday, Rowan's morals are put to the test as he experiences Scythe Goddard's extravagant lifestyle and harsh training. Unlike Faraday, who lived frugally and took meticulous care in selecting who and how to glean, Goddard enjoys killing and stages mass gleanings with his junior Scythes. He especially enjoys targeting "Tonists," an anti-Scythe religious group based on cobbled-together religious ideas from the Mortal Age.

Under Scythe Curie, Citra continues her searching for evidence that Faraday was murdered, combing through the Thunderhead’s “back-brain” (an unsorted repository of all its knowledge, including all security camera feeds). She begins to suspect Curie may have had something to do with Faraday’s death after being presented with a passage from Faraday’s journal that insinuates he feared for his life. Scythe Curie explains that back when she was a junior Scythe, she developed a crush on Faraday. About fifty years later, the two became lovers for seven years—until they were discovered by the Scythedom and forced to break things off.

Citra and Rowan do not meet again until the next Conclave, where they are tested by fighting each other. Both apprentices attempt to throw the match, but then Rowan is disqualified for rendering Citra "dead-ish" (fatally injured but able to be revived.) While in a revival center, and therefore not technically alive, the Thunderhead gives Citra the name “Gerald Van Der Gans” and tells her he is related to Scythe Faraday’s death.

Citra continues her investigation using the name the Thunderhead gave her. She eventually tracks down Gerald, only to learn he is Scythe Faraday, who faked his death in an attempt to release Citra and Rowan from their obligation to glean one another. Scythe Curie helped Faraday with his plan.

Meanwhile Rowan is unable to bear Honorable Scythe Goddard’s hedonistic glee for killing. When Goddard and his junior Scythes attack a Tonist monastery, one of Goddard’s junior Scythes, Scythe Volta, self-gleans because he felt remorse after gleaning a classroom full of children. Scythe Volta reveals to Rowan that his true name is Shawn Dobson, and made Rowan promise to him to be a better Scythe than he was. Burning is one of the few ways to render someone un-revivable, so Rowan sets fire to the monastery, tracks down Goddard within, and beheads him just to be sure.

At the next conclave, Goddard and his junior Scythes’ deaths are treated as a tragic accident, and the apprentices are given a final test. Although both Citra and Rowan pass, Citra becomes the newest Scythe and chooses Anastasia Romanov as her Patron Historic. Her first assignment is to glean Rowan. However, she "accidentally" grants him immunity for a year when his DNA touches her Scythe ring, and he escapes the conclave with help from Scythe Faraday. In the epilogue, Scythe Anastasia remarks on the recent stories of a rogue Scythe who hunts down corrupt and unworthy Scythes, preventing them from being revived by burning their bodies. He has been dubbed ‘Scythe Lucifer’.

• Citra Terranova – An apprentice Scythe that is trained by Scythe Faraday and later Scythe Curie, chosen for her outspokenness and honesty. At the end of the story, upon her ordination as a Scythe, she adopts the name Scythe Anastasia, after Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia.
• Rowan Damisch – An apprentice Scythe trained by Scythe Faraday and later Scythe Goddard, chosen for his empathy and courage. At the end of the story he becomes known as Scythe Lucifer, taking the name from the biblical fallen angel, and operates as an unordained scythe who gleans corrupt scythes.
• Scythe Faraday – A Scythe who is the mentor to both Citra and Rowan and was well respected by the Old Guard. He gleans fairly by attempting to mimic Mortal Age death statistics. He is named after English physicist Michael Faraday.
• Scythe Curie – A Scythe who tests the Apprentices at their first Conclave and later becomes Citra's mentor. A legendary figure nicknamed "The Grand Dame of Death," she is wise, reflective, and opinionated. She is named after Polish-French physicist Marie Curie.
• Scythe Goddard – A Scythe known for conducting mass gleanings and for an opulent lifestyle who later becomes Rowan's mentor. Charismatic yet narcissistic, he served as the effective leader of the New Order. He is named after American physicist Robert H. Goddard.
• Scythe Volta – A junior Scythe serving under Scythe Goddard privately disgusted by the mass slaughter by Scythe Goddard and the conduct of his peers. He is named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.
• Scythe Chomsky – A junior Scythe serving under Scythe Goddard who specializes in the use of flamethrowers. He is brutish and takes pleasure in carrying out mass gleanings. He is named after American public intellectual Noam Chomsky.
• Scythe Rand – A Scythe who is extremely loyal to Scythe Goddard and revels in death just as much as her mentor does. She is named after Russian-American writer Ayn Rand.
• High Blade Xenocrates – The leader of the MidMerican Scythedom, the former mentor of Scythe Goddard, and the father of Esme. He is named after Greek philosopher Xenocrates.
• Esme – The illegitimate daughter of High Blade Xenocrates. Taken hostage by Scythe Goddard to gain leverage over Xenocrates, she is talkative and friendly, takes a liking to Rowan, and enjoys playing games with him.
• Thunderhead – A highly intelligent and neutral computer system that governs all aspects of life within the Scythedom. It does not intervene directly in Scythedom affairs, but expresses worry about the Scythedom's direction, warning Citra about it.

Michael Berry of Common Sense Media gave the book four stars out of five, calling it a "chilling concept fuels sci-fi thriller about life and death."^[2] Kirkus Reviews called the book "a thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning" as Shusterman made "dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions".^[3] Andrea Brown of Publishers Weekly described it as "powerful tale is guaranteed to make readers think deeply".^[4]

In 2019, the book was selected as the Barnes & Noble Young Adult Book Club pick.^[5] In 2021, Scythe was included on Time's list of the "100 Best YA Books of All Time," with Peter Allen Clark writing that the novel explores mortality, sacrifice, and the responsibilities of growing up, "offering young readers a thrilling and thought-provoking story."^[6]

In May 2016, it was announced that Universal Pictures bought the film rights to the Arc of a Scythe series and planned to adapt Scythe, with Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark as producers and Trevor Engelson attached.^[7] In April 2017, Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken, the writers of 10 Cloverfield Lane, were hired to adapt the book into a screenplay.^[8][9] Television writer Sera Gamble originally wrote the script, but left in 2020 and was replaced by Gary Dauberman. In November 2022, the project began redrafting with a new writer, with filmmaker Steven Spielberg becoming involved.^[10] In March 2024, however, Shusterman reported on his TikTok account that Scythe would instead be produced as a TV show with Universal.