The Thunderhead has started to worry about the fate of the human race. Population growth might just be a problem once again, but it also does not agree with the new order Scythes. Of course, bound by its own rules, it cannot interfere with the scythedom, but it can manipulate certain humans enough to set its plan in motion.

I will do everything in my power to save them from themselves, but if I am unsuccessful, at least I can take some comfort in the fact that I would then be free.

So what’s been happening since the end of Scythe? Rowan has been serving his own brand of justice as Scythe Lucifer, gleaning the lives of corrupt Scythes. Citra is now Scythe Anastasia and has her own way of doing things. She gives each person she gleans a month to get their lives in order before they die. This has ruffled feathers but is not against the rules. Oh and someone is out to kill her and Scythe Curie, permanently.

So. Much. Drama. I might say there was too much going on but it all fits together in this complex world. There is plenty of focus on corrupt politics, as we can expect from books written in the past couple of years. A certain Scythe comes back from the past (I did not see that coming) and is good at telling people what they want to hear, which does not always translate to running an organisation well.

An arrogant head of state gives permission to all nature of hate as long as it feeds his ambition. And the unfortunate truth is, people devour it. Society gorges itself, and rots. Permission is the bloated corpse of freedom.

Instead of extracts from Scythe journals, there are passages from the Thunderhead’s point of view between chapters. Its personality comes through and you get the sense of everything it is doing to keep the world going. It shouldn’t have favourites, but it clearly does. I did feel frustrated at times by its insistence on following the rules. It would be so easy for it to fix things!

Poor Grayson. He is a new character, raised by the Thunderhead after his parents got bored of him. Grayson loves the Thunderhead, so he can’t think of anything worse than being shut out. With its metaphoric hands tied, the Thunderhead has no choice but to use his loyal ward to do what it can’t.

The only reason I didn’t give it five stars was that I found the unsavory sub-culture a little contrived. Most things in this world are well thought through and reflect on society. The unsavories just felt like they were created as a plot device so Grayson could go undercover. They supposedly exist because some people just need to cause trouble and the Thunderhead wants everyone to be happy. The unsavories came across as children playing at being bad, knowing there’s no severe consequences.

However I did laugh at the part where they keep a dysfunctional Washington DC to keep the moaners happy. People do love to moan!

That’s exactly what the scythedom is: high school with murder.

What an ending! It has made me speculate when the next book will be set. Will the scythedom have changed dramatically or will it be a quick continuation? I cannot wait!

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Book Source: Purchased