This book really had an interesting premise. I just don't think the execution was great. It was fine, there were just some logistical issues.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Death makes the whole world kin.
Welcome to Earth, several centuries in the future. Congrats! Humankind has cured death. No one here dies, of anything. There is also the Thunderhead, an Internet program which uses algorithms to permanently prevent crime and any kind of worldly suffering. Isn't that handy! In this Utopia, no one has to die, but they do. The only beings that don't follow the law are those which are chosen to become scythes--humans who kill others as their profession.
I wasn't entirely satisfied with this world building, and maybe that's just because I'm a scientist. I know that's not the point of the story, but HOW do they cure people who are literally ripped to shreds? And how does an OS magically cure hunger and war and politics? If you're going to create a crazy Utopian world it should at least make sense.
The next part of the story that didn't make sense: what the heck was the point of scythes? It is clearly stated in the book that population control is not the goal because they only kill 5 million people a year, and there's still plenty of Earth to inhabit before it reaches its limit. So why are there professional killers that kill random people? The answer: because. Because apparently it retains some sort of "humanity". What??? It makes no sense. This issue stuck with me throughout the whole book and kind of ruined it for me. The book states: "We were both driven by a desire to use gleaning as a way of hacking through the thicket to open a better path for humanity." What. First of all, one of the scythe rules is that you can't be biased in any way, so they clearly aren't talking about some twisted form of targeted genocide. But then also crime doesn't happen, so who is "the thicket" that needs clearing??
Another reason gleaning is stupid: how do they space it out evenly. There's only 5 million per year and we have to assume there's upwards of 50 billion people on Earth by this point. They have to relatively close to where the scythes live, so those regions are just screwed? ALSO: the fact that the major peacekeeping program, the Thunderhead, is barred from interfering with any Scythe matters... I just, I can't. It was like anytime something significant was going to happen it was like, "ope sorry, the Thunderhead can't interfere with Scythe matters!" This system is dumb! And they don't point out how it's dumb, they all just accept it! Talking about getting rid of "bad scythes", what is a good scythe? I do not understand.
Another issue: the characters are just not developed in this story at all. I literally just felt nothing out of them. And somehow they fall in love and are willing to die for each other after knowing each other for 3 months and having the most sterile, dry interactions I've ever read. It was all just dryyyyyy.
The plot was fine. Also a little dry in places. Idk man, I really wanted to love this book, but if you're going to build a world, don't do it half-assed. I don't like reading books where I have no idea what/why things are. I really thought I'd devour this whole trilogy, but I don't even think I feel like picking up the next book.
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