After a turbulent apprenticeship and the ultimate revenge on his past trainer and foe, Rowan has left the guidance and leadership of any senior scythe and gone rogue. He is now known as Scythe Lucifer and has also taken up the forbidden robe colour of black.

He now strikes fear into Scythes as he not only gleans but wipes out the existence of those Scythes he deems as corrupt, racist, prejudiced or just bloodthirsty. There’s plenty of them out there too. He misses Citra – now Scythe Anastasia, but is content to know she is safe with Scythe Curie – The Grand Dame of Death.

Citra like Rowan is aware of the corruption in Scythe ranks, and also aware of the new order of Scythes coming through. They don’t cherish and honour the old ways as they should, and Citra and Scythe Curie are wary of the future as a result.

The Thunderhead is watching however, aware of billions of moments in time all at once, and able to react to them just as quickly. It also speaks personally to those he needs to nuture, one such person – Grayson. He’s never had much parental attention and feels close to the Thunderhead, as much as that is possible. The Thunderhead has a job for him, and Grayson’s life as he knows it is over.

As Rowan hunts, Citra’s unique way of gleaning draws criticism, Faraday hunts for an anomaly in the Scythe archives, and a plan to rock the Scythedom at the next Conclave is in motion. No-one knows what’s coming.

A fantastic sequel to Scythe and one of the best Trilogy ‘middles’ I’ve ever read. There were certainly no boring bits as middles often fall prey to. We learn so much more about the all-powerful Thunderhead and the way it ‘thinks’.

The different viewpoints captured me again, the twists and turns, power plays and shocks kept coming, right up to the blood-pumping, cataclysmic finale! Gotta get my hands on a copy of the third in the trilogy – Toll.

Author – Neal Shusterman

Age – 12+

Read a review of the 1st book in the series (Click on the book cover)

(Future, Power, Politics, Death, Corruption, Revenge, Control, Blackmail, Good vs Evil, Series, Utopia, Grim Reapers, Allies)