Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)

by Neal Shusterman

Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the scythedom, putting them at odds, and the Thunderhead is not pleased.

• ISBN13: 9781442472457
• Publish Date: 9 January 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

I love that dystopian novels make you think about your own world and beliefs, make you consider your priorities and the possibilities. Thus far, this series does that well.

This book went much further into the world of the Scythedom. The conflicts became more intense, creating divides amongst the Scythes. That created an air of political intrigue that was fascinating as lines were drawn and gauntlets thrown. The cracks in the Scythedom are becoming too large for anyone to continue to ignore. Added to that was a new character, Grayson, whose part in the story lent another perspective to that of Rowan and Citra.

The level of anticipation and suspense were absolutely perfect, the pacing equally perfect. So many questions from the first book were answered, and just as many new ones raised. And the ending was so good, which left me with a lot of questions about how the third book would play out. There are some wonderful cliffhangers that leave a lot of possibilities.

[alessio]

Recensione pubblicata originariamente sul mio blog Arte della Lettura
Ho ricevuto questo libro gratuitamente. In nessun modo la mia valutazione è stata influenzata.Thunderhead, secondo libro della Trilogia della Falce, riprende la storia di Citra Terranova (ora Madame Anastasia) e di Rowan (ora Maestro Lucifero) esattamente da dove li avevamo lasciati alla fine di Falce. Citra è ora una falce, mentre Rowan un reietto che elimina le falci "corrotte" in modo definitivo, cercando così di purificare la Compagnia delle Falci.

Trama

Dopo la morte di Goddard, nella Compagnia delle Falci si crea una netta divisione fra coloro che supportano le sue idee e quelli che invece lo considerano un folle. Un grosso cambiamento è all'orizzonte e in Thunderhead scopriamo che Citra e Rowan giocheranno un ruolo cruciale nel futuro della Compagnia. Ma una vecchia conoscenza farà il suo ritorno e tutto cambierà (parlo di questo nella sezione spoiler, più giù).

In Thunderhead purtroppo la storia fa fatica ad avviarsi e la prima metà del libro risulta essere lenta e poco interessante. Viene usata come preparazione per la parte finale del libro, molto avvincente e che ci tiene incollati a proseguire la lettura, ma questa netta differenza non mi è piaciuta.

Non ho apprezzato anche il finale, lasciato in sospeso e molto aperto, pronto a essere ripreso nel terzo libro. Avevo lodato Falce anche per il suo finale chiuso e soddisfacente, ma che non impediva il proseguimento della saga, ma stavolta non è stato così. Avrei preferito una chiusura più netta da conclusione di libro, non di capitolo.

Differenze con Falce

Come in Falce, ogni capitolo di Thunderhead è anticipato da un breve estratto, ma a differenza del primo libro questi sono tutti pensieri del Thunderhead stesso, che ci aiutano a capire la sua logica e i suoi pensieri, cosa che ho apprezzato parecchio. Purtroppo in Falce il ruolo del computer che governa il mondo è stato molto marginale, ma sono stato contento di vedere un suo ruolo più da protagonista in questo seguito.

In Thunderhead vengono aggiunti elementi mai citati in Falce, come il consiglio delle falci più importanti del mondo intero, fondamentali nella trama di questo libro, ma mai nemmeno nominate nel libro precedente. Probabilmente l'autore si è reso conto troppo tardi della necessità di questo consiglio nella storia e ha deciso di inserirlo nel libro con una scusa molto banale, ovvero "Prima non ti interessava perché eri solo un'apprendista, per questo non ti ho mai detto nulla".

Stile di Scrittura

Lo stile di scrittura è molto asciutto e rapido. Le descrizioni sono povere ed essenziali e l'autore preferisce dare più spazio ai dialoghi. Questo rende il libro molto scorrevole e rapido, ma lascia molto all'immaginazione.

Sezione con Spoiler

Non ho apprezzato il ritorno di Goddard nella storia. Capisco che come nemesi funzioni perfettamente, e questo non lo metto in dubbio, ma mi dispiace vedere che l'autore non è stato in grado di creare un nemico valido per questo libro. Shusterman ha invece preferito riciclare Goddard e farlo tornare (in un modo piuttosto forzato e al limite del comico) per assicurarsi una storia avvincente. Ha funzionato, ma non sono del tutto soddisfatto.

Conclusioni

Un buon libro, purtroppo inferiore al precedente in molti punti ma non per questo malvagio.
Altre recensioni sul mio blog Arte della Lettura

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I read Scythe back in 2018 and really enjoyed it, even if I did find it a bit slow at times. I loved the characters and found the world of Scythes and the Thunderhead fascinating. Still, I wasn't super eager to dive back into this world because it really is just a lot. Finally, I got my hands on the audiobook and decided to give it a go... and somehow finished it in three days.

This book picks back up with Rowan, now Scythe Lucifer, ending corrupt scythes. Citra, along with Scythe Curie are worried about the New Order and try everything they can to figure out how to defeat them and their corruption. Also enter a new character, Grayson, who is set on a path unlike any he'd ever expected working in his own way to maintain order with the Thunderhead.

I loved the addition of Grayson. I enjoyed seeing him embrace every role he was thrown into. The Thunderhead also really grew on me, reminding me a bit of AIDEN from The Illuminae Files. The character growth in Citra and Rowan was fantastic - I love their relationship, doomed as it is. The New Order scythes were terrifying antagonists. The corruption of their power was scary to see and I can't imagine how that will look in the next book, but I can't wait to find out!

One thing I do really enjoy about this series is the politics of it. I'm sure it's no mistake that certain themes and situations seem to resonate so much. There are times that this book is downright scary in how easily I could see things reflected in our current environment. That's one of my favorite things about dystopia, even if it is a little terrifying.

All that being said, this book was A LOT. There is so much going on in this story that it's hard to keep up with at times. The Scythes, the Tonists, the New Order, the different Scythe factions, multiple islands and secrets and new characters - I can see why this book was over 500 pages. I do enjoy this series so much, but I did find it a bit overwhelming at times. And again, like the first book, I somehow found myself bored in places. If I had tried to read this instead of listening it probably would have taken me weeks to finish.

If you enjoyed Scythe, you'll definitely like this one too! I'm really hoping that now that all the pieces are in play, The Toll will be a bit more fast paced and less dense, even though it's quite a bit longer. I definitely can't wait to see how Citra and Rowan's story ends!

At the beginning of this book, I felt a bit conflicted about it, to be honest. After reading Scythe, my expectations were so high and I loved getting to know the world, politics, and reflecting what I read in our world. However, as the second book in a series, the worldbuilding is already done for a large part. That also means that even though there are still events happening that make you think about society in general, it will be less because you already know this world and there are fewer surprises. But I went into this book with the wrong mindset. I wanted it to make me think about society again, which it did, but I had unrealistically expected more. Upon rereading, it would probably be a five-star book.

Neal Shusterman had a though job creating a sequel to Scythe, but he did it wonderfully. There is only one element of the book that I have some problems with. Goddard coming back to life. I don't know, it felt as if he needed Goddard to have a story. To blame it on the same bad guy once again. I think it would have been interesting to see young scythes affected by Goddard and have them becoming the new bad guy in the story, instead of bringing him back to life in such a horrific way. However, bringing him back to life was one of the main societal issues that this book touched upon, so at the same time, I was happy that he decided to go for this approach.

Can we talk about the end of this book? I did not want Curie to die. However, since no one actually died for longer than a book in this series yet, who knows? But she was so precious and I felt for Citra knowing that her only 'family' was no longer with her. Yes, she still has her actual family, but there is a huge gap between them now. I also believe that Faraday doesn't feel like family as much to her as Curie did. I wonder if the scythedom will try to find some of the bodies that haven't been eaten by the sharks and revive them. Hopefully Curie.

I also wonder if there will be a time jump (although that is probably known already) for the start of book three or if we are going to follow different characters now Citra and Rowan are literally frozen in the depths of the sea.

[HekArtemis]

No. Omg.

My favourite part of Arc of the Scythe is the world, which I discuss in some detail in my Scythe review here.

Thunderhead shows us a lot more of the world, some via the thoughts of the Thunderhead itself, some through the various characters. Learning more about the Tonists and what they are allowed to do, and the way that the Thunderhead has created an entire system, an actually irrelevant legal system and process purely to cater the desires of people who feel the need to rebel - wow. No really, wow.

Reading the thoughts of the Thunderhead was, interesting to say the least. At times I would read and empathise, or feel impressed, or whatever. Other times I was wondering if the Thunderhead is a sociopath and humans are only protected by coding preventing the Thunderhead from doing... things. I mean, there isn't anything that really suggests this, but sometimes the thoughts of Thunderhead made me feel a little squidgy. Probably some kind of Terminator fear bias on my part lol. It was great though, this confusion left in me as to what the Thunderhead really felt, questioning just how much it was constrained by its programming, just adds to the story I think.

The story itself was good too, though some parts were a touch frustrating. Poor Grayson, put into that position. The few pages where Rowan reflected on how buff he is was just wtf. Like really? Stupid. But otherwise, it was all compelling, well written, and interesting. The ending though, holy hell, what an ending. Thunderhead, Anastasia, and Rowans ending is one thing, but Marie Curie, Grand Dame of Death, woah. Woah.

Cannot wait for The Toll, though of course I must wait because it's not like I can magically make it arrive right now. If only.

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: FIVE (5) beautiful, shiny, (yet infuriating in a good way?) Stars!

[sa090]

I actually attempted to read this book shortly after it came out, but had to put it down because of lack of interest and more important things to read. Now that I have read it however, I’m looking at it with a very unfavorable disappointed opinion.

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If I take the plot in Thunderhead, unlike Scythe, it’s not very straightforward but instead more of a jumbled mess of intersecting smaller plot lines that eventually merges into the bigger one which might not have been that bad of an idea, but it still makes it feel like a mess. The only one I can safely gloss over without spoilers would be the stupidity with Scythe Lucifer’s plot line. I really really hoped that this book will be about why Citra is very important according to the Thunderhead and more importantly, seeing how the Scythedom deals with Rowan without anything else happening, but unfortunately we branch out into so many things that it felt like a way longer book than it should’ve been and the book manages to do what it does best, show how completely incompetent the Scythedom truly is.

Thankfully the Thunderhead had a much bigger presence in this book, because it would’ve been a very difficult (and most likely a dnf) one to finish if it just focused on the other add-ons without the AI. That being said, this AI, while definitely more interesting than everything else in the book, unfortunately makes exceptions to some things that make it a little too convenient for the plot line. And not only that, this book in particular shows that it’s separation from the Scythedom is one of the dumbest decisions ever to come out of the Thunderhead, with their incompetence, they need something like it, but I guess that would’ve made things way too easy with the way the book went.

The characters in themselves were alright, I absolutely loved Scythe Curie and wished to see so much more about her and only her. If there is ever a branch to this series down the line about her, I’ll read it in a heartbeat. Citra developed more than the first book, but that’s not saying much when she’s still following her misplaced emotions more than anything else. Rowan was the worst thing in this book, I hate the anti-hero persona of his when it take that disgusting self righteous path of trying to shove my own views and whatever else on an ancient system, regardless if I’m barely considered a novice or even accepted in said order. The new characters ranged from interesting to forgettable, but I’m sure the sequel and supposed conclusion will have a bigger focus on some of them.

World building in this book remains good in one spot and severely lacking in another. For instance, the functions of the world’s various entities alongside the Scythedom and the Thunderhead were explained pretty well, especially since the book gives us a bigger view into the conscious of the Thunderhead in the beginning for the six parts of this book and at the end of the chapters. However, the world’s divisions and the induction of the charter regions is such a glossed over topic that I find myself disheartened that I can’t actually paint a bigger image in my mind on what country fits into what and such. What about the countries we haven’t seen? What about the other charter regions? It sucks that it’s the second book in a trilogy without definitive answers.

There are a few things I want to discuss in this book, but I’ll be leaving it in the comments section to avoid adding spoilers here and ruining the point of these spoiler free thoughts. I liked some of the possible plot lines in the book, but there are way too many things that annoyed me in it for me to simply ignore. Would I be reading the sequel? I most likely will just because of the Thunderhead.

Final rating: 2.5

[KitsuneBae]

Actual : 4.5 stars

Yes to the nth power...

[Berls]

Wowza! As much as I LOVED Scythe (book 1), Thunderhead was even better!

Remember I said I had some unanswered questions at the end of Scythe - they weren't nagging, just curiosities? Well, Thunderhead answered them! I wanted to know more about the Thunderhead - how it operates, how people feel about it, etc. And yeah, we spent large fractions of the book in the "mind" of the Thunderhead, coming to see how it interacts with the populace... and those it doesn't interact with. I also was curious about people who are rebels. Had society completely cured this "ill" or do those people still exist, despite the apparent lack of crime. Well, Thunderhead answered that as well - giving us a very close look at the Unsavories - a designation for those people who just prefer to be rebels - and how the Thunderhead created a space for them.

But beyond the answered questions - the plot is gripping. Rowan has become Scythe Lucifer and has become judge, jury, and executioner for the Scythes. Meanwhile Citra - Scythe Anastasia - has become a voice of change in the Scythdom. They're both shaking things up and facing an uphill battle. I loved watching the way all the pieces come together - sometimes effortlessly and sometimes like bulldozers crashing. The character development continues to be amazing; Not just Citra and Rowan, but the more significant Scythes too. I loved getting to know the characters better.

But holy hell - that ending! First off, did not see that coming. Second, Shit! Third, how long until the next book. This one is a definite cliff hanger ending (unlike the first) and I'm really REALLY wishing the third book were out right now, because I WOULD already be reading it.

And listening to it. I've been whisper sync reading these books because I don't want to wait until I can read (or listen) - they're just that good. The audio is fantastic and Greg Tremblay is a narrator that will go on my must listen list for sure.

And now to wait, until... I think September 2019 :(

[writehollydavis]

I had no idea what was going to happen in this story which was freakin' awesome! Kept me itching to know more. I missed the Gleaning journals before each chapter that we got in Scythe, but that was more a well thought-out world building tactic he created for the first book. I loved the addition of Greyson Tolliver's plotline and am looking forward to the next book in the series!