Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Three: Scythe

Neal Shusterman's Scythe is a book that I've heard a lot about, and yet it took me over a year to actually pick up a copy and read it, but once I started, I could not put it down.  I was worried it would be another Hunger Games derivative, and while there are some obvious and shallow similarities (lots of killing, a proposed battle to the death of two teenagers who have to kill people and may be romantically involved), I think Scythe offers more food for thought than The Hunger Games by offering us a vision of a future in which humans have become immortal and work has essentially been rendered useless (somewhat similarly to The Giver).  Even so, Scythe could have gone a lot farther in envisioning a future human society, but nonetheless, I found it thought-provoking and totally engrossing.  So far there's one sequel published (Thunderhead), and a third (and final?) planned, and I'll definitely be reading both at some point.  If you liked The Hunger Games or are in the mood for a dystopian YA bloodbath with subtle tastes of a political thriller, definitely give Scythe a try.