Thunderhead (Shusterman novel)
| Author | Neal Shusterman |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Cover artist | Kevin Tong |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Arc of a Scythe |
| Subject | Death, Immortality |
| Genre | Science fiction, biopunk, adventure, dystopia, dystopian fiction |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 2016 |
| Media type | Hardback, paperback |
| Pages | 512 |
| ISBN | 9781442472464 Search this book on  . |
| Followed by | The Toll |
Thunderhead is a 2018 young-adult novel written by Neal Shusterman and published by Simon & Schuster. It is the second book in the Arc of a Scythe series, following Scythe and preceding The Toll. It is set in the far future where death, disease and pain have been conquered (save for acid and fire), group called the Scythedom control death and the world has no government, instead controlled by a virtuous artificial intelligence called "The Thunderhead" which has no flaws. The sequel follows Honorable Scythe Anastasia (formerly Citra Terranova) and Rowan Damisch, now a vigilante under the codename "Scythe Lucifer" who kills Scythes who identify as members of the "New Order".
The book was nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction[1]. A feature-film is being made for the first book, being written by Gary Dauberman[2].
Plot[edit]
The book starts with Scythe Brahms getting attacked by Scythe Lucifer and being warned that if he doesn't stop his biased gleanings, he will be killed. Afterwards, Rowan then questions who he is and his humanity while Xenocrates asked the Authority Interface, the organisation who deals with Thunderhead matters, to help capture Rowan Damisch/Scythe Lucifer but is denied on the grounds that Rowan is technically a Scythe since he is in possession of Scythe Goddard's ring.
The focus then turns to Scythe Anastasia who has selected a woman for gleaning for in a month and later that evening gleans a man using poison as per his request. After, she travels to Pittsburgh where she meets up with Rowan and warns him about Scythe Constantine, the scythe charged with tracking down and punishing Rowans for his crimes against the Scythedom and her conversation with the Thunderhead. Later at his home, Rowan finds his friend Tyger Salazar there, who tells him he is leaving MidMerica for a job in the charter region Texas and that Rowan's father was gleaned by Scythe Brahms a week ago, which he presumes is retribution for embarrassing him. Once Tyger heads to Texas, he learns that his job is to be apprenticed by Scythe Rand for so he can become a Scythe.
Then, the book switches to the perspective of Greyson Tolliver, a student at a Nimbus Academy, who is called into an office by Agent Traxler. He first tells Greyson about the separation of scythe and state before telling him about a possible plot of Scythe Anastasia and Curie's lives and sending him off. We are then shown the Terranova family's thanksgiving, which due to Citra's recent ordainment as a Scythe, makes the afternoon awkward and Scythe Anastasia leaves disheartened. The next day during Anastasia and Curie's drive, a man (later identified as Greyson Tolliver) jumps in front of their car and goes dead-ish. While investigating, Marie finds a tripwire that would have caused an explosion and killed the scythes.
Greyson is then promptly expelled from any and all Nimbus Academies for breaking the separation of scythe of state clause however it is noted by the Authority Interface that if it weren't for him Scythes Anastasia and Curie would be dead. He is branded as unsavoury after and falls into a semi-depression while the Scythes go nomadic in cause of further attempts on their lives. Citra goes to thank Tolliver at his house, instead finding two BladeGuard there interrogating him and threatening violent action which after Citra objects to, Scythe Constantine arrives and assures her that the interrogation is ethical and violence was never on the table. Anastasia leaves after thanking Greyson.
The next day, Greyson goes to meet his probation officer, revealed to be Agent Traxler. Traxler tells him that he is an undercover agent for the Authority Interface, but only he knows and he wants Greyson to investigate the unsavoury underworld. Traxler asks Greyson to embrace his status which he obliges to. He gets his hair dyed black, changes his name to Slayd Bridger and Traxler replaces his history with the history of his created persona. We then go to Rowan, who finds Scythe Faraday at his new home and argues with him about the ethics killing "New Order" scythes which leaves the both of them understanding each other's points but still believing in their point of view.
The book then introduces Munira Atrushi, a college student working at the Library of Alexandria, who meets Scythe Faraday and agrees to keep his existence secret and help him find the fictional "Land of Nod". Scythe Anastasia and Curie then meet up with Constantine to talk about the murder attempts and establish a plan to capture the would-be-killers. The book then changes focus to Greyson Tolliver, now Slayd Bridger, visiting an AWFul bar where unsavouries go to do unsavoury acts. He meets a woman named Purity there, who after checking he isn't an android and escaping the bar, becomes his partner which he tells Traxler about.
When Greyson next goes to his agent, Traxler is replaced by a different probation officer because Traxler was gleaned, which Purity tells Greyson that she is responsible for by cashing in a favour. Greyson falls back into his depression immediately after. Soon after, Rowan tries to kill Brahms for his father's malicious gleaning but is caught and apprehended by the Scythe's guards. While at a hotel, Anastasia is alarmed by a Tonist, accidentally breaking his arm but the Tonist (Brother McCloud) forgives her on account of her genuine regret.
Rowan wakes in an empty room, injured and tied to a chair. Tyger greets him and tells him about his "apprenticeship" under Scythe Rand, which Rowan frantically warns him about but Tyger refuses to listen.He then is forced to spar with Tyger with Rand as the referee and wins but is put back in the room, only being given food and water. Next, Anastasia gleans for an actor who wishes to be gleaned on stage as Julius Caesar but during the gleaning, another attempt on her life is made by Purity and her gang, narrowly stopped by Constantine and Tolliver with Constantine having to revived from receiving acid to the eyes. Anastasia is then sent a letter by Rowan to meet her at the Great Plains Transportation Museum, but it turns out to be Greyson asking her help so Anastasia tells him to go to the nearest Tonist monastery, ask for sanctuary and request the presence of Brother McCloud which he reluctantly does.
Rowan is then told that the new year has arrived, Year of the Raptor, and Tyger is brought in on a wheelchair. However, Rowan realises that it is actually Scythe Goddard's head attached to Tyger's body and that Tyger was gleaned. Rowan spews his rage at Goddard and Rand and after Goddard leaves, Scythe Rand tells Rowan that Tyger's ashes were spread out in a field which consoles him a little. Meanwhile in the Library of Alexandria, Faraday takes Munira on as an assistant and they find out that the Thunderhead has a blind spot, which Munira theorises could be the fictional Land of Nod.
Curie and Anastasia attend the Scythedom's winter conclave where High Blade Xenocrates announces that he has risen to the position of Grandslayer in wake of Grandslayer Hemmingway's self-gleaning and the nominations for the next High Blade can be requested now. Constatine nominates Scythe Curie, which is seconded by Scythe Morrison, a junior scythe trying to befriend Citra and Scythe Nitezsche is nominated and seconded by two other scythes. However, before the voting can start, Scythe Goddard and Rand arrive and Nietzsche steps down as candidate and both he and Brahms nominate Goddard. Anastasia demands an inquest in the middle of the vote on the grounds that Goddard is only seven percent of a scythe and cannot be a viable candidate. The inquest is then granted, much to Goddard's fury and protests.
Still bitter, Goddard spars with Rowan in bokatar and upon loss, pulls out a gun and shoots him, rendering him dead-ish but not before Rowan can secure a deal that if he wins the match, they will tell him what happened at conclave which Rand complies with after Rowan's victory. While dead-ish, Rowan has a conversation with the Thunderhead where it tells him that he has a thirty-nine percent of changing the world but Rowan isn't comforted by the fact. After fourteen deaths at the hands of Goddard, Rowan is told that he will be thrown to the Grandslayers and punished for his crimes but dies six more times before Goddard finally stops sparring with him.
Marie and Anastasia travel to Endura, home of the Grandslayers, for the inquest and notice the electrical malfunctions of the island but ignore them. They visit Grandslayer Xenocrates and talk to him about Goddard's return but are soon after quickly ushered away on a tour and Goddard checks up on Xenocrates, reminding him he still knows about his illegal daughter. Munira and Faraday travel to the Library of Congress to find maps from the late mortal age and find that the blind spot is the Marshall Islands but they are spotted by the Thunderhead's cameras, much to their dread. Furthermore, Rand lets Rowan out of Brahms' basement to anger Goddard, who blames Brahms and promptly kills him and his two BladeGuards.
During the inquest, Anastasia makes her case but Scythe Curie accidentally implies that she's power hungry, much to the distaste of the Grandslayers however they are not convinced by Goddard's stance either and agree that Marie will be the next High Blade and that Goddard shall be allowed to glean but have to take a year's apprenticeship. This makes Goddard furious and he starts his plan to drown Endura.
On their way back to their hotel, Citra is surprised by Rowan but before they can talk, one of the island's bridges collapses and starts to flood the council chamber. While trying to get out, the Grandslayers realise that there are sharks in the water and they need to get on their chairs but while climbing on his, Grandslayer Amundsen slips and is eaten by the sharks. Suddenly, a rescue helicopter arrives but when Supreme Blade Kahlo gets in, Goddard pushes her back out as well as the rest of the Grandslayers excluding Xenocrates, who drowns himself in retaliation to Goddard. Marie realises that there is no way off the island and so she locks Rowan and Citra in a vault where they'll be preserved until someone rescues them but Marie and some other Scythes self-glean as a final act as Scythes.
The book ends with the Thunderhead branding everyone as unsavoury, effectively shutting itself off from humanity and the Great Resonance is heard so the Tonists, and Greyson, rejoice.
Characters[edit]
Main characters[edit]
- Honourable Scythe Anastasia Romanov - Formerly Citra Terranova, a Junior Scythe
- Rowan Damisch/Scythe Lucifer - A former Scythe aprrentice, now Scythe killer
- Honourable Scythe Marie Curie - A mentor for Scythe Anastasia, a candidate for High Blade
- Honourable Scythe Robert Goddard - The main antagonist and a revived Scythe
- Honourable Scythe Ayn Rand - A Scythe who works for Scythe Robert Goddard
- Greyson Tolliver - An expelled Nimbus student and unsavoury, now Tonist
Side Characters[edit]
- Grandslayer Xenocrates - A newly voted Grandslayer of MidMerica
- Honourable Scythe Brahms - A New Order Scythe who works with Scythe Goddard
- Supreme Blade Frida Kahlo - The Supreme Blade of the Scythedom
- Brother McCloud - A Tonist
- Tyger Salazar - A friend of Rowan, now deceased
- Honourable Scythe Miguel de Cervantes - An ally of Scythe Curie and Anastasia
Reception[edit]
Thunderhead received very good reviews being called an "intelligent and entertaining blend of dark humor and high death tolls"[3] with a 4/5 on Common Sense Media[4] and other user-review websites. Most user reviews have very positive user reviews[5][6] with mostly 4/5 and 5/5 stars on most websites.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction". Goodreads. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- ↑ "Shustermania September 2020 Newsletter". Mailchi. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- ↑ "THUNDERHEAD - Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
- ↑ "Thunderhead Reviews". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
- ↑ "Thunderhead On Goodreads". Goodreads. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
- ↑ "Thunderhead On Amazon". Amazon. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
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