I've only read the main series, but these are some of the best books I've ever read. And no one really talks about them? It's a shame.
The series take place in a dystopia disguised as a utopia. In the future, humans transcended all forms of death. Natural death can no longer affect anyone. No one even bothers to use violence to get what they want because the Thunderhead, which is essentially the Cloud with sentience, takes care of everything for humanity; it has a personal relationship with almost every human being, and even offers guidance when asked. The two things that the Thunderhead refuses to govern are life and death. Humans take care of the life part of this pretty naturally, but death is another story. Humanity appoints legal killers, called scythes, to do this job for them. The Thunderhead doesn't even interact with scythes, so they're left to rule over themselves. Like any human-led organization, this turns south.
That's a brief summary, but there's so much I love about this series! If you want to go check it out yourself, I would recommend not reading more of this post. Talking about some of my favorite parts of this series goes into spoiler territory, and I advise reading this series blind. Seriously, there's a lot of things you wouldn't expect to happen that will be mentioned in some way.
Let's start with the introduction to the series as a whole. From the first page, Scythe pulls you in with a gleaning journal entry from Scythe Curie, who you don't actually meet until Chapter 13. She introduces some important worldbuilding elements, as well as one of the core messages of the series.
"We are instructed to write down not just our deeds but our findings, because it must be known that we do have feelings. Remorse. Regret. Sorrow too great to bear. Because if we didn't feel those things, what monsters would we be?"
I found that quote when I was looking back through the first book (I was roughly halfway through The Toll), and it stood out to me. What monsters would scythes be without those feelings? Everything in this book happens because scythes learn to live without them, and humanity pays the price. After reading the first page, it's easy to want to learn more about this world.
I love the world of this series because it feels realistic, in a way. Humanity has conquered death, and most people are guaranteed at least some form of equality. People don't necessarily get murdered in the streets, not when scythes are the only ones that can truly kill someone. Anyone who is rendered "deadish" (not permanently dead, which is called "gleaned") will just be carted off to the nearest revival center. This causes most people's everyday become mundane and repetitive. People have the desire to do something with their lives, but they don't know how to do it.
A good example of this is seen in the last book through Ezra Van Otterloo, an artist in search of a purpose. He feels like his art isn't affecting people the way he wants it to, and it weighs on him.
He's right. People don't exactly understand art very much anymore. They can look at tales such as Julius Caesar and ask what the point of it was. They don't have death hanging over them, and it makes most struggles seem pointless. Most everyone is happy. They don't have to concern themselves with loss or grief unless their loved one is gleaned. This leaves Ezra feeling mediocre. People love his art, but he's only considered "acceptable." He's racing to find a point to his life, but comes up blank.
And this isn't the only time something like this is shown! There are many times where people feel like their life is mundane. Some find joy in it. Others don't. But this idea in and of itself feels incredibly realistic to me. If everyone lived forever and all their needs were met, then we would live this mundane life. It's hard to find a point in something that no one wants to change.
And then you have Scythe Goddard (it's so much fun to hate this guy's guts). He does want to change things, but only for the good of himself. He thinks scythes should be held on a pedestal for the work that they do. He kills in mass. He takes advantage of every possible situation. He feels no remorse, regret, or sorrow. From a moral perspective, he is a horrible scythe. Greedy, selfish, and vain. Yet, somehow, he manages to take control of the entire North American Continent (dubbed North Merica in this world).
Part of it is by force. The other part of it is by the greed of those around him. The scythedom is the only human-led organization left, and its politics are fascinating. Scythe Goddard is the leader of the "new order," dedicated to making life easier for scythes. He has a strong desire to change the scythedom, and put himself as leader. It's so contrary to the general feel of this world. Power struggles are almost obsolete. People don't really die. This society was so unprepared for the scythedom to fail that one man with a strong enough ambition brought it to its knees.
Again, I hate Goddard. I hate him so much. But his impact intrigues me. It's something I can't help but love about this book, even if I want him to go through as much pain as he put others through.
There's a lot of other little things that make this series special in my heart. One of those is the end of Thunderhead and this sinking of Endura (I did give a spoiler warning); I was nearly in tears reading the last few chapters of that book, which was really awkward considering I was reading it in public. Another is the charter regions (Madagascar my beloved). There's just something about this series that sparks joy (and pain. So much pain.) in my heart. I think it's my favorite book series of all time at this point.
