The Toll

October 15, 2019
The sins of the founding scythes now reap terrible rewards in this trilogy conclusion. The Thunderhead--a benevolent, nigh-omniscient, nanite-controlling artificial intelligence--still runs the world but speaks only to Greyson Tolliver. Now deified as the Toll, prophet of the Tonists, Greyson attempts to advise a populace abruptly cut off from the Thunderhead's gentle guidance. For the scythes--allegedly compassionate and objective executioners whose irreversible gleanings control the post-mortal population--the Thunderhead's been silent for centuries, but recent scythedom unrest now tests the Thunderhead's noninterference. Untouchable and unhinged, Scythe Goddard, self-appointed Overblade, encourages unrestricted and prejudiced gleanings. Formerly formidable opponents Scythe Anastasia (Citra Terranova) and scythe-killer Scythe Lucifer (Rowan Damisch) are now fugitives, saved from the sea but pursued by Goddard's allies. Even in a post-national, post-racial world, Capt. Jerico's meteorologically influenced gender fluidity surprises some, but as Goddard's bigotry indicates, discrimination plagues even the post-mortals. Shusterman (Dry, 2018, etc.) wryly unravels organized religion and delivers a scathing takedown of political demagogues. Yet the whirlwind of narrators, sly humor, and action scenes never obscures the series' central question: If most death is impermanent, and age can be reset, what's the meaning of life? Long but strong, a furiously paced finale that reaches for the stars. (Science fiction. 14-adult)

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Starred review from October 28, 2019
When Citra and Rowan are discovered preserved in the wreckage of Endura, three years after the events of Thunderhead, they awaken to find that megalomaniacal Scythe Faraday is now Overblade of all North Merica and is consolidating power worldwide. Citra must convince the world of Faraday’s villainy, while Rowan, universally despised as the destroyer of Endura, must simply survive. Meanwhile, Greyson Tolliver, the only human to whom the nearly omnipotent AI known as the Thunderhead will talk, has become the Toll, spiritual leader to the oppressed Tonist religion, as the Thunderhead secretly works to build something game-changing on the remote Marshall Atolls. Some previously central characters, particularly Rowan, take on smaller roles, while others, including Greyson and a hypercompetent, genderfluid sea captain named Jerico Soberanis, are given space to charm. The stellar conclusion to Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy is a gripping adventure that never stops building momentum as it refocuses the books on a grander scale. With a surprising amount of humor for the large body count, it elevates and deepens the series with a gently optimistic examination of the fine human line between utopia and dystopia. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from November 1, 2019

Gr 8 Up-Three years later. Scythe Goddard has risen to High Blade of MidMerica, and is quickly gripping all of North Merica in his iron fist with his radical new laws. The Thunderhead is still silent-except to Grayson Tolliver, who has reluctantly accepted his new role as the Tonist figurehead The Toll. Scythe Faraday and his librarian companion Munira fly toward a Pacific atoll that even the Thunderhead doesn't know about. And a vault containing the frozen bodies of two missing scythes is brought up from the depths of the wreckage of Endura. In this gripping conclusion to the series, Shusterman weaves together story lines of old and new characters to create an explosive series end. The depth of this immortal future is further plumbed, immersing readers in a world full of political intrigue, religious fervor, and questions about what it is to be human. The introduction of a gender-fluid character is a welcome addition to the diversity of the cast. VERDICT Fans of the first two books will be (and have been) clamoring for this finale. Get it to them as soon as possible. Highly recommended.-Tyler Hixson, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 After the great disaster that closed out Thunderhead (2018), the second volume in Shusterman's acclaimed Arc of a Scythe series, the postmortal world is in chaos. A legion of scythes are truly, permanently dead; the corrupt Scythe Goddard has claimed the title of High Blade and is amassing unprecedented power; and the sentient Thunderhead, the cloud that keep society running, has gone silent, speaking only through one chosen ally who becomes a near-religious figure in the eyes of some. Previous volumes focused primarily on Citra and Rowan as they became Scythes and questioned the laws of their society; as this series ender opens, they are absent, and the narrative sprawls through time and place, connecting readers to characters old and new. Shusterman slyly nods to the political and social issues in our world as he explores the triumphs and failings of his. Though this finale occasionally buckles under the weight of its potential, there's still nothing else like it out there.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Scythe (2016) was a Printz Honor Book, and this best-selling series has asked big questions and garnered a bigger following. Readers will want to be here to see how it all ends.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2020
In this final volume in Shusterman's dystopian fantasy trilogy (Scythe, rev. 11/16; Thunderhead, rev. 3/18), Scythe Faraday is preparing to sail into the Thunderhead's blind spot to a small archipelago; now that the scythedom has run off the rails, he is looking for the fail-safe he believes the founding scythes have left behind. Greyson Tolliver, the only person not marked "unsavory" and therefore the only one who can communicate with the Thunderhead (the virtually omnipotent, artificially intelligent, cloud-based guardian of humankind), transforms himself into a mythical figure known as the Toll. Meanwhile, the Thunderhead manages to have Citra and Rowan retrieved from the depths of the Endura wreck and revived from their dead-ish state. They are quickly separated, becoming additional pieces that Shusterman moves around the chessboard as he works through the tangled machinations of the plot, shifting subtly from an emphasis on individual characters to a broader focus on humankind; ethics, politics, race, religion, gender, and sustainability are all contemporary issues woven into the story's fabric. The conclusion is surprising and bittersweet, but there is a note of optimism that lingers beyond the last page.

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2020
In this final volume in Shusterman's dystopian fantasy trilogy (Scythe, rev. 11/16; Thunderhead, rev. 3/18), Scythe Faraday is preparing to sail into the Thunderhead's blind spot to a small archipelago; now that the scythedom has run off the rails, he is looking for the fail-safe he believes the founding scythes have left behind. Greyson Tolliver, the only person not marked "unsavory" and therefore the only one who can communicate with the Thunderhead (the virtually omnipotent, artificially intelligent, cloud-based guardian of humankind), transforms himself into a mythical figure known as the Toll. Meanwhile, the Thunderhead manages to have Citra and Rowan retrieved from the depths of the Endura wreck and revived from their dead-ish state. They are quickly separated, becoming additional pieces that Shusterman moves around the chessboard as he works through the tangled machinations of the plot, shifting subtly from an emphasis on individual characters to a broader focus on humankind; ethics, politics, race, religion, gender, and sustainability are all contemporary issues woven into the story's fabric. The conclusion is surprising and bittersweet, but there is a note of optimism that lingers beyond the last page. Jonathan Hunt

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)