The Sunday Post #318

December 25, 2022

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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #318

On The Blog Recently

In My Reading Life

Last week, I continued my reread of the Arc Of A Scythe series by Neal Shusterman. I finished Thunderhead, which is the second book in the series.

In this book, the main characters, Rowan and Citra, are separated. Rowan has rebranded himself “Scythe Lucifer” and is punishing Scythes who abuse their power. Meanwhile, Citra is a Junior Scythe with a unique way of doing her job. Both of them are making waves within the Scythedom. Some of the older Scythes feel like their corrupt way of life is being threatened, and they’re not going to keep quiet about it.

The biggest difference between this novel and the first in the series is the addition of chapters narrated by the Thunderhead, a supercomputer that basically runs the world. If you’ve read The Illuminae Files, then Thunderhead is the opposite of AIDAN. Thunderhead is programed to love humans and constantly find better ways to care for them. The chapters add a lot to the worldbuilding and bring up some intriguing ethical questions. How much of our lives should be controlled by computers? Would you let an ultra-compassionate computer heal your body? Or drive your car? Or babysit your kids?

Just like Scythe, Thunderhead is full of gallows humor. Since death in this world isn’t permanent, the author can casually kill your favorite character a dozen times. Instead of being sad, I laughed when my favorites died. Death is just a minor inconvenience to them.

I think Thunderhead suffers from Middle Book Syndrome. It’s slow to start, and it spends a lot of time setting up conflicts that play out in the next book. I can forgive it because of the ending. That was nuts!

Bring on the next book!

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week (Christmas photos edition):

Not my house, but I wish it was. These people just put a Santa hat on their Halloween decoration. That's lazy holiday goals right there.

Christmas cards have taken over my bookshelf.

Not my house, thankfully. These people obviously have an addiction to inflatable Christmas characters. Send help.

I spent Christmas Eve morning wandering around the neighborhood where I grew up. See those 4 white trailers? That's where I went to school from 3rd to 6th grade. I went to kindergarten through 2nd grade in different trailers in a different field.