Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe

Gleanings will take readers throughout Scythe history and introduce them to some of the most notorious Scythes. There they will experience how the scythes made pivotal decisions in their lives that would forever change the world. There are also stories to bring readers into the aftermath of the events from the main storyline and tell the tales of those directly affected.

While reading Arc of the Scythe I was fascinated by the ways the Thunderhead would do all it could to support those under its care. Not to mention the crafty ways in which it would try to help those in the Scythdome without being able to directly interact with them. I was no less impressed by the Thunderhead’s maneuverings in a few of the short stories in Gleanings. And I would love to see the progression of the new branch of the Thunderhead that was introduced that works in an all new way. The world-building that continued to occur in this collection of short stories shows just how creative and intuitive Neal Shusterman can be.

But it isn’t all about the future and happy tidings. Gleanings also presents stories of scythes who take gleaning to an all new level, using their abilities for their own gain despite the rules they should be following. My favorite of these would be when one scythe in particular took the dog of the people he gleaned. Little does he know the dog has its own agenda and does not appreciate the scythe’s attitude of actions. And through its own doggy ways, it exacts revenge and establishes dominance in the household. A tragic story that made me chuckle by the end.

There is so much to offer with Gleanings. The world readers have come to enjoy is wrapped up in small snippets that will cause as much outrage as laughs. The satirical humor I came to adore in Arc of the Scythe is ever present and continues the fantastic journey through a dystopian world. I enjoyed learning more about the larger figures of the Scythedom and their beginnings. I do recommend you complete the trilogy prior to reading this anthology. While it isn’t necessary, as a reader you will enjoy the book all the more if you do.

While I enjoyed revisiting this world I found the individual stories to be somewhat distracting with different writing styles and depth.

On the whole I think it was a good end cap to some of character threads started in the previous books.

I think if you are a fan of the first three you will enjoy this one as well.