![]() The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism-multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity-but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. ![]() Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world. Each encounter pushes Delta toward a deeper understanding of love and trust and the spaces in between in this intense, gritty, and propulsive novel. She is aided by people she meets along her journey, including a long-missing childhood friend and mysterious others. The rule of the wastes is to trust no one, but in order to survive, Delta must challenge this foundational belief. Although Delta sets out in hopes of rescuing her family, what she discovers on her quest upends everything she thinks she knows about the brutal world she inhabits. When Delta returns from an expedition to find her desolate home settlement of Dead River has been raided and everyone killed or abducted, she suspects the information burned into her skin might be what the General, who ordered the attack, is after. She hides these markings, knowing-as her Ma has repeatedly reminded her-that her life would be at risk if the wrong people knew about them. But though she is surrounded by the dust, heat, and desiccated misery of the wastes, she has symbols branded onto her back that seem to show the way to the Verdant, a lush oasis that may or may not exist. Seventeen-year-old Delta lives in a literal wasteland, deadly and unforgiving. ![]() A powerful teen grapples with love and truth in a post-apocalyptic landscape.
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