Robin (Bridge Four)'s Reviews > Gleanings

I enjoyed the world of Arc of a Scythe and was pretty excited to read more stories from the world within in. Like most anthologies there are stories that are great and add more to the world that we knew and then there are those that are just meh.

The strongest stories for me were the ones that touched on other characters I knew from the initial series. For instance A Martian Minute was one of the best developed short stories in the series and was the origin story for Goddard. I was so interested in how the moon settlement was going and what would have driven him to such extremes. It was a great story of how some small decisions led to some very big changes in the boy Goddard was to the Scythe he would eventually become. I felt so bad for the Thunderhead and how it had no power due to following the rules of not interfering in Scythe business.

The beginning and end of the Anthology follow Scythe Curie. The First Swing shows one of her first acts as a Scythe when she killed many who were still trying to be politicians who wanted to dismantle the Thunderhead. This set her up to be the Scythe we knew in the trilogy. The end story, A Dark Curtain Rises, explores one of the ships that made it to a new world and what former Scythe Curie's new role could be with the others who arrived. Kinda fitting beginning and end to the anthology.

There were a few stories that I just downright disliked. Never Work With Animals was by far the worst story in the book. Besides seeing Scythe Lucifer for a minute the rest was just so mediocre for me. There was another, Perchance to Glean, about people who shared communal dreams of a sort. All gleanings happen in the dream world and while parts of it were interesting overall I didn't love the story.

I did like A Death of Many Colors as it explored how art was going to change in a new age if there was not a fear of death and most of the volatile emotions can be soothed with nanites. Meet Cute and Die was also one of the stories I connected with a little more and I really did enjoy the two characters it focused on.

Overall: if you liked the original trilogy there is will be some very good stories in this for you. If you have never read the trilogy do not read this book as nothing will make any sense to you. Most stories in the book get 3.5 to 4 stars with a few that I would rate at a 2 star.