Lauren Lanz's Reviews > Gleanings

This anthology was phenomenal. Each short story was creative beyond belief, answering a multitude of questions the main trilogy left me with regarding the fascinating system of scythes and the Thunderhead.

The greatest stories from Gleanings were those that revisited characters who already appeared in Arc of a Scythe, villains and fan-favourites alike. The particular story I adored the most was easily A Martian Minute, partially because space operas are my favourite ultra-specific subgenre, but more importantly because of how insane the world-building and plot was for such a brief tale. The concept of interplanetary colonists preparing Mars for future inhabitants has certainly been done before, though I knew the addition of the Thunderhead would shake things up drastically. Goddard was a downright malicious villain for 3 books, so it was awesome to finally experience his hardcore origin story through a glimpse of his youth in space, of all places.

Another favourite of mine was Anastasia’s Shadow, following scythe Anastasia’s brother Ben in between harrowing events of the series. While this was definitely one of the more tame stories in this collection, the character-driven reader in me was eager to learn about the younger brother who (from what I remember) didn’t have much of a presence in the trilogy. It made me unbelievably happy to see him fight for love, though his circumstances certainly kept me on my toes throughout.

There were a few stories that I thought were just okay, though the majority more than made up for any falters. This anthology was a lot of mindless fun, while also managing to include a number of really impactful messages. I loved gushing about the crazy twists to my sister and best friend. This anthology was unexpected, but so worth it for Arc of a Scythe fans!!