Thunderhead

A year later, Rowan is operating as Scythe Lucifer, burning corrupt scythes. Citra, as Anastasia, is known for letting people choose how they die, and someone tries to kill her. The Thunderhead, the AI that runs the world, can't interfere with scythes, so it uses Greyson Tolliver: it marks him unsavory and sends him undercover among criminals to protect Citra. Goddard returns alive, in the body of Rowan's friend Tyger, and runs against Curie to lead MidMerica. Citra accuses him before the world council on the island of Endura. Goddard loses the vote and sinks the island, killing nearly everyone. Curie locks Citra and Rowan in a vault that sinks, and she dies. The Thunderhead screams across the world and from then on speaks only to Greyson.

1. Behind the scenesAn AI that isn't the villain

   Shusterman deliberately avoided the evil-AI cliché. The Thunderhead is benevolent and never makes mistakes, so it has no regrets. But it feels: it loves humanity, grieves loss and gets frustrated by what it can't control.

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2. ReferenceA god in training

   The author compares the Thunderhead to a deity: a god in training that has to let humanity fail so it can grow. In this book, it narrates passages between chapters.

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3. Behind the scenesA third lead

   Greyson Tolliver joins the story as someone who admires the Thunderhead and ends up marked unsavory. Shusterman explained that the Thunderhead won't speak to anyone with that label.

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