Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Gleanings by Neal Shusterman Narrator: Greg Tremblay, Neal Shusterman, Megan Tusing, Nicky Endres, Jarrod Shusterman, Fiona Hardingham, Rachel Nalebuff
Series: Arc of the Scythe #3.5
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio on November 8, 2022
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult
Length: 11 hours, 54 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.
Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you’ve followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.
I’ve really enjoyed the trilogy for the Arc of a Scythe series. It is necessary to read these books in order. I do think the most pleasure from these stories comes from knowing the characters from reading the trilogy already. There are many moral issues involved from immortality to artificial intelligence. I recommend this series highly.
I’m not going to go through the short stories as it is too easy to spoil shorter stories. It’s also harder for them to have impact if you haven’t read the rest of the series. I loved this anthology which is the size of a full book.
We get origin stories for some prominent characters in times before the series. There are further developments for some characters who were supporting characters in the series. And we get a better idea of what happens after the trilogy in some short stories about some characters in their futures.
If you love the series, you will love this set of stories for its additional development of the characters.
Narration:
I have really enjoyed the voices by Greg Tremblay. He has been the mainstay for the series. Many new voices were added here for various stories. I like how that differentiated them. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Neal Shusterman
Award-winning author Neal Shusterman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he began writing at an early age. After spending his junior and senior years of high school at the American School of Mexico City, Neal went on to UC Irvine, where he made his mark on the UCI swim team, and wrote a successful humor column. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal, and was hired to write a movie script.
In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell.
Neal Shusterman is the author of many novels for young adults, including Unwind, which was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers, Everlost, and Downsiders, which was nominated for twelve state reading awards. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows such as Animorphs and Goosebumps.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration!
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Oh yes I heard about this series but I haven’t tried it yet
I’ve really enjoyed it.
Mmm did I read book 1? *checks Goodreads* Ah yes I did. I had issues with book 1…maybe I’ll do book 2 someday 🙂
Some aspects are brutal but they are rather accurate about man’s inhumanity to man.
My husband read a couple of his books, but I never tried them. Glad to hear this was a win for you, Anne.
It’s an excellent addition to the series but I feel only if you’ve read the rest of the series. It would feel a bit disjointed if not because you would have a solid foundation of world and character building.
This sounds like a fab gift to trilogy fans. I will get to the books at some point.
I don’t usually like YA but this has plenty of plot and philosophical questions.
I have the first 3 books and hope to get to them sometime soonish. I am glad that this collection of stories was well done.
yes I really liked them. They were a great addition to the series.
I enjoyed this series overall. I liked the collection of stories, but some were greater than others. Definitely liked the origin stories and the final story of the book the best.
yes, I didn’t rate them separately but the ones you mention were my favorites also.
My son and I both loved this series so I’m excited to pick up a copy of this book after reading your review.
I thought it was a real gift to readers of the trilogy.
I like a series that builds on each book like this one. Nice review!
Thank you Wendy.
I’m glad you liked it! I love this trilogy and can’t wait to read the stories.
I really enjoyed them a lot.
I need to start this series. I loved the Unwind series. Although I had trouble getting into the short stories for that series. But I will purchase this for my school library as it is a hit with all the students and some of the teachers too! Great review!
Thank you Lisa. I really enjoyed this series. I have only started the Unwind series and own them but haven’t finished yet.