Arc of a Scythe reading order
Scythe Books in Order: Where Does Rising Thunder Fit?
Three original novels, a collection of stories and a new beginning for the Scythedom.
The original Scythe reading order is Scythe, Thunderhead, then The Toll. Gleanings is a collection of stories from across that world. Rising Thunder comes earlier in the fictional timeline and begins First Blades, a new prequel series, with a U.S. release announced for December 1, 2026. I keep those three parts separate here so an extra book never looks like a missing installment of the trilogy.
The short answer
Scythe books in publication order
- Scythe (2016): original trilogy, book 1
- Thunderhead (2018): original trilogy, book 2
- The Toll (2019): original trilogy, book 3 and conclusion
- Gleanings (2022): companion stories
- Rising Thunder (December 1, 2026, announced U.S. release): First Blades, book 1
For the original story, keep the first three novels together, then turn to Gleanings for a wider view of the Scythedom. Rising Thunder is another possible starting point: Shusterman has explicitly said that readers do not need to have read Scythe to enjoy it.
How the books connect
The trilogy, the stories and First Blades
Publication order records when the books appeared. The story timeline starts earlier with Rising Thunder, while Gleanings ranges across different periods.
| Title | Publication | What it is | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scythe | 2016 | Original trilogy, book 1 | Introduces Citra, Rowan and the rules of the Scythedom |
| Thunderhead | 2018 | Original trilogy, book 2 | Continues the first novel |
| The Toll | 2019 | Original trilogy, book 3 | Concludes the original story |
| Gleanings | 2022 | Companion story collection | Spans the timeline; a fuller return after The Toll |
| Rising Thunder | December 1, 2026: announced U.S. date | First Blades prequel, book 1 | Set before Scythe; also open to newcomers |
The books and their place
The original Arc of a Scythe trilogy
These three novels tell the continuous story. Later books can widen the world without extending that original sequence.
Original trilogy · 1
Scythe
The first novel · 2016
Citra and Rowan become apprentices in a world where ordinary death has been overcome. Scythes control population by ending lives, so their training is also an introduction to the people trusted with that power. Neither teenager welcomes the role. The tension starts with the gap between a society that calls itself a utopia and the acts needed to maintain it.
This is where the original story explains its rules through two people learning to live with them. Beginning here lets the moral questions emerge alongside the apprentices, before the later novels widen the conflict.
Original trilogy · 2
Thunderhead
The continuation · 2018
Thunderhead carries Citra and Rowan's story into a growing struggle over what the Scythedom should become. The intelligence that oversees the wider society can observe the scythes but cannot simply take over their affairs. That limit makes its relationship with human power central to the book.
The focus expands from apprenticeship to an institution divided over its own purpose. It follows the choices and relationships established in Scythe, so this is a continuation to read second, rather than another entry point.
Original trilogy · 3
The Toll
The original trilogy's conclusion · 2019
The Toll brings the trilogy's competing ideas about death, authority and the future of humanity toward their resolution. Its conflict reaches beyond the apprenticeship that opened Scythe, drawing the Scythedom and the society around it into the consequences of what came before.
I would keep this directly after Thunderhead. Its starting situation carries major developments from that novel, which is why even a detailed synopsis can reveal too much. Gleanings was published later and is not needed to understand this conclusion.
Where does Gleanings fit?
Gleanings follows the trilogy in publication order, but its stories do not all happen after The Toll.
Companion stories
Gleanings
Stories from the Arc of a Scythe · 2022
Gleanings returns to the Scythedom through shorter stories rather than one more novel in Citra and Rowan's sequence. Shusterman and his collaborators revisit familiar figures, explore their histories and introduce others. The collection moves across the timeline, filling in parts of the world that the three novels do not stop to explore.
I would leave it until after The Toll: the familiar figures then carry their full context, and the stories can expand the world without interrupting the trilogy.
Where does Rising Thunder fit?
Rising Thunder begins a different series in the same universe. Its place before Scythe is a matter of story chronology, not publication order.
First Blades · 1
Rising Thunder
A prequel to Scythe · Announced U.S. release: December 1, 2026
Rising Thunder goes back to the transition toward immortality: the origins of the Thunderhead and the people who will become the founding scythes. The announced premise includes two rival artificial intelligences and a group of teenagers connected through an online chatroom, living before the later world's institutions have settled into place.
It opens First Blades, which Shusterman describes as a prequel trilogy. The question is how the familiar world came into being, rather than what happens after The Toll. Its U.S. publication is still ahead as of October 27, 2026.
Should I read Rising Thunder before Scythe?
You can. In his September 2026 interview with Walker Books, Shusterman says that knowing Scythe is not necessary to enjoy Rising Thunder. The prequel offers a newcomer the formation of the world as a starting story.
Starting with Scythe gives you a different experience: first encountering Citra and Rowan, learning the established rules of their society, and only later going back to see how those rules arose. I use that as the default route here because it preserves the original novels' introduction to the world.
Starting with Rising Thunder puts the transition toward immortality and the founding scythes first. That may be the question that brought you to the series. It also means beginning a new trilogy rather than the original three-book story, whose conclusion is already published.
Publication order vs. chronological order
For publication order, the path is Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll, Gleanings, then Rising Thunder when it is published. This keeps the original trilogy uninterrupted and follows the sequence in which Shusterman expanded the world.
For the broad story chronology, Rising Thunder comes before Scythe, followed by Thunderhead and The Toll. Gleanings does not occupy one neat slot on that line: its stories range across different periods. I would keep the collection together rather than break up a first reading to chase a story-by-story timeline.
The Arc of a Scythe collection
The Arc of a Scythe Paperback Collection brings together Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll and Gleanings. It contains the complete original trilogy plus the companion stories. Rising Thunder is not part of this collection.
That four-title grouping explains why a collection can contain four books without there being four main novels in the original story. Each title can also be consulted through its own Amazon link above.
The Arc of a Scythe Paperback Collection
Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll and Gleanings together.
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More dystopian worlds and reading paths
Scythe makes the authority to end a life part of the social order. The Hunger Games builds its dystopia around a public contest imposed by the state. The link is the institution shaping a young person's choices, although the two worlds set very different rules.
I leave both starting points open: Citra and Rowan introduce a society with rules already in place; First Blades begins with the people who will shape it. The part of that history you are curious about can guide where you begin.
How The Hunger Games works as dystopian science fiction · The Hunger Games: original story and prequel reading paths · More approachable books with big ideas
Quick answers
Questions about the Scythe reading order
How many Scythe books are there?
As of October 27, 2026, the original trilogy has three novels, and Gleanings adds a companion story collection. Rising Thunder, the first First Blades prequel, is announced for December 1, 2026, in the United States. That makes four published titles covered here, with a fifth forthcoming.
Is Rising Thunder the fourth Scythe book?
It is not the fourth novel of the original trilogy. Rising Thunder starts First Blades, a prequel series set before Scythe. The original three-novel sequence ends with The Toll.
Is Gleanings necessary to understand The Toll?
No. The Toll concludes the original trilogy and was published in 2019; Gleanings followed in 2022. The collection expands the world and its characters, rather than supplying a missing installment needed before the finale.
Can I read Rising Thunder first?
Yes. Shusterman has said readers do not need to have read Scythe to enjoy it. Starting with Scythe instead preserves the original trilogy's way of introducing the world; starting with the prequel begins with that world's formation.
Is First Blades a separate series?
Yes. First Blades is a new prequel series within the same fictional universe, beginning with Rising Thunder. Its separate series name does not mean an unrelated world or a sequel to The Toll.
Is The Toll the end of the original trilogy?
Yes. The publisher identifies it as the trilogy's finale, and Shusterman has said that he did not want to push the original story beyond its ending. Later companion stories and the new prequel explore the world in other directions.
Sources
Sources for this guide
Official series listings, U.S. publication dates, collection contents and Neal Shusterman's discussion of Rising Thunder. Checked October 27, 2026.
- Simon & Schuster: Arc of a Scythe series
- Scythe: official publisher page
- Thunderhead: official publisher page
- The Toll: official publisher page
- Gleanings: official publisher page
- Rising Thunder: official U.S. publication and premise
- Simon & Schuster: First Blades
- Walker Books: Rising Thunder Q & A with Neal Shusterman
- The Arc of a Scythe Paperback Collection: official contents
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