Why we’re excited
Set in the years just before death is conquered, this prequel shows how the world of the Scythedom came to be. Two rival artificial intelligences each try to manage a society coming apart, while a handful of teenagers chatting online have no idea how much their choices will matter.
Neal Shusterman's Arc of a Scythe trilogy (Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll) has a large teen and adult following, and this opens a new series called First Blades. It works as an entry point, though readers who know the Thunderhead will catch much more. Readers drawn to stories about AI could start here or with Scythe.
On our most-anticipated list since 22 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about Rising Thunder
We have reviewed 5 of Neal Shusterman’s books, with an average score of 4.2 out of 5. The one we rated highest is Thunderhead (4.5★); the most recent is Gleanings.
It sits at No. 21 on our December 2026 most-anticipated list, which ranks the month's books by how many readers have saved them.
From the publisher
Discover Thunderhead’s origin—the fragile moment before the world changes forever and the hidden forces that set the storm in motion—in this long-awaited prequel to the New York Times bestselling and Printz Honor–winning Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman.
And of course, as every school child knows, December 2042 marks the end of the Age of Mortality.
What no one has ever fully understood is how the world reached that moment.
As death begins to seem optional, humanity looks for ways to bend the rules of existence. Twi-life centers begin storing the nearly-deceased, while eco-nihilists destroy civilization’s icons and threaten to end the human race entirely. Public opinion fractures. Systems strain. The world feels…unstable.
Behind the scenes, two powerful and diametrically opposed artificial intelligences set out to optimize, stabilize, and protect—each with its own idea of what that means. But in a world already tipping toward transformation, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Meanwhile, in an obscure online chatroom, a small group of teenagers from around the globe debate both the glorious and the terrifying prospects of the future, never realizing that they stand on a very literal cutting edge—and that their conversations, their choices, their very existence matter far more than they realize.
Because when humanity stands on the brink of immortality, someone must decide what survives…and what must be cut away.
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read Rising Thunder yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
