Scythe

In the world of Scythe, humanity has overcome disease, hunger, war—and death. Population control now depends on scythes, whose role is to end lives. Citra and Rowan are selected as apprentices despite wanting no part in the work, and their training places them in a system where failure can cost them their own lives. The setup links a coming-of-age conflict to questions about mortality, authority, and the cost of maintaining an apparently perfected society. As the first book in the Arc of a Scythe series, it establishes its central dilemma through two young people learning a role built around the power to take life.