Okay, okay, okay, so they cured death but they still have to have population control because people are still having intercourse I guess. So they have these people called scythes who do this thing called gleaning to keep the population down. The scythes have a quota and there are some people who like the quota as it helps them avoid killing for sport (the old guard, the good guys). Then there are the people who want the quota abolished, (new guard, the bad guys) they're doing mass gleanings and nobody likes them. Basically, it's grim reaper politics with hastily adopted children two romance subplots an illegitimate child, and gay people. It's awesome.