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Ryan North

Matthew Bennardo

Machine of Death: A collection of stories about people who know how they will die Paperback – October 13, 2010

by Ryan North (Editor), Matthew Bennardo (Editor), David Malki (Editor)

280 ratings

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The machine had been invented a few years ago: a machine that could tell, from just a sample of your blood, how you were going to die. No dates, no details. Just a slip of paper with a few words spelling out your ultimate fate -- at once all-too specific and maddeningly vague. A top ten Amazon Customer Favorite in Science Fiction & Fantasy for 2010, The Machine of Death is an anthology of original stories bound together by a central premise. From the humorous to the adventurous to the mind-bending to the touching, the writers explore what the world would be like if a blood test could predict your death. But don't think for a moment this is a book entirely composed of stories about people meeting their ironic dooms. There is some of that, of course. But more than that, this is a genre-hopping collection of tales about people who have learned more about themselves then perhaps they should have, and how that knowledge affects their relationships, their perception of the world, and how they feel about themselves. Features thirty-four stories by Randall Munroe, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, Tom Francis, Camille Alexa, Erin McKean, James L. Sutter, Gord Sellar, Jeff Stautz, David Malki !, Ryan North, and many others. Features illustrations by Kate Beaton, Kazu Kibuishi, Aaron Diaz, Jeffrey Brown, Scott C., Roger Langridge, Danielle Corsetto, Ramón Pérez, Karl Kershl, Cameron Stewart, and many others.

Print length

464 pages
Language

English
Publication date

October 13, 2010
Dimensions

6 x 1.05 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0982167121
ISBN-13

978-0982167120
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Machine of Death is a lot of fun.... Highly engaging, interestingly crowdsourced, and crafted with a great deal of care. You'll be thinking about it long after you're through reading. --Chris Greenland, Tor.com

But where this collection could have merely skated by on its own cleverness, it turns out to be a lot deeper than that. A lot more intelligent. A lot less predictable... -- Hannah Strom-Martin, Strange Horizons

About the Author

Ryan North is an author who lives in Toronto. He writes a comic strip called "Dinosaur Comics" which you can pick up in book form at your local bookstore, or which you can just read for free at Qwantz.com. They're pretty okay!

Matthew Bennardo has lived in Cleveland for the past twenty years. His stories have previously been published in Asimov's Science Fiction and Strange Horizons, among other markets.

David Malki ! is the author of the Eisner-, Harvey- and Ignatz-nominated comic strip "Wondermark." His latest collection is Dapper Caps & Pedal-Copters, published by Dark Horse Books. He lives in Los Angeles and he likes to fly airplanes. Read his comics at Wondermark.com.

Randall Munroe, a cartoonist from southern Virginia, is the creator of the webcomic "xkcd" (xkcd.com), one of the most popular comics on the Internet. Formerly a roboticist at NASA, he now makes a living writing comics. He spends his time drawing, traveling, and training computers to beat humans at Rock-Paper-Scissors. He lives in Massachusetts.

Kate Beaton draws men in fancy hats for a living. On an exciting day she'll draw a character with epaulets. Visit her at Harkavagrant.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bearstache Books; 1st edition (October 13, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0982167121
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0982167120
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.32 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.05 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #466,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,471 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Books)
- #6,757 in Short Stories Anthologies

Customer Reviews:
280 ratings

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3 star		8%
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1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Kelsey May Dangelo

to know the end of your own story.

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2012

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Based on an idea proposed by that dinosaur comic (that there is a machine that, like the Oracle at Delphi, will cryptically and enigmatically tell you how you will die, vaguely), this is a brilliant collection of short stories that approach such a basic idea from every possible angle. And, in doing so, explores the very nature of mortality, humanity, destiny, tragedy, triumph, love, joy, hatred, fear, and ecstasy. I don't think I've ever read such a strong collection of stories, nor one that was so very thought-provoking on so many levels.

The big question, of course, is, would you use the Machine of Death? Logically, as a literature major, I know that it is never a good idea to know the future, much less how you die. It always ends badly. On the other hand, how could you possibly, as a human being, restrain yourself from obtaining that kind of information? To be human is to open Pandora's Box, to climb Mount Everest, to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. The maddening thing is that, even as such information could totally ruin the rest of our life, it could very possibly be the best thing to happen to our life. It could be as freeing as it could be constricting. It could cripple us with fear, or release us completely from it.

Even worse, could the knowledge of how we die, like with every Greek hero ever, cause that death? In running from fate, would we run right into it? Would this be self-fulfilling prophecy? Would we be like Sleeping Beauty, in being protected from the spinning wheel, run to prick our fingers on it?

Would the very existence of the Machine, the very ability to have this knowledge ruin life, mortality, and death?

If you were the one to invent the Machine, could you release it on the world? Would you feel responsible for the outcome? For the deaths? Would you be a savior, or a monster?

Would knowing affect everything? Is this a question of fate and destiny, or of human psychology, the self-fulfilling prophecy? Do we fight against the dying of the light or do we accept fate and die with a whimper?

Furthermore, is the Machine accurate? If it spits out "JOY" or "SUICIDE" or "ALMOND", is the truth in the fate what the Machine meant, or does the human psyche make it so?

Then we get into the meta part of this. Isn't modern medical technology essentially Machines of Death? Do we have any ability to try to face or change fate? Can we?

Moreover (and here we get literary), does the manner in which we die reflect the way we live? Does the end of our story reflect the beginning and middle? Is our death, the end of our story, random or determined? Is it a reflection of who we are as people? Does our manner of death reflect our manner of life?

Furthermore, could humanity ever possibly live with such divine (or meta) knowledge as the ending of our own stories? Would it save our lives or destroy them? Make us worse or make us better? Could humanity ever cope with certitude? Is hope a curse or a blessing? Can humans ever be human without hope? Would we ever strive to know or fight or do without hope?

If we (both as a human character in this alternative world and as the reader of these stories) know the ending of the story (the death), how does it affect the reader, the writer, the characters? Oh, hell, do I love that double layer!

Because, death gives life. Death affects life.

My favorite stories: Suicide by David Michael Wharton, Almond by John Chernega, Starvation by M. Bennardo, Killed By Daniel by Julia Wainwright, Cocaine and Painkillers by Daivd Malki!, Loss of Blood by Jeff Stautz, and Miscarriage by James L. Sutter.

This collection is highly addicting, incredibly absorbing, comprehensive, clever, imaginative, thought-provoking, and utterly brilliant. Grade: A+

5 people found this helpful

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BJ Bolender

Topic is More Relevant now in the Pandemic Era

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021

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So much fun to read all the different reactions to the future predictions of how you die. Fun that a few words can mean very different things. Entertaining and so good I ordered the sequel immediately before I finished the first. Now I’d love to see a new one that takes account of so many world and societal changes since these were considered.

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Shawn Palmquist

Great idea...mostly great stories.

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2011

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The theme which is the backbone of this short story collection is a pretty fun idea. There is a machine that can tell the manner of an individual's death from a blood sample. The catch is, there is no date of death given...and the results can be extremely vague and unpredictable.

As an example:

Someone could get a result of 'Barracuda'...so they avoid bodies of water their whole life, only to be hit and killed by a Dodge Barracuda while walking down the street. (I made this example up...hence...no spoiler warning)

With the exception of a few of them, these stories are very well written and do a good job of exploring all different angles of this hypothetical situation.

I was pleasantly surprised that these authors didn't take a path akin to the Final Destination movies. In other words most of these stories focus not on the actual death taking place...but on how the characters live their lives knowing how they will die. This makes the book far more entertaining and valuable to read. It could have easily become trashy throw-away entertainment, but it avoids falling into that trap and at times even becomes a nice commentary on the human condition.

This is a fun read that will at times catch you off guard with sadness and humor. I highly recommend this collection.

4.25/5

5 people found this helpful

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Floris M. Kleijne

Stories with a twist or twisted stories? Excellent anyway!

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2011

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Themed anthologies run the risk of boring the reader with dozens of similar stories, and that is doubly true for a theme that is so extremely specific as the Machine of Death-anthology (soon to be followed by Vol.II). But the editors have managed to compile from their submission a richly varied set of short stories, which entertain, move, thrill--yes, and even shock.

The theme is unique to the point of oddness: what if there's a machine that can predict the manner of your death from a single drop of your blood? The machine is never wrong, but often ironic, elliptical or quirky. A prediction of 'old age' might mean a peaceful death after a long life, but might just as well imply that you will be stampeded by a horde of deranged geezers.

If such predictions, such Machines of Death, are readily available, would you want to know? What would the knowledge do with you? How would the existence of such a machine change society as we know it? The possibilities are endless, from people spending their life avoiding the predicted death to others embracing their fate and preparing for it, from attempts to ban the MoD to fanatical followings.

Each story in this anthology is a gem of insight and originality. If you're a short story lover, this one's definitely for you!

One person found this helpful

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gingerbreadmun

Great reads! Some good twists and turns and philosophy.

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2013

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I really enjoyed this book, fantastic short reads great for those public transport times, waiting rooms and odd bits of time to fill. Lots of good irony and juxtapositions, I normally hate open ended stories and this book is full of them but most are telling a story that is more important than what happens to the characters in their end. I enjoyed the look into different worlds that could be created when people know their fate (will people all get tested at a certain age? or birth? will people be grouped in accordance to CoD?), each one is different. It will definitely have you thinking, would you do the test and if you did what would you do with the answer?

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Top reviews from other countries

L. N. Carter

Collection of compelling short stories based on a grim yet fascinating idea

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2013

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The machine of death is a compilation of short works from a huge range of authors centred around the idea: "What if there was a machine that could predict how you die?" - The catch being that the machine only gives an often cryptic clue as to the cause with no time or specific circumstances but is always right. If you are comfortable with the grim subject matter then I would thoroughly recommend this.

The stories range from the macabre to the amusing and in some cases uplifting and show the broad range of imagination used by the various authors when interpreting the premise and how it would impact the lives of normal and not so normal people. It is difficult to further review the book due to the amount of different authors other than to say that I couldn't put it down.

One person found this helpful

Dr. Rox

Fascinating premise

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2012

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The simple but fascinating premise of all these stories is that a machine exists which can sample your blood and then predict how you are going to die: not in great detail, but just in an all-caps short sentence or even single word such as CANCER or DROWNING or SHOT BY SNIPER or VEGETABLES or IMPROPERLY PREPARED BLOWFISH or even TORN APART AND DEVOURED BY LIONS. All of those are story titles from this collection which ranges in tone from deeply satirical to the sweet and touching, via some full-blown dystopias and works of brilliantly funny black comedy.

How would life be different if you knew how you were going to die (or thought you did)? These stories look at every aspect of society: teenage cliques based on how cool your predicted death is; unemployed astrologers who no longer have a trade to peddle; dinner party games matching the prediction to the guest; fearless pilots who fly dangerously knowing that a crash is not how they are fated to go. The style of writing varies tremendously and some stories feel more professional than others but there's a fascinating range of responses here and overall this is a thought-provoking and entertaining collection. Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

DarrenK

Great fun to read, really interesting concept

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2013

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A great collection of stories about death, some sad but mostly funny stories, all of them worth reading! Very happy to recommend this to anyone looking to read something a bit different

Hemzy

Interesting concept

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2013

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A good collection of stories. As always in a collection, some were better than others but the concept was interesting and the book is worth reading. Recommended.

J. M.

Some are brilliant and the odd few were not so good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2016

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Most stories are enjoyable. Some are brilliant and the odd few were not so good. Overall, a great read.

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