Machine Of Death: A Collection Of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
What if you knew how you were going to die? Not when, but how. And what if the machine that told you was vague and even seemed to have a sense of irony? After Ryan North did a Dinosaur Comics strip mentioning this very idea, people wanted to write stories based on it.Anthologies are hard to rate because there will always be a few stories you don't like. I'm giving this five stars in spite of a few stories that didn't work for me, simply because so many of them did. Each story is illustrated by a different artist, and I also liked most of the illustrations. As someone who likes world-building, I liked the different looks at how society would change based on the effects of the introduction of the machine. You don't have to be a horror fan to enjoy this book, many of the stories aren't macabre and some of them are even quite sweet. The Machines show up in every doctor's office, and in every mall in America. Stick in twenty bucks, slide your finger into the DNA scanner, and in five minutes you'll have your own personal death prediction that is always, irrefutably correct. "OLD AGE"? Maybe it'll be a peaceful death in bed, surrounded by your children and their children... but, maybe you'll be run down in the prime of your life by a confused old man that hit the gas pedal of his car instead of the break. "CANCER"? Would you join the army, knowing full well that you wouldn't be killed in combat?These are the stories of people that use, abuse, and loathe these machines... and they are fantastic.
What do You think about Machine Of Death: A Collection Of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die (2010)?
Well curated. Good collection of short stories around an interesting concept.
—lucy
Quite a great collection of short stories around a theme!
—xxhappyday
Good stuff, second anthology consistently better.
—jimmerz
Super dark but one of my all time favorites.
—Allura
