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Product Description
"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. It didn't give you the date and it didn't give you specifics. It just spat out a sliver of paper upon which were printed, in careful block letters, the words DROWNED or CANCER or OLD AGE or CHOKED ON A HANDFUL OF POPCORN. It let people know how they were going to die." MACHINE OF DEATH tells thirty-four different stories about people who know how they will die. Prepare to have your tears jerked, your spine tingled, your funny bone tickled, your mind blown, your pulse quickened, or your heart warmed. Or better yet, simply prepare to be surprised. Because even when people do have perfect knowledge of the future, there's no telling exactly how things will turn out. Featuring stories by: Randall Munroe * Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw * Tom Francis * Camille Alexa * Erin McKean * James L. Sutter * and many others. Featuring illustrations by: Kate Beaton * Kazu Kibuishi * Aaron Diaz * Jeffrey Brown * Scott C. * Roger Langridge * Karl Kerschl * Cameron Stewart * and many others.Similar Products
Customer Reviews
2010-10-30
By GeoReader
My copy of Machine of Death arrived yesterday, and I couldn't put it down until the last story was read and the last illustration admired. Fortunately, this collection lives up to the promise of its premise (say that ten times fast), offering up 34 unique meditations on a modern, mechanical Oracle of Delphi. Some of them are very funny--"Cocaine and Painkillers" and "Prison Knife Fight" are standout examples, but by no means the only ones. Others are thought-provoking, or poignant, or simply odd. I can't say that every story spoke to me personally, but I can say that the anthology overall was immensely entertaining and well worth reading.
It's kind of amusing that a prominent, wealthy media "personality"--apparently peeved that a tiny bit of attention was diverted from his own book--derided this book as exemplifying a "Culture of Death." If said "personality" had bothered to actually read the book before commenting (something I learned to do in, oh, elementary school), he would have realized that these stories about life, not death. They examine the human condition: love, friendship, hope, doubt, the struggle to make the best of things the face of adversity. This is NOT a book about people who "go gentle into that good night," in the words of Dylan Thomas. It may be in small part about talking dinosaurs, however.
2010-10-29
By N. Soliz
Enjoyed ever little bit of it.
Glad to have bought this.
:)
2010-10-29
By Chris Roach
A suitable warning needs to be added to these reviews. Do not buy this book unless you are prepared to spend your free time thinking about it. Between and after the stories, your mind will constantly return to the thought of what you would do with the knowledge of your own death and the implications for free will.
Are we all going to die? Sure. Do we live in a deterministic universe? Maybe. Did Machine of Death tick Glenn Beck off? Yep. Is the idea of a Machine of Death going to keep you awake at night? Almost certainly. Be warned.
2010-10-28
By Anonymous Reviewer
The premise for the book is original, and unique. Regardless of what else you may think, this book will go down in history.
2010-10-27
By S. Klein (Snowplains, USA)
DeathMachine captivates, certainly, subtlely, finally, utterly. Thirty-four elegant future-shock shortstories -- hair-raising sleeplessness balancing fortunate happenstance. RyanNorth couldn't've organized anything equally spine-tingling excepting similar superstar assistance.
The book makes my soul sound with that low clear blank note that marks the end of sense and time.
Mad props to all who helped it come to pass.
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