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jrfbz's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, fantastic, but I couldn't get over how subpar a few of the individual stories were.
rohand0's review against another edition
4.0
This stunning little collection of short stories is amazing. As with any collection of stories the degree of quality varies from author to author but I would say the book holds up very well.
The exploration of the different facets of how the Death Machine would affect the world are intriguing. I can imagine a lot of the scenarios playing out the way they do from the almost Eylsian style story of two different sectors based on predestined death.
The major themes that the Death Machine is infallible, that it's vague, that it allows for a reading that won't prevent it's outcome.
My only criticism of the book that is you are reading it in quick succession, you see the same themes being played over and over again and it gets kinda dull because of it's predictiveness. The stories that ADD to the concept of the Death Machine I feel were the best, especially the Estimated Death story, where not only do you get a prediction but the date of said prediction.
The exploration of the different facets of how the Death Machine would affect the world are intriguing. I can imagine a lot of the scenarios playing out the way they do from the almost Eylsian style story of two different sectors based on predestined death.
The major themes that the Death Machine is infallible, that it's vague, that it allows for a reading that won't prevent it's outcome.
My only criticism of the book that is you are reading it in quick succession, you see the same themes being played over and over again and it gets kinda dull because of it's predictiveness. The stories that ADD to the concept of the Death Machine I feel were the best, especially the Estimated Death story, where not only do you get a prediction but the date of said prediction.
aimeeinfinity's review against another edition
4.0
Some of my favorites: Flaming Marshmallow, Starvation, Miscarriage, HIV Infection from Machine of Death Needle, Nothing. There were some other good ones too, and some other ones I can't even remember reading. But for the good stories, and all of the art, totally worth the read.
morningstardust's review against another edition
5.0
I love Dinosaur Comics and the premise of this book is so intriguing. The stories in this collection are all so different and unique that it's hard to imagine that they come from the same premise. I also enjoyed the variety of writing styles - conversational through straight up literary. My favorites were Loss of Blood, Almond, Cancer (both stories!), Improperly Prepared Blowfish and Cocaine and Painkillers.
dfmjr's review against another edition
3.0
like any anthology some are great, some are not. this lost steam 2/3 through.
mikime's review
5.0
A great collection of stories, with a wide range of takes and angles, all sharing the brilliant idea of a machine capable of predicting the cause of death of anyone through a blood test, with a devilish vagueness, correctness and even irony.
mo_loves_books's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
takkuso's review against another edition
3.0
"Machine of Death" offers a captivating thought experiment through a collection of diverse stories exploring the implications of a machine predicting how people will die. While some tales feel amateurish, they are, for the most part, thought-provoking and many linger in the mind even days later. The stories progressively improve in both quality and how well they captured my attention. Unfortunately, the audiobook experience is marred by a seemingly inexperienced narrator with a lack of inflection and even noticeable mispronunciations. This detracts significantly from the overall enjoyment, making it challenging to continue listening to. Despite the overall compelling stories, the subpar narration brings the rating down from what would be a 4.5 to a 3.5/5.
thecesspit's review against another edition
3.0
Another book from the recent ebook humble bundle, this is a set of short stories based on the same concept : there exists a machine that can predict your manner of death. This was a concept Ryan North used for one of his dinosaur comics (qwantz.net), and asked for his readers to send in stories. Ryan got lots of submissions, filtered out the best and created a book.
It's interesting to see how far people can take an idea.
Pretty far, but eventually the repetition of the core idea becomes a little strained. Everyone does take the idea in a different direction, covering fatalism, heroics or a new sense liberty from the idea of knowing your death. What I love about science fiction shorts is taking an idea and examining what that might mean, what effects it will have on the world, or on a single person. And this book certainly covers it, but it seems too much of a good idea isn't a good idea.
Some people disagree as there is a follow up book "This is how you die" with more shorts from the same idea.
It's interesting to see how far people can take an idea.
Pretty far, but eventually the repetition of the core idea becomes a little strained. Everyone does take the idea in a different direction, covering fatalism, heroics or a new sense liberty from the idea of knowing your death. What I love about science fiction shorts is taking an idea and examining what that might mean, what effects it will have on the world, or on a single person. And this book certainly covers it, but it seems too much of a good idea isn't a good idea.
Some people disagree as there is a follow up book "This is how you die" with more shorts from the same idea.
barbelizabeth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5