Machine of Death

Machine of Death is an interesting collection of short stories that originated with a comic by Ryan North, the author of the extremely funny “Dinosaur Comics” (found here), turned editor.

The basis of the book is the possible outcomes of knowing how you are going to die (but not exactly how, as the machine will gleefully make the prediction somewhat vague, but never incorrect). This leads to questions of humanity and how to properly use that information.

The tales span from the Machine’s creation to some rather horrifying futures.  While the far future stories are fascinating it’s the spaces between these two extremes that feel the most realistic and ultimately make for more compelling tales. The pictures that accompany every story reflect the mood of the stories well and it's wonderful to see so many talents come together in this collection.

My personal favorite, “Fudge” by Kit Yona, was actually the second story in the collection. I can’t talk too much about it without giving the whole story away, but the minor twist at the end is the most human reaction to the circumstances I can imagine.  

Much of the beauty in Machine of Death comes from the culture it was created in however.  The authors range from video game pundits to other web-comic artists.  In other words, the book was born out of the enterprising spirit of the internet.

Along with that comes something even more wonderful however. The book is completely free online for anyone interested in reading it. Published with an open license that makes the book free to distribute and replicate, there is no reason not to read this collection (apart from a general dislike of reading, at which the author will scoff and dismissively ask “Well why are you even here then?”)

9/10, but your mileage may vary.

Read the book