Machine of Death
Standard cover
AuthorRyan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki, editors
Cover artistJustin Van Genderen
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherBearstache Books
Publication date
October 13, 2010
Pages452
ISBN978-0-9821671-2-0
Followed byThis Is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death 

Machine of Death is a 2010 collection of science fiction short stories edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki.[1] The stories featured in Machine of Death were submitted by various writers since early 2007 and all focus on a device which can accurately predict the manner in which the user will eventually die. The book became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.com shortly after its initial publication, and was later released online under a free license.

Premise

All of the stories featured in Machine of Death center around a device which, when provided with a blood sample, can identify the way a person will die. The machine relays this information by printing a short word or phrase, which serves as the title of each story, on a small card. The machine is never wrong, but often vague or cryptic.[1] The premise was inspired by a cartoon from Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics.[2][3]

Release

The three editors solicited submissions, many of them from novice and unpublished or unknown writers, in early 2007. After failing to find a publisher willing to accept an anthology containing material by so many unknown authors, the editors self-published the book in late 2010.[4]

Shortly after the book's publication, the editors announced "MOD-Day", encouraging buyers to purchase the book en masse on October 26 in an effort to reach #1 on the bestseller list on Amazon.com.[5] The effort was successful. Malki described the feat as the literary equivalent of winning the Super Bowl.[3] October 26 was also the release date of Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth, and Treasure by conservative Fox News commentator Glenn Beck. When Beck's book failed to reach #1 on that date, he complained that the anthology was part of a liberal "culture of death".[6]

In November 2010, the editors released the anthology under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 license.[4] Readings of stories from Machine of Death are currently being released in podcast form on the book's website. Submissions for a second volume were collected from May through July 2011.[7][8]

Stories

Additional artist contributors whose illustrations are not tied to specific stories include Katie Sekelsky and Mitch Clem.

References

  1. 1 2 Higgins, Jim (6 February 2011). "'Machine of Death': killer stories to die for". Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "Machine of Death Press Kit". Machines of Death. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Simmons, Amy (28 October 2010). "Indie anthology defies literary odds". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  4. 1 2 "About". Machineofdeath.net. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Malki, David. "MOD-Day is OCTOBER 26". Machineofdeath.net. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Eichler, Alex (28 October 2010). "Indie Sci-Fi Anthology Steals Glenn Beck's Thunder". The Atlantic. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  7. ↑ Malki, David. "MOD Volume 2 Submission Guidelines". Machineofdeath.net. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  8. ↑ North, Ryan. "Machine of Death 2 deadline reached!". Machineofdeath.net. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
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