Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die (Machine of Death, #1)

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.;Flaming marshmallow / Camille Alexa ; Shannon Wheeler, ill. -- Fudge / Kit Yona ; Vera Brosgol, ill. -- Torn apart and devoured by lions / Jeffrey C. Wells ; Christopher Hastings, ill. -- Despair / K.M. Lawrence ; Dean Trippe, ill. -- Suicide / David Michael Wharton ; Brian McLachian, ill. -- Almond / John Chernega ; Paul Horn, ill. -- Starvation / M. Bennardo ; Karl Kerschl, ill. -- Cancer / Camron Miller ; Les McClaine, ill. -- Firing squad / J Jack Unrau ; Brandon Bolt, ill. -- Vegetables / Chris Cox ; Kevin McShane, ill. -- Piano / Rafa Franco ; Kean Soo -- HIV infestion from Machine of Death needle / Brian Quinlan ; KC Green, ill. -- Exploded / Tom Francis ; Jesse Reklaw, ill. -- Not waving but drowning / Erin McKean ; Carly Monardo, ill. -- Improperly prepared blowfish / Gord Sellar ; Jeffrey Brown, ill. -- Love ad nauseum / Sherri Jacobsen ; Kate Beaton, ill. -- Murder and suicide, respectively / Ryan North ; Aaron Diaz, ill. -- Cancer / David Malki ; Danielle Corsetto, ill. -- Aneurysm / Alexander Danner ; Dorothy Gambrell, ill. -- Exhaustion from having sex with a minor / Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw ; Cameron Stewart, ill. -- After many years, stops breathing, while asleep, with smile on face / William Grallo ; Scott C., ill. -- Killed by Daniel / Julia Wainwright ; Marcus Thiele, ill. -- Friendly fire / Douglas J. Lane ; Kelly Tindall, ill. -- Nothing / Pelotard ; John Allison, ill. -- Cocaine and painkillers / David Malki ; Jess Fink, ill. -- Loss of blood / Jeff Stautz ; Kris Straub, ill. -- Prison knife fight / Shaenon K. Garrity ; Roger Langridge, ill. -- While trying to save another / Dalisa Chaponda ; Dylan Meconis, ill. -- Miscarriage / James L. Sutter ; Rene Engstr?m, ill. -- Shot by sniper / Bartholomew von Klick ; John Keogh, ill. -- Heat death of the universe / James Foreman ; Ram?n P?rez, ill. -- Drowning / C.E. Guimont ; Adam Koford, ill. --? / Randall Munroe ; Kazu Kibuishi, ill. -- Cassandra / T.J. Radcliffe ; Matt Haley, ill. 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. No dates, no details. Just a slip of paper with a few words spelling out your ultimate fate -- at once all-too specific and maddeningly vague. A top ten Amazon Customer Favorite in Science Fiction & Fantasy for 2010, The Machine of Death is an anthology of original stories bound together by a central premise. From the humorous to the adventurous to the mind-bending to the touching, the writers explore what the world would be like if a blood test could predict your death. But don't think for a moment this is a book entirely composed of stories about people meeting their ironic dooms. There is some of that, of course. But more than that, this is a genre-hopping collection of tales about people who have learned more about themselves then perhaps they should have, and how that knowledge affects their relationships, their perception of the world, and how they feel about themselves. Features thirty-four stories by Randall Munroe, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, Tom Francis, Camille Alexa, Erin McKean, James L. Sutter, David Malki !, Ryan North, and many others Features illustrations by Kate Beaton, Kazu Kibuishi, Aaron Diaz, Jeffrey Brown, Scott C., Roger Langridge, Karl Kershl, Cameron Stewart, and many others 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. No dates, no details. Just a slip of paper with a few words spelling out your ultimate fate -- at once all-too specific and maddeningly vague.

The Machine of Death is an anthology of original stories bound together by a central premise. From the humorous to the adventurous to the mind-bending to the touching, the writers explore what the world would be like if a blood test could predict your death.

But don't think for a moment this is a book entirely composed of stories about people meeting their ironic dooms. There is some of that, of course. But more than that, this is a genre-hopping collection of tales about people who have learned more about themselves then perhaps they should have, and how that knowledge affects their relationships, their perception of the world, and how they feel about themselves.

Features thirty-four stories by Randall Munroe, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, Tom Francis, Camille Alexa, Erin McKean, James L. Sutter, David Malki !, Ryan North, and many others

Features illustrations by Kate Beaton, Kazu Kibuishi, Aaron Diaz, Jeffrey Brown, Scott C., Roger Langridge, Karl Kershl, Cameron Stewart, and many others "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 * Douglas J. Lane * 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