This Is How You Die

Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death

By: David Malki - editor, Ryan North - editor

Narrated by: Dan Woren, Will Collyer, Robert Morgan Fisher, Mandy Kaplan, Erin Bennett, Rachael McCabe

Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

If a machine could predict how you would die, would you want to know? This is the tantalizing premise of This Is How You Die, the brilliant follow-up anthology to the self-published best seller, Machine of Death.

The machines started popping up around the world. The offer was tempting: with a simple blood test, anyone could know how they would die. But the machines didn't give dates or specific circumstances - just a single word or phrase. Drowned, cancer, old age, choked on a handful of popcorn. And though the predictions were always accurate, they were also often frustratingly vague.

Old age, it turned out, could mean either dying of natural causes, or being shot by an elderly, bedridden man in a botched home invasion. The machines held onto that old-world sense of irony in death: you can know how it's going to happen, but you'll still be surprised when it does. This addictive anthology - sinister, witty, existential, and fascinating - collects the best of the thousands of story submissions the editors received in the wake of the success of the first volume, and exceeds the first in every way.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2013 Matthew Bennardo, David Malki, Ryan North (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Machine of Death is a marvelous collection, riddled with intelligence, creative reach, and a frankness that makes the best use of the central gimmick." (The Onion A.V. Club)

"Recalls the best writings of Harlan Ellison and Charles Beaumont...Machine of Death brought me laughs, terror and tears.... Highly recommended." (Paradox Magazine)

Failed to keep my interest

The first few stories were entertaining enough, but after that, well, enough was more than enough. I can’t put my finger on exactly why but after a few they simply ceased to keep my interest.

Fate Inescapable

This is a fun little anthology. All the pieces here revolve around the same premise: the idea that there's a machine that can predict a person's death from a blood sample, spitting out its answer on a small card. The machine sometimes words its oracular messages in an ambiguous or poetic way, but it's never wrong. If it predicts that you'll die by drowning, moving to the desert won't save you -- you'll just die in the shower or by choking on a drink. Perhaps, like Oedipus, you might even suffer the paradoxical fate of being doomed by your attempt to escape fate.

Naturally, there are a number of logical, philosophical, and moral implications that can arise from the premise, and the various authors get pretty creative in exploring them. How would you act if you knew your death? What if your friends or family knew? What if your government knew? A few pieces are set in the present day, but the genres of most of the others run the gamut from sci-fi to dystopian to fantasy to zombie horror to time travel to Sherlock Holmes. There's even a choose-your-own-adventure. The most interesting ones, for my money, tend to weave in some other issue.

The tone of the stories ranges a lot as well. Some are witty, some are serious, some dark, some absurd, some poignant, some melancholy, and some cryptic. Some feature better writing than others, but there was a good deal of talent and imagination on display. Similarly, the various audiobook readers range from competent-but-unremarkable to skilled. I particularly enjoyed the voices done by the guy who narrated the story told from the point of view of an orc.

In sum, a collection I could recommend to any adult who enjoys creative short fiction (I say "adult" because of some profanity and a few grown-up topics). I would note that this is the followup to any earlier anthology, called Machine of Death. I haven't read that one, but the grapevine (well, the Internet) says that this is the more inventive of the two.

If you like the show Black Mirror

If you like the show Black Mirror, then you will enjoy most of these stories. The premise they explore is very black mirror in style. This is like an endless supply of books all about the same what if. The range of books is amazing. There is sci fi, slice of life, childrens book story, hell even a choose your own adventure book format.

I really like a handful of them but almost all were at least good. The amount of directions and potential uses for knowing of your death is amazing and he world building each other did with the concept is impressive.

Like 30+ stories and most were at least good, some very special. Worth your time.

Soooo Good!

What a surprise to find so many interesting stories all contained within one novel length book. I absolutely love the shared premise of all stories being based in the machine of death concept. These stories are such a treat and well worth a credit.

heterogeneous quality

this is a collection of short stories with the same concept behind them.
in my opinion, both the editors of the book and the narration have failed.
their are good stories and 'not worth your time' stories.
and the same thing for the narration, their is good productions and narrators and their are some that are just ruined the stories.
I did finished listening to this collection, but in some parts it was just waiting for the next story.

Almost speechless...

Exceptionally incredible!!! It's rare to find something that takes you through so many different emotions and deep thoughts in one package. I love this!

Machine of death

I enjoyed the different interpretations for what a machine of death would do in a society in different circumstances. Some stories were more directly relatable than others, but I enjoyed all of them!

I previously have ready the original Machine of death book and this is a very different set of stories so it isn’t just a rehash of the same material :)

Good junk food read for short and rapid fun

I loved every single story within the first half of this book. The last half, nearly exactly when I reached the middle I think at story 16 or 17 I feel like the quality just went down or maybe the repeated concept/premise lost its creative edge of not really feeling as uniquely or as interestingly utilized anymore.

Seriously was amazed with what was done with this premise and the different type of stories that were told.

This was great junk food in that the stories being so short and sweet really satisfied that need for quick and instant entertainment. Nothing was particularly so outstanding that I'll remember forever but that's ok because I did totally still get enjoyment out of this. My particular favorites were the 10th and 11th story.

Some are great, some are "meh"

This is a collection of stories that were written with the requirement that it include, in some way, the "Machine of Death" that predicts how someone will die. Sometimes vaguely, sometimes cryptically. Some of these are excellent, some are a little confusing or boring. I'll admit I skipped past a few that I couldn't get into, but that was just a few. I didn't listen to the first Machine of Death story collection, but I'm glad I listened to this one.

Not my cup of tea

I thought the premise sounded very interesting, but in practice most of the stories where not very engaging. A couple of them were strong but not enough here on the balance. I did not finish the collection. The narration was also hit and miss and somewhat flat.