Book Review: Machine of Death

As I said in my last post, my numerous reviews in process were deleted before I could finish them. But I have short reviews for some of them on Goodreads and scribbled in journals, so I'm going to try post little blurbs for the things I've read and listened to since fall semester before I go back to school next week. I'd like to write more, of course, but - well, I'll do what I can when I can.

Like all anthologies, some stories are better than others. However, the concept - a precocious machine in the not too distant future can tell you how you're going to die - is fantastic, and the writers rise to the occasion nicely.

The stories examine the affect such a machine has on the people who share a world with it, both individually and society at large. They run the gamut from funny to tragic, scary to poignant. An additional selling point are the illustrations at the beginning of each new story.

The website, machineofdeath.net offers free pdf ebooks, but this is a book I plan on buying in hard copy as well.

Hello 2011. Behave.

Oy vey, 2010 was a good year for a lot of things, but not necessarily for reviewing. By the time my vacations rolled around, I had a ton of drafts in various states of completion. And when I tried to start finishing them, Blogger deleted them. This was probably a fluke, and I'm not mad at Blogger for the loss of my stuff, but it has made the thought of reviewing a bit of an annoyance.

Also, I'm trying to finish up my degree, and since I'm in a few history courses, there are a LOT of papers to write. That was a big reason why there weren't many reviews last semester - a massive workload. But this semester I've got fewer classes, and I'm cautiously optimistic about producing more reviews. I say cautiously because my main writing priority, other than classwork, will be Nevermore. There's a possibility that I may finish the first book of Nevermore by May and I'm going to take it. If that means Maria Meeps stays on hiatus for a few more months, so be it. But I'm not going to start the hiatus prematurely.

If you miss me, I'll be all over Twitter, Goodreads, Nevermore, Youtube, and my new hub of silliness Drowsy Reaper (still under construction but SO MUCH FUN TO BUILD).

Welcome 2011!  Let's do stuff together!