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The God Machine Kindle Edition

by Michael Campling (Author), Drew Avera (Author), Christopher Godsoe (Author), Format: Kindle Edition
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 85 ratings
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Reva dreams of the day when he will become a Scribe and contribute to The Collective - the tethered souls, connected to the God Machine. The Scribes write the Universe into Existence, and it's Reva's destiny to join them.
But as his time draws near, he hesitates. Perhaps the God Machine serves a darker purpose.
This story is a work of collaborative fiction written by a group of writers exploring the boundaries of Science Fiction. Here at The Collective SciFi, we’re working together to bring you thrilling new worlds and new experiences.
This short story is intended as an entertaining introduction to The Collective SciFi and we hope you enjoy it as such. We'll be bringing you a wide range of new projects in the future, not just stories from the God Machine Universe, and we hope you'll come along for the ride.
Join Us - We guarantee, you’ll be absorbed: http://thecollectivescifi.com/join-us
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  1. Print length
    17 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    July 9, 2015
  5. Reading age
    13 - 18 years
  6. File size
    5042 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B011CVMGRK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Collective SciFi (July 9, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 9, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5042 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 17 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 85 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Michael Campling

    Michael Campling

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Michael (Mikey to friends) is a full-time writer living and working in a tiny village on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. He writes stories with characters you can believe in and plots you can sink your teeth into.

    Claim your free mystery book plus a starter collection when you join Michael's readers' group, The Awkward Squad. You'll also get a newsletter that's actually worth reading, and you’ll receive advance notice of regular discounts and free books.

    Learn more and start reading today via Michael's website, because everyone ought to be awkward once in a while: michaelcampling.com/freebooks

    See more on the author's page
  2. Jamie Dodge

    Jamie Dodge

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    I was born into a large Italian family in a small town in Central Florida. Everything I have done or will ever do is for my family.

    I love science fiction and have spent the better part of 35 years reading it every chance I get. I have also written since I was young, so a few years ago I decided to write the Great American Novel. It still sitting in one of my files because science fiction is so much more fun to write. My books tend toward dystopian science fiction with a strong survival element. How that came about I don't know because my idea of survival is ordering room service.

    A portion of all the proceeds from the sales of my books go to The Ronald McDonald House and the American Cancer Society.

    See more on the author's page
  3. The Collective Scifi

    The Collective Scifi

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    From the bio-quills of Slave-scribes tethered to a God-Machine comes a reordering of events. You enter a world where reality is all wrong and screwy and instead of factual history, fairy tales and lore are somehow mistaken for historical fact. Welcome to the world of The Collective SF. Buckle up!

    See more on the author's page
  4. Christopher Godsoe

    Christopher Godsoe

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Christopher Godsoe lives in Central Maine with his son.

    He is currently hard at work writing the second novel set in his "d.o.mai.n" universe, a near future where the boundaries between technology and society have continued to blur.

    Common themes in his stories include the perception of reality, the definition of self, the proliferation of a free and ungoverned internet, as well as corporate and governmental corruption. The majority of his characters appear in separate works, showing them from various perspectives and giving a more complete account of their lives.

    Regular updates on the entirety of his work can be found at http://www.christophergodsoe.com

    He can be followed on twitter at

    http://www.twitter.com/cgwrite

    And on facebook at

    http://www.facebook.com/cgodsoe

    See more on the author's page
  5. Drew Avera

    Drew Avera

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Drew Avera is a retired Navy veteran, musician, and bestselling author of The Alorian Wars. He grew up in Meridian, MS and enlisted in the Navy when he was seventeen years old. He served for twenty years as an Aviation Electrician's Mate, working primarily on the F/A-18 platform. Drew began his writing career in 2012 with The Dead Planet Series. Since then, he has published over twenty books in the dystopian, cyberpunk, military science fiction, and space opera genres... just to name a few.

    The Alorian Wars (Space Opera/Military Science Fiction Series)

    Broken Worlds

    Deadly Refuge

    Mutiny Rising

    Shadow Empire

    Regime Change

    The Dead Planet Series (Cyberpunk/Dystopian)

    Exodus

    Verity

    Endgame

    Mech Force (With Rick Partlow) Published by Aethon Books

    Hellfire

    Brimstone

    Apocalypse

    Other books

    Traitor

    Skye Byrn

    Damaged Incorporated

    The Confederation Saga (as Dave Alexander) Published by Aethon Books

    Oblivion's Dawn

    Blood Lines

    Artifact of the Gods

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
85 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Earl
3.0 out of 5 stars Too short
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
Very interesting but much too short. Just as you begin to get caught up in the tale and try to figure out what the author (s) are trying to convey ...it's over. Too bad . If it had been longer it could have been really great!
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bonnie DALE keck
5.0 out of 5 stars This short story is intended as an entertaining introduction to The Collective SciFi and we hope you enjoy it as such
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
Not kindle unlimited, think it's permafree to introduce you to the different writers, as this is a collaberation.I read it because was going through Camplings goodreads seeing what I had but had missed read/review on, but might have caught it otherwise as do read Avera as well.

Areva dreams of the day when he will become a Scribe and contribute to The Collective - the tethered souls, connected to the God-Machine. The Scribes write the Universe into Existence, and it's Areva's destiny to join them.But as his time draws near, he hesitates. Perhaps the God-Machine serves a darker purpose.This story is a work of collaborative fiction written by a group of writers exploring the boundaries of Science Fiction. Here at The Collective SciFi, we’re working together to bring you thrilling new worlds and new experiences.

This short story is intended as an entertaining introduction to The Collective SciFi and we hope you enjoy it as such. We'll be bringing you a wide range of new projects in the future, not just stories from the God-Machine Universe, and we hope you'll come along for the ride.
Helpful
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2yax2go
4.0 out of 5 stars “To write, was to be alive.” From The God Machine.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
Imagine, if you will, writing every single day of your (assumed by me) adult life…nothing else…no distractions…no interactions…just you, a pen and piece of paper. Every. Single. Day.

This short story follows a young scribe from his first painful day to his unwished for last connected to the machine that both sustains and drains him. He begins thinking he is not good enough and finishes frustrated that his final tale will be unfinished as the newest scribe awaits his / her turn at the everflowing pen.

And, what is this God-Machine that takes his own memories to feed other scribes while flowing theirs into him to write? Can they not write their own stories? Or, is the symbiosis forced in order to keep the stories untainted by the owner’s feelings? And, is that symbiotic relationship one that translates into the real world by the authors we read today?

It has been said by other reviewers that this is a writer’s tale. It may be that is so. However, do we who read not also entertain some thought that we could also write? While the market may be narrowed to this audience, I hope others will be interested enough in the premise itself to read it anyway. And, I do agree that there may yet be more to this tale that the authors will yet share. Nonetheless, it is a well written collaboration by some indie authors who do a good job of taking the reader through the process….with a sci-fi twist. I enjoyed the read and look forward to seeing more from any and / or all of the authors who collaborated on this.
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Kayak Jay
3.0 out of 5 stars Short and Different
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2020
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The God Machine is the life of a scribe. The book takes the reader through its beginning, middle and end. The world of the scribe is limited but well-described. The story is imaginative, but not exciting.
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Jessica
5.0 out of 5 stars "...interpretation of the symbiotic relationship between existence itself and humanity."
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2015
Verified Purchase
I read  The God-Machine (The Collective SciFi Book 1)  as more of an interpretation of the symbiotic relationship between existence itself and humanity. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? That question, but with a Sci. Fi. tweak that kinda blew my mind. If no human exists to witness the universe and all its wonders, does the universe exist? My assessment sounds a bit self-important, even to me, but really, Marie Dressler said it best: "...only a few things are really important." Perspective is required to even attempt to assign importance. In a way, that concept is the ultimate revelation for Areva while the things that are really important (on the surface and to the reader's mind) elude him, those things being freedom and the simple frivolities of a life of choices that come with it. It's tragic, or that's how I saw it. It made me think.
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Caty M
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing **Spoilers**
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2015
The title and description immediately captured my attention, and while the writing style flowed nicely, the story did not deliver on its promise. There was a lack of character development as the secondary characters are only briefly seen and the main character’s personality is lost once he’s plugged into the God-Machine. All the reader is left with for a story is an unoriginal concept of "a writer becomes slave to the stories he writes until he drops dead at his desk." (At least, I assume he drops dead. The ending is very unclear.)

The bulk of this short story focuses on the main character’s writing, which is gleaned from the minds and lives of the other unseen Scribes to create what I thought was going to be a scientifically fictitious universe and reality that other people live in. Instead of unique stories with substance (which could have filled out an entire novel/anthology of short stories), we’re given a glimpses of popular legends and fairy tales from our own world. Moreover, this book merely brushes past the key element in the blurb (Does the God-Machine serve a darker purpose?) with yet another cliché of sci-fi: Is the relationship symbiotic or a host-parasite situation? It was very disappointing and predictable.

I suspect The God-Machine is supposed to be a witty analogy of The Collective Sci-Fi (the group of authors who wrote this short) and how they’re working together to produce stories (and thus the reader's "book reality"). It’s very heavy-handed and making the main character’s name an obvious anagram from one of the authors’ last name is reminiscent of high school humour.

I don’t know if the next book in this series will continue the story, but if this group of writers continues to be cutsie, I won’t be reading any more of their work. I know sci-fi doesn’t have to be serious, but this isn’t written as humour and the “wink-wink aren’t we clever” BS actually made me cringe.

Overall, I felt cheated by this book which promised a lot, but gave only a recycled premise and no actual story.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Sensibly Frugal Living
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Concept.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
One story written by four authors. Sounds like a disaster, right? Actually, I was impressed. I loved the concept of The God Machine; a machine linking scribes to write the universe and all it's dimensions into existence. I feel it needed to be longer, and more questions needed to be answered, but for a free, short read, it was a unique idea.
One person found this helpful
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Claudia Petrilli
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2016
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Excellent short story. Simply brilliant. I am hooked and need to read more stat! This is a textbook definition of Shut Up And Take My Money.
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Izzy Fulton
5.0 out of 5 stars The God Machine: Mikey Campling & Others
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2017
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this short story, written very well by four authors that I've read books by, the God Machine is something that I would like to read a bit more of.
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NZN
4.0 out of 5 stars Sci-fi story that rings true to life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
This sci-fi story from The Collective immediately pulls you in. It is an allegory for a writer's life: the dangers, joys and frustrations. Although four authors collaborated on this, the voice is seamless. It is well written, and the observations about writers felt truthful. I enjoyed the references to other literary works and am interested to see what the authors come up with next.
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Mrs S.
4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
I found this book a little unusual but in a good way. I did enjoy reading it. Short but worth it. Recommend
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