The Machine

by P. Djèlí Clark

Genres: Short Stories

2 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 31, 2010

About the author

Phenderson Djèlí Clark.

Phenderson Djéli Clark is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn, and the award-winning and Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon nominated author of the novellas Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. His short stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies including, Griots and Hidden Youth. You can find him on Twitter at @pdjeliclark and his blog The Disgruntled Haradrim.

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans)]

How much creativity, wit, and thought-provoking-ness (yes, that is a word) can you pack in a ridiculously short short story (RSST™)? A lot, if you're P. Djèlí Clark. A whole bloody shrimping lot.



Glad you agree with me, you despicably warm-bloody, feathered vertebrate.

P.S. Socks, never leave home without them. You never know when they might come in handy and stuff.

↪ This is short. This is FREE. This is here.

[Maria reads SFF]

This is the best methaphor for our world that I ever read.

[M.]

More like an opening for a story, but a funny one.

[Till]

P. Djèlí Clark seems to cloak his observations of the petty tendencies of human society in this nice little story. It is very short and simplistic but it gets down to the basic human need to know the origin of everything and the various approaches people take(Intelligent Design, Evolutionary Biology, Nihilism etc.)

[Mademoiselle Luz]

Interesting and to the point. The end made me smile.

[5t4n5 Dot Com]

Available to read for free, right now, in the online magazine, Every Day Fiction - Dec 2010 .

A wonderful little short that gives one a pause for thought.

Next up on my Djèlí reading list will be Wings for Icarus .

[Trish]

A cute little story

[Lira]

pretty interesting, albeit too simplistic

[Ladiibbug]

I loved this super short story. Speculative fiction??

[Humbledaisy]

I couldn't give it five stars just because it was so short that it seemed like the opening salvo of another novel.

Remind me to stock up on packages of socks.

[David]

Three minute read…with bigger ideas.

[Susan Collinsworth]

Haha, awesome! A whole lot in a one-page package!
Definitely going to search for more by this author!
You can read it here: https://everydayfiction.com/the-machi...

[Jim Mason]

Amusing, but short.

[Tmac32]

Quick precursor to the other Djinn stories.