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Machine Mandate #3
Shall Machines Divide the Earth
On a graveyard star, machines run a deadly tournament and draw humans like moths to a flame with a priceless promise. Partner with an artificial intelligence and fight to the death. Win and receive your heart’s desire . . .
War veteran Thannarat has sought this hidden world to realize a single goal: bringing back the dead. To fulfill this wish, she joins the game alongside a seductive AI who pledges to give her victory. The tournament is full of lethal secrets—and so is the AI that professes to be her weapon. Yet to have what she needs, Thannarat will sacrifice everything. Her home world, the woman she once loved, and herself.
All she has to do is defy the game’s inescapable rule: that in the end, the only true victors are the machines . . .
War veteran Thannarat has sought this hidden world to realize a single goal: bringing back the dead. To fulfill this wish, she joins the game alongside a seductive AI who pledges to give her victory. The tournament is full of lethal secrets—and so is the AI that professes to be her weapon. Yet to have what she needs, Thannarat will sacrifice everything. Her home world, the woman she once loved, and herself.
All she has to do is defy the game’s inescapable rule: that in the end, the only true victors are the machines . . .
131 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 5, 2021
43 people are currently reading
417 people want to read
About the author
Benjanun Sriduangkaew
83 books404 followersScience fiction, fantasy, and others in the between. Cute kissing ladies? I write those. Ruthless genocidal commanders? Got that covered too! 2014 finalist for Campbell Award for Best New Writer, 2015 BSFA finalist for Best Short Fiction (SCALE-BRIGHT). I like beautiful bugs and strange cities.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
October 6, 2024
4.5/5 stars
This was probably the best installment in the Machine Mandate universe thus far!
Thannarat Vutirangsee has come to planet Septet to engage in the came called the Divide. A war game created by AIs where humans partner with fighting AIs called regalia and compete with each other to the death. The winner gets their deepest desires fulfilled. For Thannarat, that's bringing back her late ex-wife Eurydice. After a confrontation with another duelist and their regalia, Thannarat is partnered to the regalia Empress Daji Scatters Roses Before Her Throne, who is utterly alluring. But Thannarat learns that outside of the battlefield someone is killing the other duelists, so she has to watch her own back now. Well, her back and her her heart.
Prior to this, Now Will Machines Hollow the Beast was may favorite installment in this series, but Shall Machines Divide the Earth has dethroned it. Now, it isn't a perfect book. Benjanun Sriduangkaew's prose is still at it's best, a fine mixture between comprehensibility and lushness. However, there were some times where a few too extra-flowery words were thrown in; i.e. ones I didn't know the meaning of and had to look up like "corposant." Don't mind expanding my vocabulary, just ration it out a little. One other criticism I have involves a plot twist so I will put it under spoilers
Other than that, I really did love this little novella. The focus on this book is relationships and have the emotions involve can either trap someone or propel them to something greater. There's relationships that were lost, relationships that could've been something more, and there's relationships meant for something amorously more. There is a lot of unrequited love going especially between Thannarat, Recadat, and Daji. The prose really aids in realizing this unrequited love. The descriptions of everyone's feelings, they way they talk, and long for another is exquisitely described. You can feel everything just simmering from the text.
I absolutely loved Daji. She is the best femme Sriduangkaew has ever written. She is seductive and sly, but she clearer has a deep concern for Thannarat that goes beyond more than love-struck devotion. She's an interesting character to compare to Sriduangkaew's other principal femme character in the Machine Mandate universe Numadesi, Anoushka's wife. Like Daji, Numadesi is devoted to the woman she loves most and she exalts her like a god. However, as much as I love Numadesi, Daji felt a bit more grounded. She did love and worship Thannarat, but she felt more...I'm not sure what the right word is. Grounded? I am not hating on Numadesi, I love her, but I guess there's a difference between an AI warrior and the wife of a near-immortal, all-powerful warlord.
And then there's Recadat. I both loved and hated how I related. How did I end up relating to a soft butch lesbian (or is she just sapphic? the book said she was initially attracted to men, so does that mean she's bisexual or just didn't know she was a lesbian?)? I won't go into details, but if you read you'll see what I mean. Where Machines Redeem the Lost is about Recadat, so it'll be interesting to see how her journey continues; and how else she'll be relatable. Character work was really strong in this book overall.
This book was much sadder than Now Will Machines Hollow the Beast, so it's nice to see Sriduangkaew make her characters and the universe more vulnerable bit by bit. Can't wait to read the final installments in this series.
This was probably the best installment in the Machine Mandate universe thus far!
Thannarat Vutirangsee has come to planet Septet to engage in the came called the Divide. A war game created by AIs where humans partner with fighting AIs called regalia and compete with each other to the death. The winner gets their deepest desires fulfilled. For Thannarat, that's bringing back her late ex-wife Eurydice. After a confrontation with another duelist and their regalia, Thannarat is partnered to the regalia Empress Daji Scatters Roses Before Her Throne, who is utterly alluring. But Thannarat learns that outside of the battlefield someone is killing the other duelists, so she has to watch her own back now. Well, her back and her her heart.
Prior to this, Now Will Machines Hollow the Beast was may favorite installment in this series, but Shall Machines Divide the Earth has dethroned it. Now, it isn't a perfect book. Benjanun Sriduangkaew's prose is still at it's best, a fine mixture between comprehensibility and lushness. However, there were some times where a few too extra-flowery words were thrown in; i.e. ones I didn't know the meaning of and had to look up like "corposant." Don't mind expanding my vocabulary, just ration it out a little. One other criticism I have involves a plot twist so I will put it under spoilers
Other than that, I really did love this little novella. The focus on this book is relationships and have the emotions involve can either trap someone or propel them to something greater. There's relationships that were lost, relationships that could've been something more, and there's relationships meant for something amorously more. There is a lot of unrequited love going especially between Thannarat, Recadat, and Daji. The prose really aids in realizing this unrequited love. The descriptions of everyone's feelings, they way they talk, and long for another is exquisitely described. You can feel everything just simmering from the text.
I absolutely loved Daji. She is the best femme Sriduangkaew has ever written. She is seductive and sly, but she clearer has a deep concern for Thannarat that goes beyond more than love-struck devotion. She's an interesting character to compare to Sriduangkaew's other principal femme character in the Machine Mandate universe Numadesi, Anoushka's wife. Like Daji, Numadesi is devoted to the woman she loves most and she exalts her like a god. However, as much as I love Numadesi, Daji felt a bit more grounded. She did love and worship Thannarat, but she felt more...I'm not sure what the right word is. Grounded? I am not hating on Numadesi, I love her, but I guess there's a difference between an AI warrior and the wife of a near-immortal, all-powerful warlord.
And then there's Recadat. I both loved and hated how I related. How did I end up relating to a soft butch lesbian (or is she just sapphic? the book said she was initially attracted to men, so does that mean she's bisexual or just didn't know she was a lesbian?)? I won't go into details, but if you read you'll see what I mean. Where Machines Redeem the Lost is about Recadat, so it'll be interesting to see how her journey continues; and how else she'll be relatable. Character work was really strong in this book overall.
This book was much sadder than Now Will Machines Hollow the Beast, so it's nice to see Sriduangkaew make her characters and the universe more vulnerable bit by bit. Can't wait to read the final installments in this series.
September 26, 2022
4.5 stars
There are very, very few people I would recommend this to but I enjoyed it immensely!
There are very, very few people I would recommend this to but I enjoyed it immensely!
June 22, 2022
4.5 stars. Well this was delicious. My first read in the Machine Mandate series, and I was thoroughly enthralled. The prose is absolutely wonderful - lush and reverent and over the top and evocative and all-consuming and just absolutely brutally sexy. This is a bloody and gory AI sci-fi but make it really horny. I give you this quote, which just destroyed me: “I want us to ruin each other like two cannibal stars.” Gaaaah.
Content warnings: graphic blood and gore, graphic violence, graphic sex, BDSM (including knife play), murder, gun violence, body horror, toxic relationship, war, grief, suicide attempt
Content warnings: graphic blood and gore, graphic violence, graphic sex, BDSM (including knife play), murder, gun violence, body horror, toxic relationship, war, grief, suicide attempt
May 31, 2021
3.5 Stars
CWs: some gore; graphic injury; references to war and genocide; mentions of homophobia and banishment; brief reference to human trafficking; some exploration of kink and graphic scenes containing sex
CWs: some gore; graphic injury; references to war and genocide; mentions of homophobia and banishment; brief reference to human trafficking; some exploration of kink and graphic scenes containing sex
December 2, 2024
Septet is a planet dedicated to hosting a battle royale run by godlike machines who will grant any wish of the victor, as long as it doesn't go against their interests. Thannarat Vutirangsee wants to be reunited with her ex-wife. Recadat Kongmanee seeks to free her homeworld, which has been occupied by foreign forces that may yet eradicate her people. They share a history together and homeworld, but only one can win.
The most notable difference in this short novel is that there are males and they have a role in the story, which is unusual for this author. Otherwise it's mostly in the same style, meaning that relationship drama is what matters most. The book opens with a gruesome scene and the combat is an integral part of the narrative, but I felt that it wasn't the focus.
In terms of combat, the duelists seek out an AI to team up with, called their regalia, and then kill the other duelists together, so basically 2v2. A duelist who isn't able to convince an AI to join them, or loses theirs for whatever reason, is soon dead. There are also overrides which give one time commands to assist, which makes the story feel a bit more gamelike. None of it is anything particularly exciting, though it suffices.
As with everything I've previously read by Sriduangkaew, there's a considerable amount of psychosexual drama and a few sex scenes. The sex is different this time because it involves a prosthetic penis that integrates with her nervous system and can ejaculate. This allows her to both give and receive, which her given the nature of her partner, can do the same as well. The sex becomes unusual. There's a decent bit of fetish material. If this were between two humans, the rough sex knife play would've been grotesque. I found the sex to be more fascinating than erotic.
These continue to be interesting and worthwhile in their own way, though obviously they're for a specific taste and niche interest. For example, I end with this no context excerpt: "You want me to wear you so that my hands are inside you at all times?"
The most notable difference in this short novel is that there are males and they have a role in the story, which is unusual for this author. Otherwise it's mostly in the same style, meaning that relationship drama is what matters most. The book opens with a gruesome scene and the combat is an integral part of the narrative, but I felt that it wasn't the focus.
In terms of combat, the duelists seek out an AI to team up with, called their regalia, and then kill the other duelists together, so basically 2v2. A duelist who isn't able to convince an AI to join them, or loses theirs for whatever reason, is soon dead. There are also overrides which give one time commands to assist, which makes the story feel a bit more gamelike. None of it is anything particularly exciting, though it suffices.
As with everything I've previously read by Sriduangkaew, there's a considerable amount of psychosexual drama and a few sex scenes. The sex is different this time because it involves a prosthetic penis that integrates with her nervous system and can ejaculate. This allows her to both give and receive, which her given the nature of her partner, can do the same as well. The sex becomes unusual. There's a decent bit of fetish material. If this were between two humans, the rough sex knife play would've been grotesque. I found the sex to be more fascinating than erotic.
These continue to be interesting and worthwhile in their own way, though obviously they're for a specific taste and niche interest. For example, I end with this no context excerpt: "You want me to wear you so that my hands are inside you at all times?"
April 9, 2021
Extraordinary speculative fiction
Ravishingly beautiful world-building, a disturbingly cruel yet hopeful narrative of desire and destruction in the borderland between human and machine sentience. These are stories of gender-bending queer passion, but the sensibility is deeply female. A purpose-built planetary world serves as the malleable platform for an epic combat game that pits AI avatars with human duelist-partners against one another. The MC is a warrior-detective exiled from her occupied homeworld, and seeking an impossible prize only this AI-engineered game can provide. The physics-defying action sometimes resolves too easily into glittering tableaux, and you need to suspend disbelief for some of the plot turns, but the heart of the story is ethical and psychologically cohesive.
Ravishingly beautiful world-building, a disturbingly cruel yet hopeful narrative of desire and destruction in the borderland between human and machine sentience. These are stories of gender-bending queer passion, but the sensibility is deeply female. A purpose-built planetary world serves as the malleable platform for an epic combat game that pits AI avatars with human duelist-partners against one another. The MC is a warrior-detective exiled from her occupied homeworld, and seeking an impossible prize only this AI-engineered game can provide. The physics-defying action sometimes resolves too easily into glittering tableaux, and you need to suspend disbelief for some of the plot turns, but the heart of the story is ethical and psychologically cohesive.
did-not-finish
January 7, 2023Ok changed my mind, I actually don't have the energy for more of this author's weird relationship dynamics right now.
The plots and worldbuilding of this series are always sick and absolutely my shit. I'm on a big sci-fi kick at the moment. But the characters, my god. They're always so one-note. They seem to just be there for the sex scenes (that all have the same dynamic). I'm tired of it. Along with the intricate writing, it's always a 'heavy' experience reading these novellas. So I think I need to come back them after some time away.
The plots and worldbuilding of this series are always sick and absolutely my shit. I'm on a big sci-fi kick at the moment. But the characters, my god. They're always so one-note. They seem to just be there for the sex scenes (that all have the same dynamic). I'm tired of it. Along with the intricate writing, it's always a 'heavy' experience reading these novellas. So I think I need to come back them after some time away.
May 27, 2021
A cruel, brutal contest mixed with a love story, and Sriduangkaew's rich prose. It's elaborate and unusual, worth re-reading in the future (I find most of this author's books benefit from a second time through, there are so many little details to pick up on that you catch things a bit differently)
May 23, 2021
I deeply respect the mindset that went into writing this book, the creation of a world dominated by powerful yet vulnerable dark lesbians. But I think the length of this work held it back. Trying to fit both romantic development and an action plot into such a short amount of pages meant neither had much depth. The great ideas, such as "wearing your girlfriend into battle", appear for only a short amount of time, never really letting me dig my teeth into them. I have to admit I'm coming from the perspective of having recently read lots of sprawling action webnovels, which allow for a single battle to stretch on for ten thousand words. It's very much what I prefer. I also struggled with the lack of romantic tension between the main pairing. It may be idyllic, the way they were practically made for each other, but it didn't make for an arc that excited me, especially compared to the open moral descent unfolding within the side pairing. Boy, did I love the side pairing, which is why I'm definitely picking up the sequel.
April 7, 2021
A bit too short
August 10, 2021
Beautiful, grotesque, handsome, ugly, and charming.
Everything up through the end left me wanting to come back for more. I've been in the mood for some hard-boiled, noir action, and this fit the bill. While our main character, Thannarat, is a detective and she competes with a classic, beautiful dame, she doesn't get an opportunity to do much for detective work. I'd love to see more of her life before her planet fell.
Turns out I have a type when it comes to books with fighting pairs. Much like the Locked Tomb series has an adept and their cavalier, "Shall Machines..." has the duelist (human) and their regalia (AI). When the two plot, battle, or just experience life in tandem, I just eat it up. I swooned so hard when they first met.
This book is not for the faint of heart. There are some gruesome scenes, both physically and mentally. The AI think very little of humanity and do not mind using their bodies as toys for their amusement.
Daji, the regalia to Thannarat, might have leaned a bit on the extremely submissive side outside of combat, but at least it was of their own choice.
I greatly appreciated that cybernetics were not treated as something that caused a loss of humanity, here just something you may choose to get.
In short, I really dug this book and it's stuck with me every time I had to pause reading.
(I might suggest the paperback over the ebook copy. Sometimes my Kindle would break the story at weird spots, and in the very few times the point of view would switch, I wouldn't catch it at first, leading to a bit of confusion until I retraced my steps.)
Everything up through the end left me wanting to come back for more. I've been in the mood for some hard-boiled, noir action, and this fit the bill. While our main character, Thannarat, is a detective and she competes with a classic, beautiful dame, she doesn't get an opportunity to do much for detective work. I'd love to see more of her life before her planet fell.
Turns out I have a type when it comes to books with fighting pairs. Much like the Locked Tomb series has an adept and their cavalier, "Shall Machines..." has the duelist (human) and their regalia (AI). When the two plot, battle, or just experience life in tandem, I just eat it up. I swooned so hard when they first met.
This book is not for the faint of heart. There are some gruesome scenes, both physically and mentally. The AI think very little of humanity and do not mind using their bodies as toys for their amusement.
Daji, the regalia to Thannarat, might have leaned a bit on the extremely submissive side outside of combat, but at least it was of their own choice.
I greatly appreciated that cybernetics were not treated as something that caused a loss of humanity, here just something you may choose to get.
In short, I really dug this book and it's stuck with me every time I had to pause reading.
(I might suggest the paperback over the ebook copy. Sometimes my Kindle would break the story at weird spots, and in the very few times the point of view would switch, I wouldn't catch it at first, leading to a bit of confusion until I retraced my steps.)
September 12, 2021
Deadly tournaments on a graveyard star.
We return to Benjanun Sriduangkaew’s Machine Mandate series with book 3, Shall Machines Devide the Earth.
Detective Thannarat Vutirangsee has come to Septet, invited by AI Wonsul’s Exegesis (see previous books), to enter a deadly tournament to win her hearth’s desire. Her ex-wife Euridyce made flesh again.
Grief is an irrevocable beast: it can eat and eat until the meat and gristle are cleaned from the bones, and then it’ll crush the bones and swallow them down. I’ve fought it for years. I intend to conquer it at last.
The dualist is helped by an AI regalia, in Thannarat’s case the seductive Empress Daji Scatters Roses Before Her Throne (Daji for short) who demands her total surrender, body and soul.
Recadat Kongmanee has secretly been carrying a torch for Thannarat, who saved her life once and made her whole again. She has entered the tournament to win back hers and Thannarat’s homeworld, Ayothaya, from the invading Hellenes.
I think I loved this one the best so far, although it is hard to pull a favorite out of the line-up. Every book in this series so far is utterly compelling. The world building is just mind blowing. I want to quote another reviewer here saying it all “gay and bloody and oh so very gay. shockingly monogamous, but lovely nonetheless.”
The series is available on Scribd.
f/f bdsm elements, AI and human sex
Themes: the Court of Divide, Septet, the Hellenes and their sacking of Ayothaya, Euridyce, haruspex.
5 Stars
We return to Benjanun Sriduangkaew’s Machine Mandate series with book 3, Shall Machines Devide the Earth.
Detective Thannarat Vutirangsee has come to Septet, invited by AI Wonsul’s Exegesis (see previous books), to enter a deadly tournament to win her hearth’s desire. Her ex-wife Euridyce made flesh again.
Grief is an irrevocable beast: it can eat and eat until the meat and gristle are cleaned from the bones, and then it’ll crush the bones and swallow them down. I’ve fought it for years. I intend to conquer it at last.
The dualist is helped by an AI regalia, in Thannarat’s case the seductive Empress Daji Scatters Roses Before Her Throne (Daji for short) who demands her total surrender, body and soul.
Recadat Kongmanee has secretly been carrying a torch for Thannarat, who saved her life once and made her whole again. She has entered the tournament to win back hers and Thannarat’s homeworld, Ayothaya, from the invading Hellenes.
I think I loved this one the best so far, although it is hard to pull a favorite out of the line-up. Every book in this series so far is utterly compelling. The world building is just mind blowing. I want to quote another reviewer here saying it all “gay and bloody and oh so very gay. shockingly monogamous, but lovely nonetheless.”
The series is available on Scribd.
f/f bdsm elements, AI and human sex
Themes: the Court of Divide, Septet, the Hellenes and their sacking of Ayothaya, Euridyce, haruspex.
5 Stars
August 7, 2021
AI and human sex, plus epic battles?
As a regular heterosexual male, I don't mind the occasional woman on woman blow by blow sex scenes but in this series they come about very graphical and quite often that I don't know whether I'm reading gay porn or a gay novel, but too late to figure that out since I made it to the end and I believe this is it for me, I won't be reading anything else from this writer. Even though I do enjoy the epic battles and the science but this is a woman's universe, all one sided and self-adulatory, I guess I recent the lack of male participation but the author does speak her mind through her characters loud and clear how she feels about men and I don't know the author but I do know she's got talent but her one dimensional gender driven take on a well written story makes it hard to stay interested, AI's sexual orientation does not count, I'm out!
As a regular heterosexual male, I don't mind the occasional woman on woman blow by blow sex scenes but in this series they come about very graphical and quite often that I don't know whether I'm reading gay porn or a gay novel, but too late to figure that out since I made it to the end and I believe this is it for me, I won't be reading anything else from this writer. Even though I do enjoy the epic battles and the science but this is a woman's universe, all one sided and self-adulatory, I guess I recent the lack of male participation but the author does speak her mind through her characters loud and clear how she feels about men and I don't know the author but I do know she's got talent but her one dimensional gender driven take on a well written story makes it hard to stay interested, AI's sexual orientation does not count, I'm out!
July 18, 2021
This one was challenging to finish compared to the previous two Machine Mandate books; perhaps I took pauses in the wrong spots, but I couldn't keep track of the intrigue, and the twists didn't have much excitement to them. Whatever level of intrigue we were on, I knew we were going to hit that level + 1 before the end.
The stakes of the story weren't compelling either. I never believed that the hyper-competent main character . Between all of that, it just sort of deteriorates into sex scenes.
The stakes of the story weren't compelling either. I never believed that the hyper-competent main character . Between all of that, it just sort of deteriorates into sex scenes.
October 5, 2022
I think this was okay and originally I liked it more but I feel like the plot was meh and the fighting was meh for something based around a battle planet. It felt like the author was more interested in writing android /human porn than an actual novel with plot. I think if they had fleshed out the plot more it would have been more interesting. The backdrop and characters are great but it was tragically short and just deteriorated. There never felt like there were any true stakes morally or physically.
Read
October 28, 2021im so sad to dnf this but woo boy its 131 pages and ive been trying to read it for 3 weeks and only made it to the 42% mark. maybe i'll come back to it later and finish it but its just not as good or engaging as the previous books in the series . it feels like a lot of beautiful images stitched together that i simply do not care about. did love the dueling ai's though, kudos to that gorgeous imagery.
April 25, 2021
Fantastic! Such incredibly wonderful writing!
Benjanun Sriduangkaew writes with such eloquence, passion, skill and wit, it's a true delight for me to read. To absorb, and to digest. Please Benjanun, keep your stories a coming!
Benjanun Sriduangkaew writes with such eloquence, passion, skill and wit, it's a true delight for me to read. To absorb, and to digest. Please Benjanun, keep your stories a coming!
June 3, 2021
Other
So very other. I'm not exactly cishetro, but this is still foreign to me as a westwhitedude. The costumes, the pageantry, the lesbian sex and violence. Puzzling and fascinating and other.
So very other. I'm not exactly cishetro, but this is still foreign to me as a westwhitedude. The costumes, the pageantry, the lesbian sex and violence. Puzzling and fascinating and other.
April 8, 2021
Hands down one of the most enjoyable story I've read in a while and definitely my favourite opus from The Machine Mandate series. Bravo 👏
April 12, 2021
gay and bloody and oh so very gay. shockingly monogamous, but lovely nonetheless
Read
July 5, 2021Just not right for me at the moment.
August 23, 2021
Very purple prose, which I love. Somewhat spicy which embarrasses me. Very interesting run at AI, motivations, and HCI writ large.
Read
June 28, 2022
Trigger & Content Warnings
Queermisia
Human trafficking mentioned
Blood & injury depiction
Banishment mentioned
Queermisia
Human trafficking mentioned
Blood & injury depiction
Banishment mentioned
July 14, 2022
I might not have liked this one as much as I have previous books in the series, but that's not saying much. The writing is gorgeous and musical, and Sriduangkaew manages to make a "battle royale" plot feel fresh and interesting.
November 3, 2022
love me some fucked-up and horny women . . . also AIs, i guess
August 9, 2023
Weird but nice
August 9, 2023
Benjanun at her best.
July 6, 2024
5/5
Fate/stay night x sapphic AI/cyborg battle royale, with a thinly concealed fox spirit motif?
The script basically writes itself.
Fate/stay night x sapphic AI/cyborg battle royale, with a thinly concealed fox spirit motif?
The script basically writes itself.
May 15, 2025
Lethal contest time besties!! This world keeps expanding in cooler and cooler ways I swear.
January 14, 2022
This was my favorite of the series so far! We have that beautiful, distinct prose I've really come to love, badass lesbians, and a very cool and chaotic tournament. I enjoyed particularly the interactions between AI and humans and how it was portrayed during this novella - in previous books, we saw a stigma toward romantic relationships between the two, but that isn't the case here, and there's a very good reason for it. Once again loved the few plot twists that came up. I am very sold on this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews