Tuesday, December 1, 2009

All Good Things Must Come to an End

The last chapter of Max Barry’s Machine Man came out this morning.

For anyone not already acquainted with the novel, it’s an internet serial that ran for the better part of a year, updating in short microchapters Monday through Friday, that dealt with the themes of love, transhumanism, corporate greed and self-mutilation in the name of science. Typical Barry craziness, really.

It was excellent.

Access to the entire novel cost me approximately seven bucks, with new chapters delivered to my inbox every morning before I was even awake. What an awesome thing to read during breakfast.

The beginning chapters are still available for free (and the feed is still active for any new readers who want to buy the whole thing), and it’s coming to print, but for anyone who hasn’t experienced it yet, seeing it in raw form is amazing. I can’t wait to be able to compare it with the hardcopy edition.

Thanks for the daily goodness, Max. I loved every page.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jessica! That's very kind of you.

(Why yes, I do have a Google Alert set up under my own name. How did you know?)

Max.

Jessica Brown said...

I wish I could do something that handy. Having an extremely common name, though, makes it almost impossible. I once Googled myself and found out that I am several types of physician, a law enforcement spokeswoman and a Beanie Baby scam artist. I'm not sure where I find the time for all of that. I must be one hell of a sleepwalker.

To be honest, Machine Man was a huge source of entertainment and inspiration for me. While reading it (and a few other stories with similar modes of delivery) I went ahead and decided to post my own serial novel on Facebook. It's nowhere near as successful, but I wouldn't have ever come up with the idea without someone like you paving the way. So, thank you.

If you've ever got the time or inclination to do a Q&A for New Reads, let me know. I'd be thrilled to have the opportunity to ask you a few questions.

Jessica Brown


View My Stats