QED “Kid” Morningwood is back with big plans to create a death tourism industry. Working with his old Metaphysics professor from Texas Alchemical and Metaphysical University, he delves the purgatorial realms gathering data for his venture. Standing in their way is university president T. Smedley Stalwart and his band of religious zealots – the Ancient and Loyal Order of the Holy Armadillo. FBI agents Flockham and Morales return to infiltrate and monitor ALOHA.
With the help of brilliant metaphysical engineer Yong Mi Hernandez, safety inspector Conrad Dopplebock, and guided by the wisdom of Cotton Widdershins, the Deus Tex Machina is a success. Sort of.
DEUS TEX MACHINA is difficult to describe. The best I can come up with is FLATLINERS, but funny/satire. Kid is trying to make death tourism a thing. Not only that, but death tourism as virtual reality! For the young people out there – FLATLINERS is about near-death experiences. Same with DEUS TEX MACHINA. The characters in the story are trying to capture what happens directly after death. But again – funny! I promise!
Likes:
I highlighted so many passages in this book that I found entertaining. Let me give you some!
a V\R headset that looks like a Stormtropper helmet.
“Freckled like he had stood too close to the screen door when Uncle Henry painted it red.”
Character names like Aw’Shux, Ahn Wii (which I’m pronouncing ennui), and Emerson Cilantro, Trans-temporal lawyer. (I’d devour a series about Cilantro, in case anyone is listening, cough, cough.)
Teriyaki Ragu instead of Kobayashi Maru
As an avid sci fi reader, I welcome the random science fiction shoutouts in DEUS TEX MACHINA. We see references from Star Wars, Star Trek, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, and more.
Witherspoon explains in the forward that names, characters, and organizations are fictitious. And boy howdy, is that especially true when it comes to the different religions that are the focus of Kid’s afterlife experiences. Here’s the warning for the easily offended readers. From ancient Egyptians, to Druids, to Native Americans, to other modern religious organizations, nothing is off limits for Witherspoon’s sarcasm. The grim reaper (or his representative) appears in many forms to better collect the dead. And of course there are forms to complete! We can only hope that the afterlife is as imaginative as in this novel.
Challenges:
While I frequently chuckled at the character names and situations in DEUS TEX MACHINA, it was an effort to read and remember the meanings behind all the acronyms. The different aspects of the machine and experiments were just beyond me (lots of engineering terms!). For example, DTM is short for the Deus Tex Machine II. The university acronym of Texas AMU (Texas Alchemical and Metaphysical University) is a clever take on Texas A&M. ALOHA stands for Ancient and Loyal Order of the Holy Armadillo, the local radical organization opposing the DTM. I could go on. But I’m sure you get the idea. There were too many acronyms for me to keep track!
For me, plot is paramount in a book; it’s what keeps me reading. DEUS TEX MACHINA has a few of plots: first, Cotton keeping Kid out of trouble; second, the team gathering the data on death and purgatory; and third, the university president trying to stop the experiments. The chapters rotate between the three main plots, but none dominated enough to keep my attention. If anything, I would have preferred more focus on the team and its experiments, while knowing that Cotton is there if Kid needs him.
I haven’t read THE SQUARE ROOT OF TEXAS, the first adventure of Cotton & Kid. I didn’t have any difficulties following along with their adventures in this, the second book in the series. Given that, I’d certainly be up for more adventures with Cotton and Kid.
I can say unequivocally that I wouldn’t be interested in death tourism as presented by DEUS TEX MACHINA. Seems dangerous. Like going into space dangerous. But I’m all for reading about it. Much safer from my couch! If you like humor, science fiction, and are not easily offended (by anything, really), check this one out!
Thanks to author Rob Witherspoon and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing this opportunity to review DEUS TEX MACHINA. I received the novel free in exchange for my honest review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Witherspoon was born and raised in rural Texas. He earned a BA in Physical Education, UT Arlington 1985 and a BS in Aerospace Engineering, UT Arlington 1990. He lives in north central Texas with his wife and youngest daughter and has spent much of his life in rural communities and on the ranch.
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It sounds like Witherspoon’s approach is a bit Monty Python-ish in its irreverence for anything and everything — much safer to just offend everyone than picking on one target. I’ve had The Square Root of Texas on my TBR a while, so I think it would be fun to read it and this back-to-back now. Thanks for a great review!
Sounds hilarious! I’ll have to give this one a read. Thanks for sharing.
It sounds like Witherspoon’s approach is a bit Monty Python-ish in its irreverence for anything and everything — much safer to just offend everyone than picking on one target. I’ve had The Square Root of Texas on my TBR a while, so I think it would be fun to read it and this back-to-back now. Thanks for a great review!
Thanks, Kristine! And very accurate on the Monty Python comparison. I hadn’t thought of that one!