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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology $2.99
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Lisa A. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/08/2022 09:59:01

It's mostly stories that have been seen inbetween chapters of other World of Darkness books, collected together. It leaves with more questions than answers, adding puzzle pieces that don't fit together into a narrative mess.

But hey, individually most of the stories are pretty good! A few are excellent starting points for a chronicle, and some would make a good mystery to investigate.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Björn L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/19/2021 10:55:19

# The inner secrets of the World of Darknes - a Mephisto review

The God-Machine Chronicle

In the first rule book of the Chronicles of Darkness, the so-called God-Machine was hinted at in a short story. Except for this single reference, however, this seemingly larger background of the game remained only a small fragment in the mysteries of the new World of Darkness. However, with the second edition of the Chronicles of Darkness, the God-Machine has become more central, and thus the title of the associated anthology volume.

Accordingly, the book begins with the story Voice of the Angel, which tells an origin story of the world from an entirely different point of view. The humans were the servants of another species, who, in turn, were closer to the God-Machine that created the world. Humanity eventually rebelled against their masters and destroyed them. The few remaining specimens of this ancient race who swore revenge on humankind have left their dark mark on history.

Furthermore, like Voice of the Angel, some of the other stories in this anthology originally came from sourcebooks. While some of these short stories do hint at the God-Machine theme, not all of them revolve around it. The God-Machine remains mysterious, seeming to be the machine-like inner mechanics by which the world ticks and that tolerates no deviation of its cogs. Other stories revolve around how people are confronted with the supernatural phenomena of the Chronicles of Darkness. Sometimes, a policewoman's sister stumbles into her monster-hunting activities; sometimes, a man learns the secret of a dying street; sometimes, someone fathoms the true gist of some of his uncle's scary stories.

The stories are very well-written, and what they have in common is that they eschew the major supernatural groups of the Chronicles of Darkness – vampires, werewolves, mages, etc. – for a very personal, mysterious, and sometimes somewhat bizarre horror themes. The topic of the name-giving God-Machine is touched upon and expanded slightly with a few stories. However, the topic's mysterious aura remains – and the God-Machine is neither explained nor necessarily made the central pivoting point of the canonical Chronicles of Darkness.

As for the stories, they are worth reading even without the background of the Chronicles of Darkness. Above all, they can serve well as a source of inspiration for both concrete adventures and atmosphere and themes of a game in the new World of Darkness.

(Björn Lippold)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Erlan P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/28/2019 09:16:12

A very fine collection of short stories. Each one have their own very distinctive flavor and you can take ideas from them for your chronicle. Severa of the stories are not really God-Machine ones as we know from Chronicles of Darkness. These are pro-God-Machine, and are compiled from books that later would inspire the God-machine setting. Still very enjoyable.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Patricia W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/10/2014 18:48:23

To begin with: I love the God-Machine setting and the main Chronicle book has continued to inspire me. The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology didn't inspire me as much as I'd hoped, but I did like most of the book. There's a good assortment of stories and it's nice to have the previously published fiction gathered in one place to view as a whole. The layout is attractive enough, and consistent.

Some highlights: Road Gospel and Residents brought Damnation City to mind in a good way, giving specific examples of how statistics actually play out in a place. Stories Uncle Don Told Me reminded me of Stephen King pleasantly, with the kind of entertaining sit-down-and-listen-to-character that can be difficult to pull off. Along with M.R.E., it brought the figure of the veteran into horror (and with respect), something that I appreciate.

A couple of issues: A few stories, such as Prodigal and Quality of Life, took prototypical movie-style situations and didn't really do anything new with them. They weren't necessarily bad; they were just too pat and could have been less obvious. Their characters also felt less real all around, so it was harder to invest in them.

One thing that really bothered me was the number of grammatical and typographical errors that were present and scattered throughout the book. It isn't a very long anthology, so the sheer number of errors stands out and should be taken into account in future fiction releases. The covers also have the annoying habit of curling upward and wanting to stay that way, so keep the book pressed between others in your bookshelf.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Johannes R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/01/2013 03:04:06

I really loved this book. There are several short stories, all written reall well and I didn't find any bad typos(something you find in most mayor publications today).

I'd especially recommend this book for storytellers, as it ads a nice background for any possible God-Machine Chronicle. You'll get many ideas from it. I did and my group is going to love it(or more possible: Hate it. But in a good way, you know?)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 01/15/2013 08:52:19

The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology is The Onyx Path’s opening salvo of a new series of products for the World of Darkness under the auspice of the God-Machine Chronicle. Since the launch of the new World of Darkness White Wolf/CCP has released a plethora of products as part of their toolbox approach to game design while shying away from developing an overarching “meta-book.” While some books have strayed close to the line between the two for the most part each product was a package of tools each troupe could play around with to build the World of Darkness they want to explore. Now Rich Thomas and the many creative forces behind The Onyx Path are stepping over that line and producing a chronicle book, a setting in which we can explore a particular vision of the World of Darkness (which some tweaks to the core rules to match). This anthology begins the exploration of that vision, wetting our whistle for the upcoming chronicle book which we will not get to see until sometime in 2013.

The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology collects nineteen works of short fiction which continue to “intrigue, tantalize and inspire readers” from start to finish. Seven of these tales originally appeared in other works produced by White Wolf/CCP and twelve of them are all new creations. Fans of the company and their game lines will recognize many of the writers and game designers who have lent their talents to the creation of this tome. Each piece ranges in quality from good to great but I cannot express how impressed I am with the anthology as a whole. Each story really is a piece of a much larger puzzle. This is a puzzle which we are only now starting to see its outline and there is still so much more to reveal.

Does the anthology answer questions about the God-Machine? Yes and no. If anything I have a thousand more questions than before I started reading. That is probably a good thing because I am even more excited for future releases now

Upon completion of the anthology I poured myself a glass of wine and decided to lounge on my futon with the television buzzing in the background. I realized a feeling of melancholy had crept over me with a touch of hopelessness. Not too much but just enough that I wanted to relax and let the cogs keep turning on their own without interruption. Obviously the anthology had the intended effect and I was very much in the right mindset to begin exploring this new setting.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Eric C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/01/2013 20:42:54

Absolutely loved this. Some of the stories come from various NWoD books others are brand new. While they generally are 4-6 pages long they still have the creepiness you come to expect from a WW fiction piece.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Christopher H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/16/2012 15:52:09

This book is filled with great creepy short stories that really focus on personal horror, and the feeling of powerlessness in the face of some large, unknowable entity. Now some may argue that this is not that great because many of the stories are reprints from other books, but at least you know have it in a single, epub, format. Also the book is best read if one disregards all other World of Darkness mythos (Mage the Awakening primarily). Creepy, disturbing, and down right great.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Alexander J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/07/2012 16:08:17

Because it was explained already from which parts the book is made, I won't go into that case again. I found most of the stories to be very intriguing and enthralling. I am full of ideas now, what a God-Machine chronicle could be about. For all those storytellers who are interested in the chronicle, I recommend buying the anthology, too. Maybe, we can also use the stories, or at least parts of them, as handouts in game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/05/2012 13:03:35

This is an excellent anthology of short stories developed to introduce readers to the God-Machine Chronicle which will be appearing sometime in 2013. Whether you play World of Darkness games or not this is a good collection to read and you will be very entertained.

Nineteen shorts works of fiction. Seven originally published in other works. Twelve original works created for this anthology.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Nenad R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/05/2012 03:27:10

While the first couple of stories are a bit weak, the collection picks up the pace, and gives an interesting glimpse into a neglected aspect of the World of Darkness. Very atmospheric, and with a lot of good ideas. I can really recommend this collection.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Robert S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/28/2012 06:50:05

I regret buying this.

With one exception, the only stories I found entertaining were those previously published in rulebooks. In that previously published material, the activity of the humans in the story mattered, or at least seemed to. In The Voice of the Angel, the story in the World of Darkness corebook that started this whole thing, it seemed to be saying that humanity was either going to rise to perhaps near-godhood, or fall so hard we'd destroy ourselves. The new stories for this anthology seem to throw that all away.

The stories work with several tropes I just don't like. One is 'alien invasion by replacement'. These stories feature one, maybe two humans, and all the other characters are one of several ... whatever they ares. One disguised intruder is frightening and allows for creepy paranoia. Having everyone but the main character non-human renders that one person helpless and irrelevant in the face of whatever is going on. And that leads to the next trope, 'the insignifance of humanity'. It's actually explicitly stated in one of the stories: our species and even our planet doesn't really matter to these beings, and to the stories featuring them. I can't get into that type of story.

In Imperial Mysteries, Ascension is reaching the Supernal World and, essentially, the character escaping from the control of the player. That's a recurring trend in RPGs, in my observation. In several of these stories, the world around the humans is a set constructed by the non-human agencies to achieve some goal. I don't know if it is intentional, but it mimics within the game the fact that White Wolf created this cruel fictional gameworld for our use. I have always found that characters mentioning that their world seems to be designed breaks suspension of disbelief, unless there is already a solid explanation within the fictional world. For a setting like the World of Darkness, it's downright disturbing as well.

Before I wrap this up, I did like the story Concession, by Filamena Young. Other than that, the stories I liked I had already paid for. Voice of the Angel was one of my favourite fiction pieces, and when I heard that White Wolf was finally going to end at least some of the mystery of what the God-Machine is, I was ecstatic. But based on this product, I am not going to like whatever Onyx Path have decided to do in the upcoming God Machine Chronicle.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Kevin L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/24/2012 13:39:16

The God-Machine Chronicle is a collection of short stories from White Wolf/Onyx Path publishing. Contained within are pieces of fiction that concern themselves with the God-Machine, a MacGuffin-like idea that has come up throughout White Wolf's various publications for their New World of Darkness line. Some of the stories are collected from those books, while others were written solely for this anthology.

Being familiar with those works allows players of the game to enjoy this book. But if one is not familiar with the game line, this book can be an enjoyable read. Definitely slanted towards fans of the subtle, psychological horror, this book feels within the gestalt synthesis of The Outer Limits, the Twilight Zone, the Archons from Grant Morrison's Invisibles, and Cthulu mythos.

I've found it enjoyable to read, with the stories being five and ten pages long. As stated before, the major overlap has been the God-Machine as a thematic motif, and an occasional reference to a character from earlier stories.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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