Deus ex machina

[Prefx]

One of the few things I can't stand about books are when authors use a dues ex machina to complete or continue a plot. Do you have the same the problem? If so, what are some examples you can recall?

The biggest example for me would be in LOTR. While I love Lord of the Rings, having the eagles save Frodo and Sam just seemed like a way to get the characters out of harm's way and back with the rest of the fellowship as soon as possible.

 

[Paradox 99]

The most recent version of this that comes to mind is the resolution to the most recent series of Dr Who. The writers, wanting to make the Daleks invincible, left themselves without a good way of defeating them - thus Rose became Deus ex machina.
Whilst I loved that series, that did spoil it for me a bit.

 

[Shoegaze99]

As much as I loved the atmosphere China Mieville created in Perdido Street Station, a story I got quite wrapped up in, the ending has a pretty terrible deus ex machina that really grated, diminishing somewhat what was otherwise an excellent work. For all the time he spent painting a picture of the world he created, you'd think he could have at least spent a few of those many pages on setting up the appearance at the end that allows the story's conflict to be resolved.

 

[Brys]

I found that the deus ex machina Perdido Street Station, while not exactly good, wasn't too damaging because in the end it didn't result in a better life for the main characters (just look at what happened to Lin). I think he could definitely have handled it better, but it wasn't the example I've seen.
Tolkien's was irritating, but it wasn't exactly surprising given the general tone of LotR.
Many weaker fantasy novels use them - Jordan's Wheel of Time has plenty in, James Clemens' Wit'ch War has a really awful one in which the main character dies in one scene, and then in the next scene you find out he's actually ownly been captured and gets rescued in the next chapter.

 

[Jay]

Peter F. Hamilton's Nights Dawn Trilogy has a pretty damning one, in what is otherwise an exceptional series IMHO. Newcomb's Gates of Dawn is absolutely ridiculous IMHO (but so is every facet of his work). Steph Swainston's Year of Our War also, however, I never felt that conflcit was the chief element of the book, but some would think otherwise.

Just about every Terry Brooks book.

 

[Thadlerian]

SPOILERS INSIDE



Deus ex machinae are among the foulest things that can happen to a story; at worst it may mar the whole thing. The worst of all is when they're not even required to save the plot, just used for the sake of "feel-good", like in Blade Runner.

Eagles suddenly coming to aid in Lord of the Rings felt a bit strange, I agree. After all, they could have carried Frodo straight to Mount Doom from the beginning! That would have been perfectly reasonable, but we never get to know quite why it didn't happen.

But what about the "Dea ex Machina" in Watership Down? How do you feel about that one? After all, it's ironically implied in the name of the chapter. It wasn't really necessary either; Hazel had played his role in the plot, so the effect of his unlikely survival was merely the feel-good.

And then there is Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. Remember the scene where Angua is shot? On one hand, we all know that you need silver to kill a werewolf. But on the other, the way the sequence is written implies that she dies, and we don't get the clarification until the end. Is this a deus ex machina? I saw it that way, and it's a pity, because without it, Men at Arms would have been the incontestable best Discworld novel...

 

[cornelius]

In tolkiens place, I would have let Gandalf do the butterfly trick again ( as in the escape from the tower Saruman)
Or to let the hobbitses have a run downhill, where they meet Aragorn and Gandalf who are sweeping out the last lines of the Orcs

Hey, I am just a kid, and a very n00by one, who am I to correct Tolkien?

 

[Shoegaze99]

In tolkiens place, I would have let Gandalf do the butterfly trick again ( as in the escape from the tower Saruman)

The "butterfly trick" does not exist in Tolkien's text; that is an invention of Peter Jackson & Co.

 

[cornelius]

oh, right *hits head with crowbar*

I mix em up sometimes, forgive my n00byness

 

[Redactor]

The movie Constantine has a twist on this - a diabolus ex machina!

 

[HieroGlyph]

Im not so certain that the first example is a 'biggest example' of Deus ex machina. Those eagles were knocking about somewhere anyway, that we know. And their eyesight is unparalelled, so why not have them rescue the little heroes? (Oops, forgot the ****SPOILER**** disclaimer )...