The Machine Stops

audiobook (Unabridged)

By E.M. Forster

cover image of The Machine Stops
Audiobook icon Visual indication that the title is an audiobook

Sign up to save your library

With an OverDrive account, you can save your favorite libraries for at-a-glance information about availability. Find out more about OverDrive accounts.

   Not today

Find this title in Libby, the library reading app by OverDrive.

Download Libby on the App Store Download Libby on Google Play

Search for a digital library with this title

Title found at these libraries:

Library Name Distance
Loading...

A chilling prophecy of technological control and human disconnection.

Written in 1909, The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster is a visionary work of early science fiction that eerily predicts modern dependence on technology. In a world where humanity lives underground, each person isolated in a self-contained cell, all needs—food, air, communication, even ideas—are provided by a vast and seemingly omnipotent Machine. Human connection is mediated entirely through screens and buttons, and the surface of the Earth is deemed uninhabitable and taboo.

But when one man dares to challenge the authority of the Machine and seeks real, human experience above ground, the truth begins to unravel. Forster's tale is a profound meditation on individuality, free thought, and the cost of convenience. A stark warning against overreliance on technology and the suppression of physical reality, The Machine Stops remains more relevant than ever in the digital age.

The Machine Stops