Post #3183710

#WritersCoffeeClub 6 Aug: When is deus ex machina warranted? so, you can always use a coincidence *against* the protagonist. But if we are talking about an unmotivated event or action, especially by a character new to the narrative, that solves the protagonist's core conflict at the end of the book, I can't imagine that being satisfying outside a comic context. That said, a lot of Agatha Christie's "fair play" bordered on deus ex machina IMHO.