Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain

By: A. Lee Martinez

Narrated by: Scott Aiello

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Emperor Mollusk. Intergalactic Menace. Destroyer of Worlds. Conqueror of Other Worlds. Mad Genius. Ex-Warlord of Earth. Not bad for a guy without a spine. But what's a villain to do after he's done... everything.

With no new ambitions, he's happy to pitch in and solve the energy crisis or repel aliens invaders should the need arise, but if he had his way, he'd prefer to be left alone to explore the boundaries of dangerous science. Just as a hobby, of course. Retirement isn't easy though. If the boredom doesn't get him, there's always the Venusians. Or the Saturnites. Or the Mercurials. Or... well, you get the idea. If that wasn't bad enough, there's also the assassins of a legendary death cult and an up-and-coming megalomaniac (as brilliant as he is bodiless) who have marked Emperor for their own nefarious purposes.

But Mollusk isn't about to let the Earth slip out of his own tentacles and into the less capable clutches of another. So it's time to dust off the old death ray and come out of retirement. Except this time, he's not out to rule the world. He's out to save it from the peril of the Sinister Brain!

©2012 A. Lee Martinez (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

I don't know what I was expecting

I'll keep this to the point. It's a well written book with some near ideas but it's incredibly ridiculous and there are glaring logical holes that I feel cheapen the setting and tone. I am fine with a bit of ridiculousness but I'm not of a fan of over the top incredulity just for the sake of it. Time-traveling dinosaurs with laser eyes, I mean sure it's your book, but why? It all just seems excessive to me.
I will say that the narrator was incredible. His diverse range and the flawless editing actually made me forget that there was only one guy doing the whole thing.
One final note, this book has a lot of action scenes that, when mixed with the aforementioned ridiculousness, made it feel like somebody had very thoroughly written out a play by play of a comic book. I don't think this is a bad thing in of itself I just thought it was worth mentioning since it's not an experience I often have with audiobooks. In my mind's eye I saw pages of a graphic novel instead of the more typical movie, if that makes any sense. It's a very vague and personal detail but like I said, it's unique

fun!!

I've been really bored with the recent books I've listened to (finished and unfinished)...I was craving something ridiculous and fun, something that takes my hand and throws me down a rabbit hole. This book delivered! It provided a wonderfully discworld-ian premise where we have a nice familiar platform to leap from. We've got a mad genius cephalopod in a mechsuit investigating a larger conspiracy that wants him dead. THANKFULLY this dude is so damn smart that there's absolutely no point in worrying about his well being...on paper it sounds annoying (hell I'm sure plenty of people hated this...I was in the mood for it). There is a colorful cast of frienemies that we meet along the way...there is betrayal...there is reconciliation...there is...just a lot of damn fun. I don't really know what I wanna say about this book...I just felt like the author wrote it with a huge grin on their face and I felt that in the tone of the book.

Hilarious.

I am, admittedly, and big fan of A. Lee Martinez...but the combination of his writing and the way Scott Aiello narrates the story is brilliant. I wish I could give more than 5 stars.

super awesome !!!!!!!!!

it's really funny and brilliant and cool I'm 10
years old but I Iove it!

Loved it

If you enjoy the Hitchhikers Guide books then you will probably enjoy this. Well written and at times hilariously funny, the narrator was perfect in nailing the main and many side characters. Well worth the listen.

enjoy. well written story, performed brilliantly

a very fun listen. it like reading a comic book, with or Lord emperor providing us with genius level smugness. attempting to save us from well... him. if you are looking for some, ok a lot of humor with your science fiction, this is well worth the price of admission.

Tons of Fun!

This audiobook is, quite simply, a ton of fun! I can hardly imagine actually reading it - that is just how strong of a performance Scott Aiello, the narrator, gives! Like Martinez’s other novels, this is a rather mad-cap adventure full of hilarity, witty humour and some quite likable - not to mention unforgettable - characters. The novel is set primarily on Earth (or Terra as it is referred to here) and seems inspired by 1950s-60s type space dramas. The titular character, Emperor Mollusk, hails from Neptune (though they don’t care for him much back there). Mollusk has conquered Terra (without a single gunshot fired!), but has retired from the world-conquering business after some recent unpleasantness with Saturn.

When a Venutian warrior with a grudge attempts to take Mollusk under protective custody (to later try him for his crimes committed on Venus), she ends up falling in with Mollusk and his faithful ultra-pede (a centipede from Hell) as they track down the assassination plot to its perpetrator. Their adventures range from Atlantis, a Lost World type island in the Bermuda triangle, a visit to the moon and some epic battles with the radioactive brain of Madame Curie. The tale is filled with adventure, excitement and plenty of laughs.

The performance, though, really sets the book apart. The voices Aiello creates for each character are wonderful and quite distinct. He makes Mollusk sound like a cross between the Dread Pirate Roberts and Stewie Griffin. The Brain also sounds quite like Vizzini and there are many other convincing and entertaining voices throughout. Not only will I continue to follow Martinez’s work, but I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this very talented narrator as well!

Intelligent Camp, Amazing Narrator

Would you listen to Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain again? Why?

Snarky super-intelligent cephalopod overlord (retired) goes on a campy classic sci-fi inspired adventure. It takes you back to all the cheezy space adventure books you enjoyed as a kid...only it's exceptionally well written. And the narrator couldn't be any more perfect--he delighfully embodies each character and makes you chuckle throughout.

The only thing that breaks my heart is that this book isn't part of a series. There is no sequel! Oh what will I do??? Listen again? Listen to one of Martinez's other fantastic books? Maybe both.

A MUST for Hitchhiker fans

Would you listen to Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain again? Why?

Would I listen to this book again? YES! This book made me laugh from start to finish. The dialog was funny, the characters were easy to visualize, and the story was quirky and solid.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character by far was Snog (sp? -- the only bad thing about audiobooks, you really have to pay attention to names LOL) -- This character was the multi-ped mutated pet of the Emperor Mollusk and did not speak. What made her my favorite was the description, her mannerisms, the way she always made me smile and laugh, and her awesome abilities.

What about Scott Aiello’s performance did you like?

The 4 main characters were very distinguishable though back and forth dialog, and the way he handled the dialog scenes that needed close to 10 distinguishable voices in succession was better than most I have heard.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed almost all the way through. I'm a HUGE S'more fan, and I knew I would love this book the moment I heard "today's laser is tomorrow's marshmallow roaster." There are more than a couple "one-liners" that should be made into bumper stickers.

Any additional comments?

There are a couple "flashback" type stories that seem a little out of place and added only as filler. There were also a couple times where I missed the transition from one part of the story to the next and had to go back to re-listen, but this could also have been when I was slamming on my breaks trying to merge on or off the interstate and not the fault of the book or it's narrator. :-)

Squishy Fun From Neptunian Depths

Lee Martinez imagines Earth as part of a solar system where every planet and moon is inhabited by all types of creatures, most of them are smarter than us. In the middle of it all is our narrator, Emperor Mollusk, a hyper-genius squid-like being from Neptune who has subdued Saturn and Venus as well as conquering Terra (Earth), where he is revered as a benevolent god thanks to various brainwashing techniques and drugs he has plied on the human population.

Emperor Mollusk, with the help of female warrior from Venus and a deadly ultrapede, plus various and sundry others he meets along the way, has to visit a number of exotic locales, from the caves of the moon to a volcanic time portal to an ordinary lake in Wisconsin, where he employs an array of doomsday technologies, like planet killers and time radios and the Eiffel Tower, to fight and outsmart a variety of deadly foes from a hypnotic dinosaur to a mummy in command of giant scorpions to the disembodied brains of P.T. Barnum and Soupy Sales, and finally a giant radioactive Marie Curie.

No, this is not meant to be serious, it is meant to be fun, and it is. Fast-paced and loaded with imaginative details about the creatures and monsters and locations and battles and technologies -- and jokes: fun, funny, infectious, and perfectly conceived in terms of creating a world filled with magical or mythical or monstrous creatures that mirrors our contemporary world, imagined with remarkable consistency.

I looked up narrator Scott Aiello after listening to this book. He's had an interesting career as an actor of modest success, better than most, but not the ultimate success theater people (like my daughter) crave. He has even written about it. One thing I found out about him (the reason why I looked him up) is that he is from Chicago, not England. So the Downton Abbey voice he gives Emperor Mollusk, who narrates the story, is acted. And it's impeccable.

I would not have ascribed Mollusk that type of voice in my imagination had I read the book in print, but it is absolutely pitch perfect. Mollusk is so funny in his understated upper-crust English accent that he totally steals the show -- "I stand corrected," he deadpans, "Yours is the superior arbitrary system of government." Well done! Well done on the writing, well done with the narrating.

As effusive as I am about the other elements of this book, the story itself is tepid. Without giving away any spoilers, it's pretty obvious early on how it's going to turn out. In the meantime, Mollusk goes with his Venusian warrior from one trap to another only to find a way out, no matter how invulnerable the various Godzilla- and Mecha-Godzilla-like foes are. He does it so often, she even scolds Mollusk for continuing to do it.

But I get it -- the story, such as it is, is only a structure on which to hang all of the detail about all of the fauna and locales and machines -- and all of Mollusk's humorous commentary. So overall, it works, and it works fantastically, but as humor, not necessarily as a story.