The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius

Every once in a while it's good...no, essential, that you listen to an audiobook on the lighter side. Just for sanity's, and maybe optimism's, sake. I know I do. And this listen is exactly that every once in a while I need. Something fun. Crazy global domination fun.

This audiobook is an anthology of short stories that revolve around mad scientists and their "brilliant" plans to take over the world. Everyone has met one: You know, that quiet but quirky megalomaniac neighbor or office worker that's just a bit off, that stays up late in the basement creating a trans-atomic mogrification particle beam weapon that they'll power up to blackmail the governments of the world for a bazillion, quadrillion dollars. And after the get the money, they'll still turn the blasted thing on, just to watch it make pretty colors and melt the continents.

Basically, Dr. Evil.

Or Mr. Or Mrs. Or Miss.

This tongue-in-cheek group of stories is a wonderful antithesis of the superhero novels and movies that are on the shelves and screens lately, and it's a great listen. Here's why you'll want this audiobook.

Heroes are totally defined by the strength and power of their arch-enimies. Think about it. Batman and Joker, Superman and Lex Luthor, Iron Man and Mandarin. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. You get the idea.

The villain has the more interesting story. And it PAYS. Darth Vader, for example, gets a heck of a LOT more press than Luke. And novels. And movies. And audiobooks. And sippy cups.

Why, because we love 'em! Every girl wants the bad boy, because of their power and mystique, and every guy wants to be the bad boy to whom that those girls gravitate. Now, we finally get to see what happens on the other side of the crazy tracks.

The stories are about problems and issues that Evil Geniuses face in life as well as their whacked out world domination schemes. How do I tell my wife I'm going to rule the world? Do I wear my mad scientist costume to our next therapy mixer? Now that I've built the perfect weapon to crush the puny mortals of this world, how do I get the blamed thing out of my basement? Will my mom still love me when I stand on the pinnacle of world power by turning everyone to zombies? Should I turn MOM into a zombie too? Now that I've melted Paris, should I go for London next? Hmmm. Conundrums and decisions. It's what these brilliant lunatics do to answer these and other burning questions that make the stories light up.

Again, this is not for the serious-minded listener who doesn't need a break from more somber deep thinking. It's not utter fluff, just a bit lighter than the usual listen. It's loads of fun, and makes for an enjoyable break. There are solid plots, interesting characters, and more than anything, it's intriguing. You start thinking of people you know who just might be one of the these lunatics secretly planning to take over the world. You'll see the other twisted side of the story. And THAT, Audible listener, is my favorite part. Usually, we're limited to a hero's or heroine's perspective. Here, we get to see the darker side. You'll appreciate all the trouble and hard work brilliant mad men (and women) go through to control the world. Global domination is hard work!

So, all you wannabe evil geniuses, wringing your hands, slaving over bunsen burners and home-made nuclear generators....

ASSEMBLE!

And get this audiobook.

Yes. The stories are worth a second listen.

I enjoyed Mary Robinette Kowal's rather playful narration of Seanan McQuire's Laughter at the Academy. Stefan Rudnicki is fantastic as a narrator with his dialects skills in Homo Perfectus. All of the stories are very good and there is plenty of humor and genius all round.

SCGPD, seriously this has to be showing up in behaviorial studies classes as a topic of discussion. Too funny!

Tempting!

I liked maybe three of the stories and one of the female narrators other then that I found this to be rather disappointing and I really wanted to like this one. Most of the narration felt like someone giving an emotionless report rather then a story teller. As for the stories themselves, I found them dull and pointless and not even the fun kind of pointless. There were a few of stories that were entertaining but over all not it was a let down.

I want to be fair but I didn't find most of the stories very intriguing. I bought the book to get the novella by Diana Gabaldon, 'The Space Between' and liked it a lot but the other stories I found to be just so-so. It was worth the read but I would not have bought it had it not contained Diana Gabaldon. So, I'm suggesting that any anthology with her in it will sell.

Not much to be done with a collection of this many stories. They were all enjoyable just not overwhelmingly enjoyable.

I prefer Davina Porter to read British and Scottish accents. Otherwise, the narrators were okay.

No.

I commend the editor for collecting these stories. I'm sure the individual authors are all superb but if it had not contained the novella by Diana Gabaldon I would not have bought it.

I mainly brought it so I could listen to the story by Diana Gabaldon which I have already read in hard back and loved but I don't like the narrator for the audio Americans just can't do a good scots accent. It very nearly put me to sleep. If the space between comes out on audio on its own please change the narrator.

Narrators with the correct accent would be good.