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

This anthology features 22 short stories (well, some of them are novellas) about mad scientists and all the different aspects of being a mad genius. The stories vary greatly: some of them are fairly terrifying, while others are laugh-out-loud funny. You probably won't like all of those stories, but you'll still get a great bang for your buck in terms of value and thought-provoking goodness.Here are brief, spoiler-free descriptions of every story:"Professor Incognito apologizes: an itemized list" by Austin Grossman - even supervillains have girlfriends, and they have as many relationship problems as regular people. This story features a pretty entertaining apology to a supervillain's girlfriend, written in a hilarious, itemized way."Father of the groom" by Harry Turtledove - I think Turtledove got tired of writing alternate history "what if" fiction, which is why he wrote this story to break the mold. It's a short goofy story about a goofy scientist. It's written almost like a fairy tale, which may be a turn-off for a serious reader. Kids will probably like it, though."Laughter at the academy" by Seanan McGuire - one of my favorite stories in this anthology. In this world, every brilliant scientist sooner or later succumbs to the Schizotypal Creative Genius Personality Disorder (SCGPD) and becomes a supervillain. Not all mad scientists are physicists or chemists, though. Behold the wrath of Liberal Arts!"Letter to the editor" by David D. Levine - the story's character is an awful lot like Lex Luthor and his nemesis is as close to Superman as you can get without violating copyright laws. Here, the villain explains what he did, why he did it and why he's not really a villain after all."Instead of a loving heart" by Jeremiah Tolbert takes place during World War II. There's a typical mad scientist, a castle on a mountain peak, death rays and a lonely robot who once used to be human..."The Executor" by Daniel H. Wilson - nice piece of futuristic sci-fi. It doesn't feature a mad scientist per se, but it shows how his actions can change the world for centuries to come."The angel of death has a business plan" by Heather Lindsley - fun, short and creative. The protagonist is a motivational coach who helps struggling supervillains get their act together. Her high fees are used to fund a very special project..."Homo Perfectus" by David Farland - not so much a fictional story about a mad scientist as an all-too-realistic "holy crap, that might really happen" look at the dark side of the pharmaceutical industry, which is shady enough as it is."Ancient equations" by L.A.Banks - not all mad scientists are suave charismatic individuals. This story is about a mad scientist who is a gold-hoarding conspiracy theorist and who can't find a woman of his dreams. But what if he can make one?"Rural singularity" by Alan Dean Foster is a story about a journalist who discovers something entirely unexpected when he drives out into the middle of nowhere to investigate a lead about two-headed chickens. The story had some potential, but the ending was a tad abrupt and disappointing."Captain Justice saves the day" by Genevieve Valentine - even supervillains need secretaries. The protagonist of this story is a secretary with a criminally insane boss and a pretty good instinct for self-preservation. This is one of the shorter stories in the anthology, but it's pretty funny. For some reason it reminded me of "Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.""The mad scientist's daughter" by Theodora Goss was one of the two stories I couldn't finish. It features a club of young women whose fathers (or creators) were supervillains from the 19th century: Dr Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, etc. The exposition is nice, but there's not a lot of action... The story might end up with an amazing heist for all I know, but I just couldn't get past the middle."The space between" by Diana Gabaldon - ditto. This is by far the longest story in the anthology. It had something to do with 18th-century alchemists, immortality, a young woman who leaves her homeland forever, etc, etc. I know I'm being an impatient male here, but I like my science fiction to take place in modern times and have action, not feelings. I didn't get very far in this story since it just wasn't my cup of tea."Harry and Marlowe meet the founder of the Aetherian revolution" by Carrie Vaughn could use a better title, but the concept is brilliant: what if the Roswell UFO crash happened in the Victorian England? And what if the English adapted the unimaginably complex alien technology for their own uses?"Blood and Stardust" by Laird Barron - a pretty unusual story about a mad scientist from Eastern Europe who lives in Seattle and uses lightning for his heinous experiments (free electricity - hooray!). An odd twist on the classic Frankenstein story, with a little genetic engineering and time travel thrown in for good measure."A more perfect union": by L.E.Modesitt, Jr. is a story that features not just any mad scientist, but a mad political scientist! The story is an all-too-realistic description of the way a mad genius can consolidate political power with just a few well-timed decisions."Rocks fall" by Naomi Novik was probably my favorite story in the entire anthology. An enigmatic supervillain and a run-of-the-mill superhero are trapped together after a cave-in. A very interesting dialogue ensues. The main character is extremely well written - I hope Novik writes a book featuring him. *hint hint nudge nudge*"We interrupt this broadcast" by Mary Robinette Kowal - not all mad scientists have giant death rays and armies of minions. Sometimes all it takes is a small glitch introduced in the missile defense system... A short love story featuring a brilliant young man and his relationship with his assistant."The last dignity of man" by Marjorie M. Liu - what if your parents named you Lex Luthor? Would you shrug it off or try to emulate your namesake? The multifaceted and talented protagonist of this story does the latter. Great breakdown of the superhero/villain archetypes."The Pittsburgh technology" by Jeffrey Ford - what would it be like to have a mad scientist in our average, everyday world? An intriguing story told from the perspective of an average guy down on his luck."Mofongo knows" by Grady Hendrix - what happens to the heroes and villains of the Golden Age when they grow too old to be of any use? The super-intelligent ape Mofongo has the answer. A bit longer than other stories but a great read nonetheless. In a way, it resembles "Watchmen.""The food taster's boy" by Ben H. Winters - what do you do for fun after you take over the world, kill all your enemies and run out of challenges? Create your very own nemesis, of course!

Bottom line first:This anthology IS worth your time and money. If you are a fan of SF (and if you are reading a review about this book, you are ...)this is a fun read, with enough good stories to keep you reading and asking for more.You THINK you know the plot - Evil mad scientist plots something big and horrible, complete with Lightning/sparks/robots/<add-your-own effect> and hero thwarts him. But these stories still manage to add twists and surprises (would you have guessed at a Political-science "Mad scientist" plotting world domination? I didn't think so.)In addition, Many stories add in a humor layer for extra fun.The one exception is Diana Gabaldon's story "The space between". Quality of writing aside (see below) this story, which takes up about 20% of the book, simply does not belong in this anthology, and sticks out like a sore thumb."Mad Scientist" is a Science-Fiction concept. Fantasy-based stories struggle to fit. this story simply does not have any scientist or science, mad or otherwise. Even the sort-of-science mentioned (Alchemy) is really a very minor plot device, and while reading the story you keep asking yourself - why is this story here?I had the additional issue of simply not liking the way this story is written. I found it slow and long-winded, and I found myself fighting the urge to skip ahead and get to the point, if I could find it.I realize Ms. Gabaldon is a best-selling author with MANY fans, but it turns out I am not one of them - at least not by this story. I am an avid, compulsive reader. I wil read EVRYTHING. I read the labels on food containers at dinner. When I have to fight the urge to read LESS of a story, I know it's not my cup of tea. My taste - no offence to Ms. Gabaldon, and her many fans.

Are you a Villain Sympathizer!? Do you have delusions of grandeur? Stay up late night plotting a world takeover? Or perhaps find yourself with an insane cackle or a desire to create weapons of mass destruction!? You do!!? Well then The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination is EXACTLY the short fiction collection for you! Villains can make or break a book for me, and I think if I could picture myself in a story, I would so be a villain. They have the best toys, and the in my mind some outrageous looking nutso fun. Alright maybe up until they die anyhow.When I came across this collection, a little voice inside my head was chanting, please don’t suck, please don’t suck. Haha! Thankfully a mad genius must have compiled it because there was nary a story I didn’t enjoy. Be warned the content, style, and overall atmosphere of the stories vary greatly. Some are hilarious (Professor Incognito Apologizes: An Itemized List), others are dire and some can even be a bit crass.I was going to hash out and rate each individual story, but alas I got so wrapped up that I just couldn’t be bothered to stop between stories. Plus there is a nifty little description at the front of each so why should I ruin the fun for you. I can tell you this though, if the theme of the collection appeals to you, I have no doubt that it will be enjoyed. ​What…you’re still here!? *Breaks out her mind control ray gun* – if you’re a fan of the super villain, mad scientists, or just like to root for the bad guy at times, The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination is a collection definitely worth its salt.​

This was actually a very good anthology. But, somewhat predictably and unfortunately, it got hit hard by a few mediocre yet very lengthy pieces. Rather than wasting bits & bytes upon such stuff, let me enumerate those pieces which I loved. They were:1. Seanan McGuire's 'Laughter at the Academy';2. Daniel H. Wilson's 'The Executor';3. Theodora Goss's 'The Mad Scientist's Daughter';4. Carrie Vaughn's 'Harry and Marlowe Meet the founder of the Aetherian Revolution';5. Laird Barron's 'Blood and Stardust';The rest were good, but seemed to be dragging on rather excessively, in the name of character development etc. Also, the humour quotient was decidedly low. Nevertheless, it was a good anthology overall.

A mad anthology: every story inside takes you on a different route that leads to the same ending: a bloody good time.Complex, entertaining takes of genius twisted and deformed, sharpened and brilliant, horrifying and inhuman. It'd be mad to miss this one!

I really liked this compilation. Stories are diverse and entertaining. The book arrived quickly and in terrific shape and I will be keeping this one in my collection of favourites. :-)

I only got this book for the diana gabaldon bit. Haven't read the rest yet but I will when I've feel in the mood for it

Not quite my kind of reading, but my daughter loved it and she's a discerning reader. So . . . 'nuf said.