Another End of the Empire

Short Story by Tim Pratt
Originally published in Strange Horizons, free online.
Read for PodCastle by Cheyenne Wright

First off, I love the narration for this story, the voices for the characters are brilliant and he manages to really capture the sarcasm of the story. The pure EVIL with which he reads lines such as "the key here, is innovation" is hilarious. The story is great, and the narrator makes it even better. If you're not deaf, you should listen to this at PodCastle ASAP (link above).

A superior take on what is becoming the standard Evil Overlord deconstruction with exceptionally genre-savvy characters. I've heard stories along the same line, but none of them anywhere near this brilliantly hilarious. The plot was predictable from the title alone, but in a prophecy story, that's nothing new. The purpose is comedy, not surprise endings. And despite this being a comedy, you feel sad for Lord Mogrash at times, there is a surprising amount of warmth and meaning.

4.5 out of 5 probability witches saw the ending coming, and loved it anyway.