How to Succeed in Evil is not a self-help page for the maladjusted. It it is the story of Edwin Windsor, Evil Efficiency Consultant. He's like Arthur Andersen for Supervillains.
I love it! I know you’ve got other stuff you’re working on. Please work on what interests you the most because that means we’ll get the best of your creativity, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope that we will soon see the second novel in this series.
Is this the end Edwin and Topper? Tune in tomorrow when we hear Edwin proclaim from the sanitarium “Yes I will take over the world Moo Hoo Hoo Hoo Ha Ha Ha Ha” in “Edwin Proves His Case” OR “Evil Inefficient”…
Read in your best Rocky and Bullwinkle announcer voice…
So will Novel 2 pickup right where Novel 1 leaves off, or like Jack Bauer, will it always be 18 months later with the plotline that repeats itself every season?
Only kidding… Patrick this is (even if some of it is borrowed or blue) some of the most original funny stuff I have heard in a long time… Keep those wheels turning.
I don’t know what measure you use to gauge your success by. But in my common, vulgar opinion, I would rather have this than the first 3 seasons of the Tudors AND the first 5 seasons of LOST. Two of the three TV shows I’ve seen in the last 5 years.
I am looking for the PayPal link to send you a fine Guinness. Or Two. However, in this state (ironically brought about by Kentucky Bourbon) I can’t find it. Please, help me help you.
If so, then I have to be at odds with my fellow posters and call it a letdown.
70 chapters exploring the backstory of Dr. Loeb, Cromoglodon, Excelsior, and Edwin himself, with the death of Agnes/Edna as the last straw that finally broke Edwin’s cold detachment. A contemplation, a decision, then … what?
Basically the first 1/3 of the original series, extended to approximately 11 hours.
All that detail, all that characterization, poetic turns of phrase, building up to nowhere. I feel like I made a pilgrimage, and having crossed the desert, climbed a mountain, and wound my way up 700 stair steps, finally reaching the door a the top, I opened it to find a dusty broom closet containing only a folding lawn chair and a copy of “Personal Finance for Dummies”.
Even if this isn’t the last chapter of this book, I’d suggest this story would be well served by the attentions of a good editor. IMVHO there are some fairly large segments which could have been left out without impacting the story or the characters one bit.
Mind you I do not regret *at* *all* spending the time listening to this story, and by $DIETY I’ll be lined up for more!
Well, I can’t say that I don’t understand your point of view. It is a story re-told, rather than told. And since you knew the story to begin with… yeah no surprises. It’s the book of the podcast.
>> attentions of a good editor
Absolutely. One of the biggest problems is Topper. Most of the stuff with Topper is incidental to the story. And while he’s great when I voice him. He comes off a little flat and weird when you can’t hear the voice.
But in my defense, what I was trying to do was to take a reasonable, logical, intelligent person and figure out what might induce them to try to take over the world. What leads someone (who’s not mentally defective) to think that taking over the world is a good idea?
And that’s what it built to. It’s really what a novel can do better than anything else. A film can show you a big explosion, but it’s very difficult for you to understand what that explosion means to a character. A novel should get you psychological insight. And hopefully, in some small way, change the way you look at the world.
I’m a little surprised that you see it this way as the author, and as someone who clearly likes the character. Nonetheless, there’s some truth to it.
Not that Topper doesn’t contribute to the story; he does, quite significantly in fact, by providing (both by contrast and by interaction) a light that better shows off important aspects of Edwin’s character. But it is nonetheless true that Topper himself, as a character, is not inherently very interesting in his own right. In a story without Edwin, Topper would just be a bog-standard annoying hedonistic jerk, and a static and largely flat character at that. It’s what he brings out in Edwin that makes the character worthwhile.
But reducing Topper’s role in the story wouldn’t help. Fundamentally, what Topper’s character provides is necessary to the story. The reader very much needs to see those things in Edwin that Topper brings out. I suppose in theory it might be possible to construct a character who would show off Edwin’s character in this way and yet also be a better character in his own right than Topper, but I do not know what kind of character that would be, and I sense that this novel is too close to completion to be completely replacing such a major character at this stage.
What you CAN do, I suspect, is take this lesson and apply it to the sequel. I assume you’re at least considering the possibility of writing a second novel, wherein Edwin takes his first serious stab at being a more efficient villain than the supervillains and gaining de facto control of a substantial portion of the world. (The original series suggests that you have at least some interest in this line of thought, even if you do consider it less important than the motivational themes explored in the first book.) When or if you do, you could put serious thought into creating another, better “foil” character for Edwin. (This doesn’t even have to mean writing Topper out; Edwin still needs a lawyer, and any serious super villain is going to have multiple henchpersons.)
Well, I did think the book became more Edwin vs Excelsior for too long as compared to the other villians- It is interesting that Edwin did not dispatch Excelsior, but Excelsior could not beat the Cro-magden – Cromogledon, Excelsior dispatched it very quickly- and kept it under control. Seems like a game of rock/paper/scissors.
Since we did not know the entire plotline of the book, it is has been hard to graph- but in hindsight, we could do this for each character, and in our busy lives, we could send Patrick some unanswered questions, and see if those plotlines get picked up or questions answered in the next book. Of course, maybe Patrick will do it for us- given his more intimate awareness with his own brain.
I am sorry Ken was disappointed, maybe Patrick will to an epilogue just for that. If not, we will have to wait for the next novel. I suppose I would have expected a cliffhanger- but even in 24 the arc is usually finished by the end of the 23rd hour with usually some over-simplified conclusion- I mean Tony really should have taken the shot and got the heck out of there for next season- what was all the daytime soap opera about?
Great Work. It’s easy for us to armchair quarterback the thing- but having to design the idea, write the book, perform all the voices, and put out another 10 minutes each day or so- is quite a demand- even with the beach vacation in between… And it did hold my attention- I find myself still looking for the fix I need and unable to find a new stash, so I go back to my old stuff and listen all over again…
It would be interesting to know when we could expect Novel 2 to start.
Great ending. Though I was a bit confused as to whether Excelsior was killed by the Cromagledon, or if he will be featured again in the highly anticipated sequel?
Recycled or not, quality work is quality work. Though, given the length of time you usually go between stories, I’m not looking forward to the wait between this and the next novel; which I hope will delve into Edwin’s actions after Topper turns on him.
I have been listening for months, and really enjoying it. Patrick, your voice acting has gained some serious depth since the beginning. Cudos.
But… the last few episodes seemed so rushed. The whole story of getting down from the mountain-top was glossed over. And what happened to Excelsior? And the final episode, well, I didn’t know it was the final one until I came here.
I guess it’s a cliff-hanger novel ending, but something about Edwin’s transformation seems unconvincing to me. I think you just a little more fleshing out…
I don’t presume to know how to write the book, but I think it would be well served by a chapter of Edwin’s thoughts as he comes down the mountain. That the “you want evil” line wasn’t prompted by anything (internal or not), and that because we are not privy to Edwin’s line of thinking (unlike the author) the transformation seems suddenly dropped on us.
Maybe your saving is for another part but I did love the introductory court scene in the original series, it much better illustrated the absurdities Edwin needed to put up with and put golf as his escape much better then the self indulgent chic modernist office and old boys on the golf course scene of the novel.
Although I feel that most of the original series is inferior to the novel, I tend to agree that the “Thursday Without Golf” episode might be an exception. There were some things about it that I did not like, but it did a good job of introducing Edwin’s dilemma in a way that allows the reader to sympathize. Of course, it would have needed reworking to fit into the novel, firstly because the amazing district attorney isn’t a significant character in the novel and therefore would need to be less prominent, and secondly because Brainitar just isn’t a compelling character. (Incidentally, neither is Dr. Loeb in the original series; the novel deepens improves him significantly, though of course he’s still not nearly as good a character as Edwin.)
But this is a nitpicky criticism. The novel’s first chapter with Edwin (chapter 2, IIRC) fundamentally does work.
I’m pleased you posted the link to this discussion on FB, Patrick. I streamed the last 3 episodes in succession, the afternoon you posted them and never checked back here to see the comments. I have to side with some of the folks, above, who noted the abruptness of the wrap-up, though I couldn’t tell, at the time, how much of that sense was specious, due to the spoilers in the original series or not waiting a day or two between episodes, as the pace had been.
On reflection, I think there was a lot of investment in developing the mindset and relationships of the Excelsior character that you never really leverage (even if the story’s supposed to be about Edwin’s descent.) I thought that’s what was going to come down off the mountaintop, that Edwin was going to wind up holding the strings, somehow, or at least reach some sort of detente while Excelsior renegotiated his role. Sure, that this is unresolved is a hook for round 2, but won’t you have to revisit much of it, again, in a “when last we left our hero,” recap? I think that would be a waste of the subtlety and deft build-up in this installment. I think the first shoe, at least, needs to drop a little harder.
That said, I really like what you have, and the chapter on preparing for the funeral is especially well placed. Well done.
I agree pretty much entirely with Anville, regarding Patrick’s great voice work but also unfortunately regarding the final episodes. When the story jumped from the mountain to Edwin returning to the building, I thought I’d missed a download. Edwin was able to orchestrate a rescue from the mountain but not able to call Agnes back? That didn’t make sense to me. I also had not realized the book was over, which is why I came by the site today looking for whether I’d missed more chapters.
I realize that a novel doesn’t have to end the way I thought it was leading in order to have a good ending. However, considering that the novel opened with Excelsior and tracked his character just as much as Edwin’s, and the way the two were playing off each other, I really expected them to team up in the end.
I remain unconvinced by Edwin’s resolution to be an archvillain. What it says to me is that Edwin is not nearly as emotionless, cold, calculating, or rational as Topper seems to think, and as we were repeatedly told by the third-person-omniscient narrator throughout the book. At the end of the day, all it takes is killing Aunt May to push the protagonist over the line. And I feel that that happened very suddenly in HtSiE.
But there were a lot of things I really enjoyed about the story as a whole. I thought it was a great expansion on some of the ideas from the initial podcasts (the Cromoglodon as part of a PR war was a stroke of brilliance!). And it was certainly a much better approach to this fascinating character than Edwin 2.0. Thanks for keeping me entertained!
A brilliant story, and satisfied a great many hungers left by the original podcast. I find Edwin to be easy to relate to, and you have, without a doubt, shown how a perfectly reasonable human being could be induced to take over the world.
With respect to Edwin as a “cold/calculating” character versus a man motivated by revenge, I remember from a psychology class that a person who is devoid of emotion would be unable to form motivation, and therefore unable to act on any desires. This, I think, makes Edwin much more complex, because he is highly motivated by some unknown force, perhaps something from his childhood or something else. The selective details about his father only pique these curiosities, which benefits the story and the character immensely.
The characters are not only plausible, but the description of their thoughts made it seem like their every action was the only thing they could do. Additionally, the prose itself was beautiful. The description of Edwin’s shower and shave routine could have been poetry. The only qualm I have is that some parts of the story just seemed a little too silly for such complex characters. Iphagenia (sp?) Reilly’s pleasure mansion? A golf match to resolve a legal dispute? I felt these elements made the story a bit more silly (although I love your descriptions of golf).
I am a longtime fan of your podcasts, and, all in all, I would label this a triumph. Keep writing and podcasting!
Your new take is far better than your first attempt, which seem more like just well crafted foot note. I find myself agreeing with Edwin and his actions. I myself would not go the consulting business but a pay preview fight ring, or have the villains compete in some sort of contest of the best crime. Of course i would take a 15% cut and 30% from the loser. Which half of the 30% would be prize money.
Anyway enough of my crime “dealings” great novel, and cant wait for the next one.
The only sane thing to do is to take over the world. *giggles hysterically* Some days I agree with Edwin.
Patrick… Is this the last chapter of this book?
I love it! I know you’ve got other stuff you’re working on. Please work on what interests you the most because that means we’ll get the best of your creativity, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope that we will soon see the second novel in this series.
Congratulations on finishing it!
Everything he said one thousand fold over. It’s been fun. I hope round two will be just as good.
Bravo! Congratulations on completing the novel and podcast. Can’t wait to see it in print.
Is this the end Edwin and Topper? Tune in tomorrow when we hear Edwin proclaim from the sanitarium “Yes I will take over the world Moo Hoo Hoo Hoo Ha Ha Ha Ha” in “Edwin Proves His Case” OR “Evil Inefficient”…
Read in your best Rocky and Bullwinkle announcer voice…
So will Novel 2 pickup right where Novel 1 leaves off, or like Jack Bauer, will it always be 18 months later with the plotline that repeats itself every season?
Only kidding… Patrick this is (even if some of it is borrowed or blue) some of the most original funny stuff I have heard in a long time… Keep those wheels turning.
Mark Watson
Lisle, IL
By the way, I still repeat Original Series Episode 1 and Novel episode 30 often. Still great for laughs.
Congratulations on finishing the novel, Patrick. Wonderfully fleshed out.
Congratulations,
I don’t know what measure you use to gauge your success by. But in my common, vulgar opinion, I would rather have this than the first 3 seasons of the Tudors AND the first 5 seasons of LOST. Two of the three TV shows I’ve seen in the last 5 years.
I am looking for the PayPal link to send you a fine Guinness. Or Two. However, in this state (ironically brought about by Kentucky Bourbon) I can’t find it. Please, help me help you.
Thanks,
Joe
I would like to second the “let me buy you a drink” request.
Is this indeed “it”?
If so, then I have to be at odds with my fellow posters and call it a letdown.
70 chapters exploring the backstory of Dr. Loeb, Cromoglodon, Excelsior, and Edwin himself, with the death of Agnes/Edna as the last straw that finally broke Edwin’s cold detachment. A contemplation, a decision, then … what?
Basically the first 1/3 of the original series, extended to approximately 11 hours.
All that detail, all that characterization, poetic turns of phrase, building up to nowhere. I feel like I made a pilgrimage, and having crossed the desert, climbed a mountain, and wound my way up 700 stair steps, finally reaching the door a the top, I opened it to find a dusty broom closet containing only a folding lawn chair and a copy of “Personal Finance for Dummies”.
Even if this isn’t the last chapter of this book, I’d suggest this story would be well served by the attentions of a good editor. IMVHO there are some fairly large segments which could have been left out without impacting the story or the characters one bit.
Mind you I do not regret *at* *all* spending the time listening to this story, and by $DIETY I’ll be lined up for more!
Well, I can’t say that I don’t understand your point of view. It is a story re-told, rather than told. And since you knew the story to begin with… yeah no surprises. It’s the book of the podcast.
>> attentions of a good editor
Absolutely. One of the biggest problems is Topper. Most of the stuff with Topper is incidental to the story. And while he’s great when I voice him. He comes off a little flat and weird when you can’t hear the voice.
But in my defense, what I was trying to do was to take a reasonable, logical, intelligent person and figure out what might induce them to try to take over the world. What leads someone (who’s not mentally defective) to think that taking over the world is a good idea?
And that’s what it built to. It’s really what a novel can do better than anything else. A film can show you a big explosion, but it’s very difficult for you to understand what that explosion means to a character. A novel should get you psychological insight. And hopefully, in some small way, change the way you look at the world.
On that basis, I consider it a success.
> One of the biggest problems is Topper.
I’m a little surprised that you see it this way as the author, and as someone who clearly likes the character. Nonetheless, there’s some truth to it.
Not that Topper doesn’t contribute to the story; he does, quite significantly in fact, by providing (both by contrast and by interaction) a light that better shows off important aspects of Edwin’s character. But it is nonetheless true that Topper himself, as a character, is not inherently very interesting in his own right. In a story without Edwin, Topper would just be a bog-standard annoying hedonistic jerk, and a static and largely flat character at that. It’s what he brings out in Edwin that makes the character worthwhile.
But reducing Topper’s role in the story wouldn’t help. Fundamentally, what Topper’s character provides is necessary to the story. The reader very much needs to see those things in Edwin that Topper brings out. I suppose in theory it might be possible to construct a character who would show off Edwin’s character in this way and yet also be a better character in his own right than Topper, but I do not know what kind of character that would be, and I sense that this novel is too close to completion to be completely replacing such a major character at this stage.
What you CAN do, I suspect, is take this lesson and apply it to the sequel. I assume you’re at least considering the possibility of writing a second novel, wherein Edwin takes his first serious stab at being a more efficient villain than the supervillains and gaining de facto control of a substantial portion of the world. (The original series suggests that you have at least some interest in this line of thought, even if you do consider it less important than the motivational themes explored in the first book.) When or if you do, you could put serious thought into creating another, better “foil” character for Edwin. (This doesn’t even have to mean writing Topper out; Edwin still needs a lawyer, and any serious super villain is going to have multiple henchpersons.)
Well, I did think the book became more Edwin vs Excelsior for too long as compared to the other villians- It is interesting that Edwin did not dispatch Excelsior, but Excelsior could not beat the Cro-magden – Cromogledon, Excelsior dispatched it very quickly- and kept it under control. Seems like a game of rock/paper/scissors.
Since we did not know the entire plotline of the book, it is has been hard to graph- but in hindsight, we could do this for each character, and in our busy lives, we could send Patrick some unanswered questions, and see if those plotlines get picked up or questions answered in the next book. Of course, maybe Patrick will do it for us- given his more intimate awareness with his own brain.
I am sorry Ken was disappointed, maybe Patrick will to an epilogue just for that. If not, we will have to wait for the next novel. I suppose I would have expected a cliffhanger- but even in 24 the arc is usually finished by the end of the 23rd hour with usually some over-simplified conclusion- I mean Tony really should have taken the shot and got the heck out of there for next season- what was all the daytime soap opera about?
Great Work. It’s easy for us to armchair quarterback the thing- but having to design the idea, write the book, perform all the voices, and put out another 10 minutes each day or so- is quite a demand- even with the beach vacation in between… And it did hold my attention- I find myself still looking for the fix I need and unable to find a new stash, so I go back to my old stuff and listen all over again…
It would be interesting to know when we could expect Novel 2 to start.
Good Show old chap
Mark Watson
Lisle, IL
- I mean Edwin dispatched- correction noted
Wow…
I think you should take a well earned break, for about a minute, and then get to work on book 2!
(Seriously, you deserve much longer than a minute, but I really really want book two.)
Great ending. Though I was a bit confused as to whether Excelsior was killed by the Cromagledon, or if he will be featured again in the highly anticipated sequel?
Recycled or not, quality work is quality work. Though, given the length of time you usually go between stories, I’m not looking forward to the wait between this and the next novel; which I hope will delve into Edwin’s actions after Topper turns on him.
All in all, thanks for writing!
Excelsior was built up too much to just die off-screen like that! After all that character development?
I hope he appears in the epilogue as a plot hook for book 2.
“File not found”
Is your podcast host having issues? All the chapters are currently broken.
I have been listening for months, and really enjoying it. Patrick, your voice acting has gained some serious depth since the beginning. Cudos.
But… the last few episodes seemed so rushed. The whole story of getting down from the mountain-top was glossed over. And what happened to Excelsior? And the final episode, well, I didn’t know it was the final one until I came here.
I guess it’s a cliff-hanger novel ending, but something about Edwin’s transformation seems unconvincing to me. I think you just a little more fleshing out…
this. one hundred times this.
I don’t presume to know how to write the book, but I think it would be well served by a chapter of Edwin’s thoughts as he comes down the mountain. That the “you want evil” line wasn’t prompted by anything (internal or not), and that because we are not privy to Edwin’s line of thinking (unlike the author) the transformation seems suddenly dropped on us.
This chapter definitely benefited from the extra elaboration in the novel.
Thank you Patrick!
Maybe your saving is for another part but I did love the introductory court scene in the original series, it much better illustrated the absurdities Edwin needed to put up with and put golf as his escape much better then the self indulgent chic modernist office and old boys on the golf course scene of the novel.
Although I feel that most of the original series is inferior to the novel, I tend to agree that the “Thursday Without Golf” episode might be an exception. There were some things about it that I did not like, but it did a good job of introducing Edwin’s dilemma in a way that allows the reader to sympathize. Of course, it would have needed reworking to fit into the novel, firstly because the amazing district attorney isn’t a significant character in the novel and therefore would need to be less prominent, and secondly because Brainitar just isn’t a compelling character. (Incidentally, neither is Dr. Loeb in the original series; the novel deepens improves him significantly, though of course he’s still not nearly as good a character as Edwin.)
But this is a nitpicky criticism. The novel’s first chapter with Edwin (chapter 2, IIRC) fundamentally does work.
Sorry Patrick, I’m a grognard :/
-for the introduction anyway, you made me a believer on everything else
I’m pleased you posted the link to this discussion on FB, Patrick. I streamed the last 3 episodes in succession, the afternoon you posted them and never checked back here to see the comments. I have to side with some of the folks, above, who noted the abruptness of the wrap-up, though I couldn’t tell, at the time, how much of that sense was specious, due to the spoilers in the original series or not waiting a day or two between episodes, as the pace had been.
On reflection, I think there was a lot of investment in developing the mindset and relationships of the Excelsior character that you never really leverage (even if the story’s supposed to be about Edwin’s descent.) I thought that’s what was going to come down off the mountaintop, that Edwin was going to wind up holding the strings, somehow, or at least reach some sort of detente while Excelsior renegotiated his role. Sure, that this is unresolved is a hook for round 2, but won’t you have to revisit much of it, again, in a “when last we left our hero,” recap? I think that would be a waste of the subtlety and deft build-up in this installment. I think the first shoe, at least, needs to drop a little harder.
That said, I really like what you have, and the chapter on preparing for the funeral is especially well placed. Well done.
I agree pretty much entirely with Anville, regarding Patrick’s great voice work but also unfortunately regarding the final episodes. When the story jumped from the mountain to Edwin returning to the building, I thought I’d missed a download. Edwin was able to orchestrate a rescue from the mountain but not able to call Agnes back? That didn’t make sense to me. I also had not realized the book was over, which is why I came by the site today looking for whether I’d missed more chapters.
I realize that a novel doesn’t have to end the way I thought it was leading in order to have a good ending. However, considering that the novel opened with Excelsior and tracked his character just as much as Edwin’s, and the way the two were playing off each other, I really expected them to team up in the end.
I remain unconvinced by Edwin’s resolution to be an archvillain. What it says to me is that Edwin is not nearly as emotionless, cold, calculating, or rational as Topper seems to think, and as we were repeatedly told by the third-person-omniscient narrator throughout the book. At the end of the day, all it takes is killing Aunt May to push the protagonist over the line. And I feel that that happened very suddenly in HtSiE.
But there were a lot of things I really enjoyed about the story as a whole. I thought it was a great expansion on some of the ideas from the initial podcasts (the Cromoglodon as part of a PR war was a stroke of brilliance!). And it was certainly a much better approach to this fascinating character than Edwin 2.0. Thanks for keeping me entertained!
A brilliant story, and satisfied a great many hungers left by the original podcast. I find Edwin to be easy to relate to, and you have, without a doubt, shown how a perfectly reasonable human being could be induced to take over the world.
With respect to Edwin as a “cold/calculating” character versus a man motivated by revenge, I remember from a psychology class that a person who is devoid of emotion would be unable to form motivation, and therefore unable to act on any desires. This, I think, makes Edwin much more complex, because he is highly motivated by some unknown force, perhaps something from his childhood or something else. The selective details about his father only pique these curiosities, which benefits the story and the character immensely.
The characters are not only plausible, but the description of their thoughts made it seem like their every action was the only thing they could do. Additionally, the prose itself was beautiful. The description of Edwin’s shower and shave routine could have been poetry. The only qualm I have is that some parts of the story just seemed a little too silly for such complex characters. Iphagenia (sp?) Reilly’s pleasure mansion? A golf match to resolve a legal dispute? I felt these elements made the story a bit more silly (although I love your descriptions of golf).
I am a longtime fan of your podcasts, and, all in all, I would label this a triumph. Keep writing and podcasting!
Your new take is far better than your first attempt, which seem more like just well crafted foot note. I find myself agreeing with Edwin and his actions. I myself would not go the consulting business but a pay preview fight ring, or have the villains compete in some sort of contest of the best crime. Of course i would take a 15% cut and 30% from the loser. Which half of the 30% would be prize money.
Anyway enough of my crime “dealings” great novel, and cant wait for the next one.
Портал просто супер, порекомендую знакомым!
Спасибо. было очень интересно.
Great novel, awesome, funny, bit sad, but awesome. Greatings from Mostar.