Podcastle, Episode 878 for Tuesday the 11th of February 2025.

The Carving of War by Sompto Heiseway, read by Muffin

Fulow O and produced by Devin Martin. Rated R, as content notes for violent murder and the

death of an animal.

Good morning, good day, good afternoon and good evening and welcome to podcast on the Flying Castle of Fantasy Fiction.

I'm your host Matt Davy and it is my privilege to present for your enjoyment, The Carving of Wall by Sompto Heiseway, narrated by Muffinfellow O.

This story was first published in Tours Africa Risen Anthology 2022.

Before we get into it, I need to get something off my chest.

Because we got updated download numbers for last year in our internal Slack recently, and I hate to say this to you, but lasers and tentacles reach about double what we are,

and that just won't stand, because I know that fantasy is the best-spec genre, right?

The father and mother to them all, the genre of Shakespeare and Beowulf and Homer and Gilgamesh, the original and the greatest.

We've got to pump those numbers up, right? These are rookie numbers.

So the Dragon asks a favour.

Tell your friends.

Share your favourite stories on whatever social media platform most poisons your day.

Share this one, share anyone.

Just tell people we're here, tell them that we're doing one story, told world each week,

and there's ever 800 to dive back into, and who knows how many more to come, week after week after week.

For today's story, your author is Sompto Hezaway, a Nigerian Igbo writer, editor and filmmaker.

He is a creative writing MFA student at the University of Maryland and an

alumnus of Clarion West, Tin House, Voodoo Nutt and Milford SF workshops. His work has been

shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award, Sydney J. Bounds Awards, the Nomo Awards,

...