Starter Villain

Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure

4.4

John Scalzi

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place.Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital. It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.

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More Details:

Author

John Scalzi

Pages

272

Publisher

Tor Publishing Group

Published Date

2023-09-19

ISBN

0765389223 9780765389220

Community ReviewsSee all

"Cool premise, humorous like everything he writes, but I didn't like the end. I had an idea of where I thought it was going, and it didn't."

Jennifer

"Starter Villain by John Scalzi 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I really enjoyed this! It was fast paced, funny, smart and exactly what I thought it was. I liked all the characters human and nonhuman and the whole story was just pleasant. "

Sarah

"I enjoy Scalzi’s writing and this book was no exception. This was a fun read with plenty of moments to make you laugh while still having an interesting plot. I found the ending to be kind of meh but still thoroughly enjoyed it overall. "

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Dave Sa

"I absolutely loved this book. It's quirky and fun without being silly. One of the first five star books I've read in ages. Definitely recommend. "

SJK

"Let's be real, this book had me at the cover.<br/><br/>Loads of fun, satire that doesn't make you (too) depressed, and best of all, talking cats and unionized dolphins who don't give a flying duck! This definitely reads like a novella as far as character development and plot go, but it was laugh out loud funny and entertaining. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by Wil Wheaton, who did a wonderful job. A quick, easy, humorous listen."

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Leah Silecchia

"Totally hilarious. I can't remember such a fun book. The potty mouth dolphins are on strike. The cats run the admin for villains and you'll laugh out loud throughout the whole book. "

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Lydia Chiang

"Very funny. Ending is abrupt though, typical for this author. "

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Michael Fazekas

"This was so much fun! I enjoyed the frankly hilarious story and the Audible version with Wil Wheaton was phenomenal. It was a lighthearted read for me after a pretty heavy novel, and I’m still laughing at some of the absurdity. 4.5, maybe a full 5 for sheer amusement!"

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Allie Peduto