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Starter Villain by John Scalzi
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Starter Villain (edition 2023)

by John Scalzi (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
9217523,382 (4.02)81
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. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.… (more)
Member:wjohnston
Title:Starter Villain
Authors:John Scalzi (Author)
Info:Tor Books (2023), 272 pages
Collections:Your library, Read but unowned
Rating:****
Tags:fiction, 2023, subterranean_purchase, no_longer_owned, sff

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Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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» See also 81 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 74 (next | show all)
For my first book of 2024 written by a man (yes, I know I’m 11 books in) this one SLAPPED. It’s incredibly well written. This book reads like a Matthew Vaughn movie done well. If you liked the first Kingsman movie, you’ll love this book. If you liked Get Smart (with Anne Hathaway and Steve Carrell) you’ll like this book. If you, like me have eccentric taste and enjoyed Cars 2 (I know there’s someone else out there who loved it like I do), you’ll like this book. It’s quick, the dialogue is witty, and there are twists and turns that made me openly giggle often. Normal guy gets thrown into a world of villains and talking cats. It’s pretty perfect. ( )
  ZeldasLibrary | Jun 3, 2024 |
A really fun, light fiction novel. This might actually fall more into the action/thriller category. A substitute teacher gets an inheritance from an estranged uncle that turns out to be a lot more than he could have possibly imagined. A short, fun read. ( )
  Karlstar | Jun 1, 2024 |
A cheerful easy read about Charlie, who when his uncle dies finds himself taking over a secret volcanic island and having to defeat a consortium of villains.

It is all good fun, with super intelligent cats and sweary dolphins, and a good dollop of 'unions good, white dudes with inherited privilege and no women in their club bad'. But it wasn't very interesting, or very subtle. Charlie is clueless and mostly just manipulated by others throughout the book, and the fact he ends up living happily ever after by running a pub is nice for him.

Don't come for painstaking careful world building or deep character development. But if you want to suspend your disbelief and enjoy a warmhearted action romp, it delivers. ( )
  atreic | May 21, 2024 |
I picked this solely based on the cover knowing that it would likely provide the comedic relief I needed coming off the last book I read! This assumption was correct and I was giggling the whole time! It was a fun and easy read but now I keep looking suspiciously at my cats! ( )
  ehoustonmyatt | May 19, 2024 |
2024 book #26. 2023. Charlies dismal life is upturned when his grandfather leaves Charlie his business. There's a catch, of course, his grand was in the supervillian business, locked in mortal combat with other supervillians which Charlie must figure out. Fun but light reading. ( )
  capewood | May 6, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 74 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
John Scalziprimary authorall editionscalculated
Elwell, TristanCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lutjen, PeterCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Scalzi, KristineAuthor photographersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wheaton, WilNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to:

Everyone who could make someone's day worse, but tries to make it better instead.

Thank you. It's more important than you think.

Also, to Sugar, Spice and Smudge, my current set of cats.

You all are a real pain in my ass, and I love your stupid furry faces.
First words
I learned about the death of my uncle Jake in a deeply unexpected way, which was from the CNBC Squawk Box morning show.
Quotations
"I expected the members of Earth's leading society of villains to be smarter,"I said.
“I don't know why.”

“They're smarter in books and movies.”

“They would have to be, wouldn't they?” Morrison said. “In the real world, they can be what people like them usually are: a bunch of dudes born into money who used that money to take advantage of other people to make even more money. It works great until they start believing that being rich makes them smart, and then they get into trouble. Unless they find someone else to take advantage of. (p. 162)
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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. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Book description
Inheriting a family business is never easy, especially when it involves underwater volcanoes, minions, sentient cats - and supervillains. - Hardcover
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