I almost DNF'd this book.

I'm giving it 3.5 rounded down to 3, because my annoyances were not outweighed by the delights of the book.

It feels very similar in tone to Project Hail Mary, with a nothing narrator too smart-ass for his own good, a general everyman (but with skills!) pulled into a strange situation he has to figure out for himself. Morrison—the only human woman in the book—felt very much like the hyper-competent what's-her-face from that blighted book. In charge and ready for action, even as Number Two in the villain org.

Anywho, the good: LOVED the cats (even though they are all management), loved the working-class dolphins hell-bent on a labor strike (for good reason), loved the volcano lair and the anti-capitalist nature of this book, and the idea that there are no good billionaires. There is a zoom conference call between a boomer and a millennial that is delightful in how it juxtaposes the mundanity of technology with evil schemes. There's Nazi treasure, because all supervillains are hot to trot about Nazi treasure, it's a canon event. And that cover is just...weird as hell (it needs a motivational quote to tip it over the edge) and I love it.

The eh: the writing was 90% dialogue, with much of the action happening off page. This is a short book, tightly plotted, but I found that I was wanting more. It was taking the stark writing of The Kaiju Preservation Society and making it more snarky, more dialogue, stripping down the characterizations until people had little depth beyond their stereotypical traits. Charlie himself was snarky, but again, not a whole lot of introspection going on outside of the dialogue, so it felt like something was missing (also, he felt less like a young millennial and more young Gen X, and I kept going "This man is supposed to be 32? He acts mid-40s").

The ehhhhhhh: there is an unintentionally transphobic scene in this book. I say unintentional because Scalzi has been an LGBTQ ally, and I can *see* where he was trying to go with this, but he failed real bad (although it's a bloop and you'll miss it seen). There's a moment when Charlie the lead is looking over the conclave of baddies, and realizes that there is not a single woman there. Except, he says there is not a single *cis* woman there, and I full stopped in my reading going "so is there a trans woman? So there *is* a woman present. Why not just mention her and leave it at that? Or if there is no trans women present, then why not just say there are no women present, why differentiate?" Then Charlie goes on to mention that as far as he can see based on gender presentation, it's all men, and I was like, "le sigh, you're making this worse, kid." Anywho, because I read the ARC, I sincerely hope that this is gone by the final product.

Overall, not a bad read.

It's quick. It's fun. It's a delightful take on supervillains, showcasing that the real monsters are the billionaires and millionaires and industry disruptors around us, aka any dude in a slick suit who wants to make oodles of money and fuck everyone else in the process.

I just wish there had been more, even if there was a reason for the lack of more.

Great read, wonderful writing, and memorable characters. I couldn’t put it down. I’ll be recommending this to my students once it’s released. This is the kind of humor that I hope will grab the attention of high schoolers and help them see how much fun reading can be.

Loved this book by John Scalzi! His take on the super villain was funny, thrilling, and thought provoking. Will definitely recommend to my customers who enjoy such off beat humor such as Good Omens!

A light hearted take on supervillainy. I’m not sure if this is a spoof or a satire, but it mixes elements of both with lots of humour making this a fun read.

Charlie’s dead end life is thrown out of sorts when he inherits his dead Uncle Jakes villainous empire along with his enemies. From a ex-journalist to a super villain boss, the book is all about Charlie trying to bring his head around the change and grasp being the head honcho of a evil enterprise…especially when he realizes that being a supervillain isn’t all that he imagined it to be.

The book really feels like a satire replete with villainous cats, volcano lairs, stereotype villains and ‘tech bros’. The prose is seamless and book is filled with one liners and quips making fun of modern society. It’s literally a laugh a minute riot. The cats and the dolphins which were looking to unionize were absolutely hilarious and a riot to read.

On the flip side, the laugh a minute riot felt like reading a sitcom script for majority of the book. It was a bit frustrating that the there was no plot movement till about 70% of the book. I did feel it might have been better watching this as a TV show/movie, than reading as a book. The earlier jokes were a bit too much on the nose as it stretches imagination for every character to have funny bone and almost all the jokes were a PC (politically correct) satire rather than outright humour.

But after 70%, the plot twists made up for the lackluster earlier segments ending with a satisfying if albeit underwhelming climax. I was hoping for a supervillain overload and a appropriate super-dramatic finish, but author seems to have settled for a sensible finale.

Overall, it was a enjoyable and fun read. One, that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a lighter read or as a palate cleanser between heavier reads.

This was probably one of the funniest books I've read this year. Between the sentient cats that make perfect little cuddly spies and the foul-mouthed dolphins that have some of the most creative insults I have ever come across, I had a good time reading this one, and sometimes, you just need a book that is going to give you a good solid laugh. I also enjoyed the main character and the fact that he is a fundamentally good person, but that he was also creatively sneaky and no pushover. Being a good guy doesn't mean you have to be a dope, and he isn't.

Scalzi doesn't need praise from the likes of me, he is one of the absolute top-tier authors currently in existence and I am proud to say that I've been a fan of his for a long time. I try to get to Mr. Scalzi's blog everyday simply because the words that he officially publishes can't satiate my eagerness to peer inside the mind of a tremendously intelligent, thoughtful, and most importantly, decent human being. Of which we seem to be in short supply these days.

Starter Villian showcases all of these lovely attributes as well as his trademarked wit, humor, and sarcasm (without being grating and irritating, for which there is fine line.)

Plus, Cats!

Starter Villain, like most Scalzi books, is short, punchy, and doesn't overstay its welcome. It delivers very funny jokes in the narration and satisfying, if formulaic, plotting and characters.

Charlie Fitzer is a substitute teacher with the unattainable dream of owning the pub he used to visit with his dad. When his billionaire parking-garage-mogul uncle dies, Charlie finds himself suddenly in a world of weather-altering lasers, Evil Villain leagues, and the question of what happens when henchmen want to unionize.

This book is another "very mundane person is at the deadest of ends and then gets a ridiculous job offer that shouldn't exist but they actually are pretty good at it and find their purpose along the way" story, like many of Scalzi's latest books. Also like those books, it takes on pretty heavy topics with a very light wit.

Are billionaires the real-world super villains? Are billionaires actually even rich? What's the difference between a million and a billion and a trillion dollars? Is there one at that scale? Does inherited wealth come with inherited genius? Why do we worship the very lucky and very rich?

I read this book in one sitting and enjoyed it, but it's an appetizer of a book. It's fun and tasty and quick, but now I'm ready for a book with a little more to sink my teeth into.

A delightfully ridiculous premise strongly anchors this madcap caper from veteran author Scalzi. I appreciated how the acknowledgements explained the reasons behind the delayed publication—I'd been wondering!

What's not to like? Clever dialog, abundant snarkiness, cats, cursing, and a volcanic island lair! Scalzi has continued his series of stand-alone novels with the same lighter tone as in "The Kaiju Preservation Society", with excellent results. This is a great entertainment quick read, with numerous easter eggs and call backs to the movie villain genre. Highly recommended!

The premise is hilarious, and Scalzi pulls it off with aplomb. A very enjoyable romp, but it got me thinking too. I loved the hyperintelligent animals!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Advanced Readers Copy of Starter Villain by John Scalzi! Definitely a creative piece of fiction to close out the year with!

My snarky soul needed this book as I was traveling this summer! This quirky little novel filled with CSI cats, bumbling humans, and cursing dolphins is exactly what the world needs to remember not to take itself too seriously. The guy next to me on the plane thought I was laughing out loud at his movie rather than the book... which made for some awkward eye contact!

This was my first read by John Scalzi and look forward to checking more from his back catalogue!

If you’ve never read John Scalzi, you would be blissfully (but wrongly) unaware of what he writes. They fall into 2 very firm and exclusive categories.
1. Epic science fiction in space where everything is very serious and frequently goes to hell; and
2. The absolute most ridiculous story you will ever think of that can fit into the genre of science fiction that always involves scenarios that no one would ever think of and are endlessly enjoyable
This book is the latter. Think Doctor Doolittle with endlessly sarcastic dolphins and that unequivocally proves the point that cats rule the world and would be the best spies that ever existed. Its very fun, very silly and guaranteed to provide an entertaining afternoon of reading.

As the blurb suggests, Charlie is a loner. Not a lot of people care what happens to him. He is washed up, working as a substitute teacher and his love life is non-existent. His siblings are leading fulfilling lives while he essentially babysits his deceased fathers house in order to stop the rest of the family from selling up and moving on. Until his uncle dies and Charlie is asked to represent him at his funeral and take on his extremely successful chain of parking garages. From the get-go, Starter Villain is nothing you could possibly expect.

You may be thinking parking garages? Couldn’t be all that interesting. This book wrecked me and my sense of humour for a good few weeks. The jokes are blatant in their pith, the people are positively bonkers and parking garages have never seemed so daring because who doesn’t love a good front business.

Scalzi imparts his particular stamp on the shady world of supervillains with such effortless ease, I found myself rooting for the villain. But the least villainous villain and the oldest of the villains because this book doesn’t have an innocent bystander throughout the majority. Its like if Austin Powers was told from the POV of Dr Evil but then the good guys weren’t ACTUALLY good guys because they were funding the villains from the background. And the villains had a secret society headed by a boss that would give Don Corleone a run for his money.

I really REALLY loved the potty mouthed dolphins and their hatred of people. I feel like they embody the good old f the patriarchy sort who are just looking out for themselves – wouldn’t you manipulate better living conditions if you had been involuntarily experimented on? Their inclusion in the narrative was so ridiculously outlandish that I swear I cackled on the majority of occasions.

Starter Villain is FUNNY. Its overt in its sarcasm and doesn’t pull its punches with the backstabbing and double crossing. Plus, there triple crossing that turns the whole thing completely on its head in the final pages. The protagonist is absolutely clueless when it comes to plotting and I found myself giggling while binging it in the middle of the night. When I say the whales had me cackling, I am not lying. Also, believe me when I say, you will never look at your cat the same.

Charlie is a down on his luck former business journalist and current substitute teacher who inherits the family parking garage business. Complete with cats in management positions, dolphins on strike, and an evil lair built inside a remote volcanic island. Unfortunately, some of his new business associates are not excited about this new kid in town and hilarity ensues...

Charlie never expected to inherit anything when his estranged billionaire uncle died. The very last thing he expected was to find out that not only was said uncle something of a supervillain, but Charlie himself is sole heir to his criminal empire. Now he’s got to contend with his late uncle’s rivals if he wants to stay alive.

This book was delightful and SO MUCH FUN. Volcano lairs! Talking cats! Dolphin labor unions! Profane funeral bouquets! It might be my favorite Scalzi novel so far, which is saying something since I’ve enjoyed everything that I’ve read by him. Even better than the Kaiju one, which was fun but I didn’t fully connect to it and so only gave it four stars. This one’s firing on all cylinders. If I have one complaint, it’s that the cover is ever-so-slightly misleading. A unique premise, brilliantly executed.

TW: mention of suicide

John Scalzi knocks it out of the park again with this fun, action packed novel. Charlie is surprised when he finds out he is the only heir of his estranged Uncle Jake. And he gets more than he bargains for when he discovers his uncle's real business is villainy! Charlie gets a crash course in this field and makes it up as he goes as he's thrown in and just trying to survive. Along the way there are volcanos, cats, assassinations, dolphins, and crazy shenanigans. This story is so fun. I was drawn in immediately with the cover and the story lives up to the vibe. Charlie is very relatable as he reacts to his situation with the awe and confusion that I would most certainly feel, and navigates this new world with cleverness (that I probably wouldn't have). This is a fun breath of fresh air!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the advanced digital copy. All opinions are mine.

For anyone who reads science fiction on a regular basis, a new John Scalzi novel is a noteworthy event. Scalzi has been one of the best SF writers around for a while now. His “hard” SF novels are first-rate (like the classic _Old Mn’s War_), and so are his high-octane space operas (like the “Independency” trilogy). And then there’s his loonier side, as displayed in _Agent to the Stars_ and _Redshirts,_ and now this one. It’s his “COVID novel” (there are a lot of those around now), and not really catagorizable, and not terribly long (less than 250 pages), and not terribly complex, but it’s highly inventive, very sneaky in its plotting, and wickedly funny.

Four years ago, Charlie Fister was a well-regarded investigative business journalist on the Chicago Tribune and a happily married man. But then his widowed father got sick and Charlie went home to look after him, back to the suburban Cape Cod he grew up in, and this was made easier by him being laid off (times are very tight in print media) and then divorced soon after. And then Dad died, and now Charlie is subsisting (barely) as a substitute teacher and living in the family home (ownership of which is shared with his three older siblings, and they want to sell the place). So now it’s just Charlie and his cat, Hera, and a stack of unpaid bills. Really, all he wants to do with his life is convince the bank to lend him a couple million so he can buy the McDougal’s Pub (and its accompanying restaurant and the building they're in) where everyone in Barrington comes to hand out and where they all had their first drink over the years.

But Charlie also has Uncle Jake, who is very wealthy, and whom he hasn’t seen since his mother’s funeral when he was five. Then he gets word that Uncle Jake has died and that he’s the only heir, and within hours his life has changed completely, beginning with his house being blown up. It all comes down to the fact that Jake was a villain, part of a worldwide conspiracy of villains, and now it appears that Charlie will have to become one, too -- Caribbean volcano lair and all. But “villain” doesn’t mean what you think it means. These guys aren’t Ernst Stavro Blofeld and the Convocation of Lombardy isn’t SMERSH. (Though there *is* a giant laser involved.) And Charlie may be functionally broke, but he’s also smart and imaginative, and he understands business, and he recognizes grift when he sees it. But his uncles operations were worth several trillion dollars and now Charlie’s in charge of it all. Fortunately, he has Tilly Morrison to explain it all to him, very sarcastically.

Scalzi doesn’t believe in straightforward storytelling, he prefers to bolt off in odd directions and throw you off balance, and that’s how this one goes, too. Just when you’re getting used to hyper-intelligent cats who can type (they don’t have the vocal equipment to talk) and who act as industrial spies, you meet the almost-as-uplifted dolphins who are going on strike over justified grievances (and who hate the cats, who count as management). Charlie’s competitor villains are entitled (none of them worked their way up, they just inherited their empires from Daddy) and not very competent, and even the scary types with guns aren’t quite what they seem. Plan your weekend around this one and dig in.

Mr. Scalzi's latest novel. The sole heir to a villainous empire must learn the ropes of the international villainy trade. I.E. banking and investment.
This is one you really don't want to know more about until you read it.
Dolphins, Whales, Cats, oh, my! And a volcanic lair!

I tore through this book in a single sitting. It's super modern feeling with a lot of commentary buried in it on big business, financial inequality, unionization, animal testing, general human rights, capitalism, family ties and infighting, and of course, villainy. I absolutely adored the animal companions in the dolphins and cats in this book--the cats made me happy and the dolphins straight up cracked me up. Scalzi does it again.

Starter Villain was a very fun book. I laughed out loud several times and I actually really liked all the characters. Charlie could have easily fell into the "idiot man with a way smarter woman propping him up" trope, but Charlie is completely out of his depth and recognizes that completely. Morrison is very much a way smarter woman who is helping him, but Charlie also recognizes that.

Also at the heart of this story is just a man loving his cats and I'm always going to be here for that. I also loved the dolphins and I really thought they were going to annoy me when I first read about them. Pretty sure they were the parts I laughed the most at.

I highly recommend Starter Villain.