Rating of 4.5.

John Scalzi is an outstanding science fiction author who has produced some intriguing and thoughtful books over the years. Best known for his Old Man’s War series that followed the science fiction adventures of old human military volunteers whose minds are transferred to younger, genetically modified body, Scalzi is a highly inventive writer who creates some elaborate and powerful scenarios. While he has written some very compelling science fiction series, I best know Scalzi from his standalone books where he and turns some outrageous ideas into wonderful tales of humanity. My favourite is Redshirts, a fantastic and very clever Star Trek parody that imagines life aboard an Enterprise-esque ship from the point of view of the expendable lower-decks crew. I also had a ton of fun with Scalzi’s 2022 novel, The Kaiju Preservation Society, which showcased the intriguing adventures of an organisation dedicated to preserving kaiju in a parallel universe. All these books were very fun, which is why I made sure to grab a copy of the 2023 release, Starter Villian, which had a great plot behind it.

This was a highly entertaining novel from Scalzi, who provides his own unique take on supervillains in all the best ways. Starting off with a very comical funeral scene, Starter Villain only gets better from there as the protagonist, Charlie, finds his life unexpectantly changed when he inherits his uncle’s supervillain business and associated wealth. Scalzi provides a fantastic introduction to the unique new world of super science and sinister business practices, and you are soon caught up in Charlie’s unlikely rise to the top. The first half of the book is loaded with intriguing scenes as Scalzi lets his imagination run wild, and you have a fantastic time learning about sentient cats, crude talking dolphins constantly going on strike, and the other unlikely inventions and people that now make up Charlie’s life. This compelling introduction to the world works well in setting up the second half of the story, as Charlie meets a cabal of similar uber-rich supervillains who all seek to exploit him. When a series of events outside of his control force him into a battle of survival against these supervillains, Charlie needs all his new allies and his own unique ideas to win the day, even if victory isn’t quite what he imagined.

Starter Villain was such a lovely and impressive read, and I loved seeing Scalzi utilise his humour into something more terrestrial, yet still out of this world. Featuring the author’s typical fast pace, Starter Villain hits the ground running and throws you right into the middle of Scalzi’s fantastic and memorable ideas. The resulting story is clever, addictive, and features some amazing twists, all of which is very awesome to see unfold. While there is a lot of mad science, Scalzi does try to ground the supervillain antics, and I loved the author’s thoughts on how such an organisation could exist in the modern world and what sort of nefarious actions they would participate in. Naturally this means corporations and the uber-wealthy, which is depressingly accurate if you consider recent events, although this does mean that the antagonists are very easy to dislike and entirely unredeemable. The author loads in so much clever humour around the general supervillain scenario, and I loved the fantastic jokes about the profession, the inventions that are being created, and the unusual ways they stay in power. A lot of jokes about supervillains also provide some excellent commentary on current society, which cynical people like me will enjoy (a joke about a potential Australian recruit to the supervillain cabal hit close to home, which was just perfect). This is a hilarious and well-put together read that expertly showcases the author’s inventive spirit.

I also want to mention the fantastic range of complex and eccentric characters featured throughout Starter Villain, who helped to make the story even more unique and funny. Most of the book’s focus goes around the protagonist, Charlie, who finds himself thrust into a new world of dangerous rich elites and supervillain logic. Charlie proves to be a great central figure for Starter Villain’s plot, mainly because he plays a great everyman character whose reaction to the narrative’s crazy events mirrors that of the reader. While slightly bland compared to the other outrageous characters, Charlie does experience some excellent growth, especially as he learns to take responsibility and to appreciate the life he has. I also enjoyed how Charlie, despite being new to the supervillain lifestyle, was able to work out solutions to his organisation’s big problems often by being his typical thoughtful self. The rest of the characters in Starter Villain are all allowed to go wild due to having Charlie as the perspective protagonist, and I loved the array of talking dolphins, unusual scientists, murderous goons and rich manipulators that Charlie had to either work with or overcome. My favourite figures were easily the highly intelligent sentient cats, who really run the company and who have been manipulating Charlie his whole life. Scalzi has a lot of fun showcasing the cunning cats in charge, and I felt this whole awesome crew of characters helped to turn Starter Villain into an extremely fun read.

Overall, Starter Villain was an amazing read from John Scalzi that proves impossible not to love. Featuring the author’s infectious humour and love for inventive scenarios, Starter Villain was such a great book, and I deeply enjoyed the author’s take on supervillain fiction. Clever, unique and so much fun, Starter Villian is an exceptional read, and I really wish I had written a review for it sooner. I will have to pick up my Scalzi game in the future, and not only have I got a copy of Old Man’s War to read at home, but I am eagerly awaiting his next book, When the Moon Hits Your Eye, which features a very, very interesting sounding story about the moon literally transforming into cheese, an idea I have so much love for and cannot wait to check out.

An abridged review of this book also ran in the Canberra Weekly on 21 September 2023:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2024/12/26/canberra-weekly-column-mixed-genre-21-september-2023/

For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/

First off, this cover. Perfection. Worthy of a frame. Will appeal to Venture Bros fans for sure-- engaging action and super sharp humor.

*Starter Villain* by John Scalzi is a witty and satirical take on the superhero and villain genres, blending humor, sharp social commentary, and a fast-paced plot. The story follows a man named Chet, who unexpectedly inherits a villainous legacy and must navigate the complexities of his new role as a “starter villain.” Scalzi’s trademark humor and irreverent writing style shine through, as Chet grapples with the realities of being bad in a world full of larger-than-life heroes. The book balances action with clever dialogue, making it an entertaining and refreshing read. While not as deep as some of Scalzi's other works, *Starter Villain* offers a delightful, fun escape.

This is too perfect of a cat book. It’s silly, funny, ludicrous, no romance! So we have Charlie and his trillionaire uncle (who he hasn’t had contact with since he was 5 years old) dies and guess who inherits his “supervillain” business? Yup, that would be Charlie. Charlie is whisked off to a secret villain lair along with his two cats where he finds out that his cats are super intelligent and were spies for his uncle. This book honestly reads like a love letter to cats. Sure the humor is weird. It’s a very niche humor, it’s not going to work for everyone but pick it up for the talking cats alone and just for all the villain shenanigans.

This is a funny book about an everyman character named Charlie who inherits his estranged uncle's villainous businesses. Sentient cats and dolphins and fun action scenes make this a delightful adventure.

3.5 stars

Starter Villain is absolutely bonkers. The plot makes absolutely no sense, the characters are all over the place, and almost every animal can talk and has its own mission. If you suspend all disbelief, though, it's a great read.

Starter Villain doesn't take itself too seriously but that doesn't mean it doesn't tackle some serious issues. With some laugh out loud moments and some morally ambiguous ones, it covers the full range. If you're looking for something a bit strange and way out there, look no further.

I am giving up on John Scalzi. I want to love these so much, just look at that cover! But the quirky and humorous style just isn't for me. I prefer a bit more of a serious sci-fi and Scalzi is definitely known for his quirky take on the genre. His ideas are always different and unique, but the writing style just isn't for me.

Charlie, a down on his luck reporter turned substitute teacher, inherits his estranged uncle’s massive wealth and parking garage empire - along with his less savory but much more profitable businesses. What follows is a fantastical romp through the world of billionaires-turned-super villains, complete with super secret lair on a volcanic island, talking cat management, and unionized dolphins. John Scalzi’s trademark humor makes this a fast, fun, and unputdownable read.

John Scalzi delivers a fun and vulgar riff on Despicable Me in Starter Villain, minus the yellow squeak-box Minions.

Divorced, laid-off journalist turned substitute teacher, Charlie, is just about destitute and dreaming of owning a bar when he's able to finally live out the true American Dream -- inheriting a shitload of wealth from a relative he never even knew! In the wake of his estranged uncle's death, Charlie finds himself insanely wealthy, but it comes with a catch. His house is blown-up and he's framed for the murder of a government operative, leaving him no choice but to embrace the conditions of his uncle's bequeathment by taking over the parking magnate's secret business as a villain, replete with volcano lair, hired goons, and a fleet of ships named after a trio of Hollywood Jennifers, like Lopez and Lawrence, and who wouldn't want to catch a ride aboard either of those?

It's not all smooth sailing, despite the trillions of dollars Charlie suddenly finds himself in possession of. For one thing, the dolphins are on strike. Then there's the cabal of villains made up of a number of the globe's insanely wealthy elite, who are demanding Charlie's presence at their forthcoming convocation or else. Oh, and there's the fact that Charlie has absolutely no freaking idea how to be a villain or what to do with all these crazy resources suddenly at his disposal.

Scalzi keeps the proceedings light and breezy, despite the heavier intonations of murder, bombings, and attempted assassinations, never letting the darker elements outweigh the brightly silly escapades he's so clearly having a ton of fun with here. And what's a Scalzi book without Wil Wheaton narrating? These two are a perfect match, their sensibilities perfectly simpatico with one another. Wheaton fully captures the wit, irony, and sarcasm inherent in Scalzi's style and keeps the story moving fast with his quick-fire reading. Between the two of them, Starter Villain is a laugh-out-loud escapist delight.

This was extremely well written and EXACTLY what I needed.

This is my first John Scalzi and I could not have been happier. It was soooo overly dramatic and not dramatic enough! Literally perfectly paced.

Hera is just amazing and I wish I could have a cat that could talk back to me.....Just perfect.

We liked Starter Villain by John Scalzi. the characters were of course engaging and the thought of super-intelligent cats dolphins, and eventually whales was great. we loved the plot, that its all a double cross and there is no treasure was great. We loved that once started we didn't want to put it down and that it made it a very fast read! So so many enjoyable moments and moments that made us laugh out loud

Every time I saw something in regards to this book I became more and more interested in picking it up. First there was the cover; that's just brilliant and I love it. Then I saw an interaction on Instagram between the author and publisher which was funny and endearing in a teasing way. And then I saw the synopsis and I was sold. I knew I had to read it.

And I'm so glad I did because it was such an enjoyable time and very well executed. The story was clever, funny, and flowed well. Things that happened made sense within the world. While the groundwork for certain elements was laid out, there were things I didn't see coming until in hindsight.

And something that shouldn't be surprising but was a relief to find out was that the story was as advertised. While I was taken on an unexpected ride, it was the one I signed up for.
So many books are being mis-marketed or the synopsis is just this side of a lie; I'm so glad this book didn't pull any of those stunts because it was the story I wanted to read.

The last bit of positive feedback l'd like to give is that the characters were well written. The main characters were likeable and believable as people. They were quick but not quirky. The side characters were great and distinguishable as individuals. And of course the cats, which I can give no notes on because they were just perfection.

While I was excited to read this book, I think I was equally nervous. Partially because l've already bought three of John Scalzi's books without reading more than the first chapter of an earlier release, so if I didn't like Starter Villain I wasn't holding out much hope for Redshirts and The Kaiju Preservation Society. But beyond that it's always a gamble reading really popular male authors particularly within the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genres because you never know if you're going to get someone who writes women that boob boob-ily while boob-ing about, or if the author will just treat them as people. I'm relieved John Scalzi seems to fall into the latter category. Not once did I get the Men Writing Women vibe.

TL;DR: I had a great time with this and would recommend the book to those that are interested.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also shoutout to me for buying a copy of this book before reading it.

I'm a huge Scalzi fan and this didn't disappoint. I really appreciate that his books are somehow very down to earth despite the fantastical settings. Starter Villain was such a delight to read, I've recommended it to so many patrons at my library who have all enjoyed it.

Shockingly funny. The story starts with a rather mundane seeming premise and then snowballs from there. The main character makes it possible to handle all the absurd situations in a way that makes them feel potentially real. Highly recommend if looking for a book that makes you laugh over and over again.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Starter Villain and highly recommend it to anyone looking for intelligent and humorous entertainment. The book is enjoyable and imaginative, but also comes with a moral lesson - be kind to cats!

An enjoyable play on all things super villain. Talking cats, dolphins forming a labor strike, lasers, and a fast pace that readers will enjoy. Pair that with Scalzi's sarcastic humor and you get a exciting page turner.

John Scalzi's latest novel is an engaging and witty romp starring Charlie Fitzer, an ex-journalist working as a substitute teacher, who discovers that his estranged uncle has died and left him his supervillain business. Suddenly, Charlie is thrown into the world of comical James-Bond-style villain societies, talking cats, laser death rays, dolphin labor disputes, a volcano island lair, and lots of double and triple twists. The book is chock full of laugh-out-loud dialogue as well as Scalzi’s thoughts on modern-day billionaires and who is actually running the world making this both an enjoyable and intriguing read. This is a short book that will appeal to a wide range of readers; I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars- absolutely loved it.

Witty, bizarre, and laugh out loud at points, this latest offering from John Scalzi was a quick romp that stayed with me long after I finished. Filled with twists, reveals that became more bizarre the further in I got, and a delightfully barmy premise, "Starter Villain" was a huge amount of fun.

This was my first John Scalzi read and certainly won't be my last. Fun and fast this was a really great read and I look forward to checking out more from him in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

Smart, funny full of dark humour. If you wand James Bond feels with talking dolphins, missile firing whales and The Cats are amazing.
And the crash course on becoming a villain. Brillian