Jonathan Trott reviewed Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Delightful
5 stars
Such a fun book with great characters and some good action scenes. Good finish in the end also.
 
        272 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2023 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, there are the things you'd expect. The undersea volcano lairs. The minions. The plots to take over the world. The international networks of rivals who want you dead.
Much harder to get used to...are the the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats.
And the fact that in the overall organization, they're management...
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, there are the things you'd expect. The undersea volcano lairs. The minions. The plots to take over the world. The international networks of rivals who want you dead.
Much harder to get used to...are the the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats.
And the fact that in the overall organization, they're management...
Such a fun book with great characters and some good action scenes. Good finish in the end also.
It's sort of what I think of as a typical Scalzi book, with the down-on-their-luck protagonist suddenly being thrust into a much more sci-fi life than expected, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Hera may be one of my all-time favourite characters. The whole thing is just funny, with a serious of ridiculous situations and a man who is too shell-shocked to do anything other than accept that it's happening and joke about it a bit.
If the end wasn't so deflating, where it all just sort of wraps up nicely with a cute bow and everyone's chill, it would probably be a 5-stars from me, but it sort of felt like the default expected ending. Enjoyable enough, but not really interesting.
Still, if you want something light and goofy this is a lot of fun. Highly recommend.
It's sort of what I think of as a typical Scalzi book, with the down-on-their-luck protagonist suddenly being thrust into a much more sci-fi life than expected, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Hera may be one of my all-time favourite characters. The whole thing is just funny, with a serious of ridiculous situations and a man who is too shell-shocked to do anything other than accept that it's happening and joke about it a bit.
If the end wasn't so deflating, where it all just sort of wraps up nicely with a cute bow and everyone's chill, it would probably be a 5-stars from me, but it sort of felt like the default expected ending. Enjoyable enough, but not really interesting.
Still, if you want something light and goofy this is a lot of fun. Highly recommend.
Expository dialogue for most of the book. Some truly funny bits though.
A classic Scalzi one-shot novel--a fluffy snack with some good twists.
The basic setup is that down-on-his-luck Charlie Fitzer unexpectedly inherits his estranged billionaire uncle's villainous empire and now has to fend with other villains who were pissed at his uncle.
Key features:
A classic Scalzi one-shot novel--a fluffy snack with some good twists.
The basic setup is that down-on-his-luck Charlie Fitzer unexpectedly inherits his estranged billionaire uncle's villainous empire and now has to fend with other villains who were pissed at his uncle.
Key features:
I discoved Scalzi with this book. Liked the humor and many fun ideas...
 
        Purchasable
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765389220/startervillain.