Starter Villain
Ratings359
Average rating4.1
I enjoyed the story, but I did not feel it was one of Scalzi’s better books. While the world building was imaginative and at times amusing, the main character was nearly entirely a puppet throughout the narrative. Things happened to him, he was never really in control of his situation. And it’s sad because I often felt he was on the edge of making his own way in the really messed up world he was trust into, and was disappointed with how he ended up. I honestly don’t understand how this made the Hugo finalists list.
This was a fun ride. It took me a while, but I am finally finished and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Not Scalzi's best work IMO, but still a fun read. Wil Wheaton's audio narration is as usual excellent.
Just the right book for the spring cleaning day :)
Funny at times, but overall reads much as pulp fiction. The cats and dolphins ideas were interesting at first, but then it felt a bit forced.
What was the point of it all in terms of character development though? Our dear Charlie is absolutely the same person in the beginning and in the end, after having gone through a mind-blowing ordeal. And the way he takes everything in his stride and starts talking back to the most powerful (and presumably vicious) people on the planet? Hmmm...
And “cis woman”? Really? Especially when in a few more lines it's stressed that everyone else in the room are men? Why?
An enjoyable book. As it repeatedly builds up more absurdity it sometimes stops for some self awareness, and in the end all puzzle pieces somehow mysteriously fit together. Despite the assertions of whatever wasn't the plan and needed improvised, the plot twists land just a hair short of predictable.
And yet, if you routinely find yourself rooting for the villain (but not really) I think you too will have fun with this.
As soon as the spy cats were introduced, I was completely hooked on this book. (I'm a sucker for talking cats, even if these could only type!!) This is only my second book by Scalzi, the first being The Kaiju Preservation Society. I loved that novel because it was just simple, good fun, and I can honestly say that Starter Villain fits that bill, too!
Look – this is not a deep novel. This is a popcorn-medium-budget-summer-blockbuster of a novel, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's fun, it's funny, and most importantly, it's easy to read. I read it in less than 24 hours, and probably could have downed it in even less if I didn't have obligations out the wazoo.
Charlie's uncle dies and leaves him a mysterious inheritance – his villain enterprise. Charlie is thrown into the world of ‘super villains' after this, and well, the fun starts there. Not going to say much about this one other than if you're in need of a palate cleanser, I can't recommend Starter Villain enough. Four and a half stars, for pure enjoyment's sake.
Quick and smooth read by an author I've long wanted to try out; perhaps a bit too slick for me but then I do have a prefence for somewhat more texture. Dashes of Bondesque conspiracy, violence, and sci-fi, tempered by fun and occasionally toching interactions between the well-meaning and decent main character and various mammals with agendas of their own. The story's take on social and animal issues greatly contributed to my enjoyment. I look forward to reading more of Scalzi' work.
To summarize this book as short as possible: ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎ ▄︻デ══━一
If you want a few more words: This was a very fun read! The reading experience was seamless and went exactly as I expected. The moment I finished Chapter 1, I knew I was in for a good time and, personally, I think that should be reason for anyone to pick up this book. Oh, and the cats, do NOT forget about the cats!
A fun read in an overwhelming crowd of depressing books.
The storyline keeps moving and the characters are interesting and draw you in.
I wanted to love this and the concept is excellent, but the execution is Wil Wheaton essentially narrating a bunch of meetings between supervillains after the initial setup. There are some strong scenes and ideas but there's very little there there: no real character development, perhaps in the form of moral concerns about becoming a supervillain. All the pieces are there but they never really come together. Two stars for sentient dolphins committed to workers' rights in the funniest way.
This book is everything the synopsis says and if it sounds like a lot of fun to you definitely pick it up. It is so fun (and funny) and full of heart. This book filled me up - a book about villains shouldn't make you feel better about the world but this book did. And I will never look at my cats the same way again!
Setting: Modern world, basically now.
Plot: Down on his luck everyman overcomes trope.
Characters: Enjoyable, protagonist is relatable and some of the other characters are as well, but generally a little thin - not a problem in the end. The “villains” of the piece are a little over the top but for this book that makes sense. Cats, lots of cats but not what you might think based on the cover and um some dolphins that are something else.
Language: This is the part I liked the best. Honestly laugh out loud funny if you like Scalzi's snarky sense of humor. Really, the best part of the book are some of the arguments and conversations between characters.
Summary: Light entertainment with some really fun set pieces. Not peak Scalzi but a fun and enjoyable bit of entertainment. Can't always be serious can we?
I quite enjoyed this on first reading, it's entertaining and somewhat amusing, and it has pace. It's the story of a former journalist down on his luck, whose dead uncle propels him into bizarre adventures and into confrontation with a bunch of rich and unscrupulous people.
Unfortunately, it seems that Scalzi doesn't really do characterization; or, at least, he didn't reckon to for this book. Most of the characters are either just names, or they could be described in a few words. They don't have any depth, they don't engage the reader.
We spend the whole book in the company of the first-person protagonist, Charlie Fitzer. But I don't come away feeling that I know him well, or with an active desire to read more books about him. He seems a decent enough guy, fairly intelligent, likes cats; but that's about it.
I suppose the story counts as science fiction mainly because of the intelligent computer-using cats, but apart from that it's not very science-fictional.
This is easily my favorite read this year. Just a breeze. Funny and smart, and I couldn't wait to see where it was going.
I enjoy pretty much everything John Scalzi writes. This one was fun, but nothing special. I probably liked it better than his last book, but not as much as some of his others. It was slow at times, and the dolphins were a bit too much. The cats were great though.
As usual Wil Wheaton's narration is a great fit for Scalzi's snark.
Did I like it more than the Kaijus one? No. Do I think it still deserves a 5 stars? Oh yes! It's original, it's funny and it has super intelligent spying cats. Among other things.
Like Kaijus, this novel doesn't take itself seriously, and like many others said, is a dialogues driven story. I'm in luck, I love dialogues, especially funny ones. But I can understand others who don't, especially here where there are only tidbits of action.
Scalzi is slowly making his way among my favorite authors, I need to read his earlier works!
who doesn't want to know what their cat really thinks?
Scalzi always writes such fun, quirky stories. This one is chock full of quirk with cats and various sea creatures working in cahoots with a super secret cabal of villainous tycoons. Fast-paced, dialogue-heavy storytelling that propels the reader like a missile to the satisfying ending. 3.5 stars (I liked it!)
This was a pleasant surprise, I think I was expecting something a little more self-serious but what I got instead was nicely digestible satire.
The plot is simple: Enter Charlie, a laid-off journalist turned substitute teacher whose life has gone off the rails. His wife left him, his dad died and so has his estranged billionaire uncle Jake. Reduced to squatting in his father's home while the estate settles Charlie receives quite the windfall when his uncle's last request winds up making him the inheritor of his uncle's enterprise. His uncle the parking lot mogul turns out to have had a much more diverse portfolio than expected; not mentioned in his obituary are the volcano lair, talking dolphins, and spy cats.
Yeah, this is a pretty silly premise but it sets up a nice fish-out-of-water commentary on post-covid society. Personally, I prefer my satire a little more subtle and biting but this is fine, turns out that the “villains” of this story are billionaire nepo-babies with a Blofeld affectation (who would have guessed). This whole story is really just a setup for a series of punch lines, the largest one being a villain convention attended by aspirant tech-bros and finance-douche-alphas.
I think if I were a cat person I'd have loved this, but I'm not. There are some really funny bits either way; I absolutely loved my comrade dolphins (Fuck Northwestern!), and the idea that every villain's master plan amounted to starting a subscription service definitely earned itself a spit-take.
EDIT: I completely forgot to mention that the audiobook is a Wil Wheaton narration! It's an excellent choice of narrator for such a funny story, and you can tell audibly just how much fun he is having with the material. I listened to the first half of this book and I think he does an excellent job. I definitely recommend the audiobook for this one.
TL;DR: A light and funny read, nothing too serious. Talking animals, space lasers, general bond-villain silliness.
This book is a lot like a Big Red Vanilla Float soda. It's very good in small doses.
I don't know, I enjoyed big chunks of it pretty thoroughly. I really liked the Illinois of it all. I liked the cats — but there really could have been a lot more of them.
There came a point where I think I got a little tired of all the jokes. I was having a really good time for the first few chapters, and then in the middle was coasting from good joke to a lot of the same stuff over and over again. Then by the end I was really wishing it were about 50 pages shorter. I don't really have a big ask of the story here. I wish it were a little shorter and more about the cats.
Some of the dialogue is pretty bad given the context in which it's appearing. People don't talk like this. Kind of baffling. Still, overall I enjoyed the book.
This is everything you want from Scalzi - Witty, quickpaced, always an original viewpoint on an old trope. Really only knock is why is it over so damn quickly.
