Thursday, April 10, 2025

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

 

From the blurb:  
"Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitue teacher living with his two cats, 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 a lot of enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie."

My thoughts:   John Scalzi knows how to write inventive novels that will make you laugh out loud. And Starter Villain is uniquely fun. I loved the whole idea of an average guy like Charlie inheriting his uncle's supervillain business. And I loved how he dealt with everything from super smart spy cats to assassination attempts with self-deprecating humor and aplomb. I especially loved his interactions with his cats. (He handled the surprisingly snarky dolphins well, too.) Charlie is smart and nice, and not exactly supervillain material. Which made for some very funny moments. Fast-paced and full of action, this whole book was awesome. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!



P.S. I also really enjoyed Scalzi's book The Kaiju Preservation Society.

35 comments:

  1. This sounds so good! I have a few of his books in my TBR pile but haven't had the chance to read them yet. I'm looking forward to them though! Great review, Lark! :D

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    1. His books read fast and are usually pretty funny.

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  2. Charlie sounds like a great character and I am starting to really like books where cats are involved. This book is worth checking out.

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  3. I thought I had read one of his books, but apparently not. Was there one called Lock In or something like that? Think that was the one I thought about trying. This one sounds funny!

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    1. I'm not sure. I've only read Old Man's War, Kaiju Preservation Society, and this one. But loved the mall.

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    2. Kay, Scalzi did write a book called Lock In and that was followed by Head On. I read both of the books and enjoyed them.

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  4. That sounds as fun as the cover is.

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    1. It really is. If you ever want a book that will make you laugh, this is a good one.

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  5. Honestly, this sounds like so much fun. Fish out of water stories are always fun, and this premise is particularly clever.

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  6. Glad you liked it.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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  7. Oh yay, I'm glad you loved it! I did too. :) His new book is also amazing -- he really can't go wrong!

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    1. I've got his new one on my TBR list and hope to read it soon. :D

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  8. The cover made me laugh. I haven't read anything by this author but I really want to. This looks like a good one!

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    1. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. :D

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  9. This is definitely not like anything I have ever read before. It sounds hilarious. Great review, Lark.

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    1. It is pretty funny. And the cats are great! :D

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  10. Sounds interesting! I enjoyed Scalzi's book, The Dispatcher.

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    1. I haven't read that one, but I have enjoyed the others by him that I've read.

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  11. 5 stars -- is good from you. And that cover is something else!

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    1. I don't give a lot of 5 stars, but I just thought this book was so fun and it read fast and it made me smile at the end.

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  12. This sounds fun, glad you enjoyed it.

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  13. You have a knack of reviewing books that I have on the Kindle but have forgotten about. I am glad you liked Starter Villain so much. I also liked The Kaiju Preservation Society.

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    1. The Kaiju Preservation Society was a lot of fun. This book has that same kind of humor in it. :D

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  14. This was on my radar and now I definitely want to read it! His books make me laugh! :)

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  15. This cover alone makes me intrigued! Glad this one was as good as it looks.

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    1. It's very fun. But then Scalzi knows how to combine unique circumstances with a lot of humor. You should give him a try.

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  16. I had a blast with this too! And my favorites were the dolphins😁

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    1. They were so snarky and sarcastic! But I loved how they kept threatening to go on strike, and how Charlie treated them so fairly.

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  17. Yay for a 5-star read! Glad you enjoyed it.

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