Starter Villain - A Review

 

Take a look at this cover art! Is this not the greatest book cover of all time? Seriously?

Charlie is an ordinary dude at the end of his rope. He's a divorced substitute teacher living alone with his cat in a house his siblings claim ownership of and want to sell off, leaving him with nothing. All he wants to do is open a pub, but he lacks the capital to buy up the old one down the road. Then, the strangest thing happens.

Charlie's uncle dies. Despite the fact that he is not the oldest sibling, he learns that he is named by his childless uncle as the heir to his estate. But there's a catch.

His uncle was a supervillain.

What follows is a mad-cap adventure that takes Charlie from one near-death incident to another. He learns of a consortium of other supervillains, none of whom was friendly with his uncle, and all of which want to take over. They blow up Charlie's house (or rather, the house Charlie lives in which his siblings claim ownership of), forcing Charlie to take refuge in another house which is, oddly, run by his cat.

Yes, you read that right. Because Charlie's cat, it turns out, is one of his uncle's agents. Smart, sentient, able to communicate through a computer interface, and more than a little snarky, the cat helps Charlie acclimate to the strange world of super-villainy.

Nor is this the only example of animal sentience. In his uncle's underground volcano lair (because what respectable supervillain wouldn't have something like that?) there is a pod of highly trained dolphins. They might be able to help Charlie out, except they've gone on strike. They aren't happy about the way they've been treated, and they're salty about it (in more ways than one).

Charlie needs to learn how to be a supervillain fast, before the other supervillains find a way to kill him (or worse). He finds his uncle's staff is lackluster about him taking over the business, but reluctantly willing to help him learn the ropes. There are others, supposed "friends" of his uncle who are willing to "help" the young, newly minted villain, and more than a few hidden agendas along with them. Charlie must navigate a field filled with pitfalls and hidden dangers he can barely fathom.

The question is, can he survive?

Starter Villain is yet another example of John Scalzi playing around with classic sci-fi tropes in a way which is pure fun. Nobody does it better, and I'm happy to say that this volume is consistent with his earlier quality. This is one of the best books of this year, bar none.

Run, don't walk, to your nearest independent bookstore and buy a copy!

Eric

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