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thepurplebookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Read for the 2024 Hugo Awards.
Premise:
Meet Charlie. Charlie used to work as a respected business journalist, and used to be married, but now lives, single, in the home of his late father, with his two cats – remember that, the cats are important! Charlie's finances aren't doing great; his life, on the whole, really, isn't doing great at the minute.
But it takes an unexpected turn when, after learning of his estranged, but loaded uncle's passing, Charlie is asked, by one of his uncle's protégées, to host his relative's funerary service. "Do this", he is told, "and you will become the owner of your father's house, and inherit a sizeable sum of money from your uncle. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a bit, as it so happens, because Charlie quickly discovers his uncle made most of his fortune working as... a super villain, complete with volcano lair and super-intelligent cats.
Review:
Starter Villain was a rather light-hearted and silly little... uhm, 'techno-thriller'... adjacent, kind of? Sure, let's go with that. Similar-ish, in spirit and tone, to The Kaiju Preservation Society, though I'd argue the latter went 'more ham' with its sci-fi premise because, well, Kaiju, and attendant parallel universe. I also found it funnier, given it was more committed to 'nerdy references' humour than this one was.
That being said, I liked Starter Villain, for what it was. I enjoyed the super-intelligent cats... and socialist, unionising dolphins! I mean Miéville did a similar thing with familiars in Kraken, and I most definitely preferred his version of the concept, but still, Scalzi got me to chuckle with his dolphins, so point!
In fact I chuckled, or smiled, a decent amount reading Starter Villain, so point once again, though this story is not one I would necessarily revisit either. And I really think it could've been a short story, or novella, rather than a short novel. The narrative took a little too long to get going, the pacing was a little uneven as a result, and I just don't think the way Starter Villain's premise was actually executed (that is, without much depth overall) warranted its length.
So, all in all: it was cute, amusing, and decently entertaining, but not on par with The Kaiju Preservation Society for me.
Premise:
Meet Charlie. Charlie used to work as a respected business journalist, and used to be married, but now lives, single, in the home of his late father, with his two cats – remember that, the cats are important! Charlie's finances aren't doing great; his life, on the whole, really, isn't doing great at the minute.
But it takes an unexpected turn when, after learning of his estranged, but loaded uncle's passing, Charlie is asked, by one of his uncle's protégées, to host his relative's funerary service. "Do this", he is told, "and you will become the owner of your father's house, and inherit a sizeable sum of money from your uncle. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a bit, as it so happens, because Charlie quickly discovers his uncle made most of his fortune working as... a super villain, complete with volcano lair and super-intelligent cats.
Review:
Starter Villain was a rather light-hearted and silly little... uhm, 'techno-thriller'... adjacent, kind of? Sure, let's go with that. Similar-ish, in spirit and tone, to The Kaiju Preservation Society, though I'd argue the latter went 'more ham' with its sci-fi premise because, well, Kaiju, and attendant parallel universe. I also found it funnier, given it was more committed to 'nerdy references' humour than this one was.
That being said, I liked Starter Villain, for what it was. I enjoyed the super-intelligent cats... and socialist, unionising dolphins! I mean Miéville did a similar thing with familiars in Kraken, and I most definitely preferred his version of the concept, but still, Scalzi got me to chuckle with his dolphins, so point!
In fact I chuckled, or smiled, a decent amount reading Starter Villain, so point once again, though this story is not one I would necessarily revisit either. And I really think it could've been a short story, or novella, rather than a short novel. The narrative took a little too long to get going, the pacing was a little uneven as a result, and I just don't think the way Starter Villain's premise was actually executed (that is, without much depth overall) warranted its length.
So, all in all: it was cute, amusing, and decently entertaining, but not on par with The Kaiju Preservation Society for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence
trips's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
So first off, I want it to be known that my 3 star rating is definitely a me thing.
I found this book to be fun fish-out-of-water, light hearted tale, much like KPS! It was easy to read; the prose is fun and the dialogue is witty. I loved all the pokes at how our world is currently run, and I especially loved the cats, Hera and Persephone.
I didn't expect a light discussion on the treatment of workers in our modern world to really come up, but I guess when Charlie is dealing with all these multi-millionaires and their complete lack of care for the general population, it was only natural!
My real reason for it being 3 stars: Charlie's situation at the beginning was way too relatable and at first I was like "huh, ok!" but then the details got too similar and it became kind of like, "huh, my life really is like a story, isn't it?" and it was a weird thing to come to terms with.
Charlie and I's horrific life events are luckily not very common, so I think most people will have a fun time with this book! A part of me is apologetic towards writing this at all but honestly, I really needed to get it off my chest for myself. Thank you for your understanding to whoever is
I found this book to be fun fish-out-of-water, light hearted tale, much like KPS! It was easy to read; the prose is fun and the dialogue is witty. I loved all the pokes at how our world is currently run, and I especially loved the cats, Hera and Persephone.
I didn't expect a light discussion on the treatment of workers in our modern world to really come up, but I guess when Charlie is dealing with all these multi-millionaires and their complete lack of care for the general population, it was only natural!
My real reason for it being 3 stars: Charlie's situation at the beginning was way too relatable and at first I was like "huh, ok!" but then the details got too similar and it became kind of like, "huh, my life really is like a story, isn't it?" and it was a weird thing to come to terms with.
Charlie and I's horrific life events are luckily not very common, so I think most people will have a fun time with this book! A part of me is apologetic towards writing this at all but honestly, I really needed to get it off my chest for myself. Thank you for your understanding to whoever is
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Car accident and Cancer
melodyseestrees's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The most loveable characters are easily the cats and dolphins, both of which are way more fleshed out than one might expect. This is also a pretty realistic idea of a regular schmegular character being thrown into the world of cartoon villainy. The plot can be hard to follow in a very saturday-evening cartoon special kind of way. If you suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow the experience is fine.
I have some feelings on every non-white character being nepo-babies and generally morally corrupt bad dudes. They are supposed to be characters with more money than brains,except the money isn't real and they definitely do not have it . This was my first Scalzi so maybe there isn't a theme and the diversity of the villains was to really point out their gender bias or something?
I have some feelings on every non-white character being nepo-babies and generally morally corrupt bad dudes. They are supposed to be characters with more money than brains,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Cancer, Cursing, and Terminal illness
treetop's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
mandareads222's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Cancer, Car accident, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, and Misogyny
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lisaarnsdorf's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
What a fun book! It’s so silly and yet weirdly believable. I really liked the ending!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
crownoflaurel's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Slavery, Death, and Violence
asahome's review against another edition
4.75
TL;DR: A man must learn how to work in a new office while dealing with the backlash of management changes and unconventional merger requests. He also loves cats.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
hal00alex's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Perfect for people who liked Kaiju Preservation Society and Assistant to the Villain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Terminal illness
Minor: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty
cmbohn's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love Scalzi. This was just a delight. So many fun little twists in here.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder