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A review by chantaal
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
2.5
Fun and entertaining at times, but even as a popcorn novel connoisseur I had to ask myself, what was the point of this?
It felt like a bunch of Bond Villain ideas thrown together into a stew with not much holding it together other than our main character Charlie who has absolutely zero character growth. We're with him just so we can also learn about the villain stuff in bits and pieces and be surprised! and awed! and entertained! by all the twists and turns and fun.
Also, the storytelling structure felt a bit too much like Scalzi is a ten year old telling a story by saying "and then the dolphin started talking and then they go to the big villain meetup and then he hangs up on him during a Zoom meeting and then things blow up and then and then and then--" Meh. I wish this had been better because usually I love silly shit like this. I really do.
Hera the cat was a baller, though.
It felt like a bunch of Bond Villain ideas thrown together into a stew with not much holding it together other than our main character Charlie who has absolutely zero character growth. We're with him just so we can also learn about the villain stuff in bits and pieces and be surprised! and awed! and entertained! by all the twists and turns and fun.
Also, the storytelling structure felt a bit too much like Scalzi is a ten year old telling a story by saying "and then the dolphin started talking and then they go to the big villain meetup and then he hangs up on him during a Zoom meeting and then things blow up and then and then and then--" Meh. I wish this had been better because usually I love silly shit like this. I really do.
Hera the cat was a baller, though.