A review by tsunni
Starter Villain by John Scalzi

funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It’s funny that Scalzi references Thanos at one point in Starter Villain. Like a lot of Marvel movies, Scalzi books tend to have a very similar manufactured-to-be-unoffensively-entertaining feel, with the same quippy mile a minute dialogue that makes every character feel the same (regardless of the species); and same breezy style of plot that makes every situation, no matter how heavy, feel low stakes. Scalzi does always put fun new ideas into that framework to explore, which make these entertaining and worth the time to read; and he writes extremely well within this niche and style.

There’s nothing different here in Starter Villian, Scalzi has written another quick, sensible chuckle novel that’s decently entertaining in a forgettable, easy to read way, with characters that quite honestly could’ve been transplanted over from Kaiju Preservation Society or Redshirts and I wouldn’t have noticed much of a difference. No surprises here — except that it got nominated for a Hugo, maybe — nothing wrong with Scalzi or Marvel Movies, I happily consume both, but this is solidly popcorn fare.