Starter Villain

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Publisher's summary

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place.

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, 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 enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.

©2023 John Scalzi (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

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5 out of 5 stars

By Roswatheist on 09-19-23

A Toxoplasmosis-Induced Fairy Tale

I, too, am impacted. All kittening aside, I enjoyed this story. Being transported to the lair by Scalzi and Wheaton was a fantastic ride. I particularly liked the original use of tropes. Imaginatively repackaging them is my favorite thing about reading or listening to Mr. Scalzi's books. Though not as deep as The Collapsing Empire series, this story is as relevant to current issues. Go dolphins! Seriously, use your credit; you won't regret it.

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5 out of 5 stars

By J. M. C. Galaviz on 09-23-23

Great story. Meh narration.

As stated above. The story is great. Funny, witty, and I love the cats. And the dolphins.

Wil Wheaton’s narration lacks a bit. He gets very squeaky when excited, and it can be hard to tell who’s talking (his character voices aren’t terribly distinct, which is ok, but he changes it up just enough and then switches around so it’s not always clear).

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5 out of 5 stars

By Cranky Reader on 10-15-23

Satisfying , with cats

Swearing dolphins & mercenary cats are delivered in a way that I think dolphins & cats would approve of, from what I know about dolphins & cats. Billionaires would not approve of how they’re presented; I approve of how they’re presented. For featuring villainous billionaires, the overall tone was lighthearted snark, which I enjoy generally and in this story in particular.

Sort of a content warning: It’s an odd book because the villains, who one might expect to perpetrate death & destruction, don’t really do so when one would expect. There is still death & destruction (& much dolphin swearing) but I didn’t find most of it particularly problematic or upsetting. I was more concerned that the main character didn’t seem to know how to make friends & resented his job. But given the poor pay of US teachers, and worse conditions for subs, I am sympathetic. But a guy who is kind to stray cats should have more friends & that’s my biggest quibble with the story, not the occasional violence.

Worldbuilding: fantastical secret lair & talking animals worked for me. It’s Glass Onion meets the Incredibles. Subscriptions are one of the purest evils, at least the way they are now.

Narration: Lively and entertaining. I didn’t agree with all choices for tone, but overall a pleasant listen. if you like Wheaton generally you’ll like it.

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4 out of 5 stars

By Amazon Customer on 03-16-24

Story is engaging. Narrator get too over-the-top

I'm enjoying the story. I have listened to and enjoyed all of John Scalzi's books. I find the storyline of this book to be engaging and fun. However, the narrator during certain moments (expressing frustration, surprise or disagreement by one or more of the characters) starts screaming/screeching as a way of characterizing these emotions. I wish he would take it down a couple of notches :-(

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5 out of 5 stars

By Kris on 09-20-23

Lives up to the hilarious premise

Starting listening as soon as it dropped this morning, and it kept me laughing all day. Aside from the usual “he said” nonsense, the story moved along very well. Wil Wheaton proves again to be the perfect Scalzi narrator.

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5 out of 5 stars

By JG on 09-23-23

More

Wheaton voices Scalzi universe with energy and emotion. Fun listening a cool story. Do more!!

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5 out of 5 stars

By John Lidh on 03-16-24

The cats!

I liked the understated power of the cats; and the humans who serve them. I have 6 cats and know how it goes.

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5 out of 5 stars

By Delia Pelato on 09-23-23

So funny and entertaining!!

I loved the story and also wil wheatons narration! We need more cat-centric novels if you ask me lol

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5 out of 5 stars

By Joel W Vogt on 09-30-23

Enjoyable read

If you took a Bond novel, turned it upside down and shook until everything but Blofelt’s cat came out, then added a good dose of Gen Y sensibility and humor you might come close to being as entertaining. Plots within plots within plots will have you wondering if you were Scalzi’s catspaw the whole time. My only complaint is that I finished it and have to read it again, and few authors beyond Tolkien and Pratchett inspire me to instant re-reads. Well done, highly recommended. Follow the author on Blue Sky social.

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5 out of 5 stars

By Nydia Karkiewicz on 10-01-23

I laughed!

As a self proclaimed nerd, This was hilarious. Salzi brought to life many of a comic con "" what if" conversations of true spy fanatics goofing with their BFFs but made it much better with actual skill. Will Wheaton, narrating, is not only the cherry on top, but the hot fudge and sprinkles too.

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