Joerg reviewed Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Expository dialogue - the novel
3 stars
Expository dialogue for most of the book. Some truly funny bits though.
272 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2023 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, there are the things you'd expect. The undersea volcano lairs. The minions. The plots to take over the world. The international networks of rivals who want you dead.
Much harder to get used to...are the the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats.
And the fact that in the overall organization, they're management...
Expository dialogue for most of the book. Some truly funny bits though.
I discoved Scalzi with this book. Liked the humor and many fun ideas...
As I listened to this on my morning walks, I was caught cackling with laughter several times by my fellow neighborhood walkers. I’m pretty sure they wonder about me now. My sister and I also exchanged texts with some of the funniest lines.
Chapter four is the funniest funeral ever. Anyone receiving flowers and a vase with “Suck MFer,” can’t be all bad… right?!?!
Then there are the dolphins. Totally hard core, and death by “mass dolphin gender identification,” sounds pretty horrible.
The Pitch and Pitch, was also super fun. “Tetsticles as a service.” Bwahahaha!
The book didn’t end the way I expected. I kind of wanted an ending with a “to be continued…” motif, but one-shot books are great too. No worries about setting up another plot, so the ending is clean.
Charlie and Matti are great. I was pleased with how that relationship went. I was worried for …
As I listened to this on my morning walks, I was caught cackling with laughter several times by my fellow neighborhood walkers. I’m pretty sure they wonder about me now. My sister and I also exchanged texts with some of the funniest lines.
Chapter four is the funniest funeral ever. Anyone receiving flowers and a vase with “Suck MFer,” can’t be all bad… right?!?!
Then there are the dolphins. Totally hard core, and death by “mass dolphin gender identification,” sounds pretty horrible.
The Pitch and Pitch, was also super fun. “Tetsticles as a service.” Bwahahaha!
The book didn’t end the way I expected. I kind of wanted an ending with a “to be continued…” motif, but one-shot books are great too. No worries about setting up another plot, so the ending is clean.
Charlie and Matti are great. I was pleased with how that relationship went. I was worried for a while that it would become a cliche. I also like that as a former business reporter, Charlie has some chops in dealing with the other villains. Then there is Hera. She might be my favorite: “Dogs are the worst. They’ll sell you out for a treat and a head pat.” She is not wrong.