Book review: Starter Villain by John Scalzi

I received an advanced ARC of this title via NetGalley.

This is a wild ride, in the best way possible. Charlie Fitzer, flat-broke laid off journalist and substitute teacher, inherits his late uncle’s businesses, both legitimate and less so, and he is dropped abruptly into the world of supervillians.

Thus begins the adventure.

Charlie is dropped into an enormous corporate structure he knows nothing about, and watching him learn about his new colleagues — many of whom are genetically engineered, hyper intelligent animals in addition to humans — and his new life, is a joy and a wonder because it’s so dang fun, even when it’s deadly serious.

Charlie is not particularly villainous himself, but he now has a seat on a secret council and a lot of people who want him dead for a long list of reasons. The biggest joy of this book is watching Charlie navigate the world of ultra-wealthy people, and the sycophants and acolytes who want to become ultra-wealthy, ideally by taking down Charlie. Charlie is kinder and more pragmatic than all of them put together, and he ultimately triumphs by being a good judge of character, figuring out whom to trust, and whose advice he should definitely listen to, and simply not being a dick to anyone who isn’t actively trying to kill him.

Scalzi, as is typical, offers a) witty dialogue b) excellent action and pacing and c) characters that I’d be happy to hang out with. The genetically enhanced animals (including cats and dolphins, well ahead of the yacht-destroying Orcas now taking over the internet) and the humans that they work with are both a lot of fun, and excruciatingly accurate judges of character.

I adored this. It’s both funny and humane in the most delightful manner. The scene at his uncle’s funeral had me wheezing with laughter. The large gathering of the council and its acolytes has some particularly hilarious methods for dealing with failure. And what we learn about cats (including the one on the cover) makes WAY more sense than it really should, but should not surprise anyone who has ever lived with cats.

Highly recommended, loads of fun.