Jeri Dansky reviewed Starter Villain by John Scalzi
My first John Scalzi book
5 stars
Cats! Good writing. I really enjoyed this one.

John Scalzi: Starter Villain (2023, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom)
English language
Published Jan. 7, 2023 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
Cats! Good writing. I really enjoyed this one.
It's sort of what I think of as a typical Scalzi book, with the down-on-their-luck protagonist suddenly being thrust into a much more sci-fi life than expected, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Hera may be one of my all-time favourite characters. The whole thing is just funny, with a serious of ridiculous situations and a man who is too shell-shocked to do anything other than accept that it's happening and joke about it a bit.
If the end wasn't so deflating, where it all just sort of wraps up nicely with a cute bow and everyone's chill, it would probably be a 5-stars from me, but it sort of felt like the default expected ending. Enjoyable enough, but not really interesting.
Still, if you want something light and goofy this is a lot of fun. Highly recommend.
Expository dialogue for most of the book. Some truly funny bits though.
This was a quick and easy read, with the plot zipping along at a rapid pace and not too many characters or complicated ideas to get straight in your head.
It's a fun parody of James Bond style villains but also quite a good satire of California techbros, VC funding, and mega-billionaires. If any of that group are on your "I don't like these people" list, you'll probably enjoy this book!
I discoved Scalzi with this book. Liked the humor and many fun ideas...
Another genre-bending romp from @scalzi@mastodon.social. Fast and fun, this book was a great bit of mental floss to kick off another year of reading. As always Scalzi delivers laugh-out-loud lines with clever dialog and banter. Pick up a copy at your local bookstore or at the nearest public library ASAP.