STARTER VILLAIN - John Scalzi
Charlie Fitzer is a bit down on his luck. A former newspaper journalist now teacher at a small college, Charlie lives in his parents' old home, which irks his siblings terribly. They'd much rather he moved out so they could sell the house and be done with it since they are technically the owners.
Charlie would like very much to buy the local pub - the place he has always gone for a drink ever since his school days, and where the college students still go for their first drink. But Charlie doesn't have any collateral, and definitely doesn't have any money.
Until his uncle Jake passes away.
He's never been close to Jake, but still, Jake Baldwin leaves his nephew an absolute fortune. And ... a bit of danger. And ... some highly evolved, highly educated, talking animals. Like cats, and dolphins, and whales, and ....
What Jake leaves to his nephew is his business, which is - being a villain. Charlie is going to have to get used to being mean and manipulative and not trust anyone, especially the other villains who want to help him out. Fortunately he'll have a companion to guide him. His house cat. The cat can't talk (that would be ridiculous!), but it can type messages for him.
Charlie's got a lot to learn in very little time.
If you didn't tell me this was written by John Scalzi I think I'd be able to figure it out within the first couple of pages anyway. This has got Scalzi's 'voice' all over it. From the snarky comments given by some of the characters, to the Tourette's-like cussing dolphins, to the easily-overcome bad guys (our hero just needs to get a little creative), there are some obvious Scalzi signs here. What's missing, though, is a story with a bit of a kick.
This story is all surface action. We go from Point A to Point B with everything laid out before us as we go. There's no hidden surprise or tangent storyline that will intersect at some point. No convoluted characters we need to figure out. It's all right there, in your face obvious all along.
Charlie is our main character and he's a lot like any 'reluctant hero' in scifi these days. A nobody until he's needed to be a little better. He's essentially 'good' and maybe a bit too trusting but we know things are going to work out for him in the end, it's his journey that we're reading about. But this journey is just too direct. Where's the conflict? The antagonists are like Keystone Cops. Such bumbling fools we never, ever take them seriously enough to see them as a threat.
There's an attempt to maybe ... MAYBE provide a little twist at the end, but it's very cliche and predictable.
It's a John Scalzi book, so I enjoyed it for his voice, but I'd classify this under humor first, fantasy second. This is very much 'beach read' material. The sort of book you will read in an afternoon and then leave it for someone else to read and some day you might remember a moment from the book and think to yourself, "But what book was that in?"
Looking for a good book? Starter Villain by John Scalzi is a quick, direct, fun read that won't change your life but may divert your attention for a couple of hours.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
3-1/2 stars
* * * * * *
Starter Villain
author: John Scalzi
publisher: Tor Books
ISBN: 9780765389220
hardcover, 272 pages
Comments
Post a Comment