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  • Starter Villain

  • By: John Scalzi
  • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
  • Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (140 ratings)

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Starter Villain cover art

Starter Villain

By: John Scalzi
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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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.

What listeners say about Starter Villain

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic as always

The Scalzi / Wheaton combo hasn't failed me yet. An original, light hearted villain novel with some appropriate sci fi with an awesome narrator.
Highly recommend

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant and Creative

Will Wheaton is one of the best audible narrators I’ve heard! & a unique and funny sci fi

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

You just know it's going to be good

Scalzi - safe bet. WW narrating - safe bet.
That doesn't mean it isn't entertaining as hell, it's just that you know you'll get your money's worth at a bare minimum.

And you get so much more than the minimum *evil villain laugh*.
John Scalzi is such a clever writer. It comes across with such ease, as if he wrote it in one take. It's a breezy read with fantastic twists, humour, self awareness and cats.

Wil Wheaton may be considered by so many as a fantastic voice actor, but that would be under selling how much he adds to the story. It was if it was written with his cadence and tone in mind.

Pure joy.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great take

The story and audio are great. The author continues his version of villains as he did in redshirts. Damn funny and enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So Good

How does he make outlandish ideas seem so plausible? Wil Wheaton got the tone just right as usual

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a good laugh and totally enjoyable

Narrated wonderfully, this was a delightful listen. of course Cats are spy's and Dolphins are jerks... but this does them justice. an original tale that will be sure to make you smile.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Ed
  • 08-10-2023

Would make a great movie

It’s a fun take that seems to have been made for the perfect movie length.

The plot is tight, with a few liberties taken, and the story rolls along at a good pace.

It’s a bit of light fun. Will Weston’s performance is spot on. I would recommend it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Nk
  • 10-10-2023

Stunning as always.

Thanks Scalzi and Wheaton (what a power combo)i for always making me laugh. Cannot recommend enough!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another fun John Scalzi read

This book is everything you'd expect from a John Scalzi / Wil Wheaton team up. It's fun, it's funny, you'll feel good listening to it. Plus, who doesn't love an intelligent cat!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fun and easy listen, innovative story

Innovative story, a fun and easy book to listen to. Imaginative details and great writing. The performance sometimes is a bit dramatic but overall a good match for the story.

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