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Cover of Starter Villain

Starter Villain

John Scalzi ()

Subgenre
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingPG-13
Pages (Standard (250-400))
Setting
CSM age13

Content levels

ViolenceMild
Sexual contentNone
LanguageMild

Trigger warnings

ViolenceDeath

Synopsis

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.

Tags

Comedic SFSatirical Fictionheist elementsCorporate Satire

Is Starter Villain appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 13 and up.

A humorous sci-fi comedy about an underachiever inheriting a supervillain empire, featuring talking cats and corporate satire. Mild violence typical of comic action sequences and light language.

What to know going in

This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death and violence.

Publisher age: Adult·Our content rating: 13+

Publisher ages reflect reading level; our rating reflects content maturity — they can differ.

Who'll love this

Teens will enjoy the witty humor, talking spy cats, and the hilarious premise of an ordinary guy becoming a reluctant supervillain.