Publisher Description

Following the bestselling The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi returns with another unique sci-fi caper set in the strangest of all worlds, present-day Earth.Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.Sure, there are the things you'd expect. The undersea volcano lairs. The minions. The plots to take over the world. The international networks of rivals who want you dead.Much harder to get used to . . . are the the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats.And the fact that in the overall organization, they're management . . .

Author Biography

John Scalzi is one of the most popular and acclaimed SF authors to emerge in the last decade. His debut, Old Man's War, won him science fiction's John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, The End of All Things and Redshirts, which won 2013's Hugo Award for Best Novel. Material from his widely read blog Whatever has also earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

Review

Scalzi's latest is a light-hearted story with a likeable fish-out-of-water protagonist and a lot of very smart cats. There's also a dolphin labor dispute, some truly awful techbros, and a volcano island lair . . . Who could resist? -- Rebecca Roanhorse, author of Black Sun
Laugh-out-loud funny, intricately plotted and big-hearted enough to touch even the grumpiest cynic, Starter Villain establishes Scalzi as SF's leading humourist * SFX *
Prepare to be delighted and surprised * Daily Mail *
Satire aplenty . . . Charlie has to handle the lethal machinations of rival villains and also a pod of talking dolphins with militant trade union tendencies in a novel that gleefully skewers the vanity and inanity of a certain kind of plutocrat * The Financial Times *
In this clever, fast-paced thriller, Hugo Award winner subverts classic supervillain tropes with equal measures of tongue-in-cheek humor and common sense . . . The result is a breezy and highly entertaining genre send-up * Publishers Weekly *
Scalzi again examines tropes in a tale of an ordinary individual being cast into an extraordinary situation with his trademark quick pacing, clever banter, and ability to find humor in desperate situations . . . With a large print run and a clever premise, Scalzi's latest will appeal to his legion of fans and draw in new ones -- Booklist, starred review
This story of snark with a heart reminds readers that the logical conclusion of "dogs have owners, cats have staff" is that cats are management and never let anyone forget it . . . Readers of humorous fantasy are sure to love Scalzi's latest as much as those cats; it's also for those who enjoy seeing superhero stories folded, twisted, and mutilated and anyone wishing for a righteous villain lair surrounded by intelligent sharks. Highly recommended -- Library Journal, starred review
Fun, short and tightly plotted -- New Scientist

Promotional

Inheriting a family business is never easy, especially when it involves a hidden volcano lair, minions, sentient cats and supervillains.

Details