Bonus Book of the Month: ‘Starter Villain’ by John Scalzi
Maude Garrett and the MBC community love our BONUS BOOKS!
For those who want to start with one of the best sci-fi books of the past couple of years, join us in reading Starter Villain by John Scalzi. It was a Nominee for Readers' Favorite Science Fiction (2023) on Goodreads and was a finalist for Best Novel in 2024 at the Hugo Awards.
Join our book club today and help us vote for our 2025 books.
Born: May 10, 1969
Lived in: LA’s Eastern San Gabriel Valley; Chicago; Fresno, CA; Sterling, VA; Bradford, OH
Education: The Webb Schools of California; The University of Chicago (AB, Philosophy with Allied Fields)
Employment: Film Critic/Columnist; Writer/Editor; Freelance writer; Novelist
Personal: Married. One child. Several pets.
Bibliography: It’s here. New York Times best seller in fiction. Awards won include the Hugo, the Locus, the Audie, the Robert A. Heinlein, the Seiun and the Kurd Lasswitz. Recipient of the 2016 Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio, and the 2023 Budapest Grand Prize. Works translated into 30+ languages.
Starter villain
By john Scalzi
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.
What Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Shattered expectations
Distorted perceptions
Stark confrontations with reality
A world driven by schemes
Money
Power
Good vs. Evil
Join Our Book Chat
Maude and our community will dive into Starter Villain by John Scalzi on Thursday, January 9th. Join us on Twitch from 5-7 p.m. PT.
What did you think about Starter Villain by John Scalzi? Let us know in the comments below or join our discord today!
Did you miss our latest book chat? Become a member today to read more books and get access to behind-the-scenes content of ‘Maude’s Book Club.’
