Starter Villain Audiobook By John Scalzi cover art

Starter Villain

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Starter Villain

By: John Scalzi
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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About this listen

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.
Adventure Fiction Science Fiction Superhero Fantasy Funny Witty Feel-Good Suspenseful Cats
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About the Creator

New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi is celebrated for his sharp, whip-smart sci-fi. With novels such as Redshirts, Lock In, The Collapsing Empire, and The Kaiju Preservation Society, Scalzi’s uncanny ability to craft new worlds and technologies has earned him three Hugo Awards, three Locus Awards, a Heinlein Award, and the Audie Award for Original Work. His works have been translated into over 30 languages. Adding to his long-form fiction triumphs, Scalzi acted as a creative consultant on the Stargate Universe television series and as a writer for the Emmy-winning Netflix series Love Death + Robots. From 2010 to 2013, Scalzi served as president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and in 2016, he received the Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio. He currently resides in Bradford, Ohio with his wife and (several) pets.

About the Performer - Starter Villain

About the Performer

Wil Wheaton loves to tell stories. He’s been doing it his whole life.
By age ten, he had already been acting for three years. In 1986, at age 12, he earned critical acclaim as Gordie Lachance in Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me; at 14, he began his four-year turn as Wesley Crusher on the hit TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which led to his portrayal of a fictionalized version of himself on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory.
He currently hosts The Ready Room, the official online hub for all things Star Trek Universe.
An accomplished voice actor, Wil has lent his talents to animated series, including Family Guy, Teen Titans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. His video game credits include four installments each of the Grand Theft Auto and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series, as well as Fallout: New Vegas, DC Universe Online, Broken Age, and I Expect You To Die 2.
His audiobook narration of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and was one of Goodreads’ 10 Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time. He has also lent his voice to titles by John Scalzi, Randall Monroe, Joe Hill, and Bill Gates. Wil’s narrations regularly appear on Audible’s bestseller list.
He has contributed columns to Salon.com, The A.V. Club, The Wall Street Journal, LA Weekly, Playboy, The Washington Post, and the Suicide Girls Newswire.
In his New York Times bestselling Still Just a Geek, an older, somewhat wiser Wil revisited 2004’s Just a Geek with all-new reflections that show just how far he’s come. In this vulnerable, honest memoir about trying and failing and trying again, Wil opens up about love, trauma, tragedy, and confronting the worst parts of himself. Equal parts funny and poignant, Still Just a Geek weighs the folly of youth against the pain of experience—and celebrates all the strange, awful, beautiful adventures in between.
In recent years, Wil has opened up about his CPTSD from surviving childhood abuser and exploitation. He has earned recognition as an outspoken mental health advocate, chronicling his own journey in his blog and as a public speaker for NAMI. His powerful, candid essay about his struggle with chronic depression and anxiety garnered national attention.
Though he keeps trying to retire from on-camera acting, his cameo as The Traveler in Star Trek: Picard’s second season delighted fans, sparking speculation about his character making appearances elsewhere in the Star Trek Universe. Wil was a finalist in the 2023 Celebrity Jeopardy Tournament, where he won 250,000 dollars for the National Women’s Law Center.
Wil lives in Los Angeles with his badass, irrepressible wife Anne, their rescued dog and cat, and five arcade cabinets.

What listeners say about Starter Villain

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The wait was worth it!!!!

John well done!!! It was so good that I had to lesson to it all on the same day. Could not stop and Will made the book come alive. Thank you again for awesome day of pure entertainment!!!!❤️🇺🇸

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The only issue is that it's too short.

Scalzi and Wheaton are always a winning combo. This book is another of Scalzi's fantastic shortish but fun "pop songs," as he described another of his books. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see another side of the Bond villain type, or anyone who likes cats. I just wish it was longer.

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Very Attached to the Characters

Very much enjoyed this one. i was immersed quickly and loved this adventure. some great characters and some great twists and turns!

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Fun and innovative story

Really enjoyed this book. Scalzi always has an interesting hook to his books and Wil Wheaton is an absolutely fabulous reader.

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Wil Wheaton FTW!

I cannot imagine a better narrator for this incredibly delightful romp. I’m going to restart the audiobook over again now.

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my favorite scalzi

loved this. loved the wil Wheaton narration. going to gift this to friends for the holidays. great starter scalzi book

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Well played, well played

Honestly anything that Wil and John collaborate on is going to be an automatic win in my book…audiobook!

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Great!

As expected, it is great and very entertaining book, with fantastic narration. Finished it in one day!

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Great Listen

Loved it. Would be a good traveling listen. I'm looking forward to his next book .

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Always a Blast to Read!

Will Wheaton just gets better and better! Love the theme. I suspect my cat is a little too smart than expected, as well — hmm. Ending wraps well and satisfying.

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