Starter Villain

By John Scalzi,

Book cover of Starter Villain

Book description

Locus and Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi brings us a turbo-charged tale of a family business with a difference - as Charlie discovers when he inherits it. This one comes with a hidden headquarters, minions, talking cats and James Bond-like supervillain rivals.

'Starter Villain establishes Scalzi as SF's leading humourist'…

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Why read it?

4 authors picked Starter Villain as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A cat in the business suit stared me down out of the cover for months before I bought the paperback. Like the Mona Lisa, this cat seems intelligent, and her eyes followed me everywhere I went on the Internet.

As it turns out, this story is as good as the reviews promise. A classic Scalzi standalone sci-fi mystery full of mob bosses and insanity. It's hilarious, relatable, a real fish-out-of-water story.

The main character, a washed up journalist turned substitute teacher who is as broke as he is clueless, faces hurdle after hurdle with a stoic wit. First he buries…

It's funny, it's inventive and the cats and dolphins are just fabulous.

Sardonic humor, reminiscent of Douglas Adams, a plot you can lose yourself in entirely--Starter Villain ticked so many boxes for me. It's a fantastically fun read.

Spoliation

By Ian J. Miller,

Book cover of Spoliation

Ian J. Miller Author Of A Face on Cydonia

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author Research scientist Composer Retired Theoretician

Ian's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

To hide a corporation’s failure to properly service a space ship, Captain Jonas Stryker is prosecuted but saved from imprisonment by a dying man, who hires Stryker to collect asteroids for their mineral content. Stryker soon finds he must stop a shadowy corporate group called The Board, who employ space piracy, terrorism, and even weaponised asteroids to overthrow the Federation government.

Set in Lagrange points, space stations, the Moon and outback Australia, it is a fast-moving story with some speculative future technology. If you were interested in the NASA attempt to alter the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos, you might…

Spoliation

By Ian J. Miller,

What is this book about?

When a trial to cover-up a corporate failure ends Captain Jonas Stryker's career, he wants revenge against The Board, a ruthless, shadowy organization with limitless funds that employs space piracy, terrorism, and even weaponised asteroids. Posing as a space miner, Stryker learns that The Board wants him killed, while a young female SCIB police agent wants retribution against him for having her career spoiled at his trial. As Stryker avoids attempts to kill him, he becomes the only chance to prevent The Board from overturning the Federation Government and imposing a Fascist-style rule.
A story of greed, corruption and honour,…


What happens when Charlie Fitzer, a former journalist and divorcee down on his luck inherits his great-uncle's evil empire?

Hugo Award-winner John Scalzi (Redshirts, Old Man's War) had me at his knowing depiction of cats and their ways of communicating. His other characters aren't bad, either, including the viewpoint character who receives an unexpected and highly daunting inheritance, and most especially Matilda Morrison, a woman of extreme agency. Known for his humorous take on various literary genres, Scalzi here provides action that is laugh-out-loud funny,

 It's worth the price of admission just to read his dolphin scenes or…

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