There’s nothing like a good Evil Villain scheme to get Autumn well on its way. As the leaves turn and the wind gets nippy, it seems like the world itself is starting to plot against us. And while I may not be able to impact the earth’s movements around the sun, I can at least take heart in the story of other fiendish schemes – and the path to overcome them.

Enter Starter Villain, by John Scalzi. This wry, metafictional story of an ordinary ex-journalist who receives an exciting and terrifying bequest instantly caught my eye. When Charlie’s absent billionaire uncle dies, he’s asked to stand at the funeral, and everytually ends up in control of the his vast business empire. An empire of… villainy, complete with island lair, sentient cats (and dolphins), and fiendish inter-villain disputes.

If you, like me, love thinking about the pragmatic elements of super-villain schemes, you’ll understand why I had to give this a read. Books in this genre require two elements to succeed: 1) a compelling narrative for why villainy may be worth exploring further instead of just dismissing as “pure evil”; and 2) excellent world-building that explores the organization and its dysfunction. So how does Starter Villain stack up? (Many thanks to Tor and NetGalley for the gift copy!)

So… what is a villain, anyway?

Let’s start with Scalzi’s exploration of villainy, and of evil. Uncle Jake’s company is an interesting perspective on what it takes to make villainy profitable. In a twist on real-world innovation, Uncle Jake funds innovative startups, then repurposes their breakthroughs for more… questionable buyers. Frequently, his customers pay for subscription access to his services just in case they want to use them. And in Cold War fashion, enemy governments pay for access as mutual deterrents, never actually using the powers themselves. Nefarious? Yes. But it also drives innovation and people often don’t end up actually hurt. It’s a pretty pragmatic capitalist approach to villainy.

So you could be forgiven for assuming that Starter Villain is a Big Statement on Modern Business. After all, outside of the fictional technology at stake, many of these operating procedures are standard practice for the biggest companies in the world. Subscriptions that feed on FOMO? Check. Innovation driven and funded by government initiatives? Check. Extreme cognitive dissonance between the enterprise’s on-paper value and the amount of liquid cash? Check, check.

But Scalzi’s got worse villains up his sleeve – an entire council of them, many in inherited seats. This council (which may or may not have inspired Spectre) mets annually to discuss their nefarious plans and ensure they maintain control of the world from the shadows. Unfortunately for Charlie, it seems like they 1) had beef with his uncle, and 2) may be equally cash-flow poor. Uncle Jake might have had… questionable business practices – but at least they created innovation. These characters have simply inherited control of vast resources, without really learning how to take care of them.

So we’re talking relative and pragmatic morality here. Charlie is effectively set up to contrast these other villainous nepo-babies. Where they focus on money and control, he emphasizes his employees’ experiences. Where they trivialize lives, he prioritizes eve his cats. Power and influence, then, are a function of what you do with them.

EvilCorps are just like the rest of them

To that end – what does Charlie actually do with this Evil Organization he’s inherited? And how well does Scalzi explore the pragmatics of being in charge?

It turns out that evil organizations still comprise of people, which means Scalzi gets to write an amazing satire of new hire orientation for a new CEO and villain. You’ve got the day-one tour. You’ve got the overwhelming flow of assignments. There’s also the orientation presentation, complete with stock photos. And of course the internal politics, including cetacean labor disputes and surprising cross-cultural naming conventions.

Scalzi gets these broad strokes right, and he also gets the underlying vibe. If you’ve ever joined a new multinational company and looked in awe (and perhaps slight shock) at the complexity of keeping everything running, Charlie’s onboarding will feel very familiar. Weirdly, so does Charlie’s experience in eventually taking over the corporation. I just finished a business school course and many of his choices (listen to the pros, make decisions carefully) come straight out of those leadership playbooks. Somehow, that makes the whole thing ten times funnier – because it really drives home how much this is really just like any other MegaCorp.

Reader’s notes & rating (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

I had such a great time reading this, both because I love trope deconstruction and I’m a bit of an org Econ nerd. I would happily recommend it for both a laugh and a think, especially for those of us who like to think through the implications of all those evil empires. Four stars, would happily read again!

Starter Villain will be published on September 19, 2023.