The Supervillainy Saga, Volume One

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Book one of The Supervillainy Saga, written by C.T. Phipps, was one of the earlier audiobooks I’d ever purchased and subsequently forgot to continue with. Not because the book wasn’t great, it simply slipped my mind. This pack contained the first three books in the series, and I hadn’t realised how much that 1) I’d forgotten, and 2) I enjoyed it!

These are an amusing and entertaining series of books, and I’ve since added the others to my wish list so I pick them up in the future. If you like superheroes and books that don’t mind poking fun at their own genre, then these will be for you. Gary Karkofsky, our “hero” of the story, leads a dull life where he wants nothing more than to be a supervillain. Of course, this wish is fulfilled when the magical cloak of the foremost (and newly deceased) hero of the city turns up on his doorstep.

Suddenly he gets everything he wants and becomes Merciless: The Supervillain Without Mercy™. The tautology alone should give you an idea of what this book is going to be like.

Gary enjoys being a supervillain but aspires to be a nice one by only killing those who really deserve it… like all the other supervillains who stand in his way. He bumbles about, acquiring sidekicks and mentors along the way to help him in his quest.

The author plays on clichés and superhero tropes well to give a funny and thoroughly entertaining plot that kept me listening for hours at a time until my Bluetooth batteries ran out. A lot of character growth to be had across the first three books, with Merciless acting not always like his namesake.

The narrator, Jeffrey Kafer, suited this book well. His voice lends itself perfectly (in my opinion) to Gary. That kind of… gruff, self-assured, manly superhero, er, supervillain-type voice worked well. Certainly easy to listen to.

At the time of writing this, I believe there are seven books in the series so far. If they are all as entertainingly good as the first three, then I’m sure I’ll be adding them all into my playlist in time.

I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I have not let this gift affect nor influence my opinions of this audiobook, and have left an honest review.