The Rookie by Scott Sigler
Apr. 17th, 2010 06:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgI got a bit ahead of myself and posted an in-progress not-a-review of The Rookie by Scott Sigler here. I've finished the book now--it certainly qualifies as a page-turner--and the news is still good.
As promised by Scott at one of his Swancon appearances I have indeed developed a new appreciation of American football, at least as played by various alien races. He's clearly comfortable and confident writing about the sport, and managed to integrate the SF aspects into the sporting story. I admit I skipped the stats and didn't do the extra reading on the website, but fans of the game would no doubt enjoy the special bonus features. Even though I didn't really understand the subtlties of all the plays, the action sequences were sufficiently well-written that I was able to picture in my mind the elemental patterns of good things, bad things, fast things, slow things, tense things, victorious things, and ouch things. I could see the shape of the action in my mind, and that was enough.
I particularly enjoyed the main character's learning process as he adapted to the different form of a game he believed himself good at. I liked the increasingly complex problem-solving as he eventually became familiar with the capabilities and weaknesses of his teammates and opponents and used that information to advantage in interesting ways. This is the type of information for which the human brain is naturally wired, and Sigler worked it well into the text.
The team bonding plotline was believeably and naturally progressed: a concession here, a concession there. Lessons learned in the odd flash of understanding, others exposed as the character matured. Some nice use of show-don't-tell.
The sub-plot of organised crime was nicely understated, and will no doubt be expanded upon in later books in the series. Knowing that the book is the first in a planned series of 7 (ish?) made it much easier to accept that certain plots points were being established, rather than underdone.
What Sigler has done particularly well here--as in Infected--was focus on the story of an individual in tough and unusual circumstances. He's not my kind of person, but he's a believable character. As a bonus Sigler manages to describe a perfectly workable universe of future humanity, aliens, spaceships, and interstellar conflict. It's not rocket science, but nor does it set out to be. It would make a good movie. Pity Arnie is past it.
Will I buy/read the rest of the series? Probably not. The football content is a bit too high for me to make a habit of reading these, but I'm happy to have read this one. However, it has restored my faith somewhat in Sigler as an author after the stumbling block of Ancestor. Now I've read four of his books I have a better feel for his current strengths and weaknesses, and look forward to seeing how he develops as a writer with the guidance of some professional editing and feedback from a wider audience. He's still finding his feet as a novellist, but there's a good chance I'll read his other work as it comes on the market.
If you liked The Rookie you might also enjoy the 1989 post-apocalyptic violent sports flick Salute of the Jugger a.k.a. The Blood of Heroes. I went through a Rutger Hauer phase after Ladyhawke but he never looked as pretty again :-)
As promised by Scott at one of his Swancon appearances I have indeed developed a new appreciation of American football, at least as played by various alien races. He's clearly comfortable and confident writing about the sport, and managed to integrate the SF aspects into the sporting story. I admit I skipped the stats and didn't do the extra reading on the website, but fans of the game would no doubt enjoy the special bonus features. Even though I didn't really understand the subtlties of all the plays, the action sequences were sufficiently well-written that I was able to picture in my mind the elemental patterns of good things, bad things, fast things, slow things, tense things, victorious things, and ouch things. I could see the shape of the action in my mind, and that was enough.
I particularly enjoyed the main character's learning process as he adapted to the different form of a game he believed himself good at. I liked the increasingly complex problem-solving as he eventually became familiar with the capabilities and weaknesses of his teammates and opponents and used that information to advantage in interesting ways. This is the type of information for which the human brain is naturally wired, and Sigler worked it well into the text.
The team bonding plotline was believeably and naturally progressed: a concession here, a concession there. Lessons learned in the odd flash of understanding, others exposed as the character matured. Some nice use of show-don't-tell.
The sub-plot of organised crime was nicely understated, and will no doubt be expanded upon in later books in the series. Knowing that the book is the first in a planned series of 7 (ish?) made it much easier to accept that certain plots points were being established, rather than underdone.
What Sigler has done particularly well here--as in Infected--was focus on the story of an individual in tough and unusual circumstances. He's not my kind of person, but he's a believable character. As a bonus Sigler manages to describe a perfectly workable universe of future humanity, aliens, spaceships, and interstellar conflict. It's not rocket science, but nor does it set out to be. It would make a good movie. Pity Arnie is past it.
Will I buy/read the rest of the series? Probably not. The football content is a bit too high for me to make a habit of reading these, but I'm happy to have read this one. However, it has restored my faith somewhat in Sigler as an author after the stumbling block of Ancestor. Now I've read four of his books I have a better feel for his current strengths and weaknesses, and look forward to seeing how he develops as a writer with the guidance of some professional editing and feedback from a wider audience. He's still finding his feet as a novellist, but there's a good chance I'll read his other work as it comes on the market.
If you liked The Rookie you might also enjoy the 1989 post-apocalyptic violent sports flick Salute of the Jugger a.k.a. The Blood of Heroes. I went through a Rutger Hauer phase after Ladyhawke but he never looked as pretty again :-)
