Cloud Culture Spotlight: Scott Sigler's The Rookie

I was pleasantly surprised by The Rookie. I am a fan of Scott Sigler's work in general. Nocturnal was probably the most fun I've had listening to a podcast novel. The Rookie is very different from any of his other work, however, and I have to say I applaud him for branching out with it.

Sigler throws us into a future where humans have spread out across many planets and met many other species of intelligent life there. One of them, the Cretarakians, have conquered almost all of the known universe by the time the book picks up. But none of that really matters, because it isn't what the book is about.

What the book is about is football.

And this isn't the wussy little football you see on TV where the refs are throwing down yellow flags every five seconds. Football in the world of The Rookie is literally red tooth and claw; where with humans and enormous, bloodthirsty aliens alike taking part in the game.

The story follows the progress of quarterback Quentin Barnes, starting in a third tier team in a system of planets known as the Purist Nation, where nonhuman species (aside from the Cretarakian overlords over whom humans have no authority) are not allowed to tread. He is sold to a tier two team with aspirations of getting into tier one.

Quentin goes from being a big shot to a rookie, and struggles with disgust for his alien teammates, as well as with the speed and ferocity of play in the big leagues. His journey of growth as a quarterback, a team player, and a leader is both charmingly cliche and captivating in its originality. In an effort to tell us a football story Sigler goes to the trouble of creating an entire universe! You've got to give the man credit.

I honestly would get this book for my father. If you like science fiction and you like football, I think you'll find this one hard to pass up! I started out saying I was pleasantly surprised--I never would have thought I'd be so into the concept. But it definitely sucked me in.

Also, if you want to get a flavor for the universe of The Rookie, check out Prize Fight, an ongoing novella Sigler's got going on right now in collaboration with Matt Wallace.