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The Starter (Galactic Football League #2)
by
Scott Sigler (Goodreads Author)
THE STARTER is the sequel to THE ROOKIE, a hard-hitting, bone-crunching YA sports/scifi novel described as "Any Given Sunday" meets "The Godfather" meets "Star Wars."
It's high-stakes, win-or-die football action in the far future, as aliens and humans fill positions based on physiology and leave their blood, sweat and tears on gridirons across the galaxy.
Last season, 19-yea...more
It's high-stakes, win-or-die football action in the far future, as aliens and humans fill positions based on physiology and leave their blood, sweat and tears on gridirons across the galaxy.
Last season, 19-yea...more
Kindle Edition
Published
(first published September 2010)
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Once again Sigler comes through. This series is only getting better. I have been listening to Scott's podcasts and reading his books since he started. For anyone who likes Sci-Fi and sports this series of books is for you. Make sure you read The Rookie first. Once again Scott, Great WORK!!!!! Keep them coming!!!
This is a great addition to the storyline started in The Rookie. Also, the book is absolutely gorgeous with an awesome full-color insert.
The book Foot Ball Hero is about a boy Joe Will . He not psyched about spending another year writing poetry, but maybe it won’t be as bad as he think. Him and his friends Chad and Michel join every team the school has : football , soccer ,hockey ,basketball and last baseball. At first the guys are unstoppable. But when Mrs.stegosarus Decides to become a fan . Suddenly the guys are headed for a never ending losing streak. Could poetry actually be as cool as sports. I say yes to read this book bec...more
I've been a fan of Scott Sigler since I first found his podcast of Infected. His early works are solid horror, mixed with humor. They will never be confused with literature, but both the books and his readings of them are entertaining.
The Starter continues the story begun in The Rookie. The pleasant surprise of this book is that Sigler appears to be developing a much larger story than it seemed in the first book. There is much more character development, and more context for the action. While on...more
The Starter continues the story begun in The Rookie. The pleasant surprise of this book is that Sigler appears to be developing a much larger story than it seemed in the first book. There is much more character development, and more context for the action. While on...more
I'm not not not not a sports fan, but Sigler does a great job of combining a sports movie with a sf story. Perhaps because it is in the sport genre there doesn't seem to be much question whether the Krakens will win the big game at the end (or is there? gotta try and keep this spoiler free), but Sigler overcomes this by making me care about the characters and he is really good a creating head-cracking, ass-kicking galoots! He is also really good at convincing me, a sports ignoramus, of all the s...more
Having been a fan of Scott Sigler since he first started podcasting his book Earthcore I have thoroughly enjoyed his narration of his books and his banter. This time around I picked the ebook edition of The Starter both because I wanted to support the author and plus I didn't want to wait around for the weekly release of podcasted episodes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of the series The Rookie and that goes even more so for The Starter. In a book that is part SF, part sports, part action i...more
I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of the series The Rookie and that goes even more so for The Starter. In a book that is part SF, part sports, part action i...more
Mar 03, 2011
Ruthie Jones
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Ruthie by:
John Miller
Shelves:
recommended-to-me
The Starter picks up exactly where The Rookie ends. Actually, it's like reading one big book. I appreciate that Sigler does not spend a lot of time at the beginning of The Starter reminding the reader what went on in The Rookie. I understand why authors do this in a series, but Sigler does not waste words repeating what the reader should already know if he or she has read in order. The Starter shows Quentin Barnes still developing and coming to terms with other cultures. This story, however, bri...more
Feb 22, 2011
Joe Hempel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
100-books-in-2011
Wow! What can I say. Football, Aliens, Gangstas....a great combo! Sigler does a great job of combining all of these into something that is actually very plausible, and familiar, as well as integrating all the fantastic things that go with Science-Fiction and seamless create a great read!!
A very very fast read if you enjoy all things football.
The only thing that I would have liked to see would have been more football, maybe more action being described by the Commentators...I understand why it's d...more
A very very fast read if you enjoy all things football.
The only thing that I would have liked to see would have been more football, maybe more action being described by the Commentators...I understand why it's d...more
In his follow up to "The Rookie", Scott Sigler continues the story of Krakens Quarterback Quentin Barnes on his journey to the upper echelons of football glory.
Of course, this is football as it's played 600 years from now. Complete with Aliens, genetically modified offshoots of humanity along with a few good old fashioned humans sprinkled about for good measure.
Team owners are criminals who would just as soon as kill a player for underperforming as trade him. Such is life in the GFL.
I love this...more
Of course, this is football as it's played 600 years from now. Complete with Aliens, genetically modified offshoots of humanity along with a few good old fashioned humans sprinkled about for good measure.
Team owners are criminals who would just as soon as kill a player for underperforming as trade him. Such is life in the GFL.
I love this...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
May 14, 2011
Paul Cooley
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Sports Fans, Sci-Fi fans
The Starter is the sequel to Scott Sigler's The Rookie. The GFL universe takes place in the far future where football has become an interspecies sport. The series follows Quentin Barnes, a quarterback in the GFL, through football seasons against the backdrop of a fascist empire that has forced many of the galaxy's races into subjugation.
Instead of merely focusing on football, Sigler examines racism, economic instability, slavery, politics, CRIME, and, of course, the off-field antics of professio...more
Instead of merely focusing on football, Sigler examines racism, economic instability, slavery, politics, CRIME, and, of course, the off-field antics of professio...more
After reading the first book in the series (The Rookie), I'll admit I was hooked, so I plunged straight into The Starter, expecting more of the same. I wasn't disappointed.
Although the season-ending result can be seen quite a long way off (the season disappointingly follows a similar pattern to the first book) there are again some really nice plot-lines and character developments in this book - easily enough for me to look for book 3 in the series (which is all you can want really, isn't it?)
The...more
Although the season-ending result can be seen quite a long way off (the season disappointingly follows a similar pattern to the first book) there are again some really nice plot-lines and character developments in this book - easily enough for me to look for book 3 in the series (which is all you can want really, isn't it?)
The...more
The second book in the GFL series was really enjoyable.
I loved the fact that Sigler made the side story "Title Fight" to give us a look of where certain characters were during different times of the book.
I loved the fact that Sigler made the side story "Title Fight" to give us a look of where certain characters were during different times of the book.
This was a great follow-up to the first book, The Rookie. I'm not a football fan by any means but I enjoy the world that Scott Sigler has created in this series and the diversity of characters. He hits on some major topics in the book including racism which I think was explored very well. The one thing I found occasionally distracting from the story were all the fictional excerpts from books on the races and the GFL inserted into many of the chapters. While many of them added some context to wha...more
Mr. Sigler has another winner with this second installment of what will eventually be 7 books chronicling the life of future Galactic Football League superstar, Quentin Barnes. The coming-of-age story is only one of numerous facets that keep the story interesting. Unlike his other books, Scott has deliberately dialed back the, uh, "color of the rhetoric" from his usual hard science/horror works to make this series friendly to younger (middle school age and up) readers. This "PG'ing" of the story...more
So entrancing that I stayed awake until past midnight just to finish those last 100 pages. This was such a different story from The Rookie but that only serves to deepen and enhance the characters and their relationships even more. Not everything in Quentin Barnes first T1 season is roses and puppy dogs, but he didn't expect that it would be anyway. The story outside of the on-field action was what intrigued me the most and I am hoping that certain things like, who was responsible for the...well...more
(what I noted when I got the book)
I am so very excited to start reading this book (too bad I have so many going right now..sigh) -- I loved The Rookie (although I listened to it on Sigler's podcast before actually having the book)
I got #645 out of 3000 -- yeah for special editions!!
(After I read (okay, I actually listened to the podcast) it, nearly two years later)
So excited that I waited two years to listen to the podcast. I am dumb because the story was AWESOME. I laughed, I cried (seriously)...more
I am so very excited to start reading this book (too bad I have so many going right now..sigh) -- I loved The Rookie (although I listened to it on Sigler's podcast before actually having the book)
I got #645 out of 3000 -- yeah for special editions!!
(After I read (okay, I actually listened to the podcast) it, nearly two years later)
So excited that I waited two years to listen to the podcast. I am dumb because the story was AWESOME. I laughed, I cried (seriously)...more
Yeah, I shucking listened to this book! what the shuck are you gonna do about it?
Seriously, I enjoyed the book. I like Sigler's writing style and the action. The cut scenes between chapters are clever. I personally don't understand using replacement words like "shucking" to keep the language more age appropriate. I found it just as distracting as when they do it in movies. We all know what's meant. If you want to keep the language family-friendly, just keep it family-friendly. I'd be okay with t...more
Seriously, I enjoyed the book. I like Sigler's writing style and the action. The cut scenes between chapters are clever. I personally don't understand using replacement words like "shucking" to keep the language more age appropriate. I found it just as distracting as when they do it in movies. We all know what's meant. If you want to keep the language family-friendly, just keep it family-friendly. I'd be okay with t...more
GFL!!! GFL!!! All that needs to be said! You'll love it if you love football and Sifi!!!
This series of one of my favorites. I love science fiction, I love football, this is both.
I'm gonna give this 4 stars because it's so hard to differentiate with books this good. But make no mistake this was an excellent book.Compared to The Rookie, the writing was tighter and there was a bit less focus on the main character running into problems because of his own failings (though still some of that). This made the book harder to put down and kept the pace more even. It wasn't quite as raw as The Rookie or my favorite Sigler book, Infected - and Sigler raw is about as good as it gets...more
fan of the series and looking forward to reading the 3rd book
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Great follow-up to "The Rookie"!
Still Kickin a$$
Still predicdbtable, still entertaining
Freakin' awesome is all I can say. This series has the ability to grab and hold you, and won't let up. The games are the star of the book, with all the action and drama of any real world event. The story outside of the play is very good, though the sideline stories regarding organized crime (less said so I don't spoil anything) did drag down the momentum for me. Still the setup for the next novel resulting from said events makes me wanna read it right now. Scott, you gotta get this one out!
A very good sequel to The Rookie. Young adult fiction always leaves me in two minds - the simplicity of the story telling is helpful insofar as the strength of the tale can shine through (as it does here) but I'm often left feeling a little short changed too. For example, whatever happened to Becca the Wrecka's moral crisis? Resolved?
I'm a huge Scott Sigler fan, and I look forward to the All-Pro, but I think I like some of his other works better.
I'm a huge Scott Sigler fan, and I look forward to the All-Pro, but I think I like some of his other works better.
May 12, 2011
Jim Phillips
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
Enjoyable read, as everything from Sigler has been, but a step backward from The Rookie. Long, but too fractured. Too much filler, and not enough action - both on and off the field. The on-field action was well realized, but we don't see enough of the games in progress. And the off-field action was just to fractured, and reads more like a series of short stories than any real progress or character growth throughout the season.
Scott fixed most of the issues that I'd had with the Rookie - we started to see women (other than those XXX-XXXX Sklorno) and we got a lot more on the intervening history and other races. I'd also say that his writing has improved in other ways since he finished the Rookie. I finished this book in one sitting, and must now re-read it and the Rookie. Go Krackens! Next book, please, Dark Overlord Media!
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Scott wrote his first monster story in the third grade and hasn't stopped since. A creator of novels, short stories and screenplays, Scott's work revolves around modern science's dichotomy of simultaneously producing good and evil.
New York Times best-selling novelist Scott Sigler is the author of ANCESTOR, INFECTED and CONTAGIOUS, hardcover thrillers from Crown Publishing.
Before he was published,...more
More about Scott Sigler...
New York Times best-selling novelist Scott Sigler is the author of ANCESTOR, INFECTED and CONTAGIOUS, hardcover thrillers from Crown Publishing.
Before he was published,...more
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Nov 05, 2011 08:41am