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The Rookie (Galactic Football League: Book One) Part 1 of 2
A full-cast audiodrama adaptation of Scott Sigler's The Rookie.
Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, THE ROOKIE is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of "Any Given Sunday" with the space opera style of "Star Wars" and the criminal underworld of "The Godfather."
Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.
Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he'll wind up just another stat in the column marked "killed on the field."
Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, THE ROOKIE is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of "Any Given Sunday" with the space opera style of "Star Wars" and the criminal underworld of "The Godfather."
Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.
Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he'll wind up just another stat in the column marked "killed on the field."
5 pages, Audio CD
Published August 10, 2016
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 16, 2016
I was excited to hear about the new audio drama presentation of Scott Sigler's THE ROOKIE by GraphicAudio productions. I haven't heard too many audio dramas, in which each unique character is voiced by a separate person, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I have heard the excellent Locke and Key audiodrama, and listened to some of We're Alive, but that's about it.
As a fairly dedicated Junkie and fan of Sigler's work, I also hold the common fan opinion that it will be difficult to top Sigler's own narration of this, his flagship series, in which he turns out sublime performances, pouring his heart into each character, and giving great thought and careful consideration into the production of the audiobook. So it was with a skeptical ear I purchased the CDs (hey, you can't autograph an .mp3!).
After starting the first CD, my exuberance quickly declined. The most noticeable issue that hardcore Junkies will have is on the voice characterizations. The acting itself is really done quite well. However, the main focus of this series is the tension and cooperation between biologically different alien species. In the production of this audiodrama, there is no distinction between races - all species sound human. This has varying effects:
-Humans sound human; Heavy-G sound like deep-voiced humans. No real issues here.
-The Ki sound like a human trying to do an impression of Warner Bros' Tasmanian Devil, or Bill the Cat. They have no "English" dialog, so their gutteral communication sounds very odd.
-The Harrah are fine. There is a vocal effect to make the voice sound like it's coming through a speaker, and it works quite well.
-Gredok has an incredibly deep voice, which contradicts the diminutive impression of the physical description. I think one of the defining qualities of Quyth Leaders is the fact that they are the smallest of their species, yet they are incredibly intelligent and command fear and respect from Workers and Warriors. That nuance is lost in this performance.
-Stedmar Osborne, Manny Sayed, and other humans are all very well done. However, without attribution, which is completely stripped from this performance (all the "he said" and "said Quentin" text) - coupled with the huge cast of characters - sometimes makes it hard to discern who is speaking. I found this to be true mostly when the humans were talking with Quyth Warriors.
-The Quyth warriors are indistinguishable from humans, which (to me) downplays their menace.
-The Sklorno. Oy, what a wreck. The sklorno involved in this story are all female. So the producers decided to cast women in the roles. But the way that the sklorno speak makes these performers sound like they are speaking ina "Me Tarzan, you Jane" type of voice. They sound ridiculous, and I think a lot of Sklorno dialog has been cut from the performance altogether.
Scott Sigler's own production of this audiobook applied different vocal effects to the different species. The effects went a long way towards distinguishing species as well as characters. And in a book where species-conflict is so prevalent, homongenizing all of the characters into humans anthropomorphizes the entire cast of characters and makes it hard to relate any species tension. It ends up sounding like countries in conflict, with is a much more reduced scope (especially since most of them speak the same language) than the multiple PLANETS that make up entire governments that are at odds. The entire scope of conflict is minimized and the production resembles the original Star Trek series with their bipedal alien species with different color skin.
There are some pronunciations that will drive Junkies bonkers, but at least it's consistent through the production. It may be a bit distracting, but doesn't detract from the overall presentation.
In the audiodrama style, foley effects abound. There are constant sound effects and music throughout the entire production, which I found a bit overwhelming. There are scenes where Quentin is walking down a hall - going probably a short distance - but because of all the narration going on "in his head", the effect of footfalls is played the entire time, which makes it sound like he's walking a lot farther than he really is. Similar effects are put into place for on-field football action (SO much grunting and hard collisions) and practice (grass underfoot sounds). Grav-cabs and shuttles have a consistent background whine that I didn't care for, but at least were consistent. Similarly, background noises such as doors opening, or crowds cheering, were pretty well done.
While listening, I found myself catching things that didn't sound right. After some investigation, I came to realize that this is not an unabridged reading of the book. This turned me off at first, but eventually i realized that this is not even advertised as such. This is an audio drama, akin to the way a book might be turned into a TV show or movie. We can all attest to the movies changing our favorite books significantly; it's simple economics - there just isn't enough time and money to 100% faithfully reproduce a book in visual form. Once I realized that, I enjoyed the overall performance more, and didn't sweat many of the differing details.
Some of those details, unfortunately, need sweating. There are some very awkward additions to dialog and scene that serve the function to foreshadow future productions, as well as supplement existing dialog. For instance, here's the passage from the book:
"Hokor leaned forward. The VR players faded away, leaving not only Quentin, but Denver and Milford as well. Hokor could scarcely believe his eyes (sic). The two Sklorno receivers ran back to Quentin and lined up for another play."
The audio drama adds this line to the above narration, in Hokor's voice: "Damn, kid! Well, all right..." Not gonna lie - I hate this additional line. It just doesn't feel right for Hokor. It should be noted, however, that I think the actor doing Hokor was about the best one in the bunch. He gave an absolutely fantastic performance, and one that I think even Junkies will appreciate.
Most of the cast did! Seriously - if they only would apply differentiating vocal effects to the characters, I think that would solve a LOT of problems. Some may NOT be solved only by that - Messal sounds like a butler - but it will go a long way.
In the process of reworking the book as an audiodrama script, here are some other weird things they did:
-Each "Weekly Roundup" is brought to you by a rotating crop of 3 or 4 sponsors, such as Aspen Beer (a product of the Weyland Yutani group!) and Gatorade (Gatorade - is it in you?).
-Most of the YA language is preserved, but they changed "Poop Sandwich" to "Shit Sandwich."
-Many of the Roundup narrative is re-tooled to "read" better, and it comes across just fine. Additional scenes have been added in the style of press-conference interviews. These are also just fine.
-The Galaxy's Greatest Sports Show has been renamed "Just a Minute"
-There is additional dialog added to a scene between Quentin and Gredok that foreshadows Gredok's plans to use Quentin's loyalty against him, and in which he praises Quentin for being a stone-cold negotiator badass.
So what's the bottom line? Once I got over the fact that this was akin to an adapted screenplay, it completely changed my perspective. I started looking at the the clever ways they addressed certain things. They changed the focus of the whole production to give a lot of time to on-field game performances, and reduced a lot of the ancillary plot threads and world-building. I think three of the book's five "Excerpts from..." were outright removed, and the only thing lost is perhaps the explanation of what the "Ki gather" is. The items that were removed really were given the same treatment that any other adaptation to film or TV might get, and as near as I can tell, nothing significant to this story (or upcoming productions) was eliminated.
I give this a solid 3 out of 5 stars. If they were to make a few changes for the production of THE STARTER, I definitely would adjust to 4 stars, and depending on how well they do it - possibly 5 stars. But I don't give out a lot of 5-star ratings. You have to listen to this performance with an open mind, and now that you have a little more information going into it, maybe it will be a little easier for you to enjoy.
As a fairly dedicated Junkie and fan of Sigler's work, I also hold the common fan opinion that it will be difficult to top Sigler's own narration of this, his flagship series, in which he turns out sublime performances, pouring his heart into each character, and giving great thought and careful consideration into the production of the audiobook. So it was with a skeptical ear I purchased the CDs (hey, you can't autograph an .mp3!).
After starting the first CD, my exuberance quickly declined. The most noticeable issue that hardcore Junkies will have is on the voice characterizations. The acting itself is really done quite well. However, the main focus of this series is the tension and cooperation between biologically different alien species. In the production of this audiodrama, there is no distinction between races - all species sound human. This has varying effects:
-Humans sound human; Heavy-G sound like deep-voiced humans. No real issues here.
-The Ki sound like a human trying to do an impression of Warner Bros' Tasmanian Devil, or Bill the Cat. They have no "English" dialog, so their gutteral communication sounds very odd.
-The Harrah are fine. There is a vocal effect to make the voice sound like it's coming through a speaker, and it works quite well.
-Gredok has an incredibly deep voice, which contradicts the diminutive impression of the physical description. I think one of the defining qualities of Quyth Leaders is the fact that they are the smallest of their species, yet they are incredibly intelligent and command fear and respect from Workers and Warriors. That nuance is lost in this performance.
-Stedmar Osborne, Manny Sayed, and other humans are all very well done. However, without attribution, which is completely stripped from this performance (all the "he said" and "said Quentin" text) - coupled with the huge cast of characters - sometimes makes it hard to discern who is speaking. I found this to be true mostly when the humans were talking with Quyth Warriors.
-The Quyth warriors are indistinguishable from humans, which (to me) downplays their menace.
-The Sklorno. Oy, what a wreck. The sklorno involved in this story are all female. So the producers decided to cast women in the roles. But the way that the sklorno speak makes these performers sound like they are speaking ina "Me Tarzan, you Jane" type of voice. They sound ridiculous, and I think a lot of Sklorno dialog has been cut from the performance altogether.
Scott Sigler's own production of this audiobook applied different vocal effects to the different species. The effects went a long way towards distinguishing species as well as characters. And in a book where species-conflict is so prevalent, homongenizing all of the characters into humans anthropomorphizes the entire cast of characters and makes it hard to relate any species tension. It ends up sounding like countries in conflict, with is a much more reduced scope (especially since most of them speak the same language) than the multiple PLANETS that make up entire governments that are at odds. The entire scope of conflict is minimized and the production resembles the original Star Trek series with their bipedal alien species with different color skin.
There are some pronunciations that will drive Junkies bonkers, but at least it's consistent through the production. It may be a bit distracting, but doesn't detract from the overall presentation.
In the audiodrama style, foley effects abound. There are constant sound effects and music throughout the entire production, which I found a bit overwhelming. There are scenes where Quentin is walking down a hall - going probably a short distance - but because of all the narration going on "in his head", the effect of footfalls is played the entire time, which makes it sound like he's walking a lot farther than he really is. Similar effects are put into place for on-field football action (SO much grunting and hard collisions) and practice (grass underfoot sounds). Grav-cabs and shuttles have a consistent background whine that I didn't care for, but at least were consistent. Similarly, background noises such as doors opening, or crowds cheering, were pretty well done.
While listening, I found myself catching things that didn't sound right. After some investigation, I came to realize that this is not an unabridged reading of the book. This turned me off at first, but eventually i realized that this is not even advertised as such. This is an audio drama, akin to the way a book might be turned into a TV show or movie. We can all attest to the movies changing our favorite books significantly; it's simple economics - there just isn't enough time and money to 100% faithfully reproduce a book in visual form. Once I realized that, I enjoyed the overall performance more, and didn't sweat many of the differing details.
Some of those details, unfortunately, need sweating. There are some very awkward additions to dialog and scene that serve the function to foreshadow future productions, as well as supplement existing dialog. For instance, here's the passage from the book:
"Hokor leaned forward. The VR players faded away, leaving not only Quentin, but Denver and Milford as well. Hokor could scarcely believe his eyes (sic). The two Sklorno receivers ran back to Quentin and lined up for another play."
The audio drama adds this line to the above narration, in Hokor's voice: "Damn, kid! Well, all right..." Not gonna lie - I hate this additional line. It just doesn't feel right for Hokor. It should be noted, however, that I think the actor doing Hokor was about the best one in the bunch. He gave an absolutely fantastic performance, and one that I think even Junkies will appreciate.
Most of the cast did! Seriously - if they only would apply differentiating vocal effects to the characters, I think that would solve a LOT of problems. Some may NOT be solved only by that - Messal sounds like a butler - but it will go a long way.
In the process of reworking the book as an audiodrama script, here are some other weird things they did:
-Each "Weekly Roundup" is brought to you by a rotating crop of 3 or 4 sponsors, such as Aspen Beer (a product of the Weyland Yutani group!) and Gatorade (Gatorade - is it in you?).
-Most of the YA language is preserved, but they changed "Poop Sandwich" to "Shit Sandwich."
-Many of the Roundup narrative is re-tooled to "read" better, and it comes across just fine. Additional scenes have been added in the style of press-conference interviews. These are also just fine.
-The Galaxy's Greatest Sports Show has been renamed "Just a Minute"
-There is additional dialog added to a scene between Quentin and Gredok that foreshadows Gredok's plans to use Quentin's loyalty against him, and in which he praises Quentin for being a stone-cold negotiator badass.
So what's the bottom line? Once I got over the fact that this was akin to an adapted screenplay, it completely changed my perspective. I started looking at the the clever ways they addressed certain things. They changed the focus of the whole production to give a lot of time to on-field game performances, and reduced a lot of the ancillary plot threads and world-building. I think three of the book's five "Excerpts from..." were outright removed, and the only thing lost is perhaps the explanation of what the "Ki gather" is. The items that were removed really were given the same treatment that any other adaptation to film or TV might get, and as near as I can tell, nothing significant to this story (or upcoming productions) was eliminated.
I give this a solid 3 out of 5 stars. If they were to make a few changes for the production of THE STARTER, I definitely would adjust to 4 stars, and depending on how well they do it - possibly 5 stars. But I don't give out a lot of 5-star ratings. You have to listen to this performance with an open mind, and now that you have a little more information going into it, maybe it will be a little easier for you to enjoy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review