Pop Culture References

Scott Sigler is a child of the 80s. He has put a number of references to pop culture into his books. This list will attempt to identify them.

Novels

The All-Pro

• After Quentin shoots and destroys a pirate ship:

"I got him!" Quentin said. "I got him!"
"Great, Quentin," Virak said. "Do not grow overconfident."

This is a reference to the scene in Star Wars when Luke shoots a TIE fighter and has pretty much the same conversation with Han.

• Tarat the Smasher tells Akbar,

"Akbar, you are starting to make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

This is a nod to a line by David Banner in The Incredible Hulk TV show.

The MVP

• The Prawatt play The Game, which is an on-ground version of Quidditch, from the Harry Potter books.
• After Quentin answers, "No, I'm not!" to a Sklorno priestess who asks him is he is their Godling. Don Pine pulls Quentin aside and says,

"When someone asks you if you are a godling, you say YES."

This is a reference to a scene in Ghostbusters.

• Virak says to Choto:

I despise these primitive screw heads.

"Primitive screwheads" is a phrase from Army of Darkness, though the actual phrasing is a little different.

• When Quentin Barnes sees Jeanine Carbonaro dressed as a Buddha City Station trooper:

"Quentin smiled at her. 'Aren't you a little small to be a Green?"

This is a reference to the scene in Star Wars when Leia first sees Luke dressed as a stormtrooper.

The Champion

• The bar where Quentin and the others ended their pub crawl around Neptune is called Kessell's Run. This is a reference to the scene in Star Wars when Han is incredulous that Ben and Luke have never heard of the Millennium Falcon.
• Paul "Bandit" Preston is killed in the attack on Bord

“Paulisdead Paulisdead Paulisdead,” Denver said, her tone sad for once.

This is a reference to the Paul is Dead hoax about The Beatles' Paul McCartney in 1969.

Novellas

The Reporter

• Yolanda Davenport is desperately searching for an escape route:

Yolanda again looked right — no way out — and then left — no way out there, either. She had only seconds.
“Follow me if you want to live,” she said.

This is a reference to the Terminator franchise. Like Star Wars' I've got a bad feeling about this, the phrase appears in multiple Terminator movies.

• Turon the Ugly is holding a welder aloft, threatening to burn Yolanda Davenport to get information out of her.

“You don’t need that,” she said. “I’ll tell you everything.”
“I know you will.” He walked out from behind the desk, the flame still hissing from the welder.
He walked closer.
She pulled harder, as hard as she could, but it was no use. The trembling increased. They were going to burn her?

This is a reference to the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (from 1:57 to 2:12), between Marion Ravenwood and Toht.

References

(hardcover, unless otherwise noted)

Clarence Otto, in Pandemic: “Everybody out!” he screamed as he stumbled around to the other side. “Move, move! Get to the chopper!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs_OacEq2Sk

This is, I believe, a shoutout to the scene in Predator where Arnie calmly advises someone to get aboard the helicopter.

Adeolu Adebayo This one's not quite old school, rather more pop cultural/thematic:

In The Champion, Quentin winds up on the cover of Madden near the beginning of the book. He then (SUPER SPOILER) has a career ending injury at the end. ...See More QUENTIN BARNES SCRAMBLED out of the pocket, and Quentin Barnes gave chase. The first Quentin Barnes was the hologame version, the stat-maxed cover boy star of the just-released Madden 2686. When it had come out, Quentin had been shocked to see a bloody, snarling, nine-fingered version of himself featured as the game’s main image. The cover of Madden? Him? He’d barely been able to believe his own eyes. It was an honor comparable only to that of league MVP, because it meant that sentients all over the galaxy thought that you were the best player in existence.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/madden-nfl-curse-cover-athlete-ranked-least-most-seasons-2018-051217

Daryl Delancey From contagious: Dew cant keep up with Perry, he says, "I'm too old for this crap." Lethal weapon.

Mike King Not 80s, but there is, Ju Teeety saying, "Practice. You're talking about Practice, not a game, practice" a la Iverson. And there is also Jim Mora's, "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Playoffs?" Mike King John Vizcarra https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI Mike King John Vizcarra https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwq7BYOnDrM John Vizcarra Thanks for those, Mike. So where in the books are these referenced? (Asking for a wiki friend...) Mike King John Vizcarra The Iverson is in The Starter shortly after Ju joins the team. I don't have access to my kindle now. The Mora I think is in the Champion. John Vizcarra Mike King found it in the starter, Chapter 12:

“Ju laughed. “Practice? What are we talkin’ about, man... practice? Not a game, not a game... we talkin’ about practice? I save it for the games, Q.”

EXCELLENT catch, Mike! I looked for the playoffs one, but couldn't find it. If you can find it at some point, that'd be great.

Daryl Delancey Contagious. When Ogden is being "converted" a few platoon references.

John Vizcarra This one is fairly obvious, but in the MVP when we first meet the Prawatt, Captain Kate makes a comment about how absurd it would be for a starship captain to board another vessel or go down to a strange planet. She is basically making fun of the Captain-Kirk-as-part-of-away-team from the original Star Trek series. Which is made all the more fun by Sigler effecting a Shatner-esque speaking style for the Prawatt Captain. Good times.

Who else caught the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references in The All-Pro? So long and thanks for all the fish

MVP: "Are you saying that if you do this thing fo rme, someday you'll ask me for a favor?" Oh, he liked the way that sounded. "That day may never come, but yes. I haven't agreed to help you, but if I choose to do what you ask, then you will owe me." --possibly referring to Godfather.

Petra is a fan of Harry Potter.

Curtis Dustin Don't forget the Pac man reference in the champion. One of the bodysuit patterns

MVP: “the rag-tag, fugitive fleet of the Sklorno” - battlestar galactica

D. Marie Darrow In the All-Pro, Quentin is yelling at Tom Pareless in practice and when Pareless says he's trying, Q says "There is no try!" Obvious Yoda reference. (Pg129 The All-Pro)