Customer Reviews

Wild Cards (v. 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Martin provided in Wilds Cards a new universe for writers to explore superheroes. The assemblage of authors in this first collection of stories set in his Wild Card universe is truly great.

The first story creates the setting, as an alien virus is released into the air above New York City despite the best efforts of a WWII ace hero. This is the jumping off point for the subsequent stories, which advance the story forward in time successively.

Zelazny's story is the prize of this collection, creating an Ace (a person afflicted by the alien virus and receiving powers instead of deformation, while those deformed are Jokers) who reappears and is mentioned in the later stories. A little boy is forced into adulthood, and the conclusion really hits home.

Other stories detail Aces with powers of different sorts. Some have their powers dormant only to be activated by chance, while others work to develop their powers to become like their comic book heroes of youth. Some are criminals, some are just regular people who have to deal with the card that fate drew for them.

There are several interludes that take the form of news excerpts through the years, to rationalize the events of the day or explain in scientific terms the nature of the powers that Aces demonstrate. There are a couple stories that I feel are only so-so, which kept this review from a fifth star, but I have obtained the second collection eagerly to read more.

The demons of LJ and Bookcrossing (otherwise known as "those people who tell me of too many good books") told me about this one. It's an Science Fiction anthology about the introduction into Earth of an alien virus, just after World War II. This virus, which has major (and varied) genetic effects, is quickly named 'the Wild Card virus.'

Of those who encounter a Wild Card particle (it's not contagious, just floating around for you to breathe in or drink up or...), nine out of ten draw the Black Queen (so to speak) and die. Of the one in ten that survive, nine in then of those suffer genetic affects that leave them like freakshow carnival subjects - insectlike, lizardlike, or otherwise of obvious mutant ugly stature. They're said to have drawn a Joker. Now, those other one in the ten who survive, they're the ones who drew an Ace - they get, for lack of a better way of putting it - powers.

The chronology of the series is superb - the Ace/Joker/Wild Card impact on the McCarthy era, for example, was very well done. The stories lead further and further toward the contemporary era, and the characterization of the various Aces and Jokers is a joy to read.

So, if you're at all into science fiction in a contemporary or recent historical setting, this is the stuff for you.

'Nathan

I'm still in the process of tracking down some of the later episodes in this multi-author, multi-book saga, but you can't go wrong with this first volume. (Last I checked, there were SIXTEEN books in the series.) It introduces the "Aces" (advantageously-mutated humans) and the "Jokers" (disadvantageously-mutated humans) who live in New York in the last half of the 20th century. After a catastrophic viral incident in 1946, the mutant "wild cards" respond in different ways to their fates, and the stories here are always entertaining. Best for me is the first story by the irrepressible Howard Waldrop, in which he gets the ball rolling. But all are excellent. This is entertaining, well-written, and thought-provoking SF with pulp overtones (Martin tells us early of his love for the great comic book heroes), and you may find yourself working yourself through the many volumes with as much enthusiasm as me...

There is something to be said for short stories and anthologies.
Sometimes a spooky idea is just that, spooky. It doesn't need to be stretched out, ala King style.
Or a smart SCIFI theme that is original and quick to the point doesn't always need to be a miniseries.

But the Wild Cards takes this another step. Set against the events from our own history- a very snappy plot, spread across the years and told each decade by a different author.

Some chapters were a little hollow, most were top notch.

Overall, I really enjoyed this great SCIFI / Fantasy work.

Do you remember how much you enjoyed reading your favorite superhero comics when you were 11? Then you grew up, and lost it. But now the magic is back: these books will make you feel in the same way even if now you've graduated, you've got a family and maybe you've already lost that also, you're a responsible grown-up in every sense. And the good thing is that these stories take place in the same time when you were becoming what you are now, and reading them will give you a new perspective on the way things were.
The "Wild Cards" series is an alternate history of the second half of the XX century, in a world where superheroes really start to exist after the second world war and they find themselves at the center of the most important events in these last decades from Korea to Vietnam, with gems like McCarthy against communist superheroes, the ascent of a pervert politician with the secret power to manipulate people, comments in the style of Tom Wolfe, the Lizard King charming his audience through lysergic hallucinations until a reactionary Polish superhero fights back, a nerd Berkeley student who turns into random superheroes when he takes drugs. And all this just as a start.
You better buy this book and all the sequels at once, because all George R.R. Martin's books always become cult classics, and there's no way to find them unless they are reprinted. This guy is really a very gifted storyteller, and here he proves to be also an excellent editor: not all contributors are on the same level, but he manages to make it all feel organic, and not just a bunch of separate tales. A grand parade of editorial techniques that make this project a paradigm for mosaic novels. It's a pity that there are "only" 15 novels... I'd love to see these guys in action even in this new troubled millennium, and certainly there'd be no shortage of inspiring events.

I originally read this book when it first came out, so that would have made me...sixteen when I read it. At the time, I was deep into comic books, and was very much looking forward to reading a book about superheroes.
I remember coming away disappointed. This book was pretty short on action. Supervillans? Sort of, but not the sort I was used to. In short, it was boring to me.

Fast forward to today, and I'm thirty-four. In my heart, I'm still looking for superheroes. I'm looking for a chance to indulge my fantasies of being large than life. Would I be bored again?

Wildcards is a collection of short stories in a universe created by George RR Martin in which an alien virus transforms ordinary humans into altered beings by changing their genetic code. Most who catch the virus die, those who survive are mostly mutated into horrible forms known as jokers, and a few lucky ones get dealt an ace, turning them into real superheroes.
An observation on the universe; the beauty is in the simplicity. No spoilers here, but the explination of why the virus comes to earth is perfectly simple in my mind. Keeping that side of the story simple so as not to distract the readers from the meat of the story, but also open-ended enough to take a plotline or two into. Since I haven't read any more of the book in the series yet, I don't know if this has been done or not, but the opportunity is there.

Each story follows a brief moment in the life of one of those affected by the virus, although many of the stories are tied together by the characters and events of others. Reading these stories again, I enjoyed them much more as an adult. There was action there when I read it as a kid; I was just too immature to recognize it. Suffice to say, the characters are real people, and none are perfect. I admire that.
Something else I enjoyed about the stories is how they wind the Wildcards universe around our own, changing the events to be more in line with the political and social situation in the book.
For example, the "riots" at the Democratic National Convention in 1968 was changed from anti-war protests to Joker's rights protests. There are many examples of this in the book, so it might appeal to the alternate history fans. I know it did for me!
Overall the writing was excellent. As I noted before, many of the stories have mentions or influnce on the others, but you could definately get a feel for the focus of the individual authors and their writing styles. I think Witness by John Walter Williams may have been my personal favorite, but I can't think of one that I didn't enjoy.

I am certainly glad I went back and reread this book. I've already purchased the next two books in the series, and we'll see if the momentum is sustained. I highly recommend this book for any sci-fi\superhero fan.

Finally a refreashing drink in any otherwise desert of fiction writting. These stories are a little bit on the old side but they really have lost none of their punch. Very good

Now I have to be honest the reason I brought these stories because of George RR Martin but there is not a dull one in the bunch let me tell you.

Overall-Very well constructed the new bread of Aces and Jockers fit almost seemlessly into a landscape of The Red Scare, Nazi Hunts and the fight for civil liberties. You can tell these poeple had fun when they were writting these stories and in the end that counts for a lot.

I have to pick up the other volumes in this serise, you should too.

YAY! Republished! A friend loaned me the first 3 books YEARS ago (I still haven't returned the first one.)Recently my husband was whining he didn't have anything to read, so I tossed it at him. Yesterday he came to me and said "I need more!!!!!" while holding the finnished book, we went to B&N and Borders, neither had any of them, so I prommised to serch AMAZON for them. He's going to be soo happy to see the legnth of the wish list, but not the price :) but thats what to expect.

I have always loved the what if story lines, especialy the "golden age" ones IF anyone is reading this review because they are wondering, then stop thinking and BUY!!!!!! You know you want it!. Just keep in mind these are antholigys of short stories, not a full book story.

What really got me about this series (and this first book in particular) is that "What If?" factor of everyday superheroes being introduced to the world during World War II. This first book is amazing in that it tells the stories of the Jokers and Aces in different times, through the ages. One can be completely satisfied reading this stand-alone book of short stories or continue reading the series (which unfortunately deteriorated as it went on).

When I first read this book as a teenager, it truly changed my reading habits and influenced my interests. It comes highly recommended even years later.