Wild Cards (Volume 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Rumors of a secret "ace" among the delegates to the 1988 Democratic convention threaten to undermine the "jokers' rights" movement espoused by charismatic politician Gregg Hartmann. The latest installment in the popular "Wild Cards" series offers nonstop action and an emotionally appealing group of superheroes (and supervillains). Explicit sex and graphic violence, however, may limit its general appeal. Recommended where the series has a following.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The alien virus arrived on Earth just after World War II -- and the world was never the same. For those who become infected, there are two results: death, or transformation. And depending on the recipient, death is sometimes the preferable outcome. Only a few lucky ones become superhuman "aces" as a side effect of the virus; the rest are turned into horrible, grotesque "jokers." It's a strange and wonderful, terrible and terrifying world where anything can go. A world that, in a twist of fate, could lie just outside your door.

A world of Wild Cards. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam; Reissue edition (December 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553261908
• ISBN-13: 978-0553261905
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #347,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A golden oldie, February 6, 2002

By	Killer Shrike (San Diego, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Cards (Wild Cards, Book 1) (Volume One) (v. 1) (Paperback)

I read this series when it was originally released. I wasnt happy with where the series eventually ended up late in the series, but the earlier works are fond favorites.

People buying this book (or others in the series) because they are fans of GRRMartins Song of Ice and Fire series are likely to be disapointed due to misaligned expectations.

The only thing this series has in common with the Song of Ice and Fire is a gritty certainty that favorite characters will get killed....or worse, and the use of widely scattered often disconnected characters and plotlines that sometimes may cross but also might never. Further, as this is a 'mosaic' novel, GRRMartin isnt the sole proprietor of the stories.

Treated as a seperate entity from GRRMartin's more recent series, the Wild Cards series is a fairly unique and often brilliant body of work. Due to its nature, not all of the short stories will appeal to everyone; to be sure there are stories and story arcs that dont appeal to me either.

Regardless, taken as a whole the series is really something special. Its similar to a massive wall mural which cant be appreciated from up close; you have to pull back abit and look at it in its entirety to fully appreciate the overall effect.

The strength of the series lays in its deft characterizations. Some of my favorite fictional characters are from this series; the Turtle, Croyd Crenson (the Sleeper), Golden Boy, Mackie Messer, Carnifex, Mr Nobody, Jumpin Jack Flash (et al), Kid Dinosaur.....the list goes on and on.

The series really picks up in the second book, but the 1st is where all of the necessary background resides.

Unfortunately, the books are being released in a grossly overpriced large softbound edition; my advice it to find the original paperbacks in a used book store.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic new world of heroes!, March 27, 2003

By	Blake Petit "Novelist, Comixtreme.com columni... (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Wild Cards (Wild Cards, Book 1) (Volume One) (v. 1) (Paperback)

A month ago (as of this writing) I'd never ever heard of this series, but now I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume. George R.R. Martin has assembled some fantastic writers to concoct an entire universe of "Wild Card" superheroes that parallels our own world even moreso than the worlds of Marvel and DC Comics which serve as much of the inspiration.

Here's the concept -- in the days after World War II a bomb went off in the skies above New York City, blanketing the people in a virus. Most of them died. Some, the "jokers" underwent a terrible transformation. A select few drew "aces" -- superpowers without a deformity.

Each writer in this collection (an intriguing device martin calls a "Mosaic Novel") tells the story of an ace or joker of his or her creation. All of the stories stand on their own, although many feel very much like a chapter in a longer tale (John J. Miller's "Comes the Hunter" especially) and I hope these threads are picked up in the later books.

As with any collection of diverse writers, some stories are better than others. Martin's own "Shell Games" is my favorite in this volume -- I could have done without the sewer tale, "Down Deep." Even with that lesser story, the concept and execution is wonderful -- I for one am hoping Martin deals out a few more Wild Cards in the future.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reprint, November 7, 2002

By	"t_i_r" (Frederick, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Cards (Wild Cards, Book 1) (Volume One) (v. 1) (Paperback)

This is a reprint of the first book in the Wild Cards series. When I first read the original many, many years ago, I became absolutely enthralled with the characters and the unique style of storytelling. The Wild Cards series is made up of predominantly "Mosaic Novels", meaning that each novel is comprised of short stories written by different writers, each from the point of view of their own characters in the Wild Cards universe, but all the short stories taken together comprise one whole META-story, if you will. When I finished this first book, I began a frantic search to find the rest of the series (they were out of print before I had even read the first book) that took me several years. And, to my surprise, I found that this book, as amazing as it was, wasn't even one of the best in the series! But, it's very important, as it portrays the events that seperate the Wild Cards universe from our own reality, and therefore is ALMOST essential to fully experience the Wild Cards. Most of the series I had ended up borrowing and have never been able to find for sale, so I was overjoyed when I found out they were reprinting it. The reprints contain some really nice art to illustrate the tale as you go along (the best art I have seen of the Wild Cards so far), and they make this book worth the purchase, even if you already own the original printing.