An International Wild Card Novel

books:


	• Aces Abroad (Wild Cards, Book 4) George R.R. Martin Spectra, 1988 average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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hooray the W.H.O. tour!...

I LOVED this book in the series, because it explores (for the first time) how Wild Cards affected the rest of the world. We get to travel along with a World Health Organization Fact-Finding Mission, charged with documenting the global affect of Wild Cards. And through their eyes, we get to see how cultures around the world changed and evolved as a result of the virus; I found that was really the final detail I needed to flesh out the Wild Cards universe in my head as a complete alternate reality. The Wild Cards were alive for me after the first three books, but after this one, they were talking to me. =;>

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Not as good as the others

I have to admit, I was looking forward to reading about how the wildcard virus affected the rest of the world, and I guess a fact finding tour is a decent way to work it into the universe, but the premise seemed forced. Maybe the authors intended it that way; or maybe I'm a bit to cynical, but it seems like there would be a more creative way to fit Hartman in with the rest of the wildcard supers.

I liked the ideas that the book seemed to be reaching for...but in most cases the writing seemed flat and the tie-ins between the episodes felt awkward as well. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the Diamond entries.

What really interested me was the possibility of some of the storylines where they are not shoehorned into the world of Tachyon and company. The idea of a joker nation in central america and the Russian superagent seem like they could really take off if explored further. I'm hoping that they are in future books.

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Super Reader

Politics come to the forefront in the fourth Wild Cards book, as the World Health Organisation organises a fact finding junket to find out what impact the Wild Card Virus is having around the world.

There is also a story with an Australian flavor, "Down In The Dreamtime".

Senator Gregg Hartman, secretly 'Puppetman', a mind controlling ace. Along with his own plotting, his is caught up in violence and the plans of Ti Malice, a joker/ace with control powers of its own.

Wild Cards 04 : 01 The Tint of Hatred Prologue - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 04 : 02 The Journal of Xavier Desmond November 30 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 03 The Tint of Hatred One - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 04 : 04 The Journal of Xavier Desmond December 01 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 05 Beasts of Burden - John J. Miller
Wild Cards 04 : 06 The Journal of Xavier Desmond December 08 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 07 The Tint of Hatred Two - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 04 : 08 Blood Rights - Leanne C. Harper
Wild Cards 04 : 09 The Journal of Xavier Desmond December 15 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 10 The Tint of Hatred Three - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 04 : 11 The Journal of Xavier Desmond December 29 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 12 The Tint of Hatred Four - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 04 : 13 The Journal of Xavier Desmond January 16 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 14 Down by the Nile - Gail Gerstner-Miller
Wild Cards 04 : 15 The Journal of Xavier Desmond January 30 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 16 The Tint of Hatred Five - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 04 : 17 The Journal of Xavier Desmond February 07 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 18 The Teardrop of India - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 04 : 19 Down in the Dreamtime - Edward Bryant
Wild Cards 04 : 20 The Journal of Xavier Desmond March 14 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 21 Zero Hour - Lewis Shiner
Wild Cards 04 : 22 The Journal of Xavier Desmond March 21 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 23 The Journal of Xavier Desmond April 10 - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 04 : 24 Puppets - Victor W. Milán
Wild Cards 04 : 25 Mirror of the Soul - Melinda M. Snodgrass
Wild Cards 04 : 26 Legends - Michael Cassutt
Wild Cards 04 : 27 The Journal of Xavier Desmond April 27 - George R. R. Martin

Sister spots Succubus via Hartmann on tv.

3.5 out of 5

Considers his cancer and the WHO tour.

3 out of 5

Nur's family discussions of ambition, and Hartmann meets a Morgenstern ghost.

3.5 out of 5

The Deck is Stacked.

4 out of 5

Ti Malice gets a lift in Haiti.

5 out of 5

Discusses poet's political putdown and departure, and the minimal joker tour representation.

4 out of 5

Yucatan joker sacrifice news as Sara digs further at Hartmann.

4 out of 5

Mayan Hero Twins' powers seen as religious calling, put to good military use.

4 out of 5

Pondering the Guatemalan joker nation, and the possibilities of a Wild Card in politics.

4 out of 5

The dangers of Rio as Puppetman is loose, and the Nur's hero is impotent.

4 out of 5

Golden Boy not popular in Argentina.

3 out of 5

Sara comes across multiple apartheid.

3 out of 5

Ace powers can't stop droughts or AIDS.

3.5 out of 5

Pregnant Peregrine's power loss means she is no help during an attack on the Egyptian Living Gods. Father revealed.

4 out of 5

Jerusalem Jokertown horrible, as Xavier meets with the Black Dog and talks about opposing the Nur's fanatics.

3.5 out of 5

Puppetman scared as Hartmann feels the Nur's power, and violence erupts.

4 out of 5

Desmond and Braun visit monuments to heroes.

3.5 out of 5

Jayewardene makes surprising discovery about the identity of the King Kong now in Colombo.

4 out of 5

Cajun Cordelia, media girl, gets Dreamtime adventure with Wyungare.

4 out of 5

Paparazzi punchout, as Australia proves a pleasant change.

3 out of 5

Fortunato helps Hiram and others out of Yakuza ace problem.

3.5 out of 5

Jokertown sexual self-loathing.

3.5 out of 5

Desmond wonder what became of the Envoy and his secret peace work.

3.5 out of 5

Mackie the Knife and Gimli the dwarf come for Hartmann. Lucky for some of the others the Harlem Hammer was around.

4 out of 5

Tach and Jack have to come to an understanding France over bombs and Blaise.

3.5 out of 5

Cold war spooks and aces linger.

4 out of 5

A last message as tempers fray at the end of the tour.

3.5 out of 5

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An International Wild Card Novel

Aces Abroad is exactly what the title says - American Aces going outside of the US. A delegation of Aces, Jokers, and Nats( all in a Boeing 747 names The Stacked Deck), goes abroad to see the situation of aces outside the US. They go to South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe - in short, a 'round the world' tour. After three books that focused on the US, the much needed international perspective to the story was finally given. Perhaps the highlight of the books was the return of Greg Hartmann, masterfully written by Stephen Leigh. I really liked Leigh's Strings in the first Wild Card book, and his story here, is every bit as well written, and if it isn't as tense, that's a fault of the narration, not opf the author - but wait, we'll get there. Other things worth mentioning - for the first time we get a Joker perpective. Both the continous Journal of Xavier Desmond, and John Miller's story, have an Joker narrater(Des and chrytalis, respectively). We also get answers to several nagging questions - about the Huge Ape with the passion for Blonds, about Tachyon's past, and best of all - a little more information about the Envoy. Priceless. The average level of story telling was rather high. I thought there were only 1 stincker in that pack - Down in Dreamtime, a terrible story about Jack the Aligator Man's niece. I must admit I forgot her name. Ok, but what's wrong witht he books? The greatest complain is the lack of real plot. We get basically adventures. The Stacked Deck arrives at a country, bad stuff happends. then it arrives at a new country, and a new aqdvanture starts. There's little feeling of a continuous story, despite some attempts there. Especially bothering is the fact that at the end, all the stories seem to be about Terrorists. That was somewhat of an overkill. Tachyon, for one, becomes annoying. I won't spoil anything, but he turns out more and more annoying. Snodgrass writes a nice story about him, but I don't like the direction they're taking the character. A Final complaint is that George R R Martin doesn't write a story for the book, but only the journal of Desmond, which isn't good enough for a Martin fan like me. Overall, this is a strong volume. Not as strong as ACES HIGH, maybe, but stronger then JOKERS WILD and then WILD CARDS. If you like the wild Card series, this is a good addition.

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What would our world be like if superhuman heroes and villains had been real flesh-and-blood men and women who lived through the 20th century's most turbulent history? In Wild Cards 4: Aces Abroad, a fact-finding mission seeks the truth about how Wild Cards are treated in other nations. From the jungles of Haiti to the Great Wall of China and behind the Iron Curtain, the Wild Cards team investigates the fate of their fellow Aces and Jokers everywhere.

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