A Mosaic Novel - Good Idea, Tough to Implement

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	• Ace in the Hole Spectra, 1990 average customer review:based on 21 reviews
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highly recommended

Mostly Good

I really enjoyed most of the stories, but as some people said some are better than others. The Lewis Shiner one especially bugged me, it didn't seem like it was written in the same world as the rest. It was annoying to be reading about people affected by the virus for 200 pages, then all of a sudden there's demonic possession and witchcraft. On top of that I just don't think Lewis Shiner is very good, his story was confusing and just not very interesting. I hope he doesn't contribute to the rest of series much. if he does I will probably skip his chapters.

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Super Reader

I have read this many times. Brilliant stuff. A duel between alien ships, an experiment gone wrong, at least from our point of view. Born out of a superhero gaming group, Wild Cards is a shared world anthology series, in the main.

An alien experimental virus is released on Earth after Jetboy, a famous fighter pilot hero fails to stop it. This is the first story in this anthology "Thirty Minutes Over Broadyway".

For those affected by the virus, 90 are killed, 9 are deformed in some mannter, and 1 is given some sort of superhuman or enhanced ability.

This causes chaos and carnage, and changes history forever.

Various elements of American history do still happen, and the HUAC terror still happens, as one story involving Dr Tachyon, an alien telepath who comes to Earth to try and help. This leads to the tragedy of Golden Boy and the Four Aces see "Witness" by Walter Jon Williams.

The Turtle, Croyd Crenson, Yeoman, Fortunato, Captain Trips and Puppetman all appear here.

It will take some of them working together to defeat a menace.

If you have any sort of interest in the subject, this book is a must read.

Wild Cards 01 : 01 Prologue - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 01 : 02 Thirty Minutes Over Broadway! - Howard Waldrop
Wild Cards 01 : 03 The Sleeper - Roger Zelazny
Wild Cards 01 : 04 Witness - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 01 : 05 Degradation Rites - Melinda M. Snodgrass
Wild Cards 01 : 06 Interlude One - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 01 : 07 Shell Games - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 01 : 08 Interlude Two - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 01 : 09 The Long Dark Night of Fortunato - Lewis Shiner
Wild Cards 01 : 10 Transfigurations - Victor Milán
Wild Cards 01 : 11 Interlude Three - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 01 : 12 Down Deep - Edward Bryant and Leanne C. Harper
Wild Cards 01 : 13 Interlude Four - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 01 : 14 Strings - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 01 : 15 Interlude Five - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 01 : 16 Comes a Hunter - John J. Miller
Wild Cards 01 : 17 Epilogue: Third Generation - Lewis Shiner
Wild Cards 01 : 18 Appendix - George R. R. Martin

Tachyon arrival denial.

3.5 out of 5

Jetboy: No Jolson, no Joy.

5 out of 5

Croyd Crenson waken, wedding shaken.

4.5 out of 5

Jack Braun, Four Aces Golden Judas Boy.

5 out of 5

Brain Trust no more.

4.5 out of 5

McCarthy's Wild Card Act disintegration.

3.5 out of 5

Turtle power, Tachyon cower. Team-up!

5 out of 5

Jokertown Clinic.

3.5 out of 5

Power discovered, evil uncovered.

5 out of 5

Lizard King glad Mark Meadows is Radical.

5 out of 5

Hiram's food is Aces High.

3.5 out of 5

Bag lady and cat lady discovers that there really are werealligators in the sewers, and the odd mafioso.

5 out of 5

Jokertown activist politics.

3.5 out of 5

Puppetman, killer manipulator.

4.5 out of 5

Aces! quotes.

3.5 out of 5

Yeoman roamin'.

5 out of 5

Kid Dinosaur.

4 out of 5

Wild Card science.

5 out of 5

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A Superb Start to the Series

This is the first book in the long-running Wild Cards series, edited by George R. R. Martin. Several authors contribute stories, which taken together form a "mosaic" novel.

This works better than you might think. The quality of these stories is very high, and while there are one or two rough spots, Martin's editing, ably assisted by Melinda Snodgrass, keeps the continuity smooth.

The premise is simple enough: In 1946, an alien virus is detonated over New York City. The Takisians decide to use Earth as a guinea pig to test this new weapon, and although one of their princes comes to Earth to prevent this, he fails.

90% of those exposed to the virus "draw the Black Queen" --- they die a horrible and painful death. 9% suffer horrific disfigurement --- these are the Jokers. And 1% develop supernormal abilities, and these are the aces.

Yes, this is superhero fiction, but it's much more sophisticated than the X-Men or the Heroes TV series. It's occasionally tongue in cheek, but it's much darker than you'd expect from a superhero story. It's graphically violent and sexually explicit, and a lot of the action is extremely grim. It's a strangely compelling world, a kind of funhouse mirror held up to our own world, dealing with serious drama while maintaining a light, breezy tone on the surface.

This first volume begins with a story by the eccentric genius Howard Waldrop, which contains some of the finest writing I've come across in 50 years of reading. The following stories develop the Wild Card universe from the late 40s until the late 80s, setting the stage for the later volumes, which are contemporary in setting.

You'll find some of the best science fiction ever published in this book, with everything good fiction offers: drama, suspense, tragedy, comedy, hope, fear, disappointment, love, sex, death and rebirth --- all in a world where people can fly and read minds and have super strength ... and so on.

George R. R. Martin contributes most of the connecting material that links the stories together, plus an excellent story of his own, but this is nothing like Song of Ice and Fire. As Martin's name is now being used to sell the books, some people may be surprised.

If you like superhero fiction, or fast paced adventure SF, this is for you. If you're reading it for the first time, I envy you.

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A Mosaic Novel - Good Idea, Tough to Implement

This review is for Volume 1 of Wild Cards.

In the 1980's in Albuquerque a group of role-players would gather to play Superworld, a game of comic book style superheroes. George R. R. Martin was the gamemaster and from those games an idea for a Mosaic Novel was born. This is a shared world adventure and many of the writers in this first volume of Wild Cards wrote stories with their game characters central.

The premise is that aliens release a virus on earth despite a heroic attempt by Jetboy to stop them. This virus mutates the humans it contacts - some become disfigured "jokers," some die, and some are transformed into "aces" with remarkable superpowers.

Together the stories work rather poorly as a novel, but as an anthology with common rules, a common setting and some shared characters it's quite interesting. The one disconcerting thing about the book is that when a common character (such as Dr. Tachyon, the one alien friendly to humans who tried to stop the viral release) is portrayed by these various strong-willed writers their personalities change dramatically and the cohesion is lost. I found myself empathizing with Dr. Tachyon in one chapter, despising him in another, pitying him in yet another and wishing for his merciful death in various points. The development was inconsistent and subsequently I had to embrace the idea that the stories were more isolated than interlinked.

That isn't to say I didn't enjoy the book. I did, and I'll read more in this series. It's my understanding that there are a dozen published already with three more in the works. The talent is obvious, the words well-crafted, well-edited, and the short stories are captivating. I'd perhaps enjoy it more if there were less shared plotlines and characters.

This first book has chapters by Roger Zelazny, Stephen Leigh, Edward Bryant, Howard Waldrop, Lewis Shiner, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Walter Jon Williams, Leanne C. Harper, Victor Milán, John J. Miller. Can you imagine sitting down to some gaming sessions with those people? With George RR Martin as gamemaster?

I recommend it.

- CV Rick

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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.

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