George R.R. Martin
Paperback | Pages: 432 pages Rating: 3.7 | 11147 Users | 935 Reviews
Define Appertaining To Books Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1)
| Title | : | Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1) |
| Author | : | George R.R. Martin |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 432 pages |
| Published | : | December 1st 2007 by iBooks (first published December 1st 1986) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Science Fiction. Fiction. Short Stories. Comics. Superheroes. Anthologies |
Commentary To Books Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1)
A kind editor pointed GRRM my way when he decided to have a Wild Cards book set in the UK and wanted more British authors on board. Actually as a dual national I'm half American, but I've spent 90%+ of my life here. Anyway, Wild Cards is a franchise spanning 30+ years in real time and 60+ years in book time, and sprawls over 23 (& counting volumes). The good thing is that although all that alternate history and the cast of characters are there to be used, most of the books (all of which comprise a collection of short stories) stand well on their own, as do the stories within them. And the underlying idea of the whole thing can be delivered in a couple of lines. In 1940(ish) an alien virus is released. It infects a few thousand or tens of thousands then fades away, with new outbursts down the years. 90% of those catching it die, 9% are horribly deformed, and 1% are largely untouched but gain super powers. Simple! So, in preparation for writing my 15,000 word story for Knaves Over Queens, book 27, I read book 1. It's set in the 40s, 50's and 60s, following the aftermath of the first outbreak and the progress of some of those new "super heroes" along with the social impact of their activities and of the far more numerous "Jokers" (those who end up sick and deformed) who form a persecuted underclass and mostly live in ghettos. There is a focus on real American political events of the period, re-imagined through the lens of the virus. The political ramifications and events are not discarded but build through the series, giving it a persistent and realistic history that is absent in other superhero franchises where the board is reset regularly and consequences largely forgotten. The political focus can make this first book rather dry, especially for younger readers for whom time has moved the events from recent(ish) history to something more distant and academic. I found the quality of the short stories to be enormously variable. This is true of many anthologies, and I guess of many collections of books you might randomly pull off the shelf. It's been a while since I read it so I can't go into detail. I remember GRRM's own contribution as being very entertaining, and that the story by the late Roger Zelzany (whose books I like a lot) left me somewhat disappointed. But that's part of the joy of collections, the authors can experiment and you never know what to expect. You get highs with the lows and it's definitely worth giving it a try. You're not committing to a 30 book series here, since armed with the basics you can dive into any of the volumes as you please. It's an exciting and highly imaginative project with some very different takes on the whole superhero (& villain) idea. Well worth it. And of course the volume my story appears in is a must read! Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes .....Particularize Books Toward Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1)
| Original Title: | Wild Cards |
| ISBN: | 1596872829 (ISBN13: 9781596872820) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Wild Cards #1 |
| Literary Awards: | Locus Award Nominee for Best Anthology (1987) |
Rating Appertaining To Books Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1)
Ratings: 3.7 From 11147 Users | 935 ReviewsCrit Appertaining To Books Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1)
A kind editor pointed GRRM my way when he decided to have a Wild Cards book set in the UK and wanted more British authors on board. Actually as a dual national I'm half American, but I've spent 90%+ of my life here.Anyway, Wild Cards is a franchise spanning 30+ years in real time and 60+ years in book time, and sprawls over 23 (& counting volumes).The good thing is that although all that alternate history and the cast of characters are there to be used, most of the books (all of whichI have explained in the past that I am not a massive fan of short story collections but there is an exception to every rule. In my opinion, The Wild Cards novels are the best ongoing series of short stories available today. When I heard that Tor Books was re-releasing the first novel I felt compelled to immediately start re-reading my old copy.How best to describe the concept of Wild Cards? The quick answer would be imagine an alternative Earth where an alien virus has been released and as a
I first heard of this book a few years ago when I read GRRM: A RRetrospective which included one of George R. Martins contributions to the first volume. Ever since that little glimpse I was hooked and wanted to read more. Finally I got my hands on a copy.Wild Cards is set in an alternate reality which broke away in the 1940's just after WW2. An alien virus was released over Manhattan which could affect people in one of 3 ways - kill them (90%), mutate them into a deformed creature (called a
You never know what youre getting with an anthology, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Its coherent, with a strong throughline and a unique and thought-provoking take on both superheroes and especially post-WWII America. In short, I liked itquite a bit. However, after mulling on it overnight, I had to deduct a star just because I also feel its ultimately takes an extremely degrading approach to women. The majority of the authors and characters are male, which I have no problem with,
This was immensely enjoyable! I was dubious going in just because of it's structure: A universe created by George R. R. Martin with many different authors writing their own stories that Martin then edits together and it's all supposed to make sense and not be uneven? Sure...right.Well say what you will about that tubby, hat wearing, Stark killing, guy but he (they) really pulled it off. I'll do reviews of each segment and then wrap up at the end.Prologue by George R. R. Martin: This does a great
This series first came to my attention with the free short story on Tor.com, "The Thing About Growing Up in Jokertown" Read my review of it here if you like.---At the time I read the above short story and was adding Fort Freak to my wishlist, I hadn't realized it was a series (wasn't paying attention, oops).. and was a little wary of how many books there were but decided to give it a shot anyways.Very glad I did :).Many people are fascinated by superpowers/superheroes (Xmen, Wonder Woman,
Amazing plot, but I didnt like the execution.I absolutely loved the story (which is why I gave it 4 stars). It reminded me of The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson, which is one of my favourite series of all time. People with supernatural powers, Government, X-Men+Chronicle. What more do you need?For a while it was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was perfect, things were developing slowly. It was an atypical story (Im talking about the alternative history and the way the powers manifested
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