The Wild Cards saga is vast at this point, and may seem like an intimidating fictional milieu to attempt entering. We fans have known for years that a deep dive into the series’ complex continuity is well worth the effort, and the rewards are myriad. Still, a stack of 28 novels (and counting) is surely daunting for even a more-voracious-than-average reader. A few notes might be helpful in removing the intimidation factor inherent to a continuing literary serial comprising more than 10,000 pages, featuring a couple hundred characters, and crafted by more than 40 different authors (collectively known as the Wild Cards consortium).
What Is It?
The series is what’s sometimes called a “shared world”—i.e., a single fictional universe to which a multitude of different writers can contribute characters, concepts and narratives. Though the authors and the fans tend to refer to every book as a novel, many Wild Cards volumes are more along the lines of an anthology: a collection of short stories by different authors, albeit always tightly linked. A quintessential example is Vol. 4: Aces Abroad. This book’s premise involves a group of delegates participating in an around-the-world tour. Each individual story is by a different writer; focuses on a different member of the delegation; and, furthermore, is set in a different country from the tales that precede or follow. Thus, Aces Abroad is inarguably a short story anthology – yet its interconnected nature gives it the depth and breadth of a single novel. The best of both worlds, one might argue.
The Premise
The Wild Cards novels are set in what is recognizably our world, but a version wherein history diverged beginning in the year 1946. On September 15th of that year, an alien genetic virus was unleashed upon the planet, forever transforming humanity. From that day forward, anyone infected with what was dubbed the “wild card” virus had the potential to become a malformed mutant, or to develop a superhuman ability – or both, in many instances.
The Slang
Each new volume tends to catch the reader up on the card-playing parlance associated with the wild card virus, but here’s a handy guide anyway.
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A Wild Cards Collection: Books I-V
An “ace” is a person who possesses a superpower (or several); the term can also be applied to the talent itself, e.g. “Her ace was the ability to shoot lasers from her fingertips.”
A deuce is essentially an ace, but the superhuman power in question is perhaps not the most potent or impressive. The ability to bring water to a boil telekinetically, for example.
A joker is someone whose body was twisted by the virus. Joker mutations can often be painful, and are generally considered unsightly. That said, occasionally a joker “deformity” is beautiful or somehow physically impressive.
The term “black queen” denotes death via wild card; essentially this is a “joker” mutation, but one so extreme as to be fatal – i.e., the bones of one’s skeleton enlarging to the point where they break free of the skin containing them.
The recent novel Vol. 27: Knaves Over Queens has given us a new classification: In Wild Cards Britain, the term “knave” refers to someone who is a joker in terms of aesthetics, but nonetheless possessed of a power that would put them in the “ace” category. (In Wild Cards America, one will occasionally see the term “joker-ace” used to describe such folks.)
There are also the “latents” — whom the virus has infected but who are still waiting for it to express, for better or for worse.
Aces, deuces, jokers and latents are all “wild cards.” Yes, it’s the name of the virus, but it’s also a term to denote anyone infected.
Meanwhile, anyone not infected is a “nat.” That’s short for “natural” … or for “gnat,” if you’re of a more cynical bent.
The Big Events
The Wild Cards novels do an admirable job of keeping up with the inexorable march of time. The action all started in 1946, but at this point we’re well into the 21st century. So there is now more than 70 years’ worth of history on the Wild Cards timeline. That sounds alarming, but the dense, rich history of this fictional universe is actually one of its most attractive features. It’s all part of the series’ ability to paint a world that seems very complete; as if it exists beyond the confines of the pages upon which the stories are printed.
Thus, there are references to events that are never fully explained, and to characters we may never meet. A particular story might note that “Mister Magnet” was in attendance at a recent gathering of aces. Who is Mister Magnet? We don’t know, and aren’t meant to know – at least for now. In some cases, perhaps four or five books down the line, that casually tossed-out character may suddenly come to the fore as an important player in the Wild Cards universe (or the WCU, if you like). When this happens, we can trust the consortium to fill us in on what we need to know. If Mister Magnet never does show up again … well, then we can just use our imaginations. (Spoilers: After first being mentioned in Vol. 3: Jokers Wild, Mister Magnet still hasn’t gotten any time in the spotlight. MM, we hardly knew ye…)
Consider, for example, Jay Ackroyd, wise-cracking ace private eye, and Wild Cards fan favorite. He’s mentioned for the first time in Vol. 2: Aces High, but never actually shows up. He appears for the first time in the follow-up book, but only as a supporting character. He isn’t made a lead protagonist until Vol. 7: Dead Man’s Hand, wherein he captured the hearts of a lot of us regular WC readers. Mr. Ackroyd features as a lead again in Vol. 10: Double Solitaire, then is completely absent from the next few books. He gets a cameo in Vol. 14: Marked Cards, and then finally takes the spotlight one last time in Vol. 15: Black Trump. In the 13 books since, Jay has hardly shown up at all, and never in more than cameo appearances.
This aspect of Wild Cards means that—unlike with a typical serial narrative—there aren’t necessarily any dependable “regular” characters from one volume to the next. The good news, however, is that a reader never need hesitate to pick a particular volume up off the shelf and give it a read, irrespective of where it might sit in the overall series chronology. Sure, you may encounter a reference that isn’t explained, but that just speaks to how large and immersive the WCU is. Each book is a window into a milieu wherein things are constantly happening, not just within the borders of said window—but also above, below, and to either side. You can trust George R.R. Martin and his fellow wonderful writers to fill you in on what you need to know, in any given moment.
That said, it can’t hurt to come into the WCU with a bit of knowledge on some of the more significant events to have marked that seven-decade-long Wild Cards timeline. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but if you’re cagey about that sort of thing, then by all means—buy all the Wild Cards novels and read them in numerical order. That’s what I did, and I’ve never looked back!
Wild Cards History: 1946-1985
(Volume 1)
Volume One is a survey of post-war America told through a Wild Cards lens, beginning in 1946 and moving chronologically, story by story, into the mid-1980s, when the book was first published. Each tale is by a different author and introduces a new character. In the short term, one of the most significant of this first wave of characters is Fortunato, an NYC pimp whose impressive array of powers helps put him on the track of a malevolent secret society. Those villains, along with their leader – the ace calling himself “the Astronomer”—are a major antagonistic force in the following two books…
The Freemasons and The Swarm: 1985-1986
(Volumes 2 and 3)
The Astronomer and the Masons are the first people on Earth to know that an invasion of our planet is imminent, by malignant alien entities collectively called the Swarm. In Vol. 2: Aces High, the aliens are turned away, and the Masons’ attempt to capitalize on the invasion is also spoiled. The Astronomer survives, however, to take a bloody revenge in Vol. 3: Jokers Wild. The fates of several favorite characters are altered in this third, climactic volume—not always for the better.
Puppetman And Ti Malice: 1986-1988
(Volumes 4 through 7)
It’s in Wild Cards Vol. 1 that we’re first introduced to a villain called Puppetman, one of the most terrifyingly intense fictional creations ever seen in any medium, whose ace ability allows him to bring out the worst, most depraved part of anyone, and leave no evidence of his tampering. Imagine finding yourself inexplicably indulging all of your worst instincts and darkest fantasies – and when it’s all over, you have no idea what came over you, and are forced to conclude that the evil is just who you are. Meanwhile, the man who was truly responsible simply moves on to victimize someone else—or, even worse, comes back later to toy with your mind again and again, with complete impunity. Puppetman comes to the fore beginning in Vol. 4: Aces Abroad, the book that also introduces an almost equally nasty “big bad” in the form of Ti Malice. Both characters are puppet masters of sorts; while never meeting each other, they manage to terrorize the series’ protagonists in parallel campaigns of depravity over the course of the books that follow. Both villains are hypnotically awful to read about when at the height of their powers…but their respective fates are incredibly satisfying. In a delightful storytelling approach, Vol. 6: Ace in the Hole and Vol. 7: Dead Man’s Hand are both set over the exact same eight-day period. The former presents the climax of Puppetman’s rise to power, while the latter details the delicious final fate of Ti Malice.
The Jumpers and the Rox: 1988-1991
(Volumes 8 through 11)
The long-oppressed underclass of the WCU, the jokers, find a new leader in Bloat. This massive, slug-like teenager establishes a sovereign joker homeland on Ellis Island—which is transformed by Bloat’s incredibly formidable psychic powers into a true island, with trappings like something out of a fantasy novel. Re-christened “the Rox,” the island is also home to Bloat’s uneasy allies, a gang of body-hopping teenage delinquents collectively called “jumpers.” The forces of law and order won’t tolerate the existence of the Rox nor the jumpers for very long, however; war is inevitable.
The Card Sharks: 1991-1994
(Volumes 12 through 15)
The flight from justice of a fugitive ace called Cap’n Trips—wanted for illegal drug use, and for springing his daughter from a juvenile detention center— is detailed in Vol. 12: Turn of the Cards. It’s in this magnificent entry that both Trips and the readers learn of a global anti-wild card conspiracy that has insinuated itself into all levels of government and industry. Over the course of the following two volumes, Vol. 13: Card Sharks and Vol. 14: Marked Cards, the conspiracy is investigated and ultimately exposed—but the surviving “Card Sharks” have an apocalyptic final weapon to deploy: a lethal virus that will target any and all living wild cards. The final book of the original Wild Cards run, Vol. 15: Black Trump, is a sprawling, awesomely exciting adventure focusing on the aces who attempt to foil the deployment of the eponymous contagion.
Wild Cards History, Revisited: 1969-2001
(Volume 16)
After the breathtaking intensity of the “Card Sharks” sequence, the desire for a breather is understandable. In fact, the Wild Cards series actually took a little publishing hiatus here, with seven years passing between Vol. 15: Black Trump and Vol. 16: Deuces Down. The latter volume is another chronological survey of the WCU, featuring flashbacks that focus on the aforementioned deuces — those with stories worth telling, even if their superhuman powers are less than impressive.
This may be a proper point at which to note that, given the Wild Cards series’ penchant for jumping around within its own timeline, a reader needn’t feel overly constrained by the volume numbers. The Tor publishing schedule agrees, as the reissue of Vol. 16: Deuces Down is now available for purchase, having leap-frogged over the entire “Card Sharks” saga. The new version of this installment features another wrinkle to confound and delight the Wild Cards chronology nerds. (I hope it’s not too presumptuous to pluralize “Wild Cards chronology nerds.” I can’t be the only one, can I? Can I???)
The new version of Deuces not only contextualizes the various flashbacks within a modern-day narrative, but also takes readers further up the timeline than it previously had. The original volume stopped at 2001, but the current, improved iteration travels all the way to 2007, wherein it links up with the beginning of Vol. 18: Inside Straight. They’re quite clever, these Wild Cards authors.
The Committee: 2003-2010
(Volumes 17 through 20)
A seemingly standalone and self-contained novel at first, Vol. 17: Death Draws Five proves to be an invaluable piece of the Wild Cards puzzle, as it lays the groundwork for the “Committee Triad” that follows on its heels. Vol. 18: Inside Straight is a phenomenal volume – beautifully written and perfectly paced—which establishes two staples of the modern WCU. The first is American Hero, a reality show that manages to bring nearly 30 new aces into the saga’s foreground with each new season. The second is the Committee on Extraordinary Interventions, an ace task force empowered by the United Nations to use their powers for various noble aims all around the world. In practice, several contestants on American Hero will end up being recruited subsequently by the Committee over the years.
The Fifth Precinct: 2010-2012
(Volumes 21 through 23)
The geographical heart of the Wild Cards universe—and arguably its thematic heart as well—is the Manhattan neighborhood known as Jokertown, where most American jokers live and in which many of the greatest stories in the canon have taken place. The area falls within the jurisdiction of the Fifth Precinct, the officers of which have long been a presence in the WCU, but usually as supporting characters. In the magnificent Vol. 21: Fort Freak, however, the cops of Jokertown take center stage for the first time, as the contributing authors craft an arrestingly multi-layered narrative whose procedural nature feels unlike any other book in the series. In the following two volumes, we see the cops teaming up both with the feds and with members of the aforementioned Committee. Their shared objective: to halt the invasion of our world by Lovecraftian demons through a rift created inadvertently thanks to the powers of an aged ace called “Hellraiser.”
The “America” Cycle: 2013-2018
(Volumes 24 through 26)
When the Wild Cards series isn’t globe-trotting, the action tends to stay in New York City—or in Los Angeles, when it’s exploring Hollywood-centric concepts like American Hero—and there are only occasional brief excursions to other areas of the United States. A trio of self-contained anthologies break with that tradition, however. A steamboat cruise up the Mississippi River forms the spine for the charmingly good-natured Vol. 24: Mississippi Roll; a genuinely awesome time-travel adventure takes some fan-favorite characters on a tour of the history of the Windy City in Vol. 25: Low Chicago; and a high school band competition in San Antonio is the setting for the surprisingly YA-toned Vol. 26: Texas Hold ‘Em.
The “Britain” Cycle: 1946-2020
(Volumes 27 and 28)
As noted above, WCU stories will occasionally take readers out of the country. Characters spend a lot of time in England and Ireland in Vol. 15: Black Trump, for example. However, it’s not until the thrilling, amazing Vol. 27: Knaves Over Queens that the authors take us in and around the British Isles from start to finish. We begin all the way back in 1946 once again, just as VOL. 1 did, for a second post-war survey—this time of Britain, rather than America—but as always, through the unique Wild Cards lens. The book is another anthology of self-contained stories—many of them focusing on the Wild Cards division of British military intelligence coded “M.I.7”—and also referred to as the Most Puissant Order of the Silver Helix. Meanwhile, a sinister undercurrent winds through this volume, as the latest WCU “big bad” grows more dangerous over the decades: a joker-ace who sees herself as the living incarnation of the Celtic war goddess Badb. The consortium has always excelled at crafting engrossingly abominable antagonists, and here they have once again raised the bar. Badb may well be the most compelling villain the series has seen yet; both she and the Silver Helix are the stars of Vol. 28: Three Kings, a full mosaic novel that concludes the survey of Wild Cards Britain and takes us readers right up to 2020.
So, Where To Start?
If you want to dip your toe into the Wild Cards universe, conventional wisdom is that you’ll want to start at the beginning of one of the “cycles” delineated above. Personally, if you’re not keen on going back to the very beginning and want to sample a more recent entry, I’d suggest Fort Freak. This one is written in anthology format, but with stories so tightly interconnected that the overall effect is of a single, multi-layered mystery novel. Alternately, if you’ve got any sort of Anglophilial tendencies, then the Knaves Over Queens anthology is the way to go, as it takes readers right back to 1946 when the saga began, and the stories contain some of the most beautiful and evocative writing yet to appear in a Wild Cards volume.
What’s Next?
I’ve not focused too much on any particular characters that are part of the WCU, because the sprawling, “real-time” nature of the series is such that there is no way to know who might be showing up next. One could write up ten of the most prominent, and it’s quite possible that none of them would appear in the 29th volume of the series, in anything more than cameo roles. Sometimes forgotten characters arise anew to take center stage for the first time in years; and sometimes a book will come along like the fantastic Vol. 21: Fort Freak, which introduces a brand new cast that has virtually zero overlap with the protagonists of the previous book.
Of course, that said, I’m still a fanboy always trying to get clues as to what I can look forward to. What we know so far about the next book, solicited for a July, 2021 release: It’s titled Joker Moon, and will be a standalone anthology, not part of a multi-book cycle. If we’re to believe some of the sly references made by the authors near the start of Vol. 28: Three Kings, the title is not any kind of metaphor; this upcoming book is quite literally about jokers on the moon. Will it be jokers that readers are already familiar with, or a cast of brand-new original characters? At this point, that’s still anybody’s guess. However, what I’ve learned from decades of Wild Cards fandom is to trust that the ever-growing consortium of authors will point us toward the people and places that are important at any given moment…acting as tour guides within the unique, four-dimensional fictional reality they’ve crafted.
Jason Powell is the author of The Best There Is at What He Does: Examining Chris Claremont’s X-Men, and of several original musicals and operas. His sci-fi musical Invader? I Hardly Know Her, was performed at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2010. On YouTube he calls himself The Man in Orange, and performs various original songs about topics such as Chris Claremont and Wild Cards (go figure). You can hear his tunes at https://www.youtube.com/user/MrDooteronomy.
I, too, am a Wild Cards fan. I only have the first few books plus Fort Freak and a graphic novel. (The Sleeper, highly recommended.) I should rebuy all of them and dive back in. It’s such a cool, weird world
It’s only one book, but the WHO world tour is in itself a significant event, no?
There is also a podcast that looks at each Wild Cards book in turn (currently on hiatus because of the pandemic). It’s called Aces & Jokers: A Wild Cards Podcast.
every time I see the cover art for this blog post, I think “That’s Captain Jack! Where’s the Doctor?” I swear there’s no way the artist couldn’t have intended to draw John Barrowman.
mdrnew: the structure of a lot of Wild cards “trilogies” (that have trouble sticking to three books) is that the first book introduces any necessary new characters and also contains the start of the main plot for the trilogy, but that start of the main plot is the secondary plot of the first book. Aces Abroad is a great example of this. The WHO tour is the main plot of that book, but the Hartmann and Ti Malice stuff is just getting going for the later books. I think they did this very well with the trilogy that starts with Fort Freak, too. Fort Freak is a beautiful stand alone book, but also great at introducing characters and situations that become prominent in the next two books.
I’d also suggest that Vol 18, Inside Straight, is a great starting point for readers, simply because it’s the start of the “new” modern era. It introduces many of the characters who have shaped and influenced the series since, and lays down a lot of the themes. Inside Straight is to Wild Cards as the 9th Doctor was to Doctor Who: the resurgence of a long-lasting franchise with a new sensibility. (And in this case, it also marks the start of the Tor era, which has been the -longest- tenure of the four publishers which have handled the series since it began.)
But of course with the recent reissues of earlier books with additional stories and interstitials (see, for example, how Carrie Vaughn ties things together in Deuces Down, book 16) it’s easier to start at the beginning. And whatever else, I highly HIGHLY recommend the first book, as that introduces and sets up so much of the Wild Cards universe and many of its earliest iconic characters and moments. (And given that almost all of the earliest notables have been phased out since, it’s easy to read that and then leap forward to a different arc/trilogy/era.)
I’ve been with Wild Cards since the beginning. Got the entire series (in paperback) at eye level once you enter my place. That, Thieves World, The Eternal Champion, and everything Zelazny fill up the majority of THAT bookcase.
I recommend the series to anyone who is looking for “something new” to read. Carrie Snodgrass does not get anywhere near the recognition she deserves. I know GRR Martin’s name is on the cover, but…really, he has time to put this together and still not finish GOT?? Carrie Snodgrass should’ve been mentioned at least once alongside Martin.
Great news on the forthcoming Joker’s Moon. Makes me hope that Zelazny’s Croyd Crenson, will play a part in this. He’d probably enjoy the dark side of the moon while his Wild Card plays its games with him.
Hmmm…Pink Floyd”s Dark Side of the Moon as an outline for the book/trilogy would be interesting comparisons. If you can do it with Wizard of Oz, it can be done here.
Thank you for the heads up on the podcast. Time to check that out.
@8: I believe you mean Melinda Snodgrass. To expand on what you said though, she’s basically been acting as editor and chief cat-wrangler for the Wild Cards Consortium for quite a while now. I suspect she’s doing most, if not all, of the heavy lifting and coordination while GRRM signs contracts or whatever. Whatever issues are keeping GRRM from working on GoT, Wild Cards really isn’t a factor.
I bought a few volumes of this series a few years ago and they sat on my shelf till I recycled them to the used book store. Then for some weird reason, I bought volume one again and ACTUALLY READ IT. Wow! I am four volumes in now and I’m loving it.
Fun story about Wild Cards Fandom….
Marcon in Columbus had a Wild Cards theme one year, with Victor Milan as one of the GOHs. So not only did a bunch of us dress up as our favorite characters, we also set up sort of an early LARP/ARG at the con with a sharpie and a pile of “Hello My Name Is” stickers…..
In identical handwriting we made 50 badges that read “Hello, My Name Is Croyd Crenson”. The small group of us who started this had one each, we handed them to friends, and also to complete strangers and even left some on the freebie table, so we could guarantee that people we didn’t know would get to play. Then we waited to see what would happen….
What happened was a delightful bit of improvisation where the membership collectively decided that Croyd had had the power of duplication when he got hit with a weapon that put him to sleep – and he woke up as 50 different people! Running into people who were “in” on things got sillier and sillier, especially as Life Savers Holes – small round hard candies the size of a hole in a life saver, sold in small round plastic vials that bore a distinct resemblance to pill bottles – were for sale in stores including the convenience shop on the first floor of the convention center. So many of the various “Sleepers” would encounter others in the hallways and ask “How are you doing? Do you need a hit?” and furtively offer some small round objects from an unlabeled bottle. Mysterious “coded” messages were left from one Sleeper to another on the large blackboard that served as the message center for the convention….
I happened to run into Mr. Milan in the elevator (like one does at cons) and gave him a badge too! Later when I saw him, I asked why he was not wearing it, and he said “No, this is great – I’m going to give it to Roger!”.
So hopefully, in time, a bunch of fannish wierdos with too much time on our hands and too much sugar in our bloodstreams may have actually created a memento for Roger Zelazney.
I love fandom!
? From what I read, Ellis Island was always an island; it’s gotten bigger but was always surrounded by water. Does Bloat turn it into a floating island like Lofting’s Spider Monkey(?) Island, or even a flying island like Laputa?
Good encapsulation of the series. What should be mentioned is that for some of us, the evil and depravity depicted is way too much. The Puppetman/Ti Malice volumes got a “I think I’ve read enough” reaction from me. I stopped right there and have lost interest. It’s something I cal, “Too much too muching”–Really, how icky does a story have to get?. I don’t particularly look to be dragged through ick when I read a book. I’d point out that am not a wimp–but this series is prone to be very depressing.
@13: that was also my reaction, sometime around the point where the alien responsible for bringing the germ to Earth was getting beaten further and further down and IIRC finally kidnapped. That was somewhere around book 10 (guessing, this was a long time ago); I’ve liked at least one recent short story on tor.com, so I’m wondering whether the series is any less deeply into ~naturalism now — perhaps our columnist can comment?
Paul @13:
The Puppetman and even moreso the Ti Malice arcs go some pretty dark places, I agree, but the nastiest, most viscerally unpleasant actions and motivations in the entire series that I read (all of them up to book 15/Black Trump) absolutely has to go to The Astronomer, both for the IMHO far too graphic description of just how he got powered up enough to take his revenge, and exactly what he did with that power.
It’s been over 30 years, and I’m still angry with how that played out. . (Talking in both a Doyleist sense of exactly what the writer/editors felt they needed to have happen, and the rather more Watsonian sense of it not exactly making a huge amount of sense in universe also.)
Your Premise section should be amended to note that, of those who catch the virus, only a few percent even survive (most draw the Black Queen right off); out of the survivors, only a small percent of those draw an Ace, the majority become Jokers. The Wild Card can be passed to progeny, much like HIV; and though being an Ace doesn’t guarantee your progeny will become Aces, it does seem to happen a lot to Aces in the stories. This explains why Aces are far outnumbered by Jokers in this world, who overfill slums and ghettos worldwide.
Is there a reason some of the Wild Cards books aren’t available in English for the Kindle (i.e. Vol 8)?
@13-14. Yeah those went some dark places. But it was the Jumpers storyline that turned me off the series for nearly a decade. It felt like we’d reached the point of “How else can we brutalize these characters?” And I didn’t want to see that any more.
It wasn’t until I came across Fort Freak at the library and thought “well, maybe things have changed?”. I still haven’t gone back to fill in that gap.
@12, Ellis Island isn’t a real island because it was originally a tidal flat that got expanded by dumping old ship ballast on and around it. It is literally built on a partially submerged sandbar and some junk.
Well, yes — but that was decades before the virus arrived. What did Bloat due to make it more real? Raise the covered-over tidal flat above the water line?
[EXCERPT] Elaborate stalagmites and stalactites yearned for each other from the floors and ceilings of the caverns, their colors shell pink, sea green, amber. “Peanut, Ellis Island isn’t a real island,” Tach said conversationally. They were passing another underground grotto. […]
Peanut said, “But it’s surrounded by water.”
“That’s not what I mean. It was made from landfill. There can’t be caverns like this beneath its surface.”
“But they’re here,” said Peanut with a blunt practicality that made Tachyon’s intellectual maunderings seem inane. [End EXCERPT]
From Melinda Snodgrass’ “Lovers” in Volume 9. Hope that’s helpful.
I’ve been curious to start reading Wild Cards, this might be the sign I was waiting on!
I think it is!
It would be nice if the Card Sharks series was available for Kindle.