Martin, George R. R. (ed): Wild Cards, intro and books 1-3
At long last and as promised, I am beginning to write up one of my more guilty pleasures, the 15-book (or so) Wild Card series edited by George R. R. Martin.
The premise: As an experiment, aliens infect a small percentage of the population of Earth with a virus, killing most, hideously transforming most of the ones who don’t die, and giving a few of the survivors superpowers. The ones who die are said to have drawn the black queen, the tormented mutants are jokers, and the lucky superpowered few are aces.
One of the aliens who had opposed the experiment, a red-headed, wussy, whiny, horndog dandy but genius scientist and doctor, who goes by the name of Dr. Tachyon, moves to Earth to try to pick up the pieces. Pretty much everyone on Earth blames him and hates him, natch. He feels incredibly guilty and pities himself. Repeat for sixteen volumes.
The series: It started out as an anthology of short stories set in the universe with some continuing characters, but eventually evolved to include co-written novels, solo novels, long continuing plotlines, and so forth. It also originally started with the concept of exploring what the world would really be like if some people had superpowers. This idea seems to have gotten lost somewhere around volume six, or possibly volume two as that one involves an alien invasion. Anyway, after that, the series became increasingly outlandish and divorced from anything resembling realism.
The reason it’s a pleasure: I love stories about people with powers, especially if they’re the maybe a curse, maybe a blessing, I can help out the neighborhood but not save the world sort. Some of the writers involved were very good and did excellent work, with stand-outs including Walter Jon Williams, George R. R. Martin, and Roger Zelazny.
The reason the pleasure is guilty: Where do I even start? With the half-Japanese, half-black pimp Fortunato, who calls his hookers geisha and gets superpowers via Tantric sex? (I vividly recall reading the gay necrophilia scene under the desk during my high school Spanish class, and thinking that if anyone at school ever actually flipped through the book, it would be all over for me.) With the bit where Dr. Tachyon gets body-switched with a teenage girl, then raped and impregnated by his psychotic grandson and ends up giving birth in a spaceship orbiting his home planet? With the often-obscenely graphic violence, the often-creepy explicit sex, the often-embarrassing portrayal of racial minorities and women, and the often-awful writing?
Nevertheless, the series exerted a strange magnetic pull on me, and I own the entire thing, and re-read bits now and then.
Volume 1: Wild Cards.
Probably the best volume and one of the few which doesn’t take place entirely in modern times, but begins with the release of the virus in the 1940s. My favorite parts are George R. R. Martin’s clever pastiches of real authors from Studs Terkel to Tom Wolfe, Walter Jon Williams HUAC-era tragedy (which was nominated for a Nebula), and Roger Zelazny’s story introducing Croyd Crenson, who gets a new body with new curse/blessing powers every time he sleeps, and consequently becomes a speed addict.
This volume also introduces Lewis Shiner’s Fortunato the pimp, who may or may not be an attempt at a blaxsploitation pastiche, Martin’s Tom Tudbury, an incredibly powerful telekinetic and nice guy who is also the biggest wuss ever, and Stephen Leigh’s evil politician Gregg Hartmann, who is unfortunately a continuing villain. Unfortunately, because his power is to mind-control people, and can do it permanently so that for the rest of their lives they will always act as his minions even when he's not around. This makes him more powerful than anyone else in the entire series, which drains away all the suspense. Also, he is a sadist and any story involving him will feature extreme violence, especially toward women. The volume also introduces Brennan, a white Vietnam vet who is a ninja, and who rescues a sweet, helpless Vietnamese woman. Um, yeah. But I have to say, I liked the ninja. Especially since he has no powers, but can beat up people who do.
Volume 2: Aces High
In which insect-aliens invade Earth. Martin writes some stories about yet another alien who is living perfectly openly on Earth, because everyone who sees him figures he’s just another freaky-looking joker. Walter Jon Williams writes about an android, Modular Man, and Roger Zelazny does a caper story in which Croyd Crenson gets hired to steal a rapidly disintegrating alien corpse. All of these are really fun. Meanwhile, Tom Tudbury continues to be a secret hero, and the most ineffectual person ever in his public identity. This does not change over sixteen volumes, so this will be the last time I will ever mention him.
Volume 3: Jokers Wild
Jokertown celebrates Wild Card Day, all hell breaks loose. The embarrassing ethnic stereotype du jour is Roulette, the black call girl who can kill men during sex. Some super-powerful dude wreaks havoc because he’s the villain of the volume. Oh, and Pat Cadigan has a good story about a girl who can control water. I mock, but this volume is also a lot of fun.
More later, as I feel like it, but I will eventually work my way through the entire series, because the incestuous interstellar MPREG (male pregnancy)-via-bodyswitched rape does not happen till something like volume twelve, and I can’t deprive you of that.
The premise: As an experiment, aliens infect a small percentage of the population of Earth with a virus, killing most, hideously transforming most of the ones who don’t die, and giving a few of the survivors superpowers. The ones who die are said to have drawn the black queen, the tormented mutants are jokers, and the lucky superpowered few are aces.
One of the aliens who had opposed the experiment, a red-headed, wussy, whiny, horndog dandy but genius scientist and doctor, who goes by the name of Dr. Tachyon, moves to Earth to try to pick up the pieces. Pretty much everyone on Earth blames him and hates him, natch. He feels incredibly guilty and pities himself. Repeat for sixteen volumes.
The series: It started out as an anthology of short stories set in the universe with some continuing characters, but eventually evolved to include co-written novels, solo novels, long continuing plotlines, and so forth. It also originally started with the concept of exploring what the world would really be like if some people had superpowers. This idea seems to have gotten lost somewhere around volume six, or possibly volume two as that one involves an alien invasion. Anyway, after that, the series became increasingly outlandish and divorced from anything resembling realism.
The reason it’s a pleasure: I love stories about people with powers, especially if they’re the maybe a curse, maybe a blessing, I can help out the neighborhood but not save the world sort. Some of the writers involved were very good and did excellent work, with stand-outs including Walter Jon Williams, George R. R. Martin, and Roger Zelazny.
The reason the pleasure is guilty: Where do I even start? With the half-Japanese, half-black pimp Fortunato, who calls his hookers geisha and gets superpowers via Tantric sex? (I vividly recall reading the gay necrophilia scene under the desk during my high school Spanish class, and thinking that if anyone at school ever actually flipped through the book, it would be all over for me.) With the bit where Dr. Tachyon gets body-switched with a teenage girl, then raped and impregnated by his psychotic grandson and ends up giving birth in a spaceship orbiting his home planet? With the often-obscenely graphic violence, the often-creepy explicit sex, the often-embarrassing portrayal of racial minorities and women, and the often-awful writing?
Nevertheless, the series exerted a strange magnetic pull on me, and I own the entire thing, and re-read bits now and then.
Volume 1: Wild Cards.
Probably the best volume and one of the few which doesn’t take place entirely in modern times, but begins with the release of the virus in the 1940s. My favorite parts are George R. R. Martin’s clever pastiches of real authors from Studs Terkel to Tom Wolfe, Walter Jon Williams HUAC-era tragedy (which was nominated for a Nebula), and Roger Zelazny’s story introducing Croyd Crenson, who gets a new body with new curse/blessing powers every time he sleeps, and consequently becomes a speed addict.
This volume also introduces Lewis Shiner’s Fortunato the pimp, who may or may not be an attempt at a blaxsploitation pastiche, Martin’s Tom Tudbury, an incredibly powerful telekinetic and nice guy who is also the biggest wuss ever, and Stephen Leigh’s evil politician Gregg Hartmann, who is unfortunately a continuing villain. Unfortunately, because his power is to mind-control people, and can do it permanently so that for the rest of their lives they will always act as his minions even when he's not around. This makes him more powerful than anyone else in the entire series, which drains away all the suspense. Also, he is a sadist and any story involving him will feature extreme violence, especially toward women. The volume also introduces Brennan, a white Vietnam vet who is a ninja, and who rescues a sweet, helpless Vietnamese woman. Um, yeah. But I have to say, I liked the ninja. Especially since he has no powers, but can beat up people who do.
Volume 2: Aces High
In which insect-aliens invade Earth. Martin writes some stories about yet another alien who is living perfectly openly on Earth, because everyone who sees him figures he’s just another freaky-looking joker. Walter Jon Williams writes about an android, Modular Man, and Roger Zelazny does a caper story in which Croyd Crenson gets hired to steal a rapidly disintegrating alien corpse. All of these are really fun. Meanwhile, Tom Tudbury continues to be a secret hero, and the most ineffectual person ever in his public identity. This does not change over sixteen volumes, so this will be the last time I will ever mention him.
Volume 3: Jokers Wild
Jokertown celebrates Wild Card Day, all hell breaks loose. The embarrassing ethnic stereotype du jour is Roulette, the black call girl who can kill men during sex. Some super-powerful dude wreaks havoc because he’s the villain of the volume. Oh, and Pat Cadigan has a good story about a girl who can control water. I mock, but this volume is also a lot of fun.
More later, as I feel like it, but I will eventually work my way through the entire series, because the incestuous interstellar MPREG (male pregnancy)-via-bodyswitched rape does not happen till something like volume twelve, and I can’t deprive you of that.