Wild Cards


Wild Cards is a series of science fiction superhero shared universe anthologies, mosaic novels, and solo novels. They are written by a collection of more than forty authors and are edited by George R. R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass. Set largely during an alternate history of post-World War II United States, the series follows humans who contracted the Wild Card virus, an alien virus that rewrites DNA and mutates survivors. Those who acquire crippling and/or repulsive physical conditions are known as Jokers, while those who acquire superhuman abilities are known as Aces, and those few who acquire minor, insignificant powers not worthy of being called aces are known as Deuces.
The series originated from a long-running campaign of the Superworld role-playing game, gamemastered by Martin and involving many of the original authors. The framework of the series was developed by Martin and Snodgrass, including the origin of the characters' superhuman abilities and the card-based terminology.
The first installment, Wild Cards, was released in January 1987 by Bantam Books and, as of February 2025, thirty-three books have been released through four publishers. The series has been adapted to comic books, graphic novels, and role-playing games.

Premise

Set during an alternate history of post–World War II United States, the series follows events after an airborne alien virus is released over New York City in 1946 and eventually infects tens of thousands globally. The virus, designed to rewrite DNA, was developed as a bioweapon by a noble family on the planet Takis, and it is taken to Earth to test on humans, who are genetically identical to the people of Takis. Dr. Tachyon, a member of this family, objects and attempts to stop them. However, his attempt crashes their ship, releasing the virus.
The virus affects each individual differently, and it becomes known as the Wild Card virus because of these "random and unpredictable" symptoms. It kills 90% of those who contract it and mutates the remaining percentage. 9% survive but become Jokers, who develop minor or crippling physical conditions. The remaining 1% become Aces, who remain human or mostly human in appearance but develop superhuman abilities; Aces whose abilities are too trivial or specific to be generally valuable are called Deuces.

Origin

Wild Cards began as a two-year-long campaign of the Superworld role-playing game, gifted to George R. R. Martin by Victor Milán, in Albuquerque, New Mexico; the players were science fiction writers, including Gail Gerstner-Miller, Milán, John J. Miller, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and Walter Jon Williams, and Martin served as gamemaster. Because of the amount of time and creative energy put into the campaign, Martin initially thought to write a novel on his character, Turtle. However, he realized this would have "rescued one character from SuperWorld campaign, but would have meant discarding all the rest". Since the game had been built by a group, he felt it should be a shared universe anthology, which were popular at the time. Martin invited other writers he believed would be interested in the universe, including Roger Zelazny, Lewis Shiner, Pat Cadigan, Howard Waldrop, Edward Bryant, and Stephen Leigh.
Martin said that the group loved comic books and superheroes but wanted to approach the material in a "grittier, more adult manner than what we were seeing in the '80s". He cited the series' "sense of history" as a strength and expressed frustration with the retroactive continuity of mainstream comics. Martin also felt that the multitude of sources for superpowers in comics strained suspension of disbelief when taken together, and he believed a single plausible source was needed. Snodgrass suggested a virus, which allowed for the superpowered Aces, the "monsters and freaks" Jokers, and a high death toll. Snodgrass and Martin also developed the card based terminology, and Milán developed the pseudoscience of the series.
The series was originally meant to be set in a then contemporary 1985, but Waldrop, who was to write the first story, insisted that his story take place right after World War II. This created a forty-year gap between the first chapter and the remaining stories, pushing later contributions to fill in the intervening decades. Martin noted that this forced the authors to write about events they would have otherwise ignored, particularly the House Un-American Activities Committee and the McCarthy hearings, which gave rise to characters and plot points that "added immeasurable richness to our world and depth of our characters". Waldrop's story also forced Williams to rewrite a new story, "Witness", which became the only shared world story to appear on the final ballot for a Nebula Award.
British writer Neil Gaiman met with Martin in 1987 and pitched a Wild Cards story about a character who lives in a world of dreams. Martin declined due to Gaiman's lack of prior credits at the time. Gaiman went on to publish his story as The Sandman.

Publishing history

Bantam Books (1987–1993)

, under its Spectra imprint, published twelve books between 1987 and 1993, including two solo novels written by Melinda M. Snodgrass and Victor Milán.
  • 1987 Wild Cards
  • 1987 Aces High
  • 1987 Jokers Wild
  • 1988 Aces Abroad
  • 1988 Down and Dirty
  • 1990 Ace in the Hole
  • 1990 Dead Man's Hand
  • 1991 One-Eyed Jacks
  • 1991 Jokertown Shuffle
  • 1992 Double Solitaire
  • 1992 Dealer's Choice
  • 1993 ''Turn of the Cards''

    Baen Books (1993–1995)

published a new triad between 1993 and 1995 subtitled of a New Cycle. In 2002, Martin commented that he felt the triad was creatively "three of the strongest volumes Wild Cards ever had" and that the series "came back strong" after stumbling with a previous storyline; he conceded, however, that the triad was "very dark", acknowledging it was a commonly-voiced complaint, and that he felt switching publishers was a mistake.
  • 1993 Card Sharks
  • 1994 Marked Cards
  • 1995 ''Black Trump''

    ibooks Inc. (2002–2006)

In 2000, ibooks Inc. purchased two new installments and the rights to reprint the first eight books of the series; the two new books were published between 2002 and 2006, including a solo novel by John J. Miller, and reprints for six of the first eight books were issued. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2005, shortly after the death of founder Byron Preiss. In December 2006, J. Bolyston & Co. Publishers, parent company of the Brick Tower Press imprint, acquired all of Preiss' assets, including those of ibooks, for $125,000. Brick Tower Press offered e-book versions of its titles, including Deuces Down and Death Draws Five via Humble Bundle in February 2016.
  • 2002 Deuces Down
  • 2006 ''Death Draws Five''

    Tor Books (2008–2022)

, an imprint under Macmillan Publishers, published the series in both print and e-book format. It released thirteen new installments from November 2008 to August 2022. Tor Books also reprinted the first twelve, sixteenth & seventeenth novels as of November 2021.
  • 2008 Inside Straight
  • 2008 Busted Flush
  • 2009 Suicide Kings
  • 2011 Fort Freak
  • 2014 Lowball
  • 2016 High Stakes
  • 2017 Mississippi Roll
  • 2018 Low Chicago
  • 2018 Texas Hold 'Em
  • 2019 Knaves Over Queens
  • 2021 Joker Moon
  • 2022 Three Kings
  • 2022 Full House
  • 2025 Aces Full
Tor Books also published online supplementary material. A multi-author blog supporting Inside Straight opened in February 2008. The blog followed American Hero, the fictional reality television show in the book, and posted in-character "confessionals" from the twenty-eight characters competing on the show. That supplemental material was republished by Tor as an e-book titled American Hero: A Wild Cards Novel on March 3, 2020.
Twenty-three short stories were published through the Tor Books website from January 2013 through July 2022:
  • 2013 "When We Were Heroes" by Daniel Abraham
  • 2013 "The Button Man and the Murder Tree" by Cherie Priest
  • 2013 "The Elephant in the Room" by Paul Cornell
  • 2014 "Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza" by Carrie Vaughn
  • 2014 "Prompt. Professional. Pop!" by Walter Jon Williams
  • 2016 "Discards" by David D. Levine
  • 2016 "The Thing About Growing Up in Jokertown" by Carrie Vaughn
  • 2017 "The Atonement Tango" by Stephen Leigh
  • 2017 "When the Devil Drives" by Melissa Snodgrass
  • 2018 "EverNight" by Victor Milán
  • 2018 "The Flight of Morpho Girl" by Caroline Spector and Bradley Denton
  • 2018 "Fitting In" by Max Gladstone
  • 2019 "How to Move Spheres and Influence People" by Marko Kloos
  • 2019 "Long Is The Way" by Carrie Vaughn and Sage Walker
  • 2019 "The City That Never Sleeps" by Walton Simons
  • 2019 "Naked, Stoned, and Stabbed" by Bradley Denton
  • 2020 "The Visitor: Kill or Cure" by Mark Lawrence
  • 2020 "Berlin is Never Berlin" by Marko Kloos
  • 2020 "Hammer and Tongs and a Rusty Nail" by Ian Tregillis
  • 2021 "Ripple Effects" by Laura J. Mixon
  • 2021 "Skin Deep" by Alan Brennert
  • 2022 "Hearts of Stone" by Emma Newman
  • 2022 "Grow" by Carrie Vaughn
A short story, titled "Lies My Mother Told Me" by Caroline Spector, was published in the Dangerous Women anthology, also edited by Martin. The anthology was released in December 2013.
All but two of the Tor Books website stories, plus "Lies My Mother Told Me," were collected in Full House and Aces Full.
An additional short story, titled "I Have No Voice and I Must Zoom Meeting" by Paul Cornell, was published on the official Wild Cards website in July 2020.