shane's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. Definitely the best of the 3 i've read so far. It flows nicely from one chapter to another, which incidentally are hours of the day, since this is set over a 24 hour period.
I wasn't sure i was going to continue with the rest of the series after reading the first two books, but this has me wanting to read on now.
Very enjoyable.
I wasn't sure i was going to continue with the rest of the series after reading the first two books, but this has me wanting to read on now.
Very enjoyable.
magsimum_overdrive's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
drabobrinha's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lucasporra's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
scottydee's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
djotaku's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know if they did this consciously or if it was simply the consequence of a series that started in the 1940s and ended in the (at the time) present day of 1980s, but I think it's fascinating that this first trilogy (in a 19ish book series) has each successive book compressed in time. The first book is a regular shared world anthology in which it's clear who wrote each story and each is self-contained - if providing a history for the next one. It takes place from the 40s to the 80s. The second book is one story in which POVs change with each chapter. It spans a year or so (if memory serves). This book is one story in which each chapter is a POV change, it's impossible to know who wrote which characters, and it only takes place over the course of about 24 hours. It definitely gives a certain feel of whiplash like slamming on the breaks to have the timelines compress like that.
There was definitely a feel, in this book, that perhaps The Wild Card Trust was just going to get a trilogy. The plot points, which I'd rather not spoil, seem to suggest a certain finality that gives a lot of weight to the events. It truly seems like anything can happen because this isn't a series that needs to be sustained. We'll see if things seem to change in the next quartet.
As for the story, the feeling I had last night (in which I stayed up HOURS beyond when I should have because the plot was moving so fast) reminds me a lot of Snatch (the awesome Guy Ritchie movie). Actually, the second book reminded me of Snatch with its "bowling ball". This book is like 5 different Snatch-plots happening at once and intertwining like those friendship bracelets that girls made in the 80s and 90s. It lends a real dark humor to the plot as people keep having near misses and stealing/kidnapping the items from others without even knowing their true value. Layered on top of everything is the Wild Card Day parade which seems (I think?) to be a commentary on the real life Gay Parade? There's even what I interpret to be a connection made for a metaphor between Joker Status and AIDS - given when this was written (mid/late 80s) and the location (NYC) this makes a ton of sense. Overall it's hectic and exciting and I'd hope that folks would have gone through the first two books (different as they are in tone and arrangement of plot) to get to this one. The next book is about the effects of the Wild Card Virus outside of the USA (up to this point in the series it's barely been outside of NYC and LA!), but if they continue to return to NYC, it'll be interesting to see how they deal with the changing character of The City.
Also, if the narrative continues to move forward in time, I wonder how they deal with the comics issue (being so clearly based on comic characters and plots). That is to say, Marvel and DC are loathe to let the X-Men and Superman, etc die so they keep rebooting so that we never see an aged Superman (save Mark Waid's great [b:Kingdom Come|16992|Kingdom Come|Mark Waid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385175050l/16992._SY75_.jpg|89985]). Other than Dr. Tachyon who's said to be long-lived and perhaps Croyd due to his regeneration, do the authors allow for new characters and voices to enter the pantheon? Do they just stay forever in the 80s? I guess we'll find out because so far I intend to continue reading the series.
There was definitely a feel, in this book, that perhaps The Wild Card Trust was just going to get a trilogy. The plot points, which I'd rather not spoil, seem to suggest a certain finality that gives a lot of weight to the events. It truly seems like anything can happen because this isn't a series that needs to be sustained. We'll see if things seem to change in the next quartet.
As for the story, the feeling I had last night (in which I stayed up HOURS beyond when I should have because the plot was moving so fast) reminds me a lot of Snatch (the awesome Guy Ritchie movie). Actually, the second book reminded me of Snatch with its "bowling ball". This book is like 5 different Snatch-plots happening at once and intertwining like those friendship bracelets that girls made in the 80s and 90s. It lends a real dark humor to the plot as people keep having near misses and stealing/kidnapping the items from others without even knowing their true value. Layered on top of everything is the Wild Card Day parade which seems (I think?) to be a commentary on the real life Gay Parade? There's even what I interpret to be a connection made for a metaphor between Joker Status and AIDS - given when this was written (mid/late 80s) and the location (NYC) this makes a ton of sense. Overall it's hectic and exciting and I'd hope that folks would have gone through the first two books (different as they are in tone and arrangement of plot) to get to this one. The next book is about the effects of the Wild Card Virus outside of the USA (up to this point in the series it's barely been outside of NYC and LA!), but if they continue to return to NYC, it'll be interesting to see how they deal with the changing character of The City.
Also, if the narrative continues to move forward in time, I wonder how they deal with the comics issue (being so clearly based on comic characters and plots). That is to say, Marvel and DC are loathe to let the X-Men and Superman, etc die so they keep rebooting so that we never see an aged Superman (save Mark Waid's great [b:Kingdom Come|16992|Kingdom Come|Mark Waid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385175050l/16992._SY75_.jpg|89985]). Other than Dr. Tachyon who's said to be long-lived and perhaps Croyd due to his regeneration, do the authors allow for new characters and voices to enter the pantheon? Do they just stay forever in the 80s? I guess we'll find out because so far I intend to continue reading the series.
loslibrosdelosdragones's review against another edition
3.0
Fue un libro que empezó entretenido, pero luego se fue perdiendo.
No leí los anteriores y si bien no conocía ni tenía mucho cariño por los personajes, pude comprender bien lo que sucedía y empatizar con ellos.
Me encantó la idea de la novela mosaico donde todas las historias se entrelazan para formar una trama mayor y donde los personajes se van cruzando o relacionando, sin embargo, esto también causó que a veces me aburriera muy rápido. Había algunos personajes que no me interesaban en lo absoluto, y los saltaba del todo. Y algunas historias que no contaban nada ni agregaban nada a la trama, como si fueran simple relleno.
La trama estuvo buena, pero la habría hecho un poco más corta. Lo que me encantó, repito, fue poder ver cómo todas las historias se entrelazaban. Algo que hacía uno influía en la siguiente historia y así sucesivamente porque, al fin y al cabo, todos vivían en la misma ciudad y pasaban casi por lugares parecidos o estaban vinculados a los hechos de diferentes maneras.
Me gustó la "realidad" de los hechos y la humanidad de las personas. A pesar de tener poderes y habilidades, ellos seguían viviendo sus vidas normales y no se la pasaban en mallas volando por los alrededores y salvando gente como los típicos superhéroes de los comics.
No leí los anteriores y si bien no conocía ni tenía mucho cariño por los personajes, pude comprender bien lo que sucedía y empatizar con ellos.
Me encantó la idea de la novela mosaico donde todas las historias se entrelazan para formar una trama mayor y donde los personajes se van cruzando o relacionando, sin embargo, esto también causó que a veces me aburriera muy rápido. Había algunos personajes que no me interesaban en lo absoluto, y los saltaba del todo. Y algunas historias que no contaban nada ni agregaban nada a la trama, como si fueran simple relleno.
La trama estuvo buena, pero la habría hecho un poco más corta. Lo que me encantó, repito, fue poder ver cómo todas las historias se entrelazaban. Algo que hacía uno influía en la siguiente historia y así sucesivamente porque, al fin y al cabo, todos vivían en la misma ciudad y pasaban casi por lugares parecidos o estaban vinculados a los hechos de diferentes maneras.
Me gustó la "realidad" de los hechos y la humanidad de las personas. A pesar de tener poderes y habilidades, ellos seguían viviendo sus vidas normales y no se la pasaban en mallas volando por los alrededores y salvando gente como los típicos superhéroes de los comics.
brandt's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this one immensely. Once again George RR Martin and the rest of the Wild Cards authors know how to write a good mosaic novel. Everything just flowed together perfectly.
jpv0's review against another edition
3.0
Rather than the collection of short stories found in [b:Wild Cards|147908|Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375859477l/147908._SY75_.jpg|1807663] and [b:Aces High|67961|Aces High (Wild Cards, #2)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375859546l/67961._SY75_.jpg|1037829], [b:Jokers Wild|67955|Jokers Wild (Wild Cards, #3)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1304286902l/67955._SY75_.jpg|25805396] is instead a mosaic novel, with the storylines all mixed into a single novel length story, with less clear distinction between the characters and their storylines.
I'm ... not thrilled with it.
In the previous case, if you didn't like a particularly story, it wasn't long before you moved on to something completely different. Here, it just keeps coming back again and again. Particularly when Jokers Wild primarily deals with Fortunato/Astronomer and the Egyptian Masons, which I've mentioned before wasn't my favorite plotline.
Really, there wasn't much that I cared overmuch about in this book. Seeing Bagabond's dealings with the animal and human worlds was interesting enough. Wraith remains a ridiculous character (a cat burglar who can phase through walls--but only when nearly naked), but her story was fairly interesting. And Hiram Worchester has a lot of potential. So there's something going for it.
Still. I'm hoping for more in [b:Aces Abroad|984792|Aces Abroad (Wild Cards, #4)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375859628l/984792._SY75_.jpg|970287].
I'm ... not thrilled with it.
In the previous case, if you didn't like a particularly story, it wasn't long before you moved on to something completely different. Here, it just keeps coming back again and again. Particularly when Jokers Wild primarily deals with Fortunato/Astronomer and the Egyptian Masons, which I've mentioned before wasn't my favorite plotline.
Really, there wasn't much that I cared overmuch about in this book. Seeing Bagabond's dealings with the animal and human worlds was interesting enough. Wraith remains a ridiculous character (a cat burglar who can phase through walls--but only when nearly naked), but her story was fairly interesting. And Hiram Worchester has a lot of potential. So there's something going for it.
Still. I'm hoping for more in [b:Aces Abroad|984792|Aces Abroad (Wild Cards, #4)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375859628l/984792._SY75_.jpg|970287].
riduidel's review against another edition
3.0
Ce troisième tome de Wild Cards nous raconte une journée particulière : la célébration du quarantième anniversaire de l'apparition du virus créant les as et les jokers, toute cette tribu de superhumains aux pouvoirs plus ou moins intéressants. mais plutôt que de nous parler de cette journée d'une façon générale, ce roman se focalise sur deux intrigues (et une dizaine de personnages) qui vont avancer heure par heure vers une conclusion spectaculaire.
J'ai la nette impression d'avoir assisté à un roman loupé.
Ca partait pourtant bien avec des personnages assez charismatiques, une intrigue qui reste dynamique tout au long du récit, et une vision de New-York suffisamment précise pour permettre au récit de s'incarner. Et puis les choses se sont délitées dans le sexe et la violence.
Le sexe a un peu de sens, mais la violence n'en a pas. En effet, le grand méchant est super-trop-fort et tue des gens comme pour rire. Le fait que des personnages meurent n'est rétrospectivement pas surprenant dans un roman de Martin. En revanche, le fait que le tueur soit à ce point plus fort déséquilibre à mon sens le récit pour lui donner une allure bien trop hollywoodienne. C'est assez dommage, parce que la série a un potentiel très fort, mais ce tome m'a complètement cassé mon envie de continuer.
J'ai la nette impression d'avoir assisté à un roman loupé.
Ca partait pourtant bien avec des personnages assez charismatiques, une intrigue qui reste dynamique tout au long du récit, et une vision de New-York suffisamment précise pour permettre au récit de s'incarner. Et puis les choses se sont délitées dans le sexe et la violence.
Le sexe a un peu de sens, mais la violence n'en a pas. En effet, le grand méchant est super-trop-fort et tue des gens comme pour rire. Le fait que des personnages meurent n'est rétrospectivement pas surprenant dans un roman de Martin. En revanche, le fait que le tueur soit à ce point plus fort déséquilibre à mon sens le récit pour lui donner une allure bien trop hollywoodienne. C'est assez dommage, parce que la série a un potentiel très fort, mais ce tome m'a complètement cassé mon envie de continuer.