Scan barcode
brandt's review against another edition
4.0
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.
janetlun's review against another edition
This is the expanded 2010 edition, with 3 new stories by David D. Levine, Michael Cassutt, and Carrie Vaughn. It's intertwined short stories, set from the end of WWII until the 1960s. It's alternative history, with an alien wild card virus infecting humans just after the war. It causes mutations, killing some, deforming some, and making just a few into all sorts of different superheroes. Wonderful stories, all different but meshing beautifully. David Levine 's story, Power's is heartfelt and exciting.
hilaritas's review against another edition
4.0
I read this again because I loved it when I was a kid/early teen, and I wanted to revisit something of which I still had vivid memories. I'm happy to say I still found it quite enjoyable, in the vein of a guilty pleasure. The conceit is a great one for superheroics, and it makes so much sense that it arose from a roleplaying game session. It's an anthology, which has pros and cons. It's great getting so many short, bite-size stories, some of which are dynamite. Others, well.... The writing in some of them is just so, so bad. Like, "I wrote this awesome story in study hall with my trusty thesaurus by my side" bad. But thankfully, those pieces were in the minority. While the quality ranged along a spectrum, most of the pieces were fun, punchy stories that made good use of the conceit and adopted the breathless tone of comics, as they should. Some pieces that I remember as mind-blowing (e.g., the Fortunato one) turned out to be little more than sketches. Some turned out to be vastly more affecting and sad than I remembered (the stories of Dr. Tachyon, the Sleeper, and The Great and Powerful Turtle spring to mind). Overall, I thought this really held up. I don't give a crap about the show in development, but I hope they do justice to this series. It's in the top tier of superhero universes outside the Big Two. I'd put it up there with Astro City. A fun blast from the past.
kevinhanes's review against another edition
2.0
well at least i don't have a new, giant series to read...
jamiebooksandladders's review against another edition
3.0
See this review and more on Books and Ladders!
I review each individual story throughout my status updates but will have a full review up for Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays!
I liked this overall because it is an extremely interesting world and mythology surrounding all of it. I thought the anthology had a lot of threads that tied it together to make it cohesive, which I really liked. However, like most anthologies, there were stories I enjoyed a lot more than others and some I absolutely loathed. This anthology has a lot of issues, mostly because there is a lack of diversity in the authors and the experiences they bring to the table. I would have liked to see better treatment of women and the characters who were marginalized in some way, especially the black characters, because they were used as fodder for the stories. I have higher hopes for the newest volume, which will be out in August, because it's been 30 years so they should have learned by now, right?
I review each individual story throughout my status updates but will have a full review up for Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays!
I liked this overall because it is an extremely interesting world and mythology surrounding all of it. I thought the anthology had a lot of threads that tied it together to make it cohesive, which I really liked. However, like most anthologies, there were stories I enjoyed a lot more than others and some I absolutely loathed. This anthology has a lot of issues, mostly because there is a lack of diversity in the authors and the experiences they bring to the table. I would have liked to see better treatment of women and the characters who were marginalized in some way, especially the black characters, because they were used as fodder for the stories. I have higher hopes for the newest volume, which will be out in August, because it's been 30 years so they should have learned by now, right?
bricake5's review against another edition
3.0
Going into reading wild cards I knew nothing besides the fact that it was by George R. R. Martin, so it took me by surprise when I started to read it and found that it was an anthology. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of anthologies (especially ones with several authors) because it feels more disjointed when it comes to pacing and writing. For me, this book didn't change my outlook whatsoever. I will say, however, that it was pleasantly surprising. I liked how some character's resurface in multiple stories. I also really enjoyed reading about the progression of the wild card virus and the treatment of aces and jokers throughout time. While politics aren't my favourite I found the stories that involved them were still intriguing. But I also found myself increasingly thankful for the stories driven more by action. Overall I will say that I enjoyed reading it despite it being an anthology and give it a healthy rating of 3/5 stars
aadaenyaa's review against another edition
I love this whole Wild Cards story line. I understand that it has been optioned for a movie, and possibly a tv series. I think I enjoyed the first one the most, as I liked the WW2 setting, but they're definitely keeping with the time line and accuracy as far as the decades.
rafalreadersinitiative's review against another edition
2.0
Domknięcie pierwszej trylogii, czy raczej - jak woli nazywać trzy pierwsze tomy "Dzikich Kart" sam G.R.R.M - "triady" zawodzi w wielu aspektach. Główną wadą jest poprowadzona grubą kreską główna oś fabularna, pretekstowa i rozczarowująca, zwłaszcza w finale. Ponadto, o ile w poprzednich dwóch tomach, których konstrukcja bazowała raczej na dość swobodnie powiązanych ze sobą opowiadaniach, w związku z czym odmienność stylu narracji i sposobu prowadzenia bohaterów nie przeszkadzała - w "Szalejących Dżokerach" postanowiono pójść całkowicie w stronę powieści mozaikowej i nie można oprzeć się wrażeniu, że poszczególne sekcje książki znacząco różnią się poziomem od innych. W związku z tym, występuje też kilka problemów z logicznym spleceniem niektórych wątków, spójnością historii, a interakcje pomiędzy postaciami nazbyt często wypadają kuriozalnie.
W przypadku "Szalejących Dżokerów", nawet bez wiedzy o tym, że książkę pisało aż siedmiu autorów, bez trudu można się domyślić, że to dziecko wielu ojców (i dwóch matek). Zdecydowanie wolałbym utrzymanie tej serii w formie antologii opowiadań, rozgrywających się we wspólnym uniwersum. Jak pokazuje rewelacyjny tom pierwszy, dużo lepiej wychodziło poszczególnym pisarzom skupienie się na własnych bohaterach i ich "przygodach" w zamkniętych, krótszych formach.
Z żalem przyjąłem też fakt, że twórcy tym razem zupełnie nie zawracali sobie głowy nakreśleniem szerszego tła historycznego. Spojrzenie na historię przez pryzmat pojawiających się w naszej rzeczywistości meta-ludzi było jednym z największych atutów pierwszego tomu. Już w drugim tę kwestię zbagatelizowano, a w "Szalejących Dżokerach" kompletnie porzucono. Między wierszami pojawia się, co prawda, kilka "smaczków" (Fidel Castro, jako baseballista), ale jest tego zdecydowanie za mało.
"Szalejący Dżokerzy" ucieszą niewątpliwie wszystkich fanów komiksów Marvela, czy DC. Znajdą tu ogromną ilość nawiązań do postaci i wydarzeń z komiksów, oczywiście w dużo bardziej wulgarnej, brutalnej i często przyziemnej formie. Takie podejście do komiksowych schematów mogło szokować w 1987 roku, kiedy komiksy prezentowały historie dużo bardziej infantylne niż ma to miejsce współcześnie - dziś, cóż, "Szalejący Dżokerzy" nie wybijają się zbytnio ponad, można powiedzieć, "obowiązujące", postmodernistyczne trendy.
W przypadku "Szalejących Dżokerów", nawet bez wiedzy o tym, że książkę pisało aż siedmiu autorów, bez trudu można się domyślić, że to dziecko wielu ojców (i dwóch matek). Zdecydowanie wolałbym utrzymanie tej serii w formie antologii opowiadań, rozgrywających się we wspólnym uniwersum. Jak pokazuje rewelacyjny tom pierwszy, dużo lepiej wychodziło poszczególnym pisarzom skupienie się na własnych bohaterach i ich "przygodach" w zamkniętych, krótszych formach.
Z żalem przyjąłem też fakt, że twórcy tym razem zupełnie nie zawracali sobie głowy nakreśleniem szerszego tła historycznego. Spojrzenie na historię przez pryzmat pojawiających się w naszej rzeczywistości meta-ludzi było jednym z największych atutów pierwszego tomu. Już w drugim tę kwestię zbagatelizowano, a w "Szalejących Dżokerach" kompletnie porzucono. Między wierszami pojawia się, co prawda, kilka "smaczków" (Fidel Castro, jako baseballista), ale jest tego zdecydowanie za mało.
"Szalejący Dżokerzy" ucieszą niewątpliwie wszystkich fanów komiksów Marvela, czy DC. Znajdą tu ogromną ilość nawiązań do postaci i wydarzeń z komiksów, oczywiście w dużo bardziej wulgarnej, brutalnej i często przyziemnej formie. Takie podejście do komiksowych schematów mogło szokować w 1987 roku, kiedy komiksy prezentowały historie dużo bardziej infantylne niż ma to miejsce współcześnie - dziś, cóż, "Szalejący Dżokerzy" nie wybijają się zbytnio ponad, można powiedzieć, "obowiązujące", postmodernistyczne trendy.
ninjamuse's review against another edition
3.0
In brief: It’s the 40th anniversary of Wild Card Day and things are about to get weird(er) in New York City. Third in a series.
Thoughts: Hee! In case you missed my recent post on the Wild Cards books, they’re a shared-world superhero series that is well-written, mostly holds up to modern eyes, and utterly bonkers. This installment is no exception, and as enjoyable a read as the rest of ‘em. There’s an assassination plot, a missing girl, a fermenting gang war, a bit of romance, some soul-searching, a stolen journal, an elaborate dinner… and the way all the stories weave through each other, intersect, and affect each other is beautiful. There are some elements that haven’t aged well or (hopefully) wouldn’t happen nowadays—the “sorcerer-pimp”, the cat burglar who spends most of the story in a bikini because reasons, the word “Oriental”—but there are also elements that are fairly progressive, like characters where “gay” is a footnote, mention of the AIDS crisis, and non-sexualized sex workers. George R.R. Martin and his fellow writers were clearly aiming to capture 1986 while thinking ahead to future audiences, and I think they’ve succeeded. This was fun!
7/10
Thoughts: Hee! In case you missed my recent post on the Wild Cards books, they’re a shared-world superhero series that is well-written, mostly holds up to modern eyes, and utterly bonkers. This installment is no exception, and as enjoyable a read as the rest of ‘em. There’s an assassination plot, a missing girl, a fermenting gang war, a bit of romance, some soul-searching, a stolen journal, an elaborate dinner… and the way all the stories weave through each other, intersect, and affect each other is beautiful. There are some elements that haven’t aged well or (hopefully) wouldn’t happen nowadays—the “sorcerer-pimp”, the cat burglar who spends most of the story in a bikini because reasons, the word “Oriental”—but there are also elements that are fairly progressive, like characters where “gay” is a footnote, mention of the AIDS crisis, and non-sexualized sex workers. George R.R. Martin and his fellow writers were clearly aiming to capture 1986 while thinking ahead to future audiences, and I think they’ve succeeded. This was fun!
7/10