Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Book XII: Turn of the Cards

In a lot of  ways, Book XIII - Turn of The Cards can be compared to a long running TV show trying to regain it's footing after a lackluster season. After the Rox Triad extended to four books, one of which was a series low point, it was time for Wild Cards to take some time and catch its breath.  Turn of the Cards by Victor Milan, the second novel by a single author in the series, marks a sort of breather for Wild Cards wrapping up plot threads from the previous storyline and transitioning to the next arc.

The Rox Triad has seen Milan's hero, Mark Meadows a.k.a. Captain Trips suffer multiple traumas. One of the more versatile characters in the series, Trips could transform himself into five other Aces, each possessing their own powers and personalities, through consumption of illegal narcotics. Unfortunately, this power had left a wanted fugitive on the run from the DEA and separated from his daughter Sprout. Worse, during Trips's last adventure, one of his Ace personas, Starshine, was "killed" and he is having increasing trouble keeping his remaining alter egos under control.

After several fraught encounters with the law, Trips takes refuge in Vietnam where the government is recruiting Aces and Jokers to use as soldiers. Offering his services, Trips balks at an order to wipe out a civilian village and soon finds himself leading a rebellion. Meanwhile, the mysterious Ace known only as the Mechanic has his own agenda for Trips, hoping to recruit him into his own private war.

Victor Milan, the sole writer of this volume, was known as an author of libertarian science fiction. While his point of view has been present in the earlier stories , this book is where it become undeniable. For instance, the DEA agents pursuing Trips are all cartoonishly evil and bumblingly incompetent. (Their ultimate humiliation is particularly cringe inducing in these more enlightened times). Furthermore, the Mechanic is an avatar for the author's political views: A intelligent conservative who quotes Eastern philosophy and kicks ass in the name of freedom.

Fortunately, the Mechanic isn't the main character of the story: Trips is. It is a clear the Milan thinks Trips leftist political views are naive and misguided. Yet, despite this, he write Trips as a good person who has internal strength of character and his own powerful sense of right and wrong. Furthermore, he resists the temptation to give Trips' a political awakening where he realizes the error of his ways. It takes a certain amount of skill to write a hero you deeply disagree with any amount of sympathy and Milan certainly succeeds in that.

What's less forgivable is Milan's overt political stance regarding the Vietnam War.  How overt? Milan felt the need to include a disclaimer at the back of the book denying any political subtext.  However, since the book is a groups of white American super-humans basically refighting the Vietnam War and winning, the author would seem to protest to much. While I thought the book was good enough in other respects to make up for this problematic aspects, other readers might disagree.

In terms of the series as a whole, "Turn of the Cards" serves as a transition point between the previous story arc and the next. It follows directly on from the "Rox Triad" and sets up threads that will be important in the  upcoming "Card Sharks" trilogy. At this point, it was just what the series needed: to jump directly to the next big story line would have been too rushed after the lengthy "Rox" triad. "Turn of the Cards" gave the readership time to pause and catch their breathe as it were. Plus, taken on it's own merits it's a good read: not the best book in the series or even the best novel but certainly in the Top Ten. 

Addenda: This book introduces J. Robert Belew, the ace known as the Mechanic, and his rival, non powered CIA agent, O.K Cassidy. The Mechanic's power make him a neat variant on the cyborg superhero: He can cut off various body parts (which eventually grow back) and replace them with whatever machinery is at hand making him into a DIY cyborg. It is established the Cassidy is part of an organization devoted to wiping out people with Wild Card virus.  Captain Trips transforms into his evil alter ego, Monster, for the first time.

Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Book XI: Dealer's Choice

It's been a much longer time than I thought between blog posts.  Given the state of the world right now, I thought it might be in poor taste to continue a series about books that deal with a deadly virus. But the current troubles haven't put the book series on hold so I decided to continue with this blog retrospective during these tense times.

So, back to the books... After the first true novel in the series took a detour, it was time to get down to business. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are finally at the concluding novel of the "Rox Triad" with Book Eleven: Dealer's Choice.

While Book Ten dealt with wrapping up Dr. Tachyon's story in space, Book Eleven returns to Earth to deal with the other dangling plot threads. In Books Eight and Nine, the joker terrorist known as Bloat  had transformed Ellis Island an independent Joker nationstate known as the Rox. To this end, he had allied himself with the Jumpers, a street gang who had been gifted with ability to steal peoples bodies by the criminal Ace known as Prime.  In Dealer's Choice, the US government assembles a group of Aces to invade the Rox and take out Bloat once and for all.

As is the case with most story arc finales in Wild Cards, the finale blends multiple perspectives together to tell a single story. The immobile Bloat (written by Stephen Leigh) find himself fighting a war with the outside world just as his ability to literally make his dreams reality begins to spiral out of control. Unfortunately, fighting for his people means allying himself with some unsavory people such as Zelda, a Jumper introduced in previous books, who has returned as that organization's new leader, the psychotic Bodysnatcher (written by George R.R. Martin).

On the other side of the equation, two strike teams of Aces are sent to invade the Rox. The Great and Powerful Turtle (also written by George R.R. Martin) is part of a group of flying Aces sent in from the air while Carnifex (written by John. Jos. Miller) joins another group of Aces on a stealth mission to find Bloat himself. Meanwhile, the android hero Modular Man (written by Walter John Williams) starts off as part of the Turtle's group. However when his creator choses to side with Bloat, Modular Man's programming forces him to defect to the other side. Finally,  a third party emerges as the Australian aboriginal ace Wyungare (written by Stephen Bryant) comes to the Rox on a mission to prevent Bloat's increasing powers from going out of control.

As wrap ups go, this ending is better then the "Rox Triad" arguably deserves. By this point, the Rox storyline had gone on for over four books including series low point, Book Nine. I'm pretty sure that at this point, the writers and the readers were both anxious for this storyline to be over.

Of the story threads, the Carnifex thread is the stand-out. The character has appeared since Book Three and, although he is a hero, up to this point in the series his function has mostly been to be manipulated into fighting other heroes. This book takes his perspective for the first time and fleshes him out some. While the character remains the violence-loving fighter of the earlier books, he is also shown to have a sense of morality that he abides by which,. paradoxically makes him one of the more honorable characters in the book.

Book Eleven is permeated with a sense of moral ambiguity. While the heroes of Wild Cards are hardly paragons of virtue, the villains usually compensate for that by being undeniably and irredeemably evil. However, Bloat is merely fighting back against a system that dehumanizes and degrades people like him. On the other hand, the book doesn't let him off the hook completely, pointing out that Bloat and his allies have harmed innocent people and left a large body count in their wake. Even relatively traditional heroes like the Turtle wind up crossing moral lines in this story and more outright evil characters like the Bodysnatcher are given sympathetic moments.

In keeping with this theme, while Bloat and his cohorts are the main "antagonists", it becomes clear that there's a greater evil hiding in the shadows.Various government official and powerful men begin showing an unusual interest in the proceedings. As it turns out, the true villains aren't super-powered terrorists like Bloat and his colleagues but rather seemingly ordinary men who use power and privilege to harm the powerless.  (Actually come, to think of it, this part of the book has aged really well).

As to what doesn't work, there are, of course, plot threads that are never paid off in later books. Furthermore, a subplot where various mystic Aces attempt to stop Bloat doesn't really work. Mostly, this is done to justify Wyungare's involvement in the plot. This is unfortunate, because Wyungare is really not that interesting.  His role is giving the other characters sage advice and helping them out of tight spots. The character has no agency of his own which is a little problematic. Also, I'd like to point out that having Buddy Holly be a) alive and b) one of the mystic Aces is just kind of weird and off putting.

Overall, this book is the best part of a bad storyline. Lest I be seen as damning with faint praise, I should clarify that even on its own, it's a good book, and taken as the end of a trilogy, it does its job admirability. I just find myself wishing that the buildup was worth the payoff.

Addenda: One of the new aces introduced in this book is Cameo, an ace medium who can channel the spirit and personality of dead Aces. Another new hero that is introduced it Legion, an Ace with a single consciousness and multiple bodies. Important government officials like George G. Battle (a thinly veiled version of G. Gordon Liddy), Dr. Pan Rudo and others offer assistance to the Aces in their fight against Bloat but are implied to be serving their own agenda. Mr. Nobody from Books Eight and Nine reappears, having apparently become a private detective since we last saw him.

Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Book X: Double Solitaire

This book marks something of a first for the series: A genuine honest to goodness novel by a single writer.  Eschewing the format of the previous books, the story focuses on a single character, telling his/her story from beginning to end.  It's a stylistic choice the series would only repeat twice.

It's hare to know how to place Double Solitaire in the context of the larger series. By all logic, it should by the third and final book in the ""Rox Triad" considering that it follows books one and two of that sub-series. But the truth is the "Rox Triad" isn't actually three books long: The storyline goes on for four books or, as George R.R. Marten has joked, five. The "official" Wild Cards reading order states that Books Eight, Nine  and Eleven are part of the Rox Triad whereas Book Ten is a stand alone novel. However, since it is a continuation of and conclusion to stories that began in the Rox Triad, it seems fair to label group Double Solitaire as an unofficial part of that trilogy, a sort of part 2.5.

It's impossible to discuss Book Ten without discussing the ending of Book Nine, so SPOILERS ahead. The last book ended with a major villain, Dr. Tachyon's psychopathic grandson Blaise escaping into outer space, heading to Tachyon's home planet of Takis. This is a problem for Tachyon as Blaise has used his Jumper abilities to switch Tachyon's mind with that of teenage runaway, Kelly. Since Blaise has taken Kelly, still in Tachyon's body, with him, Tachyon goes after him on a quest for his original body. To help him on his quest, Tachyon takes two Aces with him: his friend, the drug fueled Mark Meadows, a.k.a. Captain Trips and teleporting private Detective Jay "Poppinjay" Ackroyd. To add a further complication, Tachyon's new female body is pregnant.

This is a step up from Book Nine which is ironic as the entire book is pretty much a sequel to Book Nine's (and the series') worst story "Lovers." As I said in the last review, "Lovers" was a miserable read, a grim and violent story which saw the newly-female bodied Tachyon brutally assaulted without the narrative craft necessary to make the unpleasant subject matter readable.

One of the reasons that Double Solitaire is an improvement is that, unlike "Lovers", has  more varied setting. While in "Lovers", Tachyon is imprisoned in one place for most of the story, Double Solitaire has a broader scope, starting on Earth and ending on the planer Takis. This means that there's more time for character development, more time to see how other characters react to Tachyon's new body, and how Tachyon, whose attitude towards women was always can be described as condescending at best, reacts to being in a female body himself.

That being said, the most interesting part of the book involves our first good look at the planet Takis. The world building on display is well done, showing an alien culture that seems to be based on medieval Europe, where rival noble families scheme and plot for dominance via war and political assassination only with advanced alien technology thrown into the mix. Put a rival alien culture called the Network that practices hyper-predatory capitalism into the mix and you have a setting that could carry a series all on its own.

More importantly, this story is an end of an era for Wild Cards. (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD). Since Book I, Dr. Tachyon had arguably been the central character of the series, having appeared in every single book of the series so far. He had gotten a story in every book with the exception of Book III: Jokers Wild and Book VII: Ace in the Hole and he played a major role in both those books.

But Double Solitaire was the last Dr. Tachyon story in the series and its a well done send off. Tachyon come to terms with his actions over the course of the series, and what it means for him both as a native of Takis and as a citizen of Earth. We get some resolution to his family dramas, both his conflict with his grandson and his rivalry with his cousin.

If I had to come up with one word to describe the first solo novel in the Wild Cards series, that word would be "bittersweet." The book is a farewell to a major character and as such there is an air of melancholy to it, even between the action and sci-fi intrigue. The effect is probably more palpable for people familiar with the series so I don't know how someone coming in cold would react. But for fans, this is definitely a worthy entry in the series.

Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Book IX: Jokertown Shuffle

Every long running series is going to have high points and low points. Which is a nice way of saying we are at definite low point here. If Ace in the Hole and Dead Man's Hand were my favorite books in the series, Jokertown Shuffle, the second book in the Rox triad is my least favorite. I've been dreading my review of this one for so long mainly because its (in my opinions) the most upsetting of the series. In a series thats never shied away from graphic depictions of sex and eroticized violence, that's saying something. Thats as much as a trigger warning as I'm going to give you, so read this review at your own risk---

If the last book was about setting up the body-swapping Jumpers as major villains, this book is about revealing the full scope of their agenda. The previous volume revealed that the Jumpers are allied with Joker revolutionary known as Bloat, who has occupied Ellis Island and turned it into the Joker safe haven known as the Rox.  In Jokertown Shuffle, Bloat and the Jumpers put their plan into action, a extortion scheme in which the wealthy are imprisoned in the bodies of Jokers with only two options: do the bidding of their captors or spend the rest of their lives as a deformed freak.

There are two interstitial stories in this one are  "The Temptation of Herionomous Bloat" (by Stephen Leigh; starring Theodor Honorlaw/Bloat) and "Lovers" (by Melinda Snodgrass; starring Dr. Tachyon). We'll discuss "The Temptation" first since that's more pleasant of the two stories.

"The Temptation" give us a first look into the mind of Bloat who, in something of first for Wild Cards, is a major antagonist who is a sympathetic character. The Joker revolutionary is a teenager whose telepathic abilities come with the downside of being trapped in a gigantic immobile body.  In this story, he has to navigate his tenuous alliance with the Jumpers while holding off the authorities as they attempt to reclaim the Rox. Meanwhile, his power is stating to grow in unexpected ways. It's a humanizing story for character who had been presented as a more repulsive character in the last book.

Unfortunately, it suffers by being intertwined with "Lovers." At the end of the last book, Dr. Tachyon's grandson, Blaise, had become a Jumper. In this book, he put his new power to use by trapping Tachyon in the body of a teenage girl and imprisoning him on the Rox. Even though Bloat personally admires Tachyon, he is powerless to prevent Blaise from going to truly repulsive lengths to get his revenge.

"Lovers" is the answer to the question what if The Accused was a superhero story. That rather glib summary is the best way I feel to discuss a story that delves into topics I would rather not discuss on this blog. Even if those topics are worthy of further analysis, the story itself is not. It offers very little other than Dr. Tachyon being tortured brutally, and at length, for several interminable passages. If I had to guess, the reason the fans of the series regard the Jumper arc as a low point is because they associate it mostly with this story which is just an unending painful slog to read though.  Rating: "The Temptation of Heironomous Bloat" (1/5) and "Lovers" (0/5).

The other stories in this volume are:

"And Hope to Die" (written by John Jos. Miller; Starring Daniel Brennan/Yeoman): Since Book Seven, Daniel Brennan had been in semi-retirement from his career as the vigilante Yeoman. Unfortunately, this retirement is shattered when the Shadow Fist Society reemerges, leaving his lover, the Ace known as Wrath, in a coma. Yeoman's subsequent quest to heal his girlfriend ultimately leads him to a final confrontation with his nemesis Kien Phuc, fresh off of faking his death in the previous book. This story works fine as as a coda for Yeoman. It gives his personal journey a satisfying resolution and is the logical end to his character arc. Unfortunately, as the end of the long running Shadow Fist story line, it falls flat. The previous books have spent a lot of time building up the criminal organization as credible antagonists. To see them written out in a single story so that the series can deal with other subplots seem like all the setup went to waste. And don't get me started on Trace, the mysterious new character who is set up to be important and then is never seen again. Rating: 2/5.

"Madmen Across the Water" (written by Victor Milan: Starring Mark Meadows/ Captain Trips): The last book put Captain Trip through Hell as he lost custody of his daughter and became a wanted fugitive. Now hiding out on the Rox, the drug powered Ace puts in motion a rescue operation to break his daughter out of state custody while also having to contend with Blaise and the Jumpers. This is, by far, the best story in this volume. Trips and his alter egos are always fun and, unlike the stories in the early books which were more about introducing the character, this story has genuine personal stakes with the character having to make life altering decisions. I found Trips' attempts to bond with a young Jumper  genuinely heartbreaking and, in a book like this, anything that can make me feel something is good. Rating: 4/5.

"While Night’s Black Agents to Their Prey Do Rouse" (written by Walter John Williams: Starring Neil Langford/Black Shadow): The second best story in this book. Way back in Book Five, it was revealed that a pair of background characters were actually the same person, false identities assumed by an unknown Ace. Here, the identity of that Ace is revealed as Black Shadow or "Shad", an Ace vigilante who briefly appeared back in the very first book. Wanted by the police for his vigilantism, Shad assumes multiple personas in his war against crime. In this story, a request for help from an old friend sets him against the Jumpers. Shad is a fun character and sometimes its nice to see a Wild Cards character who is more of an old school superhero, wearing a costume and fighting crime. It also gives us a look at how the civilians of the Wild Cards universe are impacted by the Jumper's extortion scheme which has the effect of humanizing the conflict. Unfortunately, Shad's relationship with the Joker Chalktalk has some disturbing consent issues (more on her end than his), which given the other stories in this book, ultimately make for an uncomfortable read and taints what is otherwise a good story. Rating: 3/5.

Riders (written by Lewis Shiner: Starring Veronica): In the previous book, former prostitute Veronica lived through the death of her girlfriend and discovered that she is an Ace. Now armed with the ability to suck the life from men, which is a bit on the nose, Veronica falls in with the radical feminist group WORSE, acting as a vigilante to right wrongs against women. However, she soon becomes suspicious of WORSE's motivations and, much to her horror, discovers that they have a connection to the Jumpers. This story is better then Veronica's last outing. Unfortunately, it's a pretty bland read, as it is mostly watching Veronica discover things and learn things the audience already knows. It feels like the author's heart wasn't in this story. In fact, claiming it is a story is a little generous as it is more like set-up for the next story, ending on cliffhanger that leads directly into---

Nobody Does it Alone (written be Walton Simons: Starring Jerry Strauss/Mr. Nobody): In the last book, Jerry Strauss, the shape-shifting Ace also known as Mr. Nobody discovered that crooked lawyer, St. John "Loophole" Latham was Prime, the leader of the Jumpers. Unfortunately, Jerry failed to his attempt to kill Prime, barely escaping with his life. In this story, Jerry returns for Round Two. On one hand, the story does conclude the character journey that Mr. Nobody began in One Eyed Jacks. However, one can't shake the feeling that this story would have worked better in the previous book where Mr. Nobody was arguably the central character where here he's relegated to a short story -- and even that story is the direct continuation of another character's story. "Nobody Does it Alone" doesn't have enough space to breathe with all the subplots in the book and thus, Jerry's story kind of get lost in the shuffle. Rating: Riders (2/5) and Nobody Does it Alone (3/5).

In addition, two more stories were added when the book was republished in 2019:

The Unintended (written by Cherie Priest: Starring Leo Storgman/Ramshead): When he first appeared in the 2011 Wild Cards novel, Fort Freak, horn headed Joker policeman Leo Storgman a.k.a. Ramshead was an old man on the verge of retirement. Like fellow character, the Magpie, this made it easier to insert the character in stories set in the past when the earlier books when they were republished. Here, the younger Storgman investigates the aftermath of incidents shown in other stories in the books, only to discover that his precinct had been infiltrated by Jumpers. This story is a welcome addition to the book, showing how genuinely unsettling the Jumpers can be as Leo has to determine which of his co-workers have been replaced. Furthermore, Leo relative lack of superpowers means that he has to rely on ingenuity and luck to triumph, enhancing the suspense. Rating: 4/5.

Unravelling (written by Caroline Spector: Starring Joanne Jefferson/Lady Black): A direct sequel to the Lady Black story from the last book, this story details the energy absorbing Ace's continued investigation into the happenings at the Rox. More of a character piece than the other stories in this volume, "Unraveling" doesn't add much to the overall narrative except for some additional insight into Bloat's background. Although Lady Black works for a government super-hero team, her professional woes are all to to grounded in real wold concerns: As an African-American woman, her insights and concerns are overlooked by her white supervisors. While its a topic worth exploring, unfortunately, the story didn't do much for me. I don't feel like it added much that was new to the overarching storyline and it wasn't super compelling as a stand alone story. Ultimately, I feel kind of indifferent to it. Rating: 3/5.

This book is the series low point and that is largely due to "Lovers." It's a overly violent slog of a story filled that filled with brutal violence against a female-bodied character. In fairness, gendered violence is one of the flaws of the series, especially in the early books but, even so, at least those books had other things going on in them. "Lovers" makes it the primary focus of the story and the fact that it was written by female author does not make it better.

Unfortunately, because "Lovers" is the story on which much of the central narrative is predicated it winds up dragging the rest of the book down. Many of the stories wind up connecting to it in some way which means that none of them can escape its shadow. Even the good stories aren't good enough to make up for how bad "Lovers" is. Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel as the next book takes the series to a whole new place.

Addenda: Not much in this book. Zelda, one of the jumpers, is paralyzed which sets up her status quo two books down the line.