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.
