The Wild Cards format has changed a lot over the series. Originally conceived as a series of trilogies with every book written by multiple writers, the series had abandoned that by the sixth book in favor of longer arcs interspersed with the occasional novel written by a solo writer. But the one thing they all had in common is that --- they were novels. Even in the books with multiple stories, those stories interlinked to make a larger narrative.
Deuces Down is different. For the first time, there is no overarching narrative through line connecting the stories together. The stories stand on their own as single pieces. The only thing connecting these stories is a) they cover the history of the Wild Cards universe, with the first story taking place in the 1950s and the last in present day and b) they all focus on Deuces, people whose infection with the Wild Card virus gave them unimpressive or useless abilities. In other words,
Deuces Down is the first Wild Cards book that is just a straight up anthology.
As with any anthology, the stories are going to be a mixed bag. Fortunately, the stories aren't really connected so, unlike in other books, one bad story doesn't drag down the whole. And, this book contains "Promises"by Stephen Leigh, one of the all time best Wild Cards stories. But we'll get to that in due time as we go through the stories.
"Storming Space" (by Micheal Cassutt, starring Cash Mitchell): Once again, Michael Cassutt has written another one of his trademark stories about how the Wild Card virus affected the history of the space program This one focuses on Cash Mitchell, a small time smuggler with the ability to lessen gravity on any object he gets a grip on. Unfortunately for him, he finds himself involved with a small time criminal who plans to set up an operation travel to the Moon and needs his power to do so, a series of events that leads to Cash being part of the first lunar mission. I have to admit this story kind of left me cold. Cash is not the interesting of a character (lovelorn "nice guy" protagonists are not exactly uncommon in this franchise) and the story is not all that exciting. A merely serviceable story in an anthology full of them. Rating: 2 out of 5.
"Four Days in October" (by John Jos. Miller, starring Digger Downs): Tabloid reporter Digger Downs has been a character in Wild Cards since the books first started. Blessed with the ability to literally smell people who have the Wild Card virus and very little in the way of journalistic ethics, Downs has used his powers to enrich himself and make a name for himself as reporter. This serves as an origin story for him, as a young reporter for a school newspaper named Thomas Downs discovers that someone on the 1969 Brooklyn Dodgers may be an ace. The story has some enjoyable parts; Downs, even as a child, is entertainingly sleazy and we see the backgrounds of some established characters (theres an even a blink and you miss it origin story for minor series antagonist, Wyrm). The downside of the story is that it is overly focused on baseball. There are long paragraphs where the story just kind of stops to deliver a long play-by-play description of various baseball games. What's worse, these are long descriptions of fictional baseball games. (In the real world, the Dodgers had already moved to Los Angeles). For baseball fanatics only. Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
"Walking the Floor over You" (by Walton Simons, starring Robert "Bob" Cortland): Another story focusing on a new character, "Walking the Floor over You" introduces Bob Cortland, a comedy club owner with the rather unimpressive ability to turn into a puddle and Carlotta DeSoto, a comedian who has the power to make people laugh involuntarily. When Carlotta is kidnapped by her vengeful ex-husband, Bob gets dragged into the wider world of Aces when e hires Croyd Crenson, the Sleeper, to get her back. This story derives a lot of its power from nostalgia; there are cameos by all sorts of Wild Cards characters that haven't been seen in a while (like Hiram Worchester and Peregrine). Unfortunately, the most memorable parts of the story are the callbacks to older stuff; Bob is another nice guy with girl troubles, a blander version of Cash Mitchell from earlier in the book. Ultimately, without a strong protagonist, the story just has to coast on references to more interesting characters. Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
"A Face for the Cutting Room Floor" (By Melinda Snodgrass, starring Dr. Bradley Finn): Before he was a doctor, Bradley Finn, the Wild Card universe's local centaur, was an actor, using his appearance to serve as a living special effect in low budget fantasy movies. Meanwhile, his movie executive father happens to be producing a new film starring Grace Kelly, who, in the Wild Cards universe, is apparently blessed with an unaging appearance and never retired from acting. When her personal makeup artist disappears, Kelly suddenly goes into seclusion and Finn's father asks him to investigate the disappearance. This is an odd little story, more about subverted expectations. It's more of a homage to noir films minus the violence and the mystery at the center is easy to figure out. A nice detective story but nothing too special. Rating: 3 out of 5.
"Father Henry's Little Miracle" (by Daniel Abraham, starring Father Henry Obst): Unlike the other stories Deuces Down, this story actually takes place during the events of a specific book, specifically the gang war between the Mafia and the Shadow Fist Society in Book 5. Father Henry Obst is a Catholic priest with the job-appropriate ability to transmute water into wine. Unfortunately, that power is all that he has to rely on when a young woman in possession of stolen heroin comes to him for help. Worse both the Mafia and Shadow Fists are after the drugs and the Shadow Fists have hired Demise, the Ace whose looks can kill. "Little Miracle"is essentially a Demise story told from another character's point of view. This has the effect of emphasizing how terrifying Demise's power is to the average person on the street while still showcasing the character's propensity to be injured in comical ways. A nice throwback to old school Wild Cards. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
"Promises" (by Stephen Leigh, Starring Gary Bushorn/ The Burning Man): I won't lie. This story made me tear up. The first story to take place after the Card Shark trilogy, we find out what happened to Gary Bushorn, a minor character from the previous book. Gifted with an unusually high body temperature, Gary's activities in the previous book have left him a wanted man. Trapped on the joker colony of Raithlin in Ireland, unable to leave without risking arrest, Gary meets Caitlyn, a young woman whose Wild Card abilities are slowly killing her and her daughter, Moira, a young girl whose Wild Card hasn't turned yet leaving her a ticking time bomb. "Promises" is an exploration of love and loss set against the backdrop of the Wild Cards universe. It's actually the first story, I think, that really deals in depth with the fact that for most of the people who get it the Wild Card virus is a death sentence. Plus, the ending is utterly devastating. Rating: 5 out of 5.
"With a Flourish and a Flair" (by Kevin Andrew Murphy, starring Sam Washburn/ Swash): The collection ends on a high note with this story, a straightforward superhero adventure. Deuce artist Swash, with abilities that transform him into the ultimate sketch artist, gets roped into assisting Ace magician/heroine Topper when she loses her hat, which she requires to use her powers. As the search intensifies, more and more familiar faces from the Wild Cards universe get roped into the mayhem. We see familiar characters like Mr. Nobody, Cameo and Peregrine while meeting new characters like the Jokertown Boys, a rock band made of Jokers, Aces, and Deuces. It's a nice reminder that although the Wild Card Universe can pretty dark there is room for fun as well. Rating: 4 out of 5.
And that would be it but as I was writing this piece, Tor Books published an expanded rerelease. This rerelease added three more stories, including a frame story attempting to link each piece into an overall narrative. In service of this, it rearranged the order of several stories, breaking the chronological theme. However, to be completely fair, the stories were already so disconnected that this decision winds up having no practical effect on the book's overall structure.
The new stories are as follows:
"Age of Wonders" (by Carrie Vaughn: Starring Raleigh Jackson): The new framing story follows Raleigh Jackson, the daughter of minor Wild Cards character, Aurora, as she goes to work at magazine Aces. While there she get her big break, being assigned to write a series of articles about Deuces and other forgotten Wild Cards, which form the other stories in the book, while also undertaking a personal quest for the identity of her biological father. While the story starts promisingly enough, it is full of subplots that don't really go anywhere. The search for Ralieigh's father fizzles out as does a later subplot about her work upsetting members of the Mafia. More unforgivably, "Age of Wonders" inadvertently spoils the ending of "Promises" which robs that story of much of its punch. Rating: 1.5 out of 5 (2 out of 5 without the spoiler).
"Tasty" (by Mary Ann Mohnaraj: Starring Retazos): Joker repairman Retazos is having a bad week. His girlfriend is cheating on him. A local gang is intimidating some of his friends. And his attempt to make a patio for his grandmother inadvertently releases an alien monstrosity that devours everything in its path. You know, a normal crappy week. "Tasty"explores one of the theme of the "Wild Cards" universe: What exactly makes a superhero? In a universe, where a large portion of the population has a funny name and powers, even a repairman with less than impressive abilities can save the day once or twice. One criticism I have is that Retazos' girlfriend is a two-dimensional character going from loving companion to cruel harpy as the plot demands. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
"Dry to the Touch" (by Caroline Spector: starring Joe Belenky/ Joe the Cleaner): This store is a loose follow up ( and dark reflection of) to "Storming Space" covering some of the open plot threads left by that story. The protagonist is Joe Belenky, whose ability to turn human bodily fluids into dust has led him to be forcibly pressed into service by the Mafia as an unofficial clean-up man for mob hits. However, when the chorus girl he has a crush becomes the target of his superiors, Joe winds up having to take a stand to break free of his bosses once and for all. This is my favorite of the new stories. With "Storming Space" and "Walking the Floor Over You", Deuces Down already had two stories that involved a schlubby man coming to the aid of a beautiful women who then falls into his arms as a reward. This story inverts that with a much bleaker and more emotionally honest ending that comes as a gut punch to the reader that stays with you after you read it. Rating: 4 out of 5.
All in all, it's hard to have an opinion on the book as a whole. Though the new edition may have added a frame story, the book was originally an anthology and the stories largely stand and fall on their own merits. The book's variety of tones something here for every reader but it also lacks the fun of different narrative threads coming together that some of the other books have. It's a good book for a casual fan of the series: if one story doesn't work, another one will.
