Saturday, November 9, 2024
Wild at Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospctive - Suicide Kings
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Wild At Heart - A Wild Cards Retrospective - Busted Flush
---Oh boy. I really was not looking forward to this one. Not because this is a bad novel but because with one exception every story is multiple parts. Furthermore, each of the stories is tightly interlinked, even more so than in the last book. Which would be fine but there are three and four different plotlines intersecting and diverging throughout each of the stories. Which means that discussing them without SPOILERS is a headache and summarizing them concisely presents logistical nightmares I don't even want to think about.
Never the less, I will soldier on The previous book ended with a new generation of Aces forming the Committee, an Avengers /Justice League type organization backed by the UN. This book picks up from there, following the new team as they deal with several new problems and old enemies.
First, the Committee's old foes, the fundamentalist Caliphate have begun invading neighboring countries including the Socialist People's Paradise of Africa. Next, a massive nuclear explosion devastates Texas and the cause appears to be a young ace with uncontrollable powers. Third, the group is asked to intervene in a conflict between Nigeria and the newly formed People's Paradise of Africa. Finally, a massive hurricane is headed towards Louisiana and super-powered assistance is required for the evacuation. Even with an expanded roster, the Committee might have its hands full.
The stories are as follows:
Double Helix (by Melinda Snodgrass, starring Noel Mathews/Double Helix): One again, the job of connecting the plots goes to Noel Matthews, the ace spy codenamed Double Helix. Having infiltrated both the Committee and the Caliphate under different aliases, his triple life has already pushed him far past his limits. Will his orders to kidnap a powerful young ace for the UK government prove to be the straw that breaks the camel's back? This story presents a more in-depth look at the ace know as Double Helix than the previous book did. There, he was an unpleasant amoral spy. He still that in this book but here we get a better sense of what drives him and why he does the things he does. Rating: 4/5.
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda (by Caroline Spector, starring Michelle Pond/ The Amazing Bubbles): Michelle Pond, the Amazing Bubbles, is another character having trouble balancing her responsibilities with her personal life. While she does important work with the Committee, her relationship with her girlfriend has begun to fall apart. When she's sent to spearhead evacuation efforts in New Orleans, an encounter with the vigilante known as Hoodoo Mama opens the possibility for a new relationship. A story that's hard to discuss especially since it turns out to be central to the climax. If the first story shows more of Double Helix's good side, this story shows some of the darker aspects of Bubbles' personality which severe to round out the character. Rating: 4/5.
Just Cause (by Carrie Vaughn, staring Kathleen Brandt/ Curveball): Yet another founding Committee member, Curveball, didn't get her own story in the last book. This time around we see her take center stage as her career hits the big time. In theory, Curveball should have it all: Not only is she a beloved hero, but she's also dating John Fortune, the leader of the Committee. But the constant violence of that comes with her new life is taking a toll. Can she keep being part of the Committee, and if she can't what does the mean for her relationship with John? Unfortunately, this story is one of the poorest served by the book's format. As a stand alone story, it might have been a decent effort but split up throughout the book as it is, it's hard to engage with the story on a meaningful level especially when the story "A Dirge in a Major Key" deals with many of the same themes. Rating: 3/5.Thursday, June 1, 2023
Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Inside Straight
The iBooks revival of Wild Cards was short lived. Only two books were published and the series went into dormancy again. This time, however, the dormancy would be short lived. Only two years later, Tor Books would begin publishing the series, this time with Inside Straight, the first book in what would come to be known as the Committee triad.
This time, however, the new start would bring a soft reboot of the series. Unlike the previous book Death Draws Five, which also tried to reintroduce the series but also focused on established characters and resolving old plotlines, Inside Straight (for the most part) chose to focus on a cast of completely new characters. The old characters are still around and while several of them cameo, this book entirely belongs to the new characters with the exception of John Fortune, who gets a POV story for the first time here.
There are two main intersecting plotlines throughout this book. First, long-time Wild Cards villain, the Noor al-Allah, has conquered most of the Middle East, placing it under the iron heel of his Caliphate. Things get worse when the Noor gets assassinated, causing to his mentally unstable son to ascend the throne and order the massacre of all Jokers in Egypt, an act which lead to civil war.Meanwhile, back in America, a new reality show has just launched. Young Aces from all over the country come together to compete on American Hero, a reality show for aspiring super-heroes. This plot thread primarily serves to introduce all the new characters and give them a reason for interaction. Of course, as the story progresses, the events of American Hero begin to connect with the events in Egypt in unexpected ways.
Discussing Inside Straight presents some headaches. The stories in this book proceed fairly linearly with many stories being more or less direct continuations of proceeding story. I am going to try to avoid spoilers but no promises.
The story begins with:
Jonathan Hive (by Daniel Abraham, starring Jonathan Tipton-Clarke/ Jonathan Hive): The main interstitial story for this book. Jonathan Tipton-Clark, aka Johnathan Hive, aka Bugsy is an aspiring journalist who also the ability to transform into a swarm of bugs. Looking for the inside scoop on American Hero, and not averse to making himself part of the story, he auditions for the show not knowing that it will change his life forever. The story is hard to judge on its own, more so than other interstitial stories. Because the book the stories in the book are tied together more tightly than in other Wild Cards novels, Johnathan Hive has the thankless task of providing connective tissue, a sort of transition from one story to the next. It helps that Bugsy has enough good points his corrupt journalist act coming off as charmingly sleazy rather than unlikable. Rating: 3/5.Dark of the Moon (by Melinda Snodgrass, starring Lilith): This is the story that kicks off the main plot. Lilith, an Ace assassin with the power to teleport, sneaks into the Caliphate to carry out the assassination of the Noor Al-allah. The story is a good thriller and Lilith is an intriguing enigma of a character who's alignment remains murky. It's a bit of a shame to see the Noor go out like this. It always seemed like such a long-term villain deserved a better sendoff, but on the other hand, he was a cliched character who had perhaps outstayed his welcome. A good start to the book. Rating: 4/5.
From the Desk of Rebecca Leiberman: This isn't technically a story, but is include here for completions sake. Nominally, an in-universe broadsheet of promotional material for the American Hero reality show, its real function is to serve as a cast list introducing the contestants on the show and their powers. Other than that not much to say about this one. Rating: NA.
Chosen Ones (by Carrie Vaughn, starring Ana Cortez/ Earth Witch): Anna Cortez is in over her her head. An Ace with the ability to control dirt and rocks, she didn't expect to make the show when her younger brother cajoled her into applying for American Hero. Now, the newly-dubbed "Earth Witch" finds herself using her in front of millions of people. Forced to work together with her cast-mates on the show to complete various challenges, she quickly discovers that working as a team present more challenges than she ever expected. This is the first story where we get to see a lot of the new cast in action. As a result, it's given over to character development and establishing relationships. It's a nice slow story before the action starts. Rating: 4/5.Thursday, November 10, 2022
Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Death Draws Five
Sunday, September 11, 2022
Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Deuces Down
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.
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Black Trump
Black Trump found the Wild Cards series in a strange place. For the first time since its inception, the series was about to find itself without a regular publisher. To give some perspective, before Black Trump, the series has been running continuously since 1987. After Black Trump, it would be seven more years before another book in the series was published. As a result, the end of the Card Sharks series had the unenviable task of serving both as a coda to the ongoing series while keeping enough plot threads open so that Wild Cards could be resumed again in the future. Because of this the books in the series, this one is difficult to discuss without SPOILERS so expect them ahead.
The book itself pick up where the last one left off: The organization know as the Card Sharks has possession of three vials of the titular Black Trump, a lethal virus that targets people with the Wild Card virus. Senator Greg Hartmann (written by Stephen Leigh), trapped in the deformed body of a Joker at the end of the previous book, sets off with sympathetic human Hannah Davis to find the vials before they can be used. Unfortunately, Hartmans' own Wild Cards powers are beginning to return and with them his evil alter ego, Puppetman, who has plans of his own for the pandemic. Hot on his trail is the Ace government agent Billy Ray aka Carnifex (written be John Jos. Miller) who has been sent to bring in Hartmann for questioning by a government more concerned with covering up the existence of the Black Trump than stopping it. Meanwhile, private detective Jay "Poppinjay" Ackroyd (written by George R.R. Martin) sets out on his own quest to find and destroy the vials while Mark Meadows, the transforming Ace know as Captain Trips (written by Victor Milan) is kidnapped by the Card Sharks and forced to use his biochemistry knowledge to help them perfect the Black Trump. Finally, young Ace Zoe Harris (written by Sage Walker) is forcibly recruited by the Joker terrorists know as the Twisted Fists to steal a nuclear bomb in a last-ditch attempt to threaten the Card Sharks with mutually assured destruction.
As an ending to the Card Sharks triad, Black Trump largely works. The major story arcs are wrapped up; everything is tied up more or less in a neat bow at the end. There are a few structural complaints: It's pretty clear that there were conflicting visions on the final fate of the Card Shark's leader, Dr. Pan Rudo. As a result, a new antagonist, Dr. Carter Jarnavon is unceremoniously introduced for the first time, primarily so that Poppinjay can have a mad scientist to face off in a long set-piece that call back to the very first Wild Cards story while Rudo was occupied in other plotlines.
As for the plot-lines themselves, the standouts are the ones that focus on the long time characters with George R.R. Marin and Victor Milan's contributions being the best. Martin's story is an uncomplicated detective adventure tale while Milan gets to answer some long running questions from all the way Captain Trip's very first story.Stephen Leigh's Gregg Hartman story is a strong third place with several unsettling sequences. Puppetman is a character whose escapades has always bordered on horror, and when he gets loose, it is suitably terrifying. Unfortunately, the story is framed as a redemption story for Hartman and, by this point, he's done too many terrible things even without his maniacal other self for that to really ring true. Furthermore, he spends too much time giving into Puppetman to make his final stand against his "darker side" seem authentic. Still, Leigh is a skilled enough writer that these flaws, while glaring, do not ruin the entire story.
While Carnifex's plotline is serviceable, the real weak link here is Zoe Harris. It's pretty clear that there were at least tentative plans to have the character evolve from the wannabe hero shown in the last book to the next major Wild Cards villain. The problem is that the character is simply not sympathetic enough that the change comes as a major shock. (In all fairness, some of things Harris does were forgivable for a protagonist in the 90s but absolutely do not fly in 2022). Furthermore, Harris simply doesn't make a credible villain. Compared to established antagonists like the Astronomer and Demise, her Wild Card abilities aren't that impressive and she lacks the resources of an organization like the Card Sharks. It's not really surprising that this storyline was abandoned and the character all but disappears from the books after this point.
The end of the Card Sharks trilogy is --- good enough. It works largely as a wrap-up to major storylines and as a pause point for the series. Unfortunately, whether it was from the struggles with the publisher or just that the series had been ongoing for so long, there was a sense that the writers were running out of steam. Even though not everything is resolved, and future book are set up, Black Trump really does seem like a stopping point, like even the writers weren't sure where to go next. It would take two more books before the series found its new direction.
Addendum: The British Ace organization, the Order of the Silver Helix, is introduced. We meet their leader Captain Flint, who will get his own story years down the line. Captain Trips ends the story having apparently permanently transformed into his Radical persona, who is now behaving erratically, which will be a big part of the later books. Gary Bushorn, the "Burning Man", who has a story in the next book makes a cameo appearance as pilot who helps fly Gregg Hartman into Ireland.
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Marked Cards
The second part of any trilogy is always a tricky beast. By definition, it needs to move the plot forward without actually resolving it. If done well, it leaves the reader wanting more. If done poorly, it can stop the momentum of the story dead in its tracks and feel like the author didn't have enough material to fill three books. That's a hard task for a single author with a solid vision of where his or her story is going, let alone one with multiple authors all contributing their own ideas.
As a result, Marked Cards is a mixed bag creatively speaking. While none of the stories are exactly bad, some of them really don't seem to advance the story very much. That's not to say that this book is a complete waste of time. There are some good stories here but on the whole it is mostly average.
This time in there are two interstitial stories interspersed throughout the book:
The Color of his Skin (by Stephen Leigh) picks up right where the previous book , Card Sharks left off, with the previous book's main character, Hannah Davis taking her evidence of the Card Shark's existence to Senator Gregg Hartman, formerly the villainous Puppetman. Seeking redemption, Hartman decides to help her cause, but finds that the Card Sharks have recruited the body-swapping Jumpers to their side and finds himself trapped in the body of a Joker and framed for murder. What made Hartman an effective villain in earlier Wild Cards story was his ability to pose as a good person, even more so than his superpowers. This story raises the stakes by showing how Hartman copes when he is stripped of his greatest asset. Rating: 4/5.
Feeding Frenzy (by Walter Jon Williams: starring Neil Langford/ Black Shadow): Last time we saw Ace vigilante Black Shadow. he was being arrested after being framed for multiple crimes by the Jumpers. In this story, he breaks out of prison to settle the score. Unfortunately, the remaining Jumpers have thrown their lot in with the Card Sharks and Black Shadow soon finds himself fighting a conspiracy to body-jack the president of the United States. This story is a good action story that makes a valiant attempt to tie in to the overarching narrative. The first half of the story begins with a villain prison break (one of my favorite genre tropes) and ties in with Senator Hartman's ongoing narrative. The second half of the story -- well -- it's hard to shake the feeling (SPOILERS) that "Feeding Frenzy" was more about making sure that the Jumpers never appeared in Wild Cards again. There was, by this point in the series, among both the fans and the writers themselves, the belief that the Jumpers sub-plot been around for to long. "Feeding Frenzy" definitively closes the chapter on these characters, in a way that reminds one of Poochie from the Simpsons. In the end the story isn't bad, (Williams is to skilled a writer) but it's hard not to be aware that the story is more about a bit of series housekeeping rather than advancing the plot. Rating: 3.5/5.The one -off stories in this book include:
Two of a Kind (by Walton Simons, starring Jerry Strauss/ Mr. Nobody): When he last appeared shape-shifting ace, Mr. Nobody, was being swept away to his apparent death in a flooding tunnel. In this book, it's revealed that he survived his apparent demise and has gone into business with as a private detective, partnering with Jay Ackroyd aka Poppinjay. In this story, he is hired to investigate the Card Sharks only to discover a plan to steal a live sample of the Wild Card virus. As a Wild Cards story, this one is average: the superhero stuff generally works. Unfortunately, on the character level, it's unsatisfying. Mr. Nobody's whole personality is that he is chronically insecure and beset by girl problems. This whole schtick can be grating, and in this story, it's particularly annoying. In the end, not the weakest story in the book but not the best either. Rating: 3/5.
My Sweet Lord (by Victor Milan: starring Mark Meadows/ Captain Trips and J. Robet Belew/ The Mechanic): By the end of his last appearance, Captain Trips, the hippie Ace with transforming powers, had made the unlikely transition from fugitive to President of South Vietnam, with the enigmatic Mechanic acting as his consigliere. The two Ace's tenuous alliance is disrupted when the illusion casting guru, Ganesh, begins to pull Trips into his cult, causing him to neglect his responsibilities. When the Mechanic discovers Ganesh's horrible secret, he has to convince Trips of Ganesh's true intentions before it's too late. My least favorite of Victor Milan's Trips stories: One of Milan's talents has always been writing Trips, who leftist politics Milan clearly disagrees with, sympathetically and heroically. In this story, Trips is just weak willed and willing to abandon his responsibilities to an obvious charlatan. There is some attempt to justify it but ultimately it feels hollow and Trips comes off as an unlikeable idiot. Still, Milan remains a very good writer even when misfiring. Rating: 2.5/5.
Paths of Silence and Night (By Leanne C. Harper: starring Suzanne Melotti/Bagabond): Leanne C. Harper's animal-controlling heroine Suzanne Melotti has not appeared since way back in Book Five, since she left for Guatemala. Now, nine books later, we finally check back in with her to see what she's doing. It turns out the answer is living in a small village, having completely abandoned her Bagabond persona. Unfortunately, this changes when a photographer who has found evidence of the Card Shark's ultimate plan arrives in her village on the run from the Guatemalan Army. Suzanne has no choice but to become Bagabond once again in order to lead the photographer to safety before he brings trouble down on the village. This is actually my favorite stand-alone story in the book. Bagabond has never been a particularly pleasant character and the decision to send her off to Guatemala had the effect of preventing her from appearing in any major stories. However, Harper uses the time away to give Bagabond some much needed character growth. The character presented here, while still battling inner demons, is more sympathetic than she has been in past appearance. This allows "Paths of Silence and Night" to be an adventure story with a flawed but still likable heroine. Rating: 3/5.
Breath of Life (By Sage Walker; Starring Zoe Harris): This story introduces Zoe Harris, a disgraced former CEO ousted from the company she founded due to trumped up embezzlement charges. This forces Zoe to move back in with her parents - who are both Jokers living in Jokertown. Zoe herself is secretly an ace with the ability to animate objects by breathing on them. Worried about escalating violence in Jokertown, Zoe turns to original generation Wild Cards hero, the Great and Powerful Turtle, for help mastering her powers. This story works best as a piece of world-building rather than as a stand-alone story. It illustrates just how desperate thing have gotten in Jokertown and and the story builds to a genuinely upsetting climax. On the other hand, I don't think it works well as a stand alone story. The ending seems abrupt more like set-up for the next book. While many Wild Card's stories end on cliffhangers, I would argue that there's a a difference between a cliffhanger ending and a story feeling half-finished. Unfortunately, "Breath of Life" falls into the latter category. Rating: 2.5/5.
A Dose of Reality (By Laura J. Mixon and Melinda Snodgrass: Staring Dr. Bradley Finn and Clara van Rensaeller): In this story, the centaur-like Joker Dr. Finn has to deal with two bit of bad news: First, he has been passed over for the coveted position of Chief of Medicine at the Jokertown Memorial Clinic. Worse, the position has been given to Clara van Ransaeeler, who is secretly an agent of the Card Sharks and is using her position at the Clinic to aid them in their master plan: the development of a bioweapon that targets people infected with the virus. Van Ransaeeler soon finds her loyalties divided however due to a burgeoning attraction to Finn and mysterious connection to the snake-like Joker, Lamia. It's an adequate story, never quite overcoming the fact that Dr. Finn and Van Rensaeeler are just not that interesting. A story that's so important to the plot deserved better lead characters. Rating: 2.5/5.
The problem with Marked Cards is not that it's bad exactly. It's that it's mediocre. Some stories are better than others, of course, but none ever really exceeds "pretty good, all things considered." The book really suffers from being the middle part of a trilogy. It's mostly marking time between books until the next one starts. It's not the worst book in the series: it's far from the best. It's just kind of there.