28 August, 2001
Wild Cards
George R. R. Martin (Ed.)
1986
320 pp (TPB)
When an author makes it big, there is always renewed interest in their backlist, on the part of publishers as well as readers. So, in the wake of the success of A Game of Thrones and its sequels, Simon & Schuster have reprinted the first volume of Martin's "Wildcards" shared-world series. I saw it in the store a couple weeks ago, and decided to give it a go. I'd heard pretty good things about the series (at least about the first few books), and besides, it contains a Zelazny story I hadn't read.
The premise of the book is that, in 1946, an alien virus was released over New York City. This mutagenic virus had a lethal effect on most of the people it touched, horribly disfigured most of those who didn't die (known as "jokers"), and granted superpowers to a select few (the "aces"). Wild Cards covers about 30 years of American history, in the wake of the virus.
First, I'd just like to point out that the setup of the world is preposterous. A mutagenic virus, I can accept. A mutagenic virus of alien origin, I can put up with. A mutagenic virus, engineered by aliens who just happen to be genetically compatible with humans, and who decided to use the Earth as a testing ground for it, enh. It strains the mind's willing suspension of disbelief. But, whatever. It's a minor quibble, and your preposterousness may vary.
Aside from the silly setup, and a few internal inconsistancies, Martin did a very good job of assembling the book. With one exception, each story describes the world a little bit further along than the previous one. So, we start with Howard Waldrop's "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway," which tells how the virus came to be released in the first place, and end with John J. Miller's "Comes a Hunter," set during either the late 70s or early 80s. There is some effort in each story to give background on how society changes as time moves forward, in addition to whatever superhero story is being told. This helps the volume hold together as a coherent entity, rather than as a bunch of vaguely related stories.
That being said, the book does not really live up to the potential of it's premise. (I'm referring to the general idea of an alternate history where people spontaneously developed superpowers in 1946, not the specific alien-virus scenario I derided above.) Rather than using the scenario to examine facets of Real History, most of the authors just wrote adventure stories. Many of them are good, entertaining adventure stories, but they are not very complex or thought-provoking.
The shining exception is Walter John Williams' supurb story, "Witness." This is one of my favorite alternate history stories ever. It's about a group of government-sponsored superheroes, the Four Aces, who end up being persecuted by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. It's told from the perspective of the one member of the Four who collaborated with the HUAC, and Named Names, while the rest of his group was imprisoned or driven into exile or insanity. It's about what happens when you betray your principles just because society, in a fit of wrong-headedness, expects it of you. And, what happens when society changes its mind again, and you have to live with yourself.
While none of the other stories are as ambitious as "Witness," many of the stories do try to accomplish something imaginative with the premise. Perhaps the oddest is "The Long, Dark Night of Fortunato," which is something of a cross between a Superhero Origin Story and a 70's Blaxploitation film. It's not a particularly good story in itself, because it is an origin story, and a stepping-off point for further adventures, rather than a complete tale in and of itself.
"Strings," by Stephen Leigh, is another very good story, which features an ace who uses his powers for Evil, rather than good. And, wow, he is eeeeevil. Even so, his evil nature leads him to participate in a good cause (for his own purposes, of course), and he is undone by the only speck of goodness in his twisted, evil soul. It's a good, dark story of political corruption and gray-shaded morality.
Sheesh. Anthologies always make me run on, because I end up wanting to talk about each story separately.
There are some notable flaws in the book, not least of which is the typical annoying shared-worlds tendancy to gratuitously include other authors' characters, whether or not those characters really fit the roles they're given. For example, the afore-mentioned Fortunato (a Harlem pimp) and Zelazny's character (who is a drug addict and bank robber) appear at a fancy soiree at an upscale restaurant. Another problem is a lack of consistancy as to how the all-important virus actually works. At one point, it's claimed that "'superpowers' engendered by the... virus are exclusively of psychic origin," while there is a prominent case, featured in two of the stories, where the superpower has a strictly biochemical origin.
This new edition includes some nice comic-book-style art by Mike Zeck, and a new afterword by Martin, in which he talks about how he got the idea for the series in the first place. (A role-playing game.)
Is it worth the $14 cover price? Maybe. The stories by Williams, Zelazny, Martin, and Leigh are all quite good, and many of the others are entertaining enough in the context of the book, although they probably wouldn't work well on their own. I liked it well enough that I'll at least consider buying the next volume (the afterword makes it clear that there will be a next volume), depending on which authors are in it.