Wild Cards ''Wild Cards'' is a series of science fiction superhero shared universe anthologies, mosaic novels, and solo novels. They are written by a collection of more than forty authors (referred to as the "Wild Cards Trust") and are edited by George R. ...

'' is a series of science fiction superhero

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

anthologies,

mosaic novel A mosaic novel is a novel in which individual chapters or short stories share a common setting or set of characters with the aim of telling a linear story from beginning to end, with the individual chapters, however, refracting a plurality of viewp ...

s, and solo novels written by a collection of authors known as the Wild Cards Trust and edited by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

and

Melinda M. Snodgrass Melinda M. Snodgrass is a science fiction writer for print and television. In February 2021 Melinda was the Screenwriting Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 39th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fan ...

. Set largely during an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

of post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

United States, the series follows humans who contracted the Wild Card virus, an alien virus that rewrites DNA and mutates survivors; those who acquire minor or crippling physical conditions are known as Jokers, and those who acquire superhuman abilities are known as Aces. As of the publication of ''Texas Hold'Em'' in October 2018, the series consists of twenty-six books. ''Wild Cards'' began publication through

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

, under its Spectra

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

, in January 1987. Bantam published the series until 1993 and released twelve installments.

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

published three books from 1993 to 1995. From 2002 to 2005, ibooks Inc. published two more installments, including one solo novel. ''Wild Cards'' is currently published by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, an imprint under

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

. As of October 2018, Tor Books had released nine novels. Several novels were also reprinted. Reprinting rights to the first eight novels were acquired by ibooks Inc. in 2000. The company reissued the first six novels before declaring

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

shortly after the death of founder

Byron Preiss Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005)Byron Preiss
at the

As of November 2021, Tor Books reprinted the first twelve, sixteenth & seventeenth novel.

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American show business, entertainment company (law), company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York (state), New York, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment ...

has published two ''Wild Cards'' mini-series, thirty-two years apart. The first, released via their

Epic Comics Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's ...

imprint, was published from September to December 1990 and featured an original storyline based on events that occurred in the early novels. A second limited series, this time adapting stories from the first novel, ran from June through October, 2022.

Books

Bantam Books (1987–1993)

, under its Spectra

, published twelve books between 1987 and 1993, including two solo novels written by

and

Victor Milán Victor Woodward Milán (August 3, 1954 – February 13, 2018) was an American writer known for libertarian science fiction and an interest in cybernetics. Life and career Milán was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1986 Milán won the Prometheus A ...

Baen Books (1993–1995)

published a new triad between 1993 and 1995 subtitled ''of a New Cycle''. In 2002, Martin commented that he felt the triad was creatively "three of the strongest volumes ''Wild Cards'' ever had" and that the series "came back strong" after stumbling with a previous storyline; however, he conceded that the triad was "very dark", acknowledging it was a commonly voiced complaint, and that he felt switching publishers was a mistake.

ibooks Inc. (2002–2006)

In 2000, ibooks Inc. purchased two new installments and the rights to reprint the first eight books of the series; the two new books were published between 2002 and 2006, including a solo novel by John J. Miller. The company filed for

in July 2005, shortly after the death of founder

Byron Preiss Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005)Byron Preiss
at the

In December 2006, J. Bolyston & Co. Publishers, parent company of the Brick Tower Press imprint, acquired all of Preiss' assets, including those of ibooks, for $125,000. Brick Tower Press offered

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

versions of its titles, including ''Deuces Down'' and ''Death Draws Five,'' via

Humble Bundle Humble Bundle, Inc. is a digital storefront for video games, which grew out of its original offering of Humble Bundles, collections of games sold at a price determined by the purchaser and with a portion of the price going towards charity and t ...

in February 2016.

Tor Books (2008–present)

, an imprint under

, currently publishes the series in both print and e-book format. It released six new installments from November 2008 to August 2016. On his blog in March 2016, Martin stated that Tor Books acquired three installments after ''High Stakes''. Working titles for the books are ''Texas Hold 'Em'', ''Mississippi Roll'', and ''Low Chicago''. He also announced that

Saladin Ahmed Saladin Ahmed (born October 4, 1975) is an Eisner Award winning American comic book writer and a science fiction/fantasy poetry and prose writer. His 2012 book ''Throne of the Crescent Moon'' was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and w ...

Max Gladstone Max Gladstone (born May 28, 1984) is an American fantasy author. He is best known for his 2012 debut novel ''Three Parts Dead'', which is part of ''The Craft Sequence'', his urban fantasy serial ''Bookburners'', and for co-writing ''This Is How You ...

Marko Kloos Marko Kloos is a German author of military science fiction and high fantasy. Born in Germany, Kloos lives and works in the United States. Work Kloos is best known for his ''Frontlines'' series of military science fiction novels. Featuring the p ...

, and

Diana Rowland Diana Rowland is an urban fantasy writer and is best known for her Kara Gillian Series and White Trash Zombie Series. She has worked as a bartender, a blackjack dealer, a pit boss, a street cop, a detective, a computer forensics specialist, a c ...

will contribute to the triad.

Short stories

Tor Books publishes short stories through its website beginning January 2013: * "When We Were Heroes" by Daniel Abraham (January 16, 2013), edited by Martin * "The Button Man and the Murder Tree" by

Cherie Priest Cherie Priest (born July 30, 1975) is an American novelist and blogger living in Seattle, Washington. Biography Priest is a Florida native, born in Tampa in 1975. She graduated from Forest Lake Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school ...

(May 15, 2013), edited by Martin * "The Elephant in the Room" by

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

(May 29, 2013), edited by Martin * "Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza" by

Carrie Vaughn Carrie Vaughn (born January 28, 1973) is an American writer, the author of the urban fantasy '' Kitty Norville'' series. She has published more than 60 short stories in science fiction and fantasy magazines as well as short story anthologies and ...

(October 15, 2014), edited by Martin * "Prompt. Professional. Pop!" by

Walter Jon Williams Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, ''Privateers and Gentlemen'' (1981–1984), a series of hi ...

(November 21, 2014), edited by Martin * "Discards" by

David D. Levine David D. Levine (born February 21, 1961, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American science fiction writer who won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2006 for his story "Tk'tk'tk". His novel ''Arabella of Mars'' was published by Tor Books in J ...

(March 30, 2016), edited by

Patrick Nielsen Hayden Patrick James Nielsen Hayden (born Patrick James Hayden January 2, 1959), is an American science fiction editor, fan, fanzine publisher, essayist, reviewer, anthologist, teacher and blogger. He is a World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award winner (wi ...

* "The Thing About Growing Up in Jokertown" by

(December 21, 2016), edited by Martin * "The Atonement Tango" by

Stephen Leigh Stephen W. Leigh (born February 27, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, artist, and musician. He also works as a lecturer at Northern Kentucky University, teaching creative writing. He has published speculative fiction as Ste ...

(January 18, 2017), edited by Martin * "When the Devil Drives" by Melinda Snodgrass (July 5, 2017), edited by Martin * "Evernight" (February 21, 2018) by

, edited by Martin * "The Flight of Morpho Girl" (May 2, 2018) by

Caroline Spector Caroline Spector (born Caroline Skelley) is a science fiction and fantasy writer who has also written role-playing game modules and computer game hint books. She also spent two years as associate editor at ''Amazing Stories'' magazine. She is a m ...

and

Bradley Denton Bradley Clayton Denton (born 1958) is an American science fiction author. He has also written other types of fiction, such as the black comedy of his novel ''Blackburn'', about a sympathetic serial killer. He was born in Towanda, Kansas, and atten ...

, edited by Martin * "Fitting In" (October 24, 2018) by

, edited by Martin * "How to Move Spheres and Influence People" (27 March, 2019) by

, edited by Martin * "Long is the Way" (May 15, 2019) by

and

Sage Walker Sage Walker is an American science-fiction writer based in New Mexico. She contributed to the ''Wild Cards'' series and won the Locus Award in 1997 for her debut novel, ''Whiteout''. She was one of several science fiction authors who attended a 200 ...

, edited by Martin * "The City That Never Sleeps" (August 28, 2019) by Walton Simons, edited by Martin * "Naked, Stoned, and Stabbed" (October 16, 2019) by

, edited by Martin * "The Visitor: Kill or Cure" by Mark Lawrence, edited by Martin * "Berlin is Never Berlin" by

, edited by Martin *"Hammer and Tongs and a Rusty Nail" by

Ian Tregillis Ian Tregillis is an American author. He is the author of the alternate history trilogy ''The Milkweed Triptych'' and a contributor to George R. R. Martin's Wild Cards series. He is an alumnus of the Clarion Workshop, and holds a Ph.D in physics. ...

, edited by Martin * "Ripple Effects" by Laura J. Mixon, edited by Martin * "Skin Deep" by

Alan Brennert Alan Brennert (born May 30, 1954 in Englewood, New Jersey) is an American author, television producer, and screenwriter. Brennert has lived in Southern California since 1973 and completed graduate work in screenwriting at the University of Cali ...

, edited by Martin * "Hearts of Stone" by

Emma Newman Emma Newman is a British science fiction and fantasy writer, podcaster and audiobook narrator. Her award nominations include the British Fantasy Award (categories: "best fantasy novel", "best newcomer") for ''Between Two Thorns'' in 2014' and ...

, edited by Martin * "Grow" by

, edited by Martin One additional short story, "Lies My Mother Told Me" by Spector, was published in the '' Dangerous Women'' anthology, also edited by Martin. The anthology was released December 3, 2013. Wildcards.com has also published: * "I Have No Voice and I Must Zoom Meeting" by Paul Cornell

Notes

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.wildcardsworld.com/
''Wild Cards'' series
nbsp;at

, parent company of

Wild Cards