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Back to Jokertown

November 5, 2014 at 10:28 pm
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There's trouble brewing on the mean streets of Jokertown once again.

You can read all about it in LOWBALL, the latest volume in the Wild Cards series of mosaic novels, released in hardcover by our friends at Tor on November 4, and now available at your local bookstore or your favorite online retailer.

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The cover is once again by the amazing Michael Komarck, featuring David Anthony Durham's character IBT, aka Infamous Black Tongue.

The table of contents:

“The Big Bleed,” by Michael Cassutt, starring STUNTMAN,
“Those About to Die,” by David Anthony Durham, starring INFAMOUS BLACK TONGUE,
“Galahad in Blue” by Melinda Snodgrass, starring FRANCIS XAVIER BLACK of the NYPD,
“Ties That Bind” by Mary Anne Mohanraj, starring MICHAEL STEVENS of the NYPD,
“Cry Wolf” by David D. Levine, introducing THE CARTOONIST,
“Road Kill” by Walter Jon Williams, starring GORDON THE GHOUL,
“Once More, for Old Time’s Sake” by Carrie Vaughn, starring EARTH WITCH, CURVBALL, DRUMMER BOY, and JOHN FORTUNE,
“No Parking… “ by Ian Tregillis, starring RUSTBELT.

Special thanks this time around to Melinda Snodgrass, who stepped in heroically to help with the editing on this one when I was being crushed beneath the weight of other deadlines. I could not have pulled this puppy together without her.

LOWBALL is  the second volume in our Jokertown triad, and the twenty-second in the overall series.  And no, before someone asks, you don't need to start at volume one… though volume one is pretty swell.   INSIDE STRAIGHT (volume eighteen) and FORT FREAK (volume twenty-one) also make great entry points for a new Wild Carder.

The twenty-third volume, HIGH STAKES, is in the works.

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Wild Cards in Germany

July 1, 2014 at 2:10 pm
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Our German publishers will soon be releasing their translation of INSIDE STRAIGHT, first of the "next generation" of Wild Cards books, and they've released a cool "book trailer" to herald the event,

Enjoy!

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Hey, Cool

April 9, 2014 at 10:51 pm
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We finally have a "book trailer" for WILD CARDS.

It's from Brazil, and it's in Portugese.

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Got to love those Marc Simonetti illustrations.

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The Jokers Are Back

February 11, 2014 at 11:01 pm
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September 15, 1946 was the first Wild Cards Day, the day that Jetboy met Dr. Tod in the skies over Manhattan, and the wild card virus was released onto an unsuspecting world.

September 15, 1986 was the 40th anniversary of that fateful day, and a pretty eventful 24 hours in its own right.  The triumphs and tragedies of that day were chronicled in JOKERS WILD, the third volume of the Wild Cards series… and the first of our "full mosaics."  Back in 1986, when we wrote the book, we were experimenting with a form that no one had ever attempted in SF and fantasy before.  Seven writers, seven characters, seven stories… all woven together into a fully collaborative novel, wherein the whole (we hoped) was more than the sum of its parts.

And let me you, editing this one was a bitch and a half.  But well worth it.   My writers complained a lot, as did I, but the readers love the result… and so did we, after a bit of time to reflect.  So the Wild Cards series has continued to feature fully-interwoven mosaic novels ever since, albeit usually only once every three books or so, since the process of hammering these out is exhausting for all concerned.

February 11, 2014 is the day that JOKERS WILD, first of the full mosaics, was reissued by Tor books in trade paperback.  It's been out of print and unavailable for longer than I care to think about, but now once more it is available at your local bookstore, or from your favorite online bookseller.  Never looked better either, dressed up as it is in a spectacular new cover from Michael Komarck.

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The featured writers (and their characters) this time around are yours truly (Hiram Worchester), Lewis Shiner (Fortunato), John Jos. Miller (Wraith, our new cover girl),  Edward Bryant (Sewerjack), Leanne C. Harper (Bagabond), Melinda M. Snodgrass (Roulette), and Walton Simons (Demise).

(I should mention: some Wild Cards books are good entry points to the series, but this is not one of them.  JOKERS WILD is the culmination of our first triad, so you probably read WILD CARDS and ACES HIGH before tackling this one).

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New Sample

January 12, 2014 at 10:26 pm
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Just uploaded a new sample on my website.

You'll find it on the Books page: a taste of next summer's Wild Cards mosaic novel, LOWBALL, scheduled for release next summer, in hardcover from Tor.  LOWBALL will be the second volume of the current triad, and the twenty-second in the overall series.  The sample is an excerpt from David Anthony Durham's story, "Those About to Die," featuring the Infamous Black Tongue.  Hope you like it.

Meanwhile, the Wild Cards gang is hard at work on HIGH STAKES, the twenty-third volume in the series.

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Ebook Sale!

October 15, 2013 at 2:52 pm
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For a limited time only, Tor is offering the ebook of INSIDE STRAIGHT — first volume of the "next generation" of Wild Cards books — for only $2.99.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/10/george-rr-martin-inside-straight-sale-ebook

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If you've never sampled Wild Cards, here's your chance.

The promotion will last until November 1.

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Aces and Elephants

June 12, 2013 at 10:28 am
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Aces, elephants, actors (well, understudies)… oh, my.

There’s a new Wild Cards story up on Tor.com. This one is by the amazing Paul Cornell, and features Abigail the Understudy, Elephant Girl, and Croyd (the Sleeper) Crenson. What more could you want?

Oh, art by John Picacio? It’s got that too.

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You can read it here:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/05/the-elephant-in-the-room

Enjoy… and spread the word.

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More Wild Cards Goodness

May 15, 2013 at 12:36 pm
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Here’s a fanfare for all of you Wild Cards fans out there.

There’s a brand new, never-before-published Wild Cards story just up on Tor.Com.

This one was penned by Cherie Priest. It’s called “The Button Man and the Murder Tree.”

The ‘cover art’ by the amazing John Picacio.

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This one is a sort of ‘origin story’ for Cherie’s Button Man character, last seen in FORT FREAK.

You can read it here:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/05/the-button-man-and-the-murder-tree

More Wild Cards coming on Tor.com… and of course on the shelves of your local bookshop.

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Aces Take Russia

May 9, 2013 at 1:35 pm
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The first three volumes of the Wild Cards series were published in Russia back in 2005-2006. . . but that was as far as the series went, no doubt to the frustration of our Russian readers.

But after a long hiatus, the aces and jokers are returning once more to Russia, I am delighted to report. The first three volumes have already been reissued, with nifty new eye-catching covers featuring the artwork of D. Borozdina. And our Russian publisher is about to release volume four, ACES ABROAD.

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That’s another Borozdina cover, this one featuring Fortunato. Who has never looked more kickass.

Even if you don’t speak Russian, this one’s worth getting for the cover alone.

Russian editions of volumes five, six, and seven are scheduled to follow. After that, well, it all depends on sales… but then, what doesn’t?

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Coming Next February

April 28, 2013 at 12:17 pm
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For all you Wild Cards fans, past, present, and future…

The next release in Tor’s ongoing series of Wild Cards reissues has been scheduled for February 2014 in trade paperback.

This time it is JOKERS WILD, volume three in the overall series, and the concluding volume of our first triad. Here’s the cover, another stunning piece of work by Michael Komarck (who really should have been on the Hugo ballot again this year, he wuz robbed), featured Wraith, John Jos. Miller’s glamorous librarian/ jewel thief:

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JOKERS WILD is one I am especially proud of; it was first of what we call our “full mosaics,” a completely interwoven mosaic novel with no separate stories, but rather seven intertwining storylines taking place simultaneously, written by seven different writers, and woven together by yours truly. No one had ever done anything like this before, and no other anthologist has even attempted it since (although we’ve used the same format again in Wild Cards, every third book or so… it takes a TREMENDOUS amount of work, so we can’t do it every book).

JOKERS WILD takes place in New York City on Septemner 15, 1986, the fortieth anniversary of the very first Wild Cards Day in 1946. The participating writers (and their viewpoint characteres) are Lewis Shiner (Fortunato), Melinda Snodgrass (Roulette), John Jos. Miller (Wraith), Walton Simons (Demise), Edward Bryant (Sewer Jack), Leanne C. Harper (Bagabond), and yours truly (Hiram Worchester). Other featured characters include Yeoman, Dr. Tachyon, Popinjay, the Astonomer and his merry band of Egyptian Masons, Kid Dinosaur, and Fidel Castro and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

If you’re new to the series, though, you should probably read WILD CARDS and ACES HIGH before you get to this one. But you’ll be glad you did. It’s the strongest of the first three, most would agree.

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