Wild Cards 1-3: The Epic Beginning: The first three books in the best-selling superhero series, collected for the first time

by George R.R. Martin

There is a secret history of the world - a history in which an alien virus struck the Earth in the aftermath of World War II, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Some were called Aces - those with superhuman mental and physical abilities. Others became Jokers - cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. Some turned their talents to the service of humanity. Others used their powers for evil. Wild Cards is their story.Return to the beginning of the long running shared-world series edited by George R. R. Martin, featuring stories and characters who would go on to become legends. Super-heroes have never been more real. The original trilogy contains stories by Roger Zelazny, Walter Jon Williams, Howard Waldrop, Lewis Shiner, Michael Cassutt, Carrie Vaughn, John J. Miller, Melinda Snodgrass and George R. R. Martin himself.Contains WILD CARDS, WILD ACES HIGH and WILD JOKERS WILD

Genres: Science Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published April 23, 2015

About the author

George Raymond Richard "R.R." Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.

Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.

In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.

As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.

In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.

Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.

Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...

Reviews

[Lauryn hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adoredddd this! Croyd by far my favourite character

[Llewellyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. A big universe with characters that come alive

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1)
Martin, George R.R.

a great beginning to a wonderful series, a collection of stories relating to the development of the concept of the wild card virus. Beginning introduction to tekion and the ideas of the concept characters that developed the series. very powerful novel, great story shorts, and interesting characters. I love learning the back history of the first few books that i have read. A great opening Hurrah's....

Aces High (Wild Cards, #2)
Martin, George R.R.

a celebration of all the good and great powers given by the wild card to its victims.
"a story for every man, adventure, mystery, strange monsters, strange heroes, weird concoctions, and a great subplot though all the collaborative stories. the heroes as always save the world.



Jokers Wild (Wild Cards #3)
by George R.R. Martin (Editor / Author), Walter Simons (Contributor), John J. Miller (Contributor), Lewis Shiner (Contributor), Edward Bryant (Contributor), Melinda M. Snodgrass (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Richard Kriegler (Cover Artist), Leanne C. Harper (Contributor)
A great story of the development of people after the wild card
I was a little disappointed that they killed of Kid Dinosaur, but otherwise a great humanistic story, about the struggles of good and evil and the flaws of humanity.... I really like this series it’s a totally different spin on the superhero genre.