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Wild Cards #22
Lowball
Decades after an alien virus changed the course of history, the surviving population of Manhattan still struggles to understand the new world left in its wake. Natural humans share the rough city with those given extraordinary—and sometimes terrifying—traits. While most manage to coexist in an uneasy peace, not everyone is willing to adapt. Down in the seedy underbelly of Jokertown, residents are going missing. The authorities are unwilling to investigate, except for a fresh lieutenant looking to prove himself and a collection of unlikely jokers forced to take matters into their own hands—or tentacles. The deeper into the kidnapping case these misfits and miscreants get, the higher the stakes are raised.
Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lowball is the latest mosaic novel in the acclaimed Wild Cards universe, featuring original fiction by Carrie Vaughn, Ian Tregillis, David Anthony Durham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David D. Levine, Michael Cassutt, and Walter John Williams.
Perfect for old fans and new readers alike, Lowball delves deeper into the world of aces, jokers, and the hard-boiled men and women of the Fort Freak police precinct in a pulpy, page-turning novel of superheroics and mystery.Decades after an alien virus changed the course of history, the surviving population of Manhattan still struggles to understand the new world left in its wake. Natural humans share the rough city with those given extraordinary—and sometimes terrifying—traits. While most manage to coexist in an uneasy peace, not everyone is willing to adapt. Down in the seedy underbelly of Jokertown, residents are going missing. The authorities are unwilling to investigate, except for a fresh lieutenant looking to prove himself and a collection of unlikely jokers forced to take matters into their own hands—or tentacles. The deeper into the kidnapping case these misfits and miscreants get, the higher the stakes are raised.
Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lowball is the latest mosaic novel in the acclaimed Wild Cards universe, featuring original fiction by Carrie Vaughn, Ian Tregillis, David Anthony Durham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David D. Levine, Michael Cassutt, and Walter John Williams.
Perfect for old fans and new readers alike, Lowball delves deeper into the world of aces, jokers, and the hard-boiled men and women of the Fort Freak police precinct in a pulpy, page-turning novel of superheroics and mystery.
Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lowball is the latest mosaic novel in the acclaimed Wild Cards universe, featuring original fiction by Carrie Vaughn, Ian Tregillis, David Anthony Durham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David D. Levine, Michael Cassutt, and Walter John Williams.
Perfect for old fans and new readers alike, Lowball delves deeper into the world of aces, jokers, and the hard-boiled men and women of the Fort Freak police precinct in a pulpy, page-turning novel of superheroics and mystery.Decades after an alien virus changed the course of history, the surviving population of Manhattan still struggles to understand the new world left in its wake. Natural humans share the rough city with those given extraordinary—and sometimes terrifying—traits. While most manage to coexist in an uneasy peace, not everyone is willing to adapt. Down in the seedy underbelly of Jokertown, residents are going missing. The authorities are unwilling to investigate, except for a fresh lieutenant looking to prove himself and a collection of unlikely jokers forced to take matters into their own hands—or tentacles. The deeper into the kidnapping case these misfits and miscreants get, the higher the stakes are raised.
Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lowball is the latest mosaic novel in the acclaimed Wild Cards universe, featuring original fiction by Carrie Vaughn, Ian Tregillis, David Anthony Durham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David D. Levine, Michael Cassutt, and Walter John Williams.
Perfect for old fans and new readers alike, Lowball delves deeper into the world of aces, jokers, and the hard-boiled men and women of the Fort Freak police precinct in a pulpy, page-turning novel of superheroics and mystery.
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First published November 4, 2014
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About the author
George R.R. Martin
1,511 books119k followersGeorge 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
November 19, 2014
I've been reading the "Wild Cards" series since I was about 17 years old. I don't care to comment on just how long ago that was, but it remains, in my opinion, one of the richest, most interesting and best executed examples of "shared world" storytelling or as it sometimes called a "mosaic novel" around today.
Readers of the series will delight in seeing the appearance of old favorites ("The Sleeper") as well as new characters. Given that the novel is comprised of the work from several individual contributors I'm always AMAZED at the consistent quality of the continuity and the utter process which must go into such a creation.
The sense of joy and (sometimes) nostalgia I get from reading anything Wild Cards is well represented in "Lowball" the latest of the series. While a couple of the portions were a little on the weak side at times, the beauty and genius of the mosaic approach essentially lifts the overall enjoyment. Sort of a gestalt novel, I suppose.
I very much enjoyed this work and look forward to reading more.
Readers of the series will delight in seeing the appearance of old favorites ("The Sleeper") as well as new characters. Given that the novel is comprised of the work from several individual contributors I'm always AMAZED at the consistent quality of the continuity and the utter process which must go into such a creation.
The sense of joy and (sometimes) nostalgia I get from reading anything Wild Cards is well represented in "Lowball" the latest of the series. While a couple of the portions were a little on the weak side at times, the beauty and genius of the mosaic approach essentially lifts the overall enjoyment. Sort of a gestalt novel, I suppose.
I very much enjoyed this work and look forward to reading more.
July 9, 2017
My Video Review:
https://youtu.be/ZPI0gyKX-U4
https://youtu.be/ZPI0gyKX-U4
July 8, 2016
3.5 stars!
Read for the Quarterly Book Club 3rd Quarter Read 2016 - HEROES AND VILLAINS
I've really enjoyed this series since I first read the first Wildcards anthology. It's a little unconventional in terms of story and also style of organization, but it's very interesting. This one gets 3.5 stars because it's not my favourite. I have liked other Wild Card books better - Suicide Kings was a favourite, and a number of the earlier novels (even though the themes of some aren't exactly modern, BUT time era wise, perfect).
What has always brought me back to each Wild Card novel is the very fact that the world is fascinating. I love how each author and George R. R. Martin (And Melinda M. Snodgrass) edits each story together seamlessly. It's not like your usual anthology where there's one story after another. In the Wild Card books, and Lowball following the same trend, there are (basically) four main povs (one way of looking at it). The characters in each of these stories make up the main bulk of the book, with the main plot of the story mainly alternating between these four stories:
-“The Big Bleed” by Michael Cassutt
-“Those About to Die” by David Anthony Durham
-“Galahad in Blue” by Melinda M. Snodgrass
-“Ties That Bind” by Mary Anne Mohanraj
Inserted in between are one-shot stories that bring back old characters or introduce new characters involved in small subplots for the main story:
-“Cry Wolf” by David D. Levine
-“Road Kill” by Walter Jon Williams
-“Once More, for Old Time’s Sake” by Carrie Vaughn
-“No Parking… “ by Ian Tregillis
I really liked "No Parking" simply it brings back one of my favourite heroes! - Rustbelt - the guy isn't all that sharp, but his heart is in all the right places, which makes him total hero material. He's a man of metal, completely incapable of not destroying one thing or another by accident because of overapplied pressure. He had a bigger role in previous books, and basically only cameos (if one could call it that) in "No Parking". Carrie Vaughn's story also brought back some old favourites! Specially Earth Witch, whom I remember from Suicide Kings? (I believe?) Or was that the Gardner? One of them worked with Rustbelt. Anyway, I really enjoyed that short (long) story, it was awesome.
One of my favourite characters in Lowball was the main character in Galahad in Blue - Detective Francis (Franny) Black - BUT I really hate his girlfriend, and I wanted him to DUMPED her. Her reasons SUCKED all round. I suppose I liked Franny because he's the poor kid who wanted and didn't want his promotion, and yet, was doing everything he needed to do to do his job well even though he was limited by so many of his own shortcomings.
The World. By the way, I thought I should mention this. Essentially, this series is an anthology work of alternative history since the 80s (maybe 70s, I have forgotten the exact decade), which includes some major historical events. Like most superpower/paranormal stories, this includes some kind of genetic affliction. In this case, there was an alien virus released, causing the world's population to get sick and evolve superpowers. For those who come out looking human with a superpower, they're considered "Aces". But for those who have some sort of physical deformity, and potentially a useless-to-none superpower, they're known as "Jokers" (Scuse me if I've mixed up the details by accident, it's been a while since I've read the last book, and most of what I've written here is the refreshment I got from reading Lowball.) Jokers are discriminated again, while Aces are generally revered. I love also how detailed the world has gotten, and how inset the lives of the heroes and villains are in this world - including reality shows and political organisations. It's fascinating, and I love it.
The Ending
I AM SO FREAKING BUMMED AT THE ENDING OF THIS BOOK. I wasn't entirely in love with the story in this book, but it was also quite interesting as a mystery novel. Not much hero/villain stuff going on in this one - not like previous books, but I think (and this is because my memory is thin atm) it's because the whole series is organised in sets of threes (I think or fours), where the first book introduces and sets up a plot, running on from the previous, while the following continues, etc. Anyway, I should have probably reread the previous books, but it's been awhile and I was a little too excited to read something like this now.
ANyway, I'm bummed because the ending of this book left NO SATISFYING CONCLUSION, which means, against everything that prevented me from giving this book 5 stars, I want to read the next one!
Read for the Quarterly Book Club 3rd Quarter Read 2016 - HEROES AND VILLAINS
I've really enjoyed this series since I first read the first Wildcards anthology. It's a little unconventional in terms of story and also style of organization, but it's very interesting. This one gets 3.5 stars because it's not my favourite. I have liked other Wild Card books better - Suicide Kings was a favourite, and a number of the earlier novels (even though the themes of some aren't exactly modern, BUT time era wise, perfect).
What has always brought me back to each Wild Card novel is the very fact that the world is fascinating. I love how each author and George R. R. Martin (And Melinda M. Snodgrass) edits each story together seamlessly. It's not like your usual anthology where there's one story after another. In the Wild Card books, and Lowball following the same trend, there are (basically) four main povs (one way of looking at it). The characters in each of these stories make up the main bulk of the book, with the main plot of the story mainly alternating between these four stories:
-“The Big Bleed” by Michael Cassutt
-“Those About to Die” by David Anthony Durham
-“Galahad in Blue” by Melinda M. Snodgrass
-“Ties That Bind” by Mary Anne Mohanraj
Inserted in between are one-shot stories that bring back old characters or introduce new characters involved in small subplots for the main story:
-“Cry Wolf” by David D. Levine
-“Road Kill” by Walter Jon Williams
-“Once More, for Old Time’s Sake” by Carrie Vaughn
-“No Parking… “ by Ian Tregillis
I really liked "No Parking" simply it brings back one of my favourite heroes! - Rustbelt - the guy isn't all that sharp, but his heart is in all the right places, which makes him total hero material. He's a man of metal, completely incapable of not destroying one thing or another by accident because of overapplied pressure. He had a bigger role in previous books, and basically only cameos (if one could call it that) in "No Parking". Carrie Vaughn's story also brought back some old favourites! Specially Earth Witch, whom I remember from Suicide Kings? (I believe?) Or was that the Gardner? One of them worked with Rustbelt. Anyway, I really enjoyed that short (long) story, it was awesome.
One of my favourite characters in Lowball was the main character in Galahad in Blue - Detective Francis (Franny) Black - BUT I really hate his girlfriend, and I wanted him to DUMPED her. Her reasons SUCKED all round. I suppose I liked Franny because he's the poor kid who wanted and didn't want his promotion, and yet, was doing everything he needed to do to do his job well even though he was limited by so many of his own shortcomings.
The World. By the way, I thought I should mention this. Essentially, this series is an anthology work of alternative history since the 80s (maybe 70s, I have forgotten the exact decade), which includes some major historical events. Like most superpower/paranormal stories, this includes some kind of genetic affliction. In this case, there was an alien virus released, causing the world's population to get sick and evolve superpowers. For those who come out looking human with a superpower, they're considered "Aces". But for those who have some sort of physical deformity, and potentially a useless-to-none superpower, they're known as "Jokers" (Scuse me if I've mixed up the details by accident, it's been a while since I've read the last book, and most of what I've written here is the refreshment I got from reading Lowball.) Jokers are discriminated again, while Aces are generally revered. I love also how detailed the world has gotten, and how inset the lives of the heroes and villains are in this world - including reality shows and political organisations. It's fascinating, and I love it.
The Ending
I AM SO FREAKING BUMMED AT THE ENDING OF THIS BOOK. I wasn't entirely in love with the story in this book, but it was also quite interesting as a mystery novel. Not much hero/villain stuff going on in this one - not like previous books, but I think (and this is because my memory is thin atm) it's because the whole series is organised in sets of threes (I think or fours), where the first book introduces and sets up a plot, running on from the previous, while the following continues, etc. Anyway, I should have probably reread the previous books, but it's been awhile and I was a little too excited to read something like this now.
ANyway, I'm bummed because the ending of this book left NO SATISFYING CONCLUSION, which means, against everything that prevented me from giving this book 5 stars, I want to read the next one!
January 7, 2015
Like the previous book in the Wild Cards series, Fort Freak, Lowball focuses on the cops and the poor, deformed residents of Jokertown. In this book, jokers are going missing and except for a young cop looking to prove himself, the authorities are unwilling to investigate. This means that the jokers and other wild cards take matters into their own hands. The deeper they get, the higher the stakes get and the seedier the search becomes.
Like the previous books in this long-running series, the stars are the characters: the aces and jokers drastically changed by the Wild Card virus. Characterization and interaction are both mostly good. Most of the stories are good, though like Fort Freak I didn’t care for all the contributing authors. Cassutt’s writing has just never worked for me. And in Mohanraj’s story, a character makes a rather stupid decision that felt like it was done purely for drama.
Unfortunately, there also seemed to be an editing problem. While some of the stories are good, the whole was less than the sum of its parts. Stories by Vaughn and Tregillis were well written, but they featured characters from the previous series Committee “triad” and it felt like they were only included in order to carry the plot forward.
The plot was one of the weakest parts of the book. It took a little while to get going and felt a bit like a B-movie/TV story. It’s also a bit thin and while it mostly gets resolved by the end of the book, the reader suddenly gets a strange cliffhanger ending.
So all in all, Lowball is a decent Wild Cards book, but not a very satisfying one. It has good characters and interactions; however, the B-movie/TV plot feels a bit stretched. And while some of the stories are good, the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Rating: 7/10.
http://thedecklededge.blogspot.com/20...
Like the previous books in this long-running series, the stars are the characters: the aces and jokers drastically changed by the Wild Card virus. Characterization and interaction are both mostly good. Most of the stories are good, though like Fort Freak I didn’t care for all the contributing authors. Cassutt’s writing has just never worked for me. And in Mohanraj’s story, a character makes a rather stupid decision that felt like it was done purely for drama.
Unfortunately, there also seemed to be an editing problem. While some of the stories are good, the whole was less than the sum of its parts. Stories by Vaughn and Tregillis were well written, but they featured characters from the previous series Committee “triad” and it felt like they were only included in order to carry the plot forward.
The plot was one of the weakest parts of the book. It took a little while to get going and felt a bit like a B-movie/TV story. It’s also a bit thin and while it mostly gets resolved by the end of the book, the reader suddenly gets a strange cliffhanger ending.
So all in all, Lowball is a decent Wild Cards book, but not a very satisfying one. It has good characters and interactions; however, the B-movie/TV plot feels a bit stretched. And while some of the stories are good, the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Rating: 7/10.
http://thedecklededge.blogspot.com/20...
August 3, 2014
Lowball edited by George R.R. Martin
Mysterious crimes have been occurring in Jokertown. Jokers have been reported disappearing at an alarming rate for unknown reasons. Father Squid decides to seek help in solving the charade by recruiting Marcus, a young African-American man, normal enough from the waist up, however below the waist is a twenty foot scaled serpents tale. The SCARE agency soon becomes involved. Agent Stuntman Jamal, an Ace whose power is being able to bounce back from damage that would severely injure or kill the average human being, begins his street tactics to find hidden answers to many unanswered questions. Fort Freak precinct station is a domicile to a handful of underfunded cops who try their damnedest to keep peace in an increasingly strange and troublesome city. Witnesses come forward and a full blown investigation unparalleled to any other begins its strange path to justice. Their examination slowly uncovers the horrific truth behind the immoral corruption motivating the gathering of brave Nats, Aces, and Jokers who unite to capture and punish the guilty so the innocent may once again walk, slither, and bounce down the streets of picturesque Jokertown.
George R.R. Martin has gathered a handful of talented and award winning authors to tell the stories of these fictional wonders thrown into the real world. This creative idea from the mind of Martin begins shortly after World War II. A devastating alien bomb has exploded near our planet unleashing a unusual gene virus on the population. The result causes superhuman powers and at times physical and mental disfigurements among certain individuals who are known as Aces and Jokers. Beginning with these historical events of 1946 these authors such as Melinda M. Snodgrass, David D. Levine, and Carrie Vaughn are now in control of past, present, and future developments. The Wild Cards series have established itself with a whopping 21 volumes. Lowball, volume 22, continues the action fantasy of this superworld. Over twenty writers continue to create and institute their own superheroes, attaching them to amazing and bizarre story lines. This provides the reader a world filled with vivid colorful characters that provide a non stop imagery of physical distortion. This endless entertainment is a gift from George R.R. Martin and friends.
January 7, 2015
Wild Cards books are very hit or miss, and even the ones that hit are pure genre cheese. That's why they're so much fun, though. Lowball is a hit for me, for all that it seems confused at times about what kind of book that it is.
Lowball is another Fort Freak-centered Wild Cards novel, picking up after the book of the same name with some, though not all, of the same characters. Marcus, the Infamous Black Tongue, makes a return, and really all you need to do to get me to like a book is give me a heart-of-gold vigilante type of dude who is from Baltimore, oh, and also, the lower half of his body is a snake and his tongue can deliver doses of venom. Awesome.
Unfortunately, my least favorite part of Fort Freak, Detective Stevens, also known as the guy who spent most of that book having threesomes with the dancer ace and the other, different kind of dancer joker, is also back, but blessedly there's little of the threesomes and the parts where you can't avoid him, well, they're few and far between. Stevens has not much to do with the A-plot of the book at all.
What passes for stars here are Detective Black and Marcus. Black is a nat and the son of a policeman who was also a nat and also served at Fort Freak. "Unresolved daddy issues," as he tells another character. At one point, Black reflects for some reason on the day that the Astronomer and Fortunato dueled in the skies, which he remembers because it was the day his father died. As fate would have it, that was the very last book I read before this. It was Jokers Wild. I don't remember any police officers named Black. I guess I should have paid closer attention. I didn't like that particular book much. It was a miss.
The A-plot involves missing jokers, because it turns out people are being kidnapped and wouldn't you know, the police brass don't give a shit. That is the nature of police brass in fiction, and probably real life too. If no one misses the missing, there's no crime there, right? But Black, bless him, is real po-leece, and though he resembles Jimmy McNulty very little, he is drawn in to this quixotic chase he has been ordered to stop pursuing, oh, but let's just call this Fed buddy (Stuntman, making a return from the first of the American Hero/Committee trilogy books) and see what they can rustle up under the radar.
As a multi-author novel, it's a lot of parts of several different short stories broken up and then strung together, but there are a few that are presented without interruption. The first of these is pretty great, the story of the medical examiner of Jokertown who everybody assumes is a joker (it's not clear whether he is) and he really, really likes rockets a lot. There's also the joker/ace who can draw characters into life and he uses them to be a series of Peeping Toms.
Then there are the parts that make me wonder if this book is sure that it knows what it wants to be. What I liked about the Fort Freak book is that it was this trip into a different world from the high-flying aces of the previous trilogy. Jokertown is definitely a different sort of place, and this was more along the lines of some hard-boiled detective stuff.
Fun as it was to read the drunken misadventures as Curveball, Earth Witch, and Drummer Boy plowed through some plot, what do they bring to your world of tentacles and elephant heads and hooves and everything else? It was nice to check in on them, but they felt like they belonged in a different book. Same with Rusty, whose story I also enjoyed, because how can you not like the slightly dim but exceptionally heroic guy whose skin is metal and who, well, rusts things? He blunders his way into the mess as well, reminding me very much of a D&D character I once played who was an elf paladin but basically had Rusty's personality and intellect.
This is Black's story, and IBT's and Father Squid's and Stevens' (grudgingly) and the other cops and jokers' story. Or that's what I thought it was until all the aces dropped in, charming as their parts were on their own.
For all of its occasional faults and despite/because of its cheesiness, I enjoy the heck out of a good Wild Cards book and this one was one of the good ones. Oh, and as with Fort Freak, though George R. R. Martin's name is prominently on the cover (edited by) none of his writing is featured within. I respect the hustle. Everybody is trying to make that dollar.
Lowball is another Fort Freak-centered Wild Cards novel, picking up after the book of the same name with some, though not all, of the same characters. Marcus, the Infamous Black Tongue, makes a return, and really all you need to do to get me to like a book is give me a heart-of-gold vigilante type of dude who is from Baltimore, oh, and also, the lower half of his body is a snake and his tongue can deliver doses of venom. Awesome.
Unfortunately, my least favorite part of Fort Freak, Detective Stevens, also known as the guy who spent most of that book having threesomes with the dancer ace and the other, different kind of dancer joker, is also back, but blessedly there's little of the threesomes and the parts where you can't avoid him, well, they're few and far between. Stevens has not much to do with the A-plot of the book at all.
What passes for stars here are Detective Black and Marcus. Black is a nat and the son of a policeman who was also a nat and also served at Fort Freak. "Unresolved daddy issues," as he tells another character. At one point, Black reflects for some reason on the day that the Astronomer and Fortunato dueled in the skies, which he remembers because it was the day his father died. As fate would have it, that was the very last book I read before this. It was Jokers Wild. I don't remember any police officers named Black. I guess I should have paid closer attention. I didn't like that particular book much. It was a miss.
The A-plot involves missing jokers, because it turns out people are being kidnapped and wouldn't you know, the police brass don't give a shit. That is the nature of police brass in fiction, and probably real life too. If no one misses the missing, there's no crime there, right? But Black, bless him, is real po-leece, and though he resembles Jimmy McNulty very little, he is drawn in to this quixotic chase he has been ordered to stop pursuing, oh, but let's just call this Fed buddy (Stuntman, making a return from the first of the American Hero/Committee trilogy books) and see what they can rustle up under the radar.
As a multi-author novel, it's a lot of parts of several different short stories broken up and then strung together, but there are a few that are presented without interruption. The first of these is pretty great, the story of the medical examiner of Jokertown who everybody assumes is a joker (it's not clear whether he is) and he really, really likes rockets a lot. There's also the joker/ace who can draw characters into life and he uses them to be a series of Peeping Toms.
Then there are the parts that make me wonder if this book is sure that it knows what it wants to be. What I liked about the Fort Freak book is that it was this trip into a different world from the high-flying aces of the previous trilogy. Jokertown is definitely a different sort of place, and this was more along the lines of some hard-boiled detective stuff.
Fun as it was to read the drunken misadventures as Curveball, Earth Witch, and Drummer Boy plowed through some plot, what do they bring to your world of tentacles and elephant heads and hooves and everything else? It was nice to check in on them, but they felt like they belonged in a different book. Same with Rusty, whose story I also enjoyed, because how can you not like the slightly dim but exceptionally heroic guy whose skin is metal and who, well, rusts things? He blunders his way into the mess as well, reminding me very much of a D&D character I once played who was an elf paladin but basically had Rusty's personality and intellect.
This is Black's story, and IBT's and Father Squid's and Stevens' (grudgingly) and the other cops and jokers' story. Or that's what I thought it was until all the aces dropped in, charming as their parts were on their own.
For all of its occasional faults and despite/because of its cheesiness, I enjoy the heck out of a good Wild Cards book and this one was one of the good ones. Oh, and as with Fort Freak, though George R. R. Martin's name is prominently on the cover (edited by) none of his writing is featured within. I respect the hustle. Everybody is trying to make that dollar.
July 30, 2018
Not the strongest WC book. I wonder sometimes if some of the authors are writing their parts for a target audience of teenage boys - what else explains the way that their characters act? Thankfully the good parts are really good.
January 5, 2015
While I think this installment was a slight improvement over Fort Freak, it fails to get a four star review for one reason, and the reason might be beyond editors George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass' control.
The ending obviously leads into the next book(actually probably two parts of the ending). Years ago Peter David commented, back when he was more active online, that publishers/editors were pretty much demanding a three book pitch before even considering serious discussion about a contract. Yet, I would think both the editor's own reputation, plus the series reasonable success, would have prevented such a three book requirement here.
Well, I'm going to say I'm wrong. Just like when the series was brought back with the American Hero/Committee/Africa trilogy now we have one that begins in Jokertown before taking us (the reader) across the world again.
The Carrie Vaughn and Ian Tregillis installments are the strongest both for their writing and characterization. I'm hopeful that both of these writers and their characters will return for the conclusion of this story. Enough plot points were left open for that to be a possibility.
As for some of the other characters Francis Xavier Black's portrayal seemed off by the end, and Stuntman's didn't quite it the mark. And neither did Kavitha's.
Don't misunderstand me. If you like prose super hero fiction I still believe this is the go-to series for you as a reader. It is just that I feel slightly cheated by not having the main story completed completed in this volume and it could have been.
The ending obviously leads into the next book(actually probably two parts of the ending). Years ago Peter David commented, back when he was more active online, that publishers/editors were pretty much demanding a three book pitch before even considering serious discussion about a contract. Yet, I would think both the editor's own reputation, plus the series reasonable success, would have prevented such a three book requirement here.
Well, I'm going to say I'm wrong. Just like when the series was brought back with the American Hero/Committee/Africa trilogy now we have one that begins in Jokertown before taking us (the reader) across the world again.
The Carrie Vaughn and Ian Tregillis installments are the strongest both for their writing and characterization. I'm hopeful that both of these writers and their characters will return for the conclusion of this story. Enough plot points were left open for that to be a possibility.
As for some of the other characters Francis Xavier Black's portrayal seemed off by the end, and Stuntman's didn't quite it the mark. And neither did Kavitha's.
Don't misunderstand me. If you like prose super hero fiction I still believe this is the go-to series for you as a reader. It is just that I feel slightly cheated by not having the main story completed completed in this volume and it could have been.
January 4, 2015
...Lowball is a solid entry into the Wild Cards series. I think it more or less delivers what established readers have come to expect from the series. Like pretty much all of the previous books in this series I've read, it doesn't entirely escape the problems that arise when so many writers work on a single project. The fact that it isn't the work of one author keeps showing and that doesn't always do the novel good. That being said, I thought Lowball was quite an entertaining read, with occasional flashes of very good writing. If you can forgive it the B-movie plot I think you could do worse than pick this one up. It left me hoping Martin and Tor aren't going to make us wait another three years for the next volume.
Full Random Comments review
Full Random Comments review
February 2, 2015
This was my second WIld Cards novel (the other being the first), so I can't compare it with any of the other 20 books in between-- if that must be a grain of salt with which to take this review, then do so. It was pretty enjoyable-- I particularly liked the integration of the sections into a single narrative, rather than presenting them as distinct stories. But I found it frustrating that the characters I thought most compelling-- the joker/truck hybrid, the police sketch artist whose drawings come to life-- more interesting than the characters who end up dominating the story. I know WC came first, but as with the first book, I can't help but compare it less than favorably with some of its heirs, most notably Astro City. Nevertheless, though, a fun read.
June 26, 2015
This most recent Wild Cards novel centers almost exclusively on the characters and setting from the previous book, Fort Freak, the Jokertown police precinct, and ends with something of an annoying cliff-hanger. The series has always tended to alternate between multi-volume arcs that are more localized to New York and those that span the globe (and, back in the good old days, occasionally the galaxy), and Lowball is the middle volume of one such. My favorite part of this volume was Carrie Vaughn's nostalgic visit with the characters that were featured in the prior trilogy, the American Hero contestants who went on the form The Committee, and it was also good to know that Zelazny's Sleeper is still around after all these years.
August 23, 2017
You simply can not enter a stream of 22 novels on #22 and hope to follow/like it, despite what flyleaf says. This seems to be a clever concept, but the fact remains that it is very clear that the novel is a series of sketches brought together with a common story line. Sometimes multiple authors work, sometimes not. I plan to circle back and try the first book in the series to see if suddenly this series clicks for me as the editors are first rate.
October 21, 2024
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's been an amazing night so far, but now it's time for the main event--a death match. Not since the time of the ancients, of Rome's mighty glory, have gladiators risked their very lives in the arena. But this bout goes even further back than that. Back to the very beginning… The serpent and the holy man! Only one of them can leave this Garden of Good and Evil alive."
The 22nd Wild Cards volume continues the Mean Streets triad, focusing on Jokertown and the cops who patrol its streets. Despite some interesting characters and situations, this collection suffers from too many subplots that do not go anywhere. Plus, the fate of one of my favorite characters Father Squid is poorly handled.
“The Big Bleed” by Michael Cassut — Having left Hollywood to become a SCARE agent, Stuntman is chasing down a stolen batch of ammonia nitrate and a New Jersey corpse that might have been the victim of a hit and run. This story also features Wheels, Midnight Angel, Billy Ray Carnifex, and Julia the living Barbie Doll.
“Those About to Die” by David Anthony Durham — Infamous Black Tongue and Father Squid are looking for missing jokers, until they get snatched and forced into an underground fight club. Introduces the villainous joker-witch Baba Yaga who has the dubious, silly power of turning people into furniture.
“Road Kill” by Walter Jon Williams — The Fort Freak pathologist Gordon the Ghoul is known primarily for his keen investigative insights and his penchant for turning highway roadkill into gourmet dinners. In this story, he teams up with K-10 to investigate a suspicious dog-training kennel in New Jersey. Gordon is a WC survivor thanks to the Trump vaccine; he is also an amateur rocket enthusiast who wants to launch himself into orbit one day.
“Galahad in Blue” by Melinda Snodgrass — Recently promoted to detective, Franny Black finds himself at the center of several interconnected cases: the missing jokers, the fight club, the dog kennel, and the corpse across the state line. To top it off, Croyd Crenson is awake and wants to kill a pair of conjoined joker twins.
“Cry Wolf” by David D. Levine — The Cartoonist aka Eddie Carmichael is a twisted, deformed cripple who rarely leaves his apartment. However, his drawings come to life and allow their creator’s consciousness a chance to roam the city. Normally, he uses them for various Peeping Tom activities, but tonight he has a chance to deploy them to save the life of a key witness for the police.
“Once More, For Old Time’s Sake” by Carrie Vaughn — A leaked sex tape from the set of American Hero Season 1 brings Curveball, Earth Witch, Drummer Boy and John Fortune back together. However, a night of margaritas and burritos leads to chasing Eel through Jokertown, preventing another kidnapping, and causing millions of dollars of property damage. A fun story except that it dredges up the tedious Kate/John/DB love triangle that slogged down so much of the Committee Triad.
“The Ties That Bind” by Mary Anne Mohanraj — Michael Stevens looks for Kavitha’s missing teen brother Sanpip, while trying to figure out how to propose to both his girlfriends.
“No Parking” by Ian Tregillis -- Rustbelt and his nemesis Darcy the angry meter maid search for a missing teacher with a human torso and the lower body of a six-legged spider. He fought IBT in the coliseum and has not been seen since. Includes a great cameo from Jube.
Next up: High Stakes
The 22nd Wild Cards volume continues the Mean Streets triad, focusing on Jokertown and the cops who patrol its streets. Despite some interesting characters and situations, this collection suffers from too many subplots that do not go anywhere. Plus, the fate of one of my favorite characters Father Squid is poorly handled.
“The Big Bleed” by Michael Cassut — Having left Hollywood to become a SCARE agent, Stuntman is chasing down a stolen batch of ammonia nitrate and a New Jersey corpse that might have been the victim of a hit and run. This story also features Wheels, Midnight Angel, Billy Ray Carnifex, and Julia the living Barbie Doll.
“Those About to Die” by David Anthony Durham — Infamous Black Tongue and Father Squid are looking for missing jokers, until they get snatched and forced into an underground fight club. Introduces the villainous joker-witch Baba Yaga who has the dubious, silly power of turning people into furniture.
“Road Kill” by Walter Jon Williams — The Fort Freak pathologist Gordon the Ghoul is known primarily for his keen investigative insights and his penchant for turning highway roadkill into gourmet dinners. In this story, he teams up with K-10 to investigate a suspicious dog-training kennel in New Jersey. Gordon is a WC survivor thanks to the Trump vaccine; he is also an amateur rocket enthusiast who wants to launch himself into orbit one day.
“Galahad in Blue” by Melinda Snodgrass — Recently promoted to detective, Franny Black finds himself at the center of several interconnected cases: the missing jokers, the fight club, the dog kennel, and the corpse across the state line. To top it off, Croyd Crenson is awake and wants to kill a pair of conjoined joker twins.
“Cry Wolf” by David D. Levine — The Cartoonist aka Eddie Carmichael is a twisted, deformed cripple who rarely leaves his apartment. However, his drawings come to life and allow their creator’s consciousness a chance to roam the city. Normally, he uses them for various Peeping Tom activities, but tonight he has a chance to deploy them to save the life of a key witness for the police.
“Once More, For Old Time’s Sake” by Carrie Vaughn — A leaked sex tape from the set of American Hero Season 1 brings Curveball, Earth Witch, Drummer Boy and John Fortune back together. However, a night of margaritas and burritos leads to chasing Eel through Jokertown, preventing another kidnapping, and causing millions of dollars of property damage. A fun story except that it dredges up the tedious Kate/John/DB love triangle that slogged down so much of the Committee Triad.
“The Ties That Bind” by Mary Anne Mohanraj — Michael Stevens looks for Kavitha’s missing teen brother Sanpip, while trying to figure out how to propose to both his girlfriends.
“No Parking” by Ian Tregillis -- Rustbelt and his nemesis Darcy the angry meter maid search for a missing teacher with a human torso and the lower body of a six-legged spider. He fought IBT in the coliseum and has not been seen since. Includes a great cameo from Jube.
Next up: High Stakes
May 27, 2022
From just after World War II forward, life is different on this Earth. The alien Wild Card virus introduced unimaginable changes, as those exposed to it either died (90%), became monsters of some kind (Jokers, 9%), or gained comic book superhero powers (Aces, 1%). World history changed from that point forward, as Earth struggled to deal with people with powers and the knowledge that there is inteligent life out there, and it's not necessarily friendly.
Jokertown is the section of New York City where the deformed tend to gather, and Fort Freak is the perpetually overwhelmed 5th Precinct that serves this area that most prefer not to think about. Now Jokers are going missing and not many really care enough to notice, let alone do something about it. An unlikely group of police, aces, and jokers slowly become involved as more and more vanish. Among those drawn into the case are the former reality tv star Stuntman, the powerful and near-invulnerable joker/ace Rustbelt, Jokertown's protector, the snake-man Infamous Black Tongue, parking enforcement officer Darcy (Don't call me a meter maid!), Otto Ghoul Gordon, coroner with secret hobby he prefers to keep hidden, Francis Xavier Black, nat (normal) officer among Jokers who draws ire from a recent promotion while trying to live up to his father's legend, and many more.
Who is behind the disappearances? Where are the Jokers going and what's happening to them? Does anyone care? Can the NYPD, SCARE (Special Committee for Ace Resources and Endeavors), and the powerful ace group from the UN known as the Committee actually manage to work together?
I really enjoy this series, and this is another great installment. My only complaints particularly are that many Wild Cards books have a listing of characters, which can be really useful, and this one doesn't. I also don't really love that the arguably heroic characters are either obviously kind of dumb or ridiculously naive.
Be warned, while I don't think George RR Martin actually writes much of these at this point, his harshness to characters is definitely reflected here. If you want everyone to have a happy ending, this isn't the series for you. Me, I'm ordering the next one.
This is also one of the few, maybe only, Wild Cards novels I can recall ending in a cliffhanger.
Jokertown is the section of New York City where the deformed tend to gather, and Fort Freak is the perpetually overwhelmed 5th Precinct that serves this area that most prefer not to think about. Now Jokers are going missing and not many really care enough to notice, let alone do something about it. An unlikely group of police, aces, and jokers slowly become involved as more and more vanish. Among those drawn into the case are the former reality tv star Stuntman, the powerful and near-invulnerable joker/ace Rustbelt, Jokertown's protector, the snake-man Infamous Black Tongue, parking enforcement officer Darcy (Don't call me a meter maid!), Otto Ghoul Gordon, coroner with secret hobby he prefers to keep hidden, Francis Xavier Black, nat (normal) officer among Jokers who draws ire from a recent promotion while trying to live up to his father's legend, and many more.
Who is behind the disappearances? Where are the Jokers going and what's happening to them? Does anyone care? Can the NYPD, SCARE (Special Committee for Ace Resources and Endeavors), and the powerful ace group from the UN known as the Committee actually manage to work together?
I really enjoy this series, and this is another great installment. My only complaints particularly are that many Wild Cards books have a listing of characters, which can be really useful, and this one doesn't. I also don't really love that the arguably heroic characters are either obviously kind of dumb or ridiculously naive.
Be warned, while I don't think George RR Martin actually writes much of these at this point, his harshness to characters is definitely reflected here. If you want everyone to have a happy ending, this isn't the series for you. Me, I'm ordering the next one.
This is also one of the few, maybe only, Wild Cards novels I can recall ending in a cliffhanger.
November 19, 2014
originally posted at: http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2014...
If you have been following this blog you know that I am a very big fan of the Wild Card series, I have reviewed already several books and short stories for the blog. When I read the story Joker's Wild I learned that later this year, November to be exact, a new addition would be released, Lowball. I have been counting down the days until it's release and it was well worth the wait. Wild Cards is such a cool universe to read and it has been strongly going on for 22 books already. And as I always say when I review a Wild Cards story, forget Marvel's superheroes, instead embrace those of Wild Cards, they have much more depth and development going on in their characters. These kind of story should be made into a movie, I know Michael Bay must be able to make this into a blockbuster.
In the Wild Cards series it must be noted that every three books there is a new sort of series. ALl the books are in relation to each other but every trilogy has a different storyline. Lowball is the second book in such a trilogy, a trilogy that started with Fort Freak. Now this story arc brought something new to the Wild Cards scene as before there was a heavy focus on the Aces and Jokers were described as horribale beings, with Fort Freak a light was cast on Jokertown, a safehaven for Jokers, though it wasn't all roses and sunshine as it is quite a dire setting in Jokertown. Again we follow several events in the manhattan jokertown precinct.
Even though Lowball is the second book in the series you can read this story very well without having read Fort Freak. Ok so what is the sory about? Several weird things have been happening in and around jokertown, most notable have been of yet unexplainable disappearances of several very jokers, and not just any jokers, but jokers with an impact. Since this is a case of high importance and the police isn't really doing much about it, Father Squid recruits the help of IBT, Infamous Black Tongue, also called by his real name Marcus, who is like a centaur except has a snake body, pretty awesome.But with weird and unexplainable evidence piling up it becomes more and more of a pressing matters and there is only one organization in the Wild Cards universe that is very well suited to help out with this. SCARE, which is an acronym for Special Committee for Ace Resources and Endeavors, think in the lines of the FBI or CIA but then all aces. Now there is one important player here whom, if you read the reboot series has made quite an impact, Jamal Norwood, who also goes by the handle of Stuntman. Jamal has the gift of a virtually indestructible body, able to "bounceback" after getting hit, he can survive everything. As the investigation furthers all parties involved start to make some startling conclusion that really turn around the storyline. It soon comes to show that there is something and someone big behind the disappearances that has a specific goal in mind. One great aspect of the books is that the story doesn't cave with being a second book in the series, the story is brought forward in the hands of some new and old characters, jokers and aces alike, creating a very cliffhanger moment in the end. When you finish Lowball you can only part with a feeling that everything that happened was being used to set something big in motion.
I already mentioned that there are new and old characters; jokers and aces that you meet along the way. Yes I have a few favorites so far in the series and to my surprise I found them back in the storyline, some Aces that featured in the first reboot trilogy and in the series American Hero make a nice entrance here. The premise of the story was solely based on Jokers but reading about Drummerboy, Stuntman, Earth Witch and Curveball. These I have gotten to know through and through in the earlier stories but they definitely left an impact and was great to see their involvement once over. Now there were also some characters I was less familiar with, like Father Squid, the Infamous Black Tongue, Marcus, and Eddie. From these all I really enjoyed reading Eddie's part, he is a weird guy, has deformities and is thereby limited in his movements. The only thing he does on a regular basis is use his powers to draw images on a sketch pad that he is able to call to life and be his ears and eyes, the latter being the most important part as it allows him to snoop around. Well there have been sightings of a peeping tom in Jokertown, so who could this be? As a kind of duality, Eddie is sometimes employed by the Jokertown Precintct as a sketch artist... now these things seem to start to interfere with each other. The other characters those of Father Squid and Marcus help to bring more insights into what is actually happening and this is far from pretty at all... ALl in all awesome characters, but come to think of it I wouldn't have thought otherwise.
Now one thing where I always give high praise is the connections of these Wild Cards books, it must be hard writing a book by yourself but having nine authors writing one story in a book, that must be a hard task but once again the stories really flow very nicely into each other making it feel like that just one author wrote them. Of course you can read that some author write differently but on the whole it's very good. I have been a big fan of David Anthony Durham's Acacia Trilogy and his story Those About to Die definitely left his marks, very glad to see that he joined the Wild Card Trust!
So far I have read a lot of action in the Wild Card series but this trilogy, which started in Fort Freak and continues in this book, Lowball shows a completely different side of the glamour that is accompanied with being an ace. This does coincide with the different stories, but I was impressed with the overall setting of the story that each author managed to bring to the forefront. Jokertown isn't a pretty place to live in and this become very obvious. Though the setting is very grim and bleak there is something strange, alluring and mysterious to Jokertown, must also be partially owed to the inhabitants.
Lowball for me is a winner through and through, I have been counting down the days until there would be another full length book released and I devoured it in one sitting. The characters are memorable and the setting of the story is continuing to give a certain uniqueness. Even though the series has been going on for twentytwo books so far, there is never a dull moment to be found. As I already said I am a bit tired of the Marvel adaptations but I just cannot get enough of the Wild Cards universe. High quality and should be on everyones reading list. Lowball does leave the series on a cliffhanger, and with everything that happened in this second book just somehow feels like there will an big conclusion waiting to unfold. Bring on the next please!
If you have been following this blog you know that I am a very big fan of the Wild Card series, I have reviewed already several books and short stories for the blog. When I read the story Joker's Wild I learned that later this year, November to be exact, a new addition would be released, Lowball. I have been counting down the days until it's release and it was well worth the wait. Wild Cards is such a cool universe to read and it has been strongly going on for 22 books already. And as I always say when I review a Wild Cards story, forget Marvel's superheroes, instead embrace those of Wild Cards, they have much more depth and development going on in their characters. These kind of story should be made into a movie, I know Michael Bay must be able to make this into a blockbuster.
In the Wild Cards series it must be noted that every three books there is a new sort of series. ALl the books are in relation to each other but every trilogy has a different storyline. Lowball is the second book in such a trilogy, a trilogy that started with Fort Freak. Now this story arc brought something new to the Wild Cards scene as before there was a heavy focus on the Aces and Jokers were described as horribale beings, with Fort Freak a light was cast on Jokertown, a safehaven for Jokers, though it wasn't all roses and sunshine as it is quite a dire setting in Jokertown. Again we follow several events in the manhattan jokertown precinct.
Even though Lowball is the second book in the series you can read this story very well without having read Fort Freak. Ok so what is the sory about? Several weird things have been happening in and around jokertown, most notable have been of yet unexplainable disappearances of several very jokers, and not just any jokers, but jokers with an impact. Since this is a case of high importance and the police isn't really doing much about it, Father Squid recruits the help of IBT, Infamous Black Tongue, also called by his real name Marcus, who is like a centaur except has a snake body, pretty awesome.But with weird and unexplainable evidence piling up it becomes more and more of a pressing matters and there is only one organization in the Wild Cards universe that is very well suited to help out with this. SCARE, which is an acronym for Special Committee for Ace Resources and Endeavors, think in the lines of the FBI or CIA but then all aces. Now there is one important player here whom, if you read the reboot series has made quite an impact, Jamal Norwood, who also goes by the handle of Stuntman. Jamal has the gift of a virtually indestructible body, able to "bounceback" after getting hit, he can survive everything. As the investigation furthers all parties involved start to make some startling conclusion that really turn around the storyline. It soon comes to show that there is something and someone big behind the disappearances that has a specific goal in mind. One great aspect of the books is that the story doesn't cave with being a second book in the series, the story is brought forward in the hands of some new and old characters, jokers and aces alike, creating a very cliffhanger moment in the end. When you finish Lowball you can only part with a feeling that everything that happened was being used to set something big in motion.
I already mentioned that there are new and old characters; jokers and aces that you meet along the way. Yes I have a few favorites so far in the series and to my surprise I found them back in the storyline, some Aces that featured in the first reboot trilogy and in the series American Hero make a nice entrance here. The premise of the story was solely based on Jokers but reading about Drummerboy, Stuntman, Earth Witch and Curveball. These I have gotten to know through and through in the earlier stories but they definitely left an impact and was great to see their involvement once over. Now there were also some characters I was less familiar with, like Father Squid, the Infamous Black Tongue, Marcus, and Eddie. From these all I really enjoyed reading Eddie's part, he is a weird guy, has deformities and is thereby limited in his movements. The only thing he does on a regular basis is use his powers to draw images on a sketch pad that he is able to call to life and be his ears and eyes, the latter being the most important part as it allows him to snoop around. Well there have been sightings of a peeping tom in Jokertown, so who could this be? As a kind of duality, Eddie is sometimes employed by the Jokertown Precintct as a sketch artist... now these things seem to start to interfere with each other. The other characters those of Father Squid and Marcus help to bring more insights into what is actually happening and this is far from pretty at all... ALl in all awesome characters, but come to think of it I wouldn't have thought otherwise.
Now one thing where I always give high praise is the connections of these Wild Cards books, it must be hard writing a book by yourself but having nine authors writing one story in a book, that must be a hard task but once again the stories really flow very nicely into each other making it feel like that just one author wrote them. Of course you can read that some author write differently but on the whole it's very good. I have been a big fan of David Anthony Durham's Acacia Trilogy and his story Those About to Die definitely left his marks, very glad to see that he joined the Wild Card Trust!
So far I have read a lot of action in the Wild Card series but this trilogy, which started in Fort Freak and continues in this book, Lowball shows a completely different side of the glamour that is accompanied with being an ace. This does coincide with the different stories, but I was impressed with the overall setting of the story that each author managed to bring to the forefront. Jokertown isn't a pretty place to live in and this become very obvious. Though the setting is very grim and bleak there is something strange, alluring and mysterious to Jokertown, must also be partially owed to the inhabitants.
Lowball for me is a winner through and through, I have been counting down the days until there would be another full length book released and I devoured it in one sitting. The characters are memorable and the setting of the story is continuing to give a certain uniqueness. Even though the series has been going on for twentytwo books so far, there is never a dull moment to be found. As I already said I am a bit tired of the Marvel adaptations but I just cannot get enough of the Wild Cards universe. High quality and should be on everyones reading list. Lowball does leave the series on a cliffhanger, and with everything that happened in this second book just somehow feels like there will an big conclusion waiting to unfold. Bring on the next please!
February 19, 2019
It was difficult to finish Lowball. First of all, I didn't remember a lot of the characters that were supposed to be well known. That's on me. Second of all, a lot of pages were dedicated to the personal life of one or another, including family squabbles and marriage proposals and all that. I don't know about you, but myself I didn't need or want to read that. It made the book feel boring and lifeless. But the worse sin of the book was that it was unbalanced.
Melinda Snodgrass describes action that happens in the middle of Jokertown, a small area of New York populated with jokers, people affected by an alien virus that changed them into impotent ugly monsters, then extends it to the outskirts and eventually other countries, involving as hero characters: a local police officer, a SCARE agent, his old friends, local jokers who are slightly aces (aces have advantages conferred to them by the infection) and - did I mention - their significant others, mothers in law, etc. The scope keeps shifting from aces and law enforcement agencies that are paralyzed for no real reason to regular people who somehow do more than anybody else, from international intrigue to very local issues. Some of the stuff that happens bears no real relevance to the main plot.
The book eventually became a bit more focused and the action started to pick up. And when I was finally getting to the point where something was going to happen and closure was close, the book ended. What the hell happened? Not even an epilogue. Abruptly everything ends with a cliffhanger that you can't even understand and credits roll. The next part of the "triad" of books seems to be High Stakes. I will read it, too, because I want to read the Wild Cards books in their entirety, but to be honest, I don't think I even enjoyed Lowball.
Melinda Snodgrass describes action that happens in the middle of Jokertown, a small area of New York populated with jokers, people affected by an alien virus that changed them into impotent ugly monsters, then extends it to the outskirts and eventually other countries, involving as hero characters: a local police officer, a SCARE agent, his old friends, local jokers who are slightly aces (aces have advantages conferred to them by the infection) and - did I mention - their significant others, mothers in law, etc. The scope keeps shifting from aces and law enforcement agencies that are paralyzed for no real reason to regular people who somehow do more than anybody else, from international intrigue to very local issues. Some of the stuff that happens bears no real relevance to the main plot.
The book eventually became a bit more focused and the action started to pick up. And when I was finally getting to the point where something was going to happen and closure was close, the book ended. What the hell happened? Not even an epilogue. Abruptly everything ends with a cliffhanger that you can't even understand and credits roll. The next part of the "triad" of books seems to be High Stakes. I will read it, too, because I want to read the Wild Cards books in their entirety, but to be honest, I don't think I even enjoyed Lowball.
April 16, 2018
Disclaimer - this is only the second Wild Cards novel that I've read. I really enjoyed 'Fort Freak' but I didn't enjoy Lowball as much. I felt the stories and genre feel were more cohesive with 'Fort Freak'. In saying that, Lowball might be popular with long running readers of the series since it presumably is making references to characters and events that happened a long time ago. This book is also less focused on Jokertown. The action ranges to other counties, cities, countries and brings in the SCARE agency (which probably means more to existing readers).
There is an overarching story about the kidnappings in Jokertown but the range of characters and locations means it doesn't have as tight a feel. I was also a bit disappointed that some of the characters that were interesting (like the sketch artist and Lupo) drop off the radar while other characters like Michael & family are included for (an admittedly interesting) view on their sex & family life but not for substantial plot reasons. I also found Stuntman to be a really boring character and investigator (which is a shame since he ended up being pretty central). I did like Gordon the Ghoul getting his own story in this novel.
Unlike Fort Freak, Lowball is not a standalone novel and the 'ending' goes straight on to Highball.
There is an overarching story about the kidnappings in Jokertown but the range of characters and locations means it doesn't have as tight a feel. I was also a bit disappointed that some of the characters that were interesting (like the sketch artist and Lupo) drop off the radar while other characters like Michael & family are included for (an admittedly interesting) view on their sex & family life but not for substantial plot reasons. I also found Stuntman to be a really boring character and investigator (which is a shame since he ended up being pretty central). I did like Gordon the Ghoul getting his own story in this novel.
Unlike Fort Freak, Lowball is not a standalone novel and the 'ending' goes straight on to Highball.
September 19, 2018
With so many authors and so many parallel story-lines, it's inevitable that you're going to prefer some parts over others. I was disappointed with Croyd Crenson's appearance. His small story really didn't need to be in the story as it didn't advance the plot or impact on the characters involved with him. It seems like he was shoehorned in so that one of the fan-favourites makes an appearance. Like Jube and Lupo, he doesn't seem to belong to this new Wild Cards universe so much as a flashback to the old stories.
Another thing that bothered me was that the gladiators seemed especially angry, as if they were being emotionally manipulated by an external source, but no revelation was forthcoming on that front. All-in-all a worthwhile read. I'm surprised it took me so long to finally pick it up, and also how long it took me to finish.
Another thing that bothered me was that the gladiators seemed especially angry, as if they were being emotionally manipulated by an external source, but no revelation was forthcoming on that front. All-in-all a worthwhile read. I'm surprised it took me so long to finally pick it up, and also how long it took me to finish.
January 8, 2025
I’ve had my ups and downs with this series. I picked up the original paperbacks way back when they first came out, so I’ve been reading these for just about as long as they’ve been coming out.
I enjoyed the last one, ‘Fort Freak’ quite a bit, it reminded me of one of my favorite graphic novels, ‘Gotham Central’, which is about policing in the Batman universe. The story was relatively small-scale which was a good contrast to the previous books in the ‘new’ run of these books. The book had a definite conclusion, with the major mystery resolved.
This one was a step down, even though it seemingly was a direct sequel. The plot was ridiculous and the ending was a pure cliffhanger. Rather than continuing with the vibe of the last book, we are back worrying about reality tv and international agencies. The set up for the next book has me somewhat worried also.
I’ve made this series one of my reading projects, so probably will continue, but it may be rough going.
I enjoyed the last one, ‘Fort Freak’ quite a bit, it reminded me of one of my favorite graphic novels, ‘Gotham Central’, which is about policing in the Batman universe. The story was relatively small-scale which was a good contrast to the previous books in the ‘new’ run of these books. The book had a definite conclusion, with the major mystery resolved.
This one was a step down, even though it seemingly was a direct sequel. The plot was ridiculous and the ending was a pure cliffhanger. Rather than continuing with the vibe of the last book, we are back worrying about reality tv and international agencies. The set up for the next book has me somewhat worried also.
I’ve made this series one of my reading projects, so probably will continue, but it may be rough going.
May 25, 2024
As someone who began the wildcards series with this book, I will say Lowball has made me want to read other books in the wildcard series. The ending really sold me on the potential of this series and the book came with a couple of plot twists that foreshadowed the end game villain in the Mean Streets trilogy. Where the book fell flat to me was in its oversaturated amount of POVs. There were several unnecessary POVs that did add to the story but were in my opinion unnecessary. I wish the book would’ve focused more on the stories of Franny, Jamal and Marcus. They seemed like the main players and deserved more spotlight, especially Marcus. All in all still a good book with a great cliffhanger ending.
June 30, 2018
Creative and fun with some great dialogue but too many characters and characteristics to keep straight. The Cry Wolf section by David D. Levine was one of my favourites and I would like to have read more about him. The other authors writing about Jamal, Franny, Marcus, Gordon, Michael .... were talented as well but I found I was being required to supply the continuity and I was too lazy to start a scratch pad of notes to do that. To be fair though, I would become frustrated with the tangents and lay it down but then be drawn back so perhaps if I had persevered and read it in a more continuous manner it would have rated higher.
July 30, 2024
Nach über einem Jahr Lesezeit voller Abbrüche und Wiederaufnahmen habe ich das Buch jetzt durch.
Die Geschichte weiß zu überzeugen und die Charaktere sind mir recht sympathisch sowie - den Vorgängerroman eingerechnet - charmant geschrieben.
Jedoch fühlt sich das Werk so an, wie wenn stets Lore vorausgesetzt wird, die man nicht kennt und es wird mit Begriffen jongliert, für die Vorwissen vorausgesetzt wird. Dadurch entsteht ein unbefriedigendes Gefühl, das man etwas verpasst und das Buch wirkt nicht rund.
Und ja, ich weiß, dass es sich um eine Buchreihe handelt. Dennoch kann nicht erwartet werden, dass man bei eigenständigen Trilogien immense Mengen an zusätzlichem Wissen mitbringt.
Die Geschichte weiß zu überzeugen und die Charaktere sind mir recht sympathisch sowie - den Vorgängerroman eingerechnet - charmant geschrieben.
Jedoch fühlt sich das Werk so an, wie wenn stets Lore vorausgesetzt wird, die man nicht kennt und es wird mit Begriffen jongliert, für die Vorwissen vorausgesetzt wird. Dadurch entsteht ein unbefriedigendes Gefühl, das man etwas verpasst und das Buch wirkt nicht rund.
Und ja, ich weiß, dass es sich um eine Buchreihe handelt. Dennoch kann nicht erwartet werden, dass man bei eigenständigen Trilogien immense Mengen an zusätzlichem Wissen mitbringt.
November 24, 2022
Not a bad book, but not a great follow up to the far superior Fort Freak. I didn't Michael and his harem then, and I don't like him now. IBT and Franny had good stuff. The finale picked up what was a bit of a slog earlier. I did wish the monster truck Joker had been used more. It definitely ended strongly. I hope it pays off in the third book of the trilogy within the Wild Cards series. I doubt it'll be strong enough to entice me to read more Wild Cards books.
January 1, 2026
One of the best Wild Card novels, with good pacing and strong editing. I plowed through the book in a couple of days. Usually, there are at least a couple of "weak sister" story lines in these mosaic novels, but in this case, all of the entries are strong. I especially liked Galahad in Blue by Melissa M. Snodgrass and Once More, for Old Times' Sake by Carrie Vaughn.
Ends with a cliff hanger!
Great cover art.
Ends with a cliff hanger!
Great cover art.
March 11, 2025
The first half just flew by and I enjoyed reading about old acquaintances and new faces. In the second half things got darker and it took me more time to keep on reading. That's always the 'problem' with wild cards books: one moment happy little accidents, in the other war, trauma and shattered dreams.
August 29, 2019
30 years later and the Wild Cards are still going strong. These are just as good as the originals, and I love the references to early stories. I hate seeing characters I know well die, but death is a part of life.
March 23, 2022
A great follow up to Fort Freak. Jokers are being kidnapped and being forced to fight in an arena. Jokertown vigilantes are trying to help. Government agents are trying to help. The NYPD is trying to help. As always multiple threads are following our heroes.
October 8, 2023
I was skeptical about the mosaic novel, this is my first Wild Cards read. The stories weaved in beautifully and kept me interested. If it wasn’t such a huge series I might have consider to work my way through.
June 14, 2017
Not the best of the wild cards series but a nice break from a lot of non-fiction I've been reading lately.
November 30, 2017
read the first three chapters, gave up and read the Carrie Vaughn chapter. Carrie Vaughn chapter was four stars, lot of fun, the others two stars.
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