What do you think?
Rate this book
Wild Cards #24
Mississippi Roll
Perfect for current fans and new readers alike, Mississippi Roll is an all-new, adventurous jaunt along one of America's greatest rivers, featuring many beloved characters from the Wild Cards universe
Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, Mississippi Roll features the writing talents of Stephen Leigh, David D. Levine, John Jos. Miller, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Cherie Priest, and Carrie Vaughn.
Now in development for TV: Rights to develop Wild Cards for TV have been acquired by Universal Cable Productions, the team behind The Magicians and Mr. Robot, with the co-editor of Wild Cards, Melinda Snodgrass, as executive producer.
Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, Mississippi Roll features the writing talents of Stephen Leigh, David D. Levine, John Jos. Miller, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Cherie Priest, and Carrie Vaughn.
Now in development for TV: Rights to develop Wild Cards for TV have been acquired by Universal Cable Productions, the team behind The Magicians and Mr. Robot, with the co-editor of Wild Cards, Melinda Snodgrass, as executive producer.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published December 5, 2017
81 people are currently reading
747 people want to read
About the author
George R.R. Martin
1,506 books118k 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...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
November 28, 2017
I hadn’t read any Wild Cards books before, but the blurb on this said it was a good jumping in point for new readers, so here goes. It’s the story of Mississippi riverboat, the Natchez in the not too far distant future, but a future in which humanity has been changed forever by a plague which either kills or turns the survivors into Wild cards – jokers or aces. Each affliction might be different. Aces tend to be the ones with superpowers whereas jokers might have not much in the way of talent, but a fox’s ears and tail or maybe half of them has turned into a fish. You get the idea. Edited by George RR Martin, the writers are Stephen Leigh, David D. Levine, John Jos. Miller, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Cherie Priest, and Carrie Vaughn. Each writer takes a a particular character and sees them through their part in the story. So… the story. The central characters in this ensemble piece are Steam Wilbur, the ghost of the builder and forst captain of the Natchez, and the Natchez herself. Steaming up the river with an illicit cargo of illegal joker immigrants, followed by a vindictive immigration officer and the Natchez’s current owner whose stated intent is to anchor her in port and strip out her boilers, turning he into a casino, but in reality has much darker plans. Without the boat’s steam, Steam Wilbur loses any means of acting upon the world (and he can’t leave the boat). So this is the story of how the ensemble cast fights a triple threat to Wilbur, the boar and the immigrants. I thoroughly enjoyed this and now I can’t decide whether to wait for the next one or whether to go back and start reading from the beginning.
January 29, 2018
Read for the 2018 PopSugar reading challenge. This is "the next book in a series you've already started" - that series being Wild Cards, of which I am apparently by Goodreads standards a big fan, since fewer than three dozen people have reviewed this latest volume though it has been out for nearly two months.
As it's a series made up of mostly books with loosely connected short stories with a rotating cast of authors, you never know exactly what you're going to get with each volume. This is a fun one, set as it is on a steamboat going up the Mississippi River, which manages to give it a cheery kind of small-town charm, populated with mostly mundane characters going about their lives, even though the first story involves someone getting murdered and another story involves the investigation of a suspicious death entirely different from that same murder. Included among the recurring characters are three completely dopey "ghost hunters," who are trying to make contact with any of the dozen people who have died on this steamboat over the decades. Fortunately for those fellows, the legends of Steam Wilbur, the ship's original captain, are true enough: As he died, his wild card activated and let him essentially haunt the ship thanks to its steam boilers. These guys would be annoying if we saw them through their own eyes, but we don't - it's only seeing other characters be exasperated by their earnest enthusiasm for their junk science.
Makes for quite a change of pace compared to the Lovecraftian previous volume, in which Kazakhstan was the epicenter of a mind-bending battle for the fate of the planet. That development in the prior book does figure in here, however, what with a rickety freighter full of joker refugees having made its way nearly to New Orleans.
Regrettably for those refugees, a newly-elected president in America has no sympathy for their plight and is leading an administration that wants to keep them out. The angry orange man does not figure into this, as the new president is a Pauline van Rennsaeler, presumably a relative of the van Rennsaelers of the original Wild Cards story, though this is never discussed here.
Throughout the stories, one common bit of plot is sympathetic people among the boat crew trying to shepherd these joker refugees to a safe place, despite the interest of ICE in finding those same refugees. Some of the POV characters begin knowing about the refugees, while others discover it later; all take it as a given that it's the right - and American - thing to do to help these people get to better lives, no matter what the current administration's policy may be. This includes both powerful aces and minor jokers as well as regular old nats. There is not much of a veil over this rebuke of real life. One doesn't get more "wretched refuse of thy teeming shore" than a group of jokers whose homes were just destroyed and whose home country is now carrying out a campaign of persecution and murder against jokers.
There are 24 Wild Cards books published, and thanks to some recent re-issuings, I have now read 11 of them. They're not all great, but it's a fun series to follow. The book advertises itself as "perfect for new and veteran readers alike," which I do think is a fair assessment, though the new reader will not know anything about why a bunch of Kazakh jokers are on a ship off New Orleans, nor have quite as much invested in Billy Ray, Ramshead, or Sewer Jack. It's a fun trip up the Mississippi River.
As it's a series made up of mostly books with loosely connected short stories with a rotating cast of authors, you never know exactly what you're going to get with each volume. This is a fun one, set as it is on a steamboat going up the Mississippi River, which manages to give it a cheery kind of small-town charm, populated with mostly mundane characters going about their lives, even though the first story involves someone getting murdered and another story involves the investigation of a suspicious death entirely different from that same murder. Included among the recurring characters are three completely dopey "ghost hunters," who are trying to make contact with any of the dozen people who have died on this steamboat over the decades. Fortunately for those fellows, the legends of Steam Wilbur, the ship's original captain, are true enough: As he died, his wild card activated and let him essentially haunt the ship thanks to its steam boilers. These guys would be annoying if we saw them through their own eyes, but we don't - it's only seeing other characters be exasperated by their earnest enthusiasm for their junk science.
Makes for quite a change of pace compared to the Lovecraftian previous volume, in which Kazakhstan was the epicenter of a mind-bending battle for the fate of the planet. That development in the prior book does figure in here, however, what with a rickety freighter full of joker refugees having made its way nearly to New Orleans.
Regrettably for those refugees, a newly-elected president in America has no sympathy for their plight and is leading an administration that wants to keep them out. The angry orange man does not figure into this, as the new president is a Pauline van Rennsaeler, presumably a relative of the van Rennsaelers of the original Wild Cards story, though this is never discussed here.
Throughout the stories, one common bit of plot is sympathetic people among the boat crew trying to shepherd these joker refugees to a safe place, despite the interest of ICE in finding those same refugees. Some of the POV characters begin knowing about the refugees, while others discover it later; all take it as a given that it's the right - and American - thing to do to help these people get to better lives, no matter what the current administration's policy may be. This includes both powerful aces and minor jokers as well as regular old nats. There is not much of a veil over this rebuke of real life. One doesn't get more "wretched refuse of thy teeming shore" than a group of jokers whose homes were just destroyed and whose home country is now carrying out a campaign of persecution and murder against jokers.
There are 24 Wild Cards books published, and thanks to some recent re-issuings, I have now read 11 of them. They're not all great, but it's a fun series to follow. The book advertises itself as "perfect for new and veteran readers alike," which I do think is a fair assessment, though the new reader will not know anything about why a bunch of Kazakh jokers are on a ship off New Orleans, nor have quite as much invested in Billy Ray, Ramshead, or Sewer Jack. It's a fun trip up the Mississippi River.
July 15, 2018
Not every Wild Cards novel has to be about saving the world. Mississippi Roll is a nice change of pace and in the end it's a surprisingly sweet story. The refugee sub-plot makes it a remarkably timely story as well.
August 27, 2019
More wildcards stories, set in Mississippi on a steam boat. None of the heavy hitters are here but it was still fun.
December 16, 2017
I received a copy of this book from MacMillian Tor via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first experience with the Wild Card series but i can say that it’s been a good introduction for a new reader.Fortunately, it’s not necessary to have read the previous books in the series in order to enjoy this new one.
The stories of this series are edited by King George R.R. Martin (Game Of Thrones anyone?) but they are written by a large cast of authors and Wild Cards could be defined as a collection of short stories but not entirely. It’s more like each author is contributing to define the same universe adding a bit of their own perspective and by that, expanding the story.
This story is about a journey on a steamboat,called the Natchez and the crew of the boat. All the characters and their storylines are pieces of this universe lead by the Captain of the Natchez, Wilbur Leathers.
Wilbur has changed and now thinks he’s a ghost. He had lived in the 50’s and he separated from his wife Eleanor that has now left forever the Natchez. Wilbur doesn’t seem to be able to do the same. After an argument with a debt-collector he gets shot and dies. But the captain remains on the boat as a ghost and the boat became his eternal prison for eternity. And he has to fight more threats that are about to come.
I loved the writing and even thou the whole concept it’s not really my cup of tea, I enjoyed myself immensely. The Captain is an amazing character, with an excellent depth and complexity and he perfectly blends in the intriguing storylines.
I used Wiki as a source of the information i couldn’t understand. I was afraid it would be quiet confusing but on the contrary, the story is gripping and slowly builds up excitement and i personally enjoyed myself. I don’t know if i’ll read more books about the Wild Card world because 24 sound like a HUGE number but i’m def more intrigued now.
This was my first experience with the Wild Card series but i can say that it’s been a good introduction for a new reader.Fortunately, it’s not necessary to have read the previous books in the series in order to enjoy this new one.
The stories of this series are edited by King George R.R. Martin (Game Of Thrones anyone?) but they are written by a large cast of authors and Wild Cards could be defined as a collection of short stories but not entirely. It’s more like each author is contributing to define the same universe adding a bit of their own perspective and by that, expanding the story.
This story is about a journey on a steamboat,called the Natchez and the crew of the boat. All the characters and their storylines are pieces of this universe lead by the Captain of the Natchez, Wilbur Leathers.
Wilbur has changed and now thinks he’s a ghost. He had lived in the 50’s and he separated from his wife Eleanor that has now left forever the Natchez. Wilbur doesn’t seem to be able to do the same. After an argument with a debt-collector he gets shot and dies. But the captain remains on the boat as a ghost and the boat became his eternal prison for eternity. And he has to fight more threats that are about to come.
I loved the writing and even thou the whole concept it’s not really my cup of tea, I enjoyed myself immensely. The Captain is an amazing character, with an excellent depth and complexity and he perfectly blends in the intriguing storylines.
I used Wiki as a source of the information i couldn’t understand. I was afraid it would be quiet confusing but on the contrary, the story is gripping and slowly builds up excitement and i personally enjoyed myself. I don’t know if i’ll read more books about the Wild Card world because 24 sound like a HUGE number but i’m def more intrigued now.
July 4, 2018
Set entirely on a steamboat over the course of one trip from New Orleans to Cincinnati.
Mississippi Roll is painfully topical. A boat full of desperate, starving refugees (from the previous novel's cataclysmic events) is cheerfully denied help by the xenophobic American president, a crass, stupid outsider who nobody expected to win the election. An underground railroad-like organization hides them aboard a steamboat, but they are hunted by a hateful, determined ICE agent (who is a black woman, which I'm sure was deliberate).
The series of over-the-top happy endings was pretty un-Wild Cards and a little bit nauseating.
Mississippi Roll is painfully topical. A boat full of desperate, starving refugees (from the previous novel's cataclysmic events) is cheerfully denied help by the xenophobic American president, a crass, stupid outsider who nobody expected to win the election. An underground railroad-like organization hides them aboard a steamboat, but they are hunted by a hateful, determined ICE agent (who is a black woman, which I'm sure was deliberate).
The series of over-the-top happy endings was pretty un-Wild Cards and a little bit nauseating.
July 12, 2018
2 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary:
The 24th book in a shared world anthology in which many humans have been transformed by an alien virus either into jokers (deformed) or aces (super-powered). A varied collection of people on a riverboat aim to help Kazakh refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
Review:
I’m a long-time fan of George R. R. Martin, but I’ve never taken to his Wild Cards series. I read the first one a very long time ago but despite the big-name authors involved, the stories and world just didn’t interest me. I’ve never been very excited about superheroes, and this darker take didn’t entice me either
Howver, it’s been a long time, and Wild Cards has kept going much longer than most shared world projects. When I saw Mississippi Roll available on NetGalley, I took a gamble that either the series or my tastes had changed. They hadn’t.
I liked this book even less than the original, way back in the distant past. While some of the stories are adequate, and some of the writing is good, the overall story is dull. For one thing, it makes a point of setting up Kazakh refugees as a key plot point – and then mostly ignores them. They’re a plot device and very little more. That’s a big missed opportunity, and an own goal.
Some of the writing is also definitely not good. At least one of the stories is so unfocused that I never did decide what it was about, other than following a not very interesting lead character through his days. The overall plot arc of the book is almost entirely predictable. It ends where it should, but you know where that will be from the first few pages.
There’s not even much imagination in the shape the jokers (people who fared poorly in the change) take. In the earlier books, there was quite a lot of variety. Here, a disappointing number of jokers are simply normal-looking humans with horns. I don’t know if the horns were meant to be a subtle nod to Memphis soul, but I really don’t think so. With a whole world of mutation options to play with, these writers mostly chose the same thing.
I wish I could point to a standout story or two, but there simply wasn’t one. Some of the writing is good, and some of the authors do their best, but not one of these stories caught my attention. Overall, this book is an argument in favor of ending shared world anthologies early.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
The 24th book in a shared world anthology in which many humans have been transformed by an alien virus either into jokers (deformed) or aces (super-powered). A varied collection of people on a riverboat aim to help Kazakh refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
Review:
I’m a long-time fan of George R. R. Martin, but I’ve never taken to his Wild Cards series. I read the first one a very long time ago but despite the big-name authors involved, the stories and world just didn’t interest me. I’ve never been very excited about superheroes, and this darker take didn’t entice me either
Howver, it’s been a long time, and Wild Cards has kept going much longer than most shared world projects. When I saw Mississippi Roll available on NetGalley, I took a gamble that either the series or my tastes had changed. They hadn’t.
I liked this book even less than the original, way back in the distant past. While some of the stories are adequate, and some of the writing is good, the overall story is dull. For one thing, it makes a point of setting up Kazakh refugees as a key plot point – and then mostly ignores them. They’re a plot device and very little more. That’s a big missed opportunity, and an own goal.
Some of the writing is also definitely not good. At least one of the stories is so unfocused that I never did decide what it was about, other than following a not very interesting lead character through his days. The overall plot arc of the book is almost entirely predictable. It ends where it should, but you know where that will be from the first few pages.
There’s not even much imagination in the shape the jokers (people who fared poorly in the change) take. In the earlier books, there was quite a lot of variety. Here, a disappointing number of jokers are simply normal-looking humans with horns. I don’t know if the horns were meant to be a subtle nod to Memphis soul, but I really don’t think so. With a whole world of mutation options to play with, these writers mostly chose the same thing.
I wish I could point to a standout story or two, but there simply wasn’t one. Some of the writing is good, and some of the authors do their best, but not one of these stories caught my attention. Overall, this book is an argument in favor of ending shared world anthologies early.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 25, 2022
I've been a fan of the Wild Cards series since I first found it, many years ago now. I like the world-building, the differences in history, the links between various characters. Mississippi Roll is the start of a new section of the story of that world, giving us some new characters, updates on some from assorted points throughout the decades of stories, and some interesting ideas. After the world-threatening stakes of the Fort Freak trilogy, this one is a bit lower.
Centered around the Natchez, a steamship on the Mississippi, we meet a steam-ghost, refugees from the events in High Stakes, a government agent who seems to delight in cruelty, an illusion-casting lounge act, and a few familiar faces including Carnifex, Midnight Angel, Sewer Jack (been a long time), and the ever-amusing Gimcrack, whose ace makes him super-gullible (as in, if a remote control claims to be universal, he makes it so it actually is).
There's a lot of good writing, emotional development, and, as ever, the hugely variable run of powers in the Wild Cards world, from the terrifying to the "Wow, that's weird." It's a nice breather after the world-shaking events of the last trilogy within the series, and I hope we see more of many of these characters.
The book is hailed as a good jumping on point, and I could see that, but I'd really recommend starting at the beginning and working forward. Yes, all 24 books including this one.
Centered around the Natchez, a steamship on the Mississippi, we meet a steam-ghost, refugees from the events in High Stakes, a government agent who seems to delight in cruelty, an illusion-casting lounge act, and a few familiar faces including Carnifex, Midnight Angel, Sewer Jack (been a long time), and the ever-amusing Gimcrack, whose ace makes him super-gullible (as in, if a remote control claims to be universal, he makes it so it actually is).
There's a lot of good writing, emotional development, and, as ever, the hugely variable run of powers in the Wild Cards world, from the terrifying to the "Wow, that's weird." It's a nice breather after the world-shaking events of the last trilogy within the series, and I hope we see more of many of these characters.
The book is hailed as a good jumping on point, and I could see that, but I'd really recommend starting at the beginning and working forward. Yes, all 24 books including this one.
November 25, 2018
This was an excellent read. I am not a giant fan of the Wild Cards series, but I read and enjoyed the three books previous to this one. In this one (as in others), some characters from those books reappear, among them Leo, the retired cop, and his new wife; a bunch of the Kazakh jokers, now refugees; and cameos at the beginning of several others. New characters are introduced, most notably Wilbur, the steamboat captain ghost (or maybe wildcard). Then there's the ex-boy-band star who now is also a stage magician, and is faking a wild card. The elderly gay bartender is peripheral for most of the book but gets his own chapter towards the end. For comic relief, there's a crew filming one of those ghost detector shows. The boat - the Natchez - and the Mississippi River make a lovely setting. As usual, there are several writers and several storylines that get resolved one by one. They all come together beautifully
April 3, 2020
This is a series that really piqued my interest when I heard the concept. A collaboration of some of the best sci-fi authors to build an elaborate and unique super powered universe.
Mississippi Roll was comprised of multiple short stories all centred around passengers aboard a steamboat, with a more major story which is spaced between each short story and ties them all together.
Aside from one disappointing story - which was at the start and made me dread reading any further - the rest of the book was fantastic. Im really interested now in reading more tales from the wildcards universe.
Highly recommended.
Mississippi Roll was comprised of multiple short stories all centred around passengers aboard a steamboat, with a more major story which is spaced between each short story and ties them all together.
Aside from one disappointing story - which was at the start and made me dread reading any further - the rest of the book was fantastic. Im really interested now in reading more tales from the wildcards universe.
Highly recommended.
January 26, 2018
Mississippi Roll: A Wild Cards Novel edited by George R. R. Martin
I love the wild cards universe, although so far, I have only been able to read a few of the stories. Basically, an alien race in the 40’s sent a virus to Earth to test it for side effects before using it in battle. It resulted in a lot of people dying horrible deaths, and then some people ending up as wildcards. Wildcards are people who the virus doesn’t kill but does change in some way, and after it’s dispersal it became part of the human genome and can be passed down generation to generation. People who get a useful power are called Aces, those who get benign powers are called blanks, those who get end up deformed from it are called Jokers. There is a bit of leeway between what is an Ace and a Joker but it generally seems that if your disease makes you ugly that you get called a Joker, even if the power is useful.
This book is called a Wild Cards Novel, but it is actually one main story with a few side stories mixed in throughout the narrative. The stories call back to each other and have some relations but a few of them could actually be removed and with a few changes be used as a stand-alone story in the series.
In the Shadow of Tall Stacks by Stephen Leigh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen...)
This is the main narrative tale of the book and composes the first and last chapters of the book as well as a chapter between each of the other short stories. Wilbur Leathers is the owner of a riverboat the Natchez. In 1951 he is married, expecting a child, and heavily in debt to some loan sharks. It’s hard not to feel bad for him as he is only in debt because business is down and not from any gambling or other reasons that novels seem to have for people to borrow from loan sharks. One night an enforcer comes aboard his ship and an argument starts up. The enforcer shoots Wilbur dead, however, rather than staying dead Wilbur finds himself as a noncorporeal being that can use hot steam to take the shape of his old form. He can enter into people and control them, get some feelings of their thoughts and ideas, and if full of the steam burn people or lift and move light objects.
Being new to this body it is by accident that he kills the enforcer. He then finds that he can not talk audibly and that unless full of steam, no one can see him. In addition, he is unable to leave his boat. This turns out bad for him because his wife, thinking he is fully dead, leaves the boat and he cannot follow her. In the present time, where most of the story and the other stories take place, it is bad news because the steamboat has been sold to a company that has decided to dock the boat and turn it into a floating casino. Once docked the boilers will be removed and William will find himself trapped in a boat that goes nowhere and with no way of interacting with people.
There is a secondary plotline going on in the story where a bunch of Jokers from a foreign country are beached in a decrepit boat on the side of the Mississippi. The US Government does not want them in the US and plans on deporting them. During the events of Wingless Angel they escape and some are taken into the Natchez by a man who arranged to get them to safety.
Despite being from the fifties William has slowly started to evolve in his thinking and rather than view the hidden jokers as illegals that need to be sent away he has pity on them and works to help them keep hidden. Using his power of steam at one point to convince an ICE agent that a room is full of hot steam from a broken pipe rather than people. Another time scaring away some cameramen, and ruining their footage, who got too close to the stateroom the Jokers are hiding in. In return one of the children Jokers touches William and gives him the ability to talk. Later, despite the risk of being burned, he does it again and William finds that he can leave the boat.
The boat is heading up to Cincinnati where it will participate in a steamboat race but William discovers that there is a plan by the owners to blow up the ship, get the money it is insured for and money for the crew which he has insured without their knowledge. The sabotage was to have the boilers overheat and explode during the race, but William takes all the steam into him and walks off into the river to explode. Hours later he wakes up and finds that he is still “alive” and with his new abilities, he has a reunion with his wife and the son he never meets and becomes part of the crew of the ship he saved.
It is never stated for certain whether he is a ghost or his noncorporeal state is a result of the Wild Card Virus, the release of which he was there for.
Wingless Angel by John Jos. Miller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J....)
I did a little research on this one as the characters seemed to have a backstory and established relationships that seemed too fleshed out for this story. They apparently were part of some other stories in the Wild Card universe.
Billy Ray is a government agent in charge of liaison between the government and people who have developed issues because of the Wildcard Virus. He himself has great strength from it, his partner and wife is Midnight Angel. They are tasked with going to the MS Gustav Schroder, a boat that has run aground full of refugee wildcards.
He and his wife are recovering from their last mission, one in which Angel was gravely injured. Since the last mission, Angel has begun to withdraw inside herself and he is afraid she might fully retract from the world. The current mission is complicated when they learn that one of the people in charge of the ship is the Joker that hurt Angel.
The team also consists of Moon, think of a female beast boy but with only the canine family to choose from, a man who can make it snow if he really concentrates hard on it, and two twins who each have an eye that the other can see out of. They arrive to find a boat full of starving people who just want safety, something that Billy wants to give to them, but he is hampered by a Ms. Evangelique Jones of the ICE. It becomes pretty apparent that she has a sore spot for jokers and is actively working to make sure they get deported. She even objects when Billy decides to buy food and water for the occupants of the boat but is eventually convinced to allow him to do it.
At night the team sneaks aboard the boat and learn that while it is under the charge of a snake-like Joker, the same who hurt Angel, there is no real hidden agenda. He just wants to get his people to a safe place. It is also revealed that he was being controlled by some mental powers during their last encounter and he offers sincere apologies for the damage he did to the Angel. This is enough to pull Angel out of her funk and she begins to help. The first problem they need to solve is that some mercenaries that he had hired to get them off the boat actually only plan on taking women they can sell and kill the rest. After they solve this they discover that the occupants of the boats already know the most likely outcome, the government will probably offer sanctuary to the few people who have powers they can use and the rest will be exported to a British Island that is being used as a prison camp sanctuary for unwanted Jokers.
The next day the team helps create a diversion and the ship which had been set back to drift is rammed into the bank of the Mississippi. All the jokers jump aground or into the water and in the confusion some of them are slipped into the Natchez to be taken to true sanctuary cities.
A Big Break in the Small Time by Carrie Vaughn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_...)
Andrew is a joker who is part of a lounge act on the Natchez, along with his wife, Sylvia. He is described as looking like the fox from Robin Hood and his wife has a definite feline appearance. She has an extremely good singing voice, while he has an adequate one, but he is able to project illusions that look real until someone touches them. Their show consists of singing, light comedy and the use of his power to add special effects to it, something they can only do in person because cameras can not pick up his illusions.
All is going well until during one show Andrew spies a man pouring something into a woman’s drink at the bar. He takes a break and then approaches the man with an illusion making it appear that he is a large muscular man. There is an argument but Andrew manages to convince the woman that her drink is drugged. The man gets upset and takes a swing at Andrew which ruins his illusion and gives him a black eye. A retired cop steps in and takes the man down.
Andrew is pleased with being able to help people and starts to feel wistful for the younger days when he had been on American Hero. It is a show sort of like American Idol, but the winner gets a job with the government as a quasi-superhero. He had washed out early on and never tried again, instead after meeting Sylvia he started up the lounge act. Now he starts to regret that he didn’t try harder or keep pursuing it and decides to be a hero. Using his power to appear as others, or even invisible he quickly stops three crooks, a cheat at the casino, a pickpocket, and another.
However, the captain of the boat warns him to stop doing this for his own safety, and she is worried he will find out about the refugees that are on board. He agrees to stop and starts to head to the lounge to get ready for the show when he is confronted by the three people he fingered. They grab him and plan on throwing him into the wheel of the boat but are ultimately stopped by William when he possesses one of them.
This is enough for Andrew and he gives up crime fighting for good.
Death on the Water by Cherie Priest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherie_...)
This is another couple story. Leo and Wanda are private investigators investigating a death that happened on the Natchez. A young woman working in the lounge was found dead on a deck and the death ruled an accident. The insurance company has a few questions and they send the couple to check on it. They decide to treat it as a delayed honeymoon. Leo is a retired cop who is also a joker, he has horns on his head. They soon find that there are a few suspects among the crew of the boat. Most notable her manager who was seen arguing with her on the deck shortly before her death and a stalker who wanted to be her boyfriend. Thrown into the story, more to pad it out and add some characterization is a group of ghost hunters recording for their TV show. Eventually, the couple realizes that the killer is neither of the suspects but instead the dead girl’s best friend, one of the riverboat drivers. She is a joker who has a body covered with fur, which she hid behind long sleeves, pants, coats, and sunglasses. The night of the murder her best friend accidentally found out the driver’s secret and in a panic she killed her.
Find the Lady by Kevin Andrew Murphy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_A...)
A nice romance story. Roger was a member of an all Joker band that had a few hits back a few years. However, after the real creative talent left the band, the band lost its popularity and now the only two surviving members are reduced to performing on the riverboat. Besides music Roger is a magician and he combines the two with a trained raven to for his show. Roger has a secret, and it is that he is not really a Joker. He grew up in an orphanage a child left orphaned by the wild card virus and with the potential of the virus developing in his blood. Everyone else in the orphanage had their card turned, the phrase for the virus activating, and to stop from being the one “normie” he sought a joker who used his power to fuse some horns into his head and started to wear one jet black contact. The raven in his show is quite well trained and will repeat a lot of phrases on cue, so it is a surprise when during one of the shows it flies off. Roger eventually finds it inside the stateroom where the refugees are hiding. It is sitting on the shoulder of a woman who can not talk but whose Joker ability allows her to speak through birds that can do mimicry. She is in tears as she used to have a parrot that helped her in life, but it died during the war and since then she has been unable to communicate. Rather than take the bird back Roger takes her on as a side act as a magician’s apprentice. He falls for the woman and she falls for him and they decide to get married. However, some trouble approaches as at one of the stops an ICE agent comes aboard with a tip that the refugees are hiding in the stateroom. Using sleight of hand and illusions provided by Andrew, the fox-faced illusion caster from a previous story, he manages to convince the ICE agent that the room is empty and that the girl is his wife. After the agent leaves he realizes the stress of the moment has trigged the virus, a moment he has dreaded as besides the more likely probability of being a joker, death is a real possibility, but the virus only makes his horns real and his eye jet black without needing a contact.
Under the Arch by David D. Levine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D...)
Jack is a bartender and the refugees contact on the Natchez. He is also 70 years old and gay and has given up the hope of ever having love. During the trip, he makes friends with one of the refugees and starts to learn about their life and customs. At one stop he finds out that there is a young couple who have fallen in love, however, the father of the girl has forbidden it. The couple has disappeared and Jack goes around the ship to find them. He and his friend find them just as the father does and fight breaks out. During the chaos, the couple escapes the boat and hide in the city's sewers, with the father in pursuit. Jack and his friend give chase and during the sewer search another fight takes place, but this time Jack reveals that he is a wildcard and that his power is to turn into an alligator. The fight eventually culminates in the death of the father and Jack reverting naked back into human form in his friend's arms. And based on the response from his friend they realize they both are gay. The story ends with Jake planning on a marriage.
I love the wild cards universe, although so far, I have only been able to read a few of the stories. Basically, an alien race in the 40’s sent a virus to Earth to test it for side effects before using it in battle. It resulted in a lot of people dying horrible deaths, and then some people ending up as wildcards. Wildcards are people who the virus doesn’t kill but does change in some way, and after it’s dispersal it became part of the human genome and can be passed down generation to generation. People who get a useful power are called Aces, those who get benign powers are called blanks, those who get end up deformed from it are called Jokers. There is a bit of leeway between what is an Ace and a Joker but it generally seems that if your disease makes you ugly that you get called a Joker, even if the power is useful.
This book is called a Wild Cards Novel, but it is actually one main story with a few side stories mixed in throughout the narrative. The stories call back to each other and have some relations but a few of them could actually be removed and with a few changes be used as a stand-alone story in the series.
In the Shadow of Tall Stacks by Stephen Leigh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen...)
This is the main narrative tale of the book and composes the first and last chapters of the book as well as a chapter between each of the other short stories. Wilbur Leathers is the owner of a riverboat the Natchez. In 1951 he is married, expecting a child, and heavily in debt to some loan sharks. It’s hard not to feel bad for him as he is only in debt because business is down and not from any gambling or other reasons that novels seem to have for people to borrow from loan sharks. One night an enforcer comes aboard his ship and an argument starts up. The enforcer shoots Wilbur dead, however, rather than staying dead Wilbur finds himself as a noncorporeal being that can use hot steam to take the shape of his old form. He can enter into people and control them, get some feelings of their thoughts and ideas, and if full of the steam burn people or lift and move light objects.
Being new to this body it is by accident that he kills the enforcer. He then finds that he can not talk audibly and that unless full of steam, no one can see him. In addition, he is unable to leave his boat. This turns out bad for him because his wife, thinking he is fully dead, leaves the boat and he cannot follow her. In the present time, where most of the story and the other stories take place, it is bad news because the steamboat has been sold to a company that has decided to dock the boat and turn it into a floating casino. Once docked the boilers will be removed and William will find himself trapped in a boat that goes nowhere and with no way of interacting with people.
There is a secondary plotline going on in the story where a bunch of Jokers from a foreign country are beached in a decrepit boat on the side of the Mississippi. The US Government does not want them in the US and plans on deporting them. During the events of Wingless Angel they escape and some are taken into the Natchez by a man who arranged to get them to safety.
Despite being from the fifties William has slowly started to evolve in his thinking and rather than view the hidden jokers as illegals that need to be sent away he has pity on them and works to help them keep hidden. Using his power of steam at one point to convince an ICE agent that a room is full of hot steam from a broken pipe rather than people. Another time scaring away some cameramen, and ruining their footage, who got too close to the stateroom the Jokers are hiding in. In return one of the children Jokers touches William and gives him the ability to talk. Later, despite the risk of being burned, he does it again and William finds that he can leave the boat.
The boat is heading up to Cincinnati where it will participate in a steamboat race but William discovers that there is a plan by the owners to blow up the ship, get the money it is insured for and money for the crew which he has insured without their knowledge. The sabotage was to have the boilers overheat and explode during the race, but William takes all the steam into him and walks off into the river to explode. Hours later he wakes up and finds that he is still “alive” and with his new abilities, he has a reunion with his wife and the son he never meets and becomes part of the crew of the ship he saved.
It is never stated for certain whether he is a ghost or his noncorporeal state is a result of the Wild Card Virus, the release of which he was there for.
Wingless Angel by John Jos. Miller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J....)
I did a little research on this one as the characters seemed to have a backstory and established relationships that seemed too fleshed out for this story. They apparently were part of some other stories in the Wild Card universe.
Billy Ray is a government agent in charge of liaison between the government and people who have developed issues because of the Wildcard Virus. He himself has great strength from it, his partner and wife is Midnight Angel. They are tasked with going to the MS Gustav Schroder, a boat that has run aground full of refugee wildcards.
He and his wife are recovering from their last mission, one in which Angel was gravely injured. Since the last mission, Angel has begun to withdraw inside herself and he is afraid she might fully retract from the world. The current mission is complicated when they learn that one of the people in charge of the ship is the Joker that hurt Angel.
The team also consists of Moon, think of a female beast boy but with only the canine family to choose from, a man who can make it snow if he really concentrates hard on it, and two twins who each have an eye that the other can see out of. They arrive to find a boat full of starving people who just want safety, something that Billy wants to give to them, but he is hampered by a Ms. Evangelique Jones of the ICE. It becomes pretty apparent that she has a sore spot for jokers and is actively working to make sure they get deported. She even objects when Billy decides to buy food and water for the occupants of the boat but is eventually convinced to allow him to do it.
At night the team sneaks aboard the boat and learn that while it is under the charge of a snake-like Joker, the same who hurt Angel, there is no real hidden agenda. He just wants to get his people to a safe place. It is also revealed that he was being controlled by some mental powers during their last encounter and he offers sincere apologies for the damage he did to the Angel. This is enough to pull Angel out of her funk and she begins to help. The first problem they need to solve is that some mercenaries that he had hired to get them off the boat actually only plan on taking women they can sell and kill the rest. After they solve this they discover that the occupants of the boats already know the most likely outcome, the government will probably offer sanctuary to the few people who have powers they can use and the rest will be exported to a British Island that is being used as a prison camp sanctuary for unwanted Jokers.
The next day the team helps create a diversion and the ship which had been set back to drift is rammed into the bank of the Mississippi. All the jokers jump aground or into the water and in the confusion some of them are slipped into the Natchez to be taken to true sanctuary cities.
A Big Break in the Small Time by Carrie Vaughn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_...)
Andrew is a joker who is part of a lounge act on the Natchez, along with his wife, Sylvia. He is described as looking like the fox from Robin Hood and his wife has a definite feline appearance. She has an extremely good singing voice, while he has an adequate one, but he is able to project illusions that look real until someone touches them. Their show consists of singing, light comedy and the use of his power to add special effects to it, something they can only do in person because cameras can not pick up his illusions.
All is going well until during one show Andrew spies a man pouring something into a woman’s drink at the bar. He takes a break and then approaches the man with an illusion making it appear that he is a large muscular man. There is an argument but Andrew manages to convince the woman that her drink is drugged. The man gets upset and takes a swing at Andrew which ruins his illusion and gives him a black eye. A retired cop steps in and takes the man down.
Andrew is pleased with being able to help people and starts to feel wistful for the younger days when he had been on American Hero. It is a show sort of like American Idol, but the winner gets a job with the government as a quasi-superhero. He had washed out early on and never tried again, instead after meeting Sylvia he started up the lounge act. Now he starts to regret that he didn’t try harder or keep pursuing it and decides to be a hero. Using his power to appear as others, or even invisible he quickly stops three crooks, a cheat at the casino, a pickpocket, and another.
However, the captain of the boat warns him to stop doing this for his own safety, and she is worried he will find out about the refugees that are on board. He agrees to stop and starts to head to the lounge to get ready for the show when he is confronted by the three people he fingered. They grab him and plan on throwing him into the wheel of the boat but are ultimately stopped by William when he possesses one of them.
This is enough for Andrew and he gives up crime fighting for good.
Death on the Water by Cherie Priest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherie_...)
This is another couple story. Leo and Wanda are private investigators investigating a death that happened on the Natchez. A young woman working in the lounge was found dead on a deck and the death ruled an accident. The insurance company has a few questions and they send the couple to check on it. They decide to treat it as a delayed honeymoon. Leo is a retired cop who is also a joker, he has horns on his head. They soon find that there are a few suspects among the crew of the boat. Most notable her manager who was seen arguing with her on the deck shortly before her death and a stalker who wanted to be her boyfriend. Thrown into the story, more to pad it out and add some characterization is a group of ghost hunters recording for their TV show. Eventually, the couple realizes that the killer is neither of the suspects but instead the dead girl’s best friend, one of the riverboat drivers. She is a joker who has a body covered with fur, which she hid behind long sleeves, pants, coats, and sunglasses. The night of the murder her best friend accidentally found out the driver’s secret and in a panic she killed her.
Find the Lady by Kevin Andrew Murphy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_A...)
A nice romance story. Roger was a member of an all Joker band that had a few hits back a few years. However, after the real creative talent left the band, the band lost its popularity and now the only two surviving members are reduced to performing on the riverboat. Besides music Roger is a magician and he combines the two with a trained raven to for his show. Roger has a secret, and it is that he is not really a Joker. He grew up in an orphanage a child left orphaned by the wild card virus and with the potential of the virus developing in his blood. Everyone else in the orphanage had their card turned, the phrase for the virus activating, and to stop from being the one “normie” he sought a joker who used his power to fuse some horns into his head and started to wear one jet black contact. The raven in his show is quite well trained and will repeat a lot of phrases on cue, so it is a surprise when during one of the shows it flies off. Roger eventually finds it inside the stateroom where the refugees are hiding. It is sitting on the shoulder of a woman who can not talk but whose Joker ability allows her to speak through birds that can do mimicry. She is in tears as she used to have a parrot that helped her in life, but it died during the war and since then she has been unable to communicate. Rather than take the bird back Roger takes her on as a side act as a magician’s apprentice. He falls for the woman and she falls for him and they decide to get married. However, some trouble approaches as at one of the stops an ICE agent comes aboard with a tip that the refugees are hiding in the stateroom. Using sleight of hand and illusions provided by Andrew, the fox-faced illusion caster from a previous story, he manages to convince the ICE agent that the room is empty and that the girl is his wife. After the agent leaves he realizes the stress of the moment has trigged the virus, a moment he has dreaded as besides the more likely probability of being a joker, death is a real possibility, but the virus only makes his horns real and his eye jet black without needing a contact.
Under the Arch by David D. Levine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D...)
Jack is a bartender and the refugees contact on the Natchez. He is also 70 years old and gay and has given up the hope of ever having love. During the trip, he makes friends with one of the refugees and starts to learn about their life and customs. At one stop he finds out that there is a young couple who have fallen in love, however, the father of the girl has forbidden it. The couple has disappeared and Jack goes around the ship to find them. He and his friend find them just as the father does and fight breaks out. During the chaos, the couple escapes the boat and hide in the city's sewers, with the father in pursuit. Jack and his friend give chase and during the sewer search another fight takes place, but this time Jack reveals that he is a wildcard and that his power is to turn into an alligator. The fight eventually culminates in the death of the father and Jack reverting naked back into human form in his friend's arms. And based on the response from his friend they realize they both are gay. The story ends with Jake planning on a marriage.
May 12, 2024
I read this and was confused. Apparently, it's part of a series 😐 so that explains a lot. Bought it because I liked the cover (not the one on goodreads it's ugly)
December 28, 2017
Wilbur Leathers is a great character and his story was perfect for linking the other stories.
All the stories were also linked by the theme of love which made this volume much lighter than the darkness of High Stakes. In particular the first story allows us to catch up with one of my favorite characters, the Angel, told through her worried husband, Billy Rays, eyes. It was exactly what I needed to read after what happened to her in the last book. Also I had just finished Melinda Snodgrass's excellent book In Evil Times. Billy Ray makes a decision similar (although less epic) to the lead character in that book. In both cases the decision is correct but for Billy Ray the results are a lot more positive.
We also catch up with an old character from the very first book (if memory serves). This is always welcome although Sewer Jack was never a favourite.
All the stories were also linked by the theme of love which made this volume much lighter than the darkness of High Stakes. In particular the first story allows us to catch up with one of my favorite characters, the Angel, told through her worried husband, Billy Rays, eyes. It was exactly what I needed to read after what happened to her in the last book. Also I had just finished Melinda Snodgrass's excellent book In Evil Times. Billy Ray makes a decision similar (although less epic) to the lead character in that book. In both cases the decision is correct but for Billy Ray the results are a lot more positive.
We also catch up with an old character from the very first book (if memory serves). This is always welcome although Sewer Jack was never a favourite.
August 14, 2019
The start of a triad of books focussing on the US outside of New York, this consists of five short stories with a mix of new and old characters, all set on a paddle steamer travelling up the Mississippi. The tone is, for the most part, more relaxed and low-key than is often seen in the series, and arguably rather more upbeat, too. Which is certainly welcome after the previous book.
* Wingless Angel - The first story, set in New Orleans, brings back Billy Ray and Angel, and deals with some of the fallout from the previous volume. It's rather atypical of the rest of the book, having more action, and its ties to the earlier triad make this less standalone than one might expect for the first book in a triad. You don't need to know what the Kazakhs are running from to enjoy the story, but it probably helps. Miller also seems to be poking a bit of fun at his editor, in that the story features both a horde of zombies and a dire wolf...
* A Big Break in the Small Time - This brings back on the of the minor characters from Inside Straight, now working as a lounge singer on the riverboat. The story is about heroics and how not everyone with superpowers is really cut out for them, despite their best intentions. Andrew is a charming and fun character, as well as having powers that prove rather useful and makes a significant contribution to the unusually light tone of this particular book.
* Death on the Water - Now we switch to a detective story, bringing back characters from Fort Freak who don't happen to have any superpowers. The story is fairly straightforward, and it's immediately obvious what secret one of the suspects is hiding, but, again, it's good to see something low-key, relying on the prejudices of the Wild Cards world rather than on superheroics.
* Find the Lady - The central character here is another interesting one, something that's not been tried in the series before, to my recollection - . In large part, this is a romance story, and those elements of the plot do seem to move rather too quickly, although that may be more a product of the tight page count than anything else.
* Under the Arch - The steamboat reaches St Louis and a character who has been in the background of all the previous stories finally reveals his secret. Although it's not a secret to anyone who has read the whole series, since he was in some of the earlier books, and, even if he's now in his seventies, you'll have known this was coming since his first appearance in this one. When it does come, it's part of a tense battle that's also been brewing through the course of the book. The romance elements, however, feel very much tacked on.
* In the Shadow of Tall Stacks (interstitial) - The framing device for the other five stories features a new character, basically the ghost of a former captain of the riverboat doomed to haunt it for eternity. (Obviously, he's actually a wild card, but he may as well be genuinely supernatural). Rather topically, the story also concerns ICE agents trying to arrest illegal immigrants, as well as the boat being threatened with retirement, and it ties together the short stories rather more than is typical in the first books of these triads.
* Wingless Angel - The first story, set in New Orleans, brings back Billy Ray and Angel, and deals with some of the fallout from the previous volume. It's rather atypical of the rest of the book, having more action, and its ties to the earlier triad make this less standalone than one might expect for the first book in a triad. You don't need to know what the Kazakhs are running from to enjoy the story, but it probably helps. Miller also seems to be poking a bit of fun at his editor, in that the story features both a horde of zombies and a dire wolf...
* A Big Break in the Small Time - This brings back on the of the minor characters from Inside Straight, now working as a lounge singer on the riverboat. The story is about heroics and how not everyone with superpowers is really cut out for them, despite their best intentions. Andrew is a charming and fun character, as well as having powers that prove rather useful and makes a significant contribution to the unusually light tone of this particular book.
* Death on the Water - Now we switch to a detective story, bringing back characters from Fort Freak who don't happen to have any superpowers. The story is fairly straightforward, and it's immediately obvious what secret one of the suspects is hiding, but, again, it's good to see something low-key, relying on the prejudices of the Wild Cards world rather than on superheroics.
* Find the Lady - The central character here is another interesting one, something that's not been tried in the series before, to my recollection - . In large part, this is a romance story, and those elements of the plot do seem to move rather too quickly, although that may be more a product of the tight page count than anything else.
* Under the Arch - The steamboat reaches St Louis and a character who has been in the background of all the previous stories finally reveals his secret. Although it's not a secret to anyone who has read the whole series, since he was in some of the earlier books, and, even if he's now in his seventies, you'll have known this was coming since his first appearance in this one. When it does come, it's part of a tense battle that's also been brewing through the course of the book. The romance elements, however, feel very much tacked on.
* In the Shadow of Tall Stacks (interstitial) - The framing device for the other five stories features a new character, basically the ghost of a former captain of the riverboat doomed to haunt it for eternity. (Obviously, he's actually a wild card, but he may as well be genuinely supernatural). Rather topically, the story also concerns ICE agents trying to arrest illegal immigrants, as well as the boat being threatened with retirement, and it ties together the short stories rather more than is typical in the first books of these triads.
February 25, 2019
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5
This is the 24th book in the Wild Cards anthology series, which is pretty darned impressive and suggests it has a pretty loyal following (publishers aren’t going to continue to publish a series if people aren’t buying it). This also happens to be the first book I’ve read in this series. I do have a few others on my Kindle, but since this was an ARC and the others were books that I purchased I thought I should read this first. And I'll say right up front that the reason I was attracted to this was the theme of the Mississippi River. Having grown up along the mighty Mississippi I'm almost always attracted to stories set along the river.
The story takes place on the Riverboat Natchez which is captained by Wilbur Leathers ... who happens to be a ghost (though he was the captain before he died).
An alien virus has devastated the planet and many people have been transformed ...either into "jokers" (people with deformities) or into "aces" (people with super powers).
Wilbur and the crew of the Natchez are transporting some wild cards (people with the virus) to the United States where they are seeking asylum.
While the book is billed as a novel, it is a composite novel ... that is, a novel made of short stories that are linked together. The concept is that different authors would follow different members on the boat (crew or passengers) and Wilbur ties the stories together. It is an interesting variation of the themed anthology and because I had not read a book of this sort before it took me just a little bit to grasp the novel concept - I was reading it as short stories at first.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the stories here. Nothing stands out as a clear favorite, though if I had to choose, I'd probably go with Carrie Vaughn's story because of the connection with the entertainment business (something near and dear to me). We have quite an assortment here: the main story of Wilbur and the Natchez (a character herself); a government agent and his wife - the agent is on a mission but is also hoping that his wife will use the voyage to recover from a previous mission; a lounge singer who plays good Samaritan; a married pair of private investigators using the trip as a late honeymoon; a gay bartender on the boat who thought he'd never find love.
This has definitely gotten me interested in reading some of the other Wild Cards volumes - but not so much that I'm dropping everything else to rush out and read them.
The stories included here are:
"In the Shadow of Tall Stacks" by Stephen Leigh
"Wingless Angel" by John Jos. Miller
"A Big Break in the Small Time" by Carrie Vaughn
"Death of the Water" by Cherie Priest
"Find the Lady" by Kevin Andrew Murphy
"Under the Arch" by David D. Levine
Looking for a good book? George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series has been a favorite for many and this 24th volume, Mississippi Roll, will please current fans and capture a few new ones.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This is the 24th book in the Wild Cards anthology series, which is pretty darned impressive and suggests it has a pretty loyal following (publishers aren’t going to continue to publish a series if people aren’t buying it). This also happens to be the first book I’ve read in this series. I do have a few others on my Kindle, but since this was an ARC and the others were books that I purchased I thought I should read this first. And I'll say right up front that the reason I was attracted to this was the theme of the Mississippi River. Having grown up along the mighty Mississippi I'm almost always attracted to stories set along the river.
The story takes place on the Riverboat Natchez which is captained by Wilbur Leathers ... who happens to be a ghost (though he was the captain before he died).
An alien virus has devastated the planet and many people have been transformed ...either into "jokers" (people with deformities) or into "aces" (people with super powers).
Wilbur and the crew of the Natchez are transporting some wild cards (people with the virus) to the United States where they are seeking asylum.
While the book is billed as a novel, it is a composite novel ... that is, a novel made of short stories that are linked together. The concept is that different authors would follow different members on the boat (crew or passengers) and Wilbur ties the stories together. It is an interesting variation of the themed anthology and because I had not read a book of this sort before it took me just a little bit to grasp the novel concept - I was reading it as short stories at first.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the stories here. Nothing stands out as a clear favorite, though if I had to choose, I'd probably go with Carrie Vaughn's story because of the connection with the entertainment business (something near and dear to me). We have quite an assortment here: the main story of Wilbur and the Natchez (a character herself); a government agent and his wife - the agent is on a mission but is also hoping that his wife will use the voyage to recover from a previous mission; a lounge singer who plays good Samaritan; a married pair of private investigators using the trip as a late honeymoon; a gay bartender on the boat who thought he'd never find love.
This has definitely gotten me interested in reading some of the other Wild Cards volumes - but not so much that I'm dropping everything else to rush out and read them.
The stories included here are:
"In the Shadow of Tall Stacks" by Stephen Leigh
"Wingless Angel" by John Jos. Miller
"A Big Break in the Small Time" by Carrie Vaughn
"Death of the Water" by Cherie Priest
"Find the Lady" by Kevin Andrew Murphy
"Under the Arch" by David D. Levine
Looking for a good book? George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series has been a favorite for many and this 24th volume, Mississippi Roll, will please current fans and capture a few new ones.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
October 4, 2019
Another strange and varied outing in the Wild Card universe. When Wilbur Leathers, the captain and owner of the popular and historical Mississippi steamboat Natchez, is killed during a violent business encounter during a slow season, he finds himself tethered to the boat as a spectral entity composed entirely of steam. This tragic state renders him a ghost, trapped aboard his ancestral steamboat, a hopeless voyeur forced to watch his beloved wife Eleanor grieve his passing, and then worst of all, leave the Natchez, and him behind. For almost seventy years Wilbur has remained imprisoned on his own boat. Crews have come and gone, the outside world has continued to change greatly with the continued fallout and developments of the Wild Card virus, but the business has remained unchanged.
Now the latest pleasure cruise coincides with a boatload of Kazakh jokers (jokers - mutated by WC virus with often negligible powers or abilities) turned refugees thanks to the horrifying but deeply entertaining events that transpired in the previous triad of books (the Fort Freak triad). The refugees are desperate, homeless, and under threat of being imprisoned on a joker island off the coast of Ireland due to the efforts of the US government and ICE. Thankfully, former Aces (super powered) turned government agents Billy Ray and Midnight Angel (two of my personal faves) are on hand to empathise and aid the refugees from the bureaucratic obstacles of ICE. This is the main through line of the novel, with Wilbur finding a purpose and pitching in to help the Kazakh people, but like many of the books in the series there are also peripheral tales which impact the central plot to varying degrees: former NY detective Leo Storgman reprises his role from the Fort Freak novels, now an insurance investigator trying to close a past case involving a death aboard the Natchez; remnants of the Jokertown Boys rock band are trying to keep their careers afloat; and Captain Montaigne finds herself struggling with the oily shareholders of the Natchez.
It goes without saying that some stories fare better than others (and that’s down to the reader’s opinion) but on the whole I found that everything was tied together well, which never ceases to amaze me when you consider that these books are wrangled together by so many talented writers with their own ideas and opinions. And despite the fact that I really enjoyed this instalment, I am hoping the series gets back to some big city scrapes for the follow-up, that’s just more my wheelhouse.
Overall, this is a moving and entertaining story filled with another cast of colourful characters.
Now the latest pleasure cruise coincides with a boatload of Kazakh jokers (jokers - mutated by WC virus with often negligible powers or abilities) turned refugees thanks to the horrifying but deeply entertaining events that transpired in the previous triad of books (the Fort Freak triad). The refugees are desperate, homeless, and under threat of being imprisoned on a joker island off the coast of Ireland due to the efforts of the US government and ICE. Thankfully, former Aces (super powered) turned government agents Billy Ray and Midnight Angel (two of my personal faves) are on hand to empathise and aid the refugees from the bureaucratic obstacles of ICE. This is the main through line of the novel, with Wilbur finding a purpose and pitching in to help the Kazakh people, but like many of the books in the series there are also peripheral tales which impact the central plot to varying degrees: former NY detective Leo Storgman reprises his role from the Fort Freak novels, now an insurance investigator trying to close a past case involving a death aboard the Natchez; remnants of the Jokertown Boys rock band are trying to keep their careers afloat; and Captain Montaigne finds herself struggling with the oily shareholders of the Natchez.
It goes without saying that some stories fare better than others (and that’s down to the reader’s opinion) but on the whole I found that everything was tied together well, which never ceases to amaze me when you consider that these books are wrangled together by so many talented writers with their own ideas and opinions. And despite the fact that I really enjoyed this instalment, I am hoping the series gets back to some big city scrapes for the follow-up, that’s just more my wheelhouse.
Overall, this is a moving and entertaining story filled with another cast of colourful characters.
December 5, 2017
Review originally published at Book of Bogan.
I feel as though I should open with a disclaimer, that while I have read some of the books/anthologies in the Wild Cards series, I have by no means read all of t hem. In saying that however, I do understand the world that He (being George R R Martin) has created in conjunction with the other authors who contribute to this shared world. Mississippi Roll in a collection of interwoven stories set on a paddle steamer named the Natchez filled with colourful and intriguing characters who really jump off the page.
I have always appreciated Martin's sense of place, and the unique settings he has created, although some of the stories that are told within that setting are not as interesting as others. One of the major threads in the stories in Mississippi Roll seems to be a discussion of the morality, and worthiness of taking in illegal immigrants, and while I can take or leave the politics of this, I really had no interest in the story being told. The plot with the ghostly captain? That was a much more emotional, ripping yarn. As a consequence, I found myself reading this book in fits and starts.
The publisher notes that this is suitable for newcomers to the Wild Card series, but I believe that to do so would be like being thrown in the deep end, without any context of the politics and environment in which these stories are set. The authors take some steps to explain the origins of the Wild Card virus, but you have to have a basic understanding of a lot of the terminology used. There were several times I found myself running to the wiki for clarification on some points.
For fans of the Wild Cards series, this latest collection is more of the same of what they have enjoyed in the past. Whether some of the messageyness of the stories suits your brand of politics, or can be overlooked, that's up to you. This is a solid addition to the Wild Card universe.
I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I feel as though I should open with a disclaimer, that while I have read some of the books/anthologies in the Wild Cards series, I have by no means read all of t hem. In saying that however, I do understand the world that He (being George R R Martin) has created in conjunction with the other authors who contribute to this shared world. Mississippi Roll in a collection of interwoven stories set on a paddle steamer named the Natchez filled with colourful and intriguing characters who really jump off the page.
I have always appreciated Martin's sense of place, and the unique settings he has created, although some of the stories that are told within that setting are not as interesting as others. One of the major threads in the stories in Mississippi Roll seems to be a discussion of the morality, and worthiness of taking in illegal immigrants, and while I can take or leave the politics of this, I really had no interest in the story being told. The plot with the ghostly captain? That was a much more emotional, ripping yarn. As a consequence, I found myself reading this book in fits and starts.
The publisher notes that this is suitable for newcomers to the Wild Card series, but I believe that to do so would be like being thrown in the deep end, without any context of the politics and environment in which these stories are set. The authors take some steps to explain the origins of the Wild Card virus, but you have to have a basic understanding of a lot of the terminology used. There were several times I found myself running to the wiki for clarification on some points.
For fans of the Wild Cards series, this latest collection is more of the same of what they have enjoyed in the past. Whether some of the messageyness of the stories suits your brand of politics, or can be overlooked, that's up to you. This is a solid addition to the Wild Card universe.
I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 26, 2018
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Mississippi Roll is the 24th book in the Wild Cards series published by Tor Books. There are 5 stories bound together by a segue/interlude story written by Steven Leigh. The book credits G.R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass as editor/assistant editor respectively.
I remember picking up the original books in the series in about 1987(ish) and loving the whole idea of a shared universe anthology series. I'm already a huge fan of anthologies because there are always at least some stories that appeal at any given time and there are always new-to-me authors to follow up on after devouring the anthology. I'm also very fond of short fiction because it provides a whole different set of problems and it's always fun (and often enlightening) to see how authors adapt to the constraints of a shorter narrative.
This book is 336 pages of well edited and curated fantasy goodness. If you're familiar with the wildcards universe and premise, this is a good one. If you're not familiar with wildcards before now, this is a very good standalone novel to introduce the concept and some of the characters.
I loved the character Steam Wilbur ( "In the Shadow of Tall Stacks" Steven Leigh). That's him on the cover. Leigh's interlude stories give the whole anthology a nice cohesiveness.
The stories are all strong, but I especially loved "A Big Break in the Small Time" by Carrie Vaughn. I couldn't stop smiling reading it. Deftly written and exciting and I'm a total sucker for couples who really care about one another. Sweet!
Four and a half stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
Mississippi Roll is the 24th book in the Wild Cards series published by Tor Books. There are 5 stories bound together by a segue/interlude story written by Steven Leigh. The book credits G.R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass as editor/assistant editor respectively.
I remember picking up the original books in the series in about 1987(ish) and loving the whole idea of a shared universe anthology series. I'm already a huge fan of anthologies because there are always at least some stories that appeal at any given time and there are always new-to-me authors to follow up on after devouring the anthology. I'm also very fond of short fiction because it provides a whole different set of problems and it's always fun (and often enlightening) to see how authors adapt to the constraints of a shorter narrative.
This book is 336 pages of well edited and curated fantasy goodness. If you're familiar with the wildcards universe and premise, this is a good one. If you're not familiar with wildcards before now, this is a very good standalone novel to introduce the concept and some of the characters.
I loved the character Steam Wilbur ( "In the Shadow of Tall Stacks" Steven Leigh). That's him on the cover. Leigh's interlude stories give the whole anthology a nice cohesiveness.
The stories are all strong, but I especially loved "A Big Break in the Small Time" by Carrie Vaughn. I couldn't stop smiling reading it. Deftly written and exciting and I'm a total sucker for couples who really care about one another. Sweet!
Four and a half stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
January 29, 2018
I am a huge fan of the Wild Card books, and the previous trilogy (books 21 through 23) was one of the best of its component trilogies to date. Even if this weren't following such a strong showing, though, I think this would be one of the weaker Wild Cards novels -- I wouldn't suggest newcomers start here.
There are some new powered individuals shown here, most notably Captain Wilbur Leathers, who died aboard a steamshp plying the Mississippi in the 1950s, and has found himself a steam ghost haunting it ever since -- although they never make the joke in the novel, I'm convinced his genesis was the desire to have a Steamboat Willie show up. His former ship has changed hands multiple times since then, so he can only watch as the ship begins what may be its last journey from New Orleans to Cincinnati. Many of the guests are known from previous books in the series, superpowered entertainers or detectives
The political connections in this book are clear and arise naturally from previous events. Kazakhstan, drastically destabilized in High Stakes has Joker refugees seeking asylum in the US. The US, with a newly and surprisingly elected intolerant president, is trying to keep the refugee seekers out, but the Joker Anti-Defamation League and others are willing to try to smuggle them into the country.
The appearance of government agents Billy Ray and the Angel are no doubt intended to give a sense of continuity, but they are more likely glorified cameos; the Angel, in particular, makes no sense if you don't know or remember the events in High Stakes well (and I confess my memory is fuzzy; with how grim that book was, I also have little intent to re-read it anytime soon). In general, the stories felt more stitched together than usual, the seams more visible. But, that said, the universe of the Wild Cards is a great one, and I still enjoyed this book.
There are some new powered individuals shown here, most notably Captain Wilbur Leathers, who died aboard a steamshp plying the Mississippi in the 1950s, and has found himself a steam ghost haunting it ever since -- although they never make the joke in the novel, I'm convinced his genesis was the desire to have a Steamboat Willie show up. His former ship has changed hands multiple times since then, so he can only watch as the ship begins what may be its last journey from New Orleans to Cincinnati. Many of the guests are known from previous books in the series, superpowered entertainers or detectives
The political connections in this book are clear and arise naturally from previous events. Kazakhstan, drastically destabilized in High Stakes has Joker refugees seeking asylum in the US. The US, with a newly and surprisingly elected intolerant president, is trying to keep the refugee seekers out, but the Joker Anti-Defamation League and others are willing to try to smuggle them into the country.
The appearance of government agents Billy Ray and the Angel are no doubt intended to give a sense of continuity, but they are more likely glorified cameos; the Angel, in particular, makes no sense if you don't know or remember the events in High Stakes well (and I confess my memory is fuzzy; with how grim that book was, I also have little intent to re-read it anytime soon). In general, the stories felt more stitched together than usual, the seams more visible. But, that said, the universe of the Wild Cards is a great one, and I still enjoyed this book.
July 31, 2019
(read the rest of this review at: https://tlbarrett.com
Only a bibliophile would understand the feeling one gets when discovering a favorite series or author for the first time. It is like recounting a first date with someone who filled your hours with joy for the rest of your days. The book was Wild Cards, Edited by George R. R. Martin and written by slew of writers. Wild Cards created a shared superhero universe where an alien virus explodes over New York City in 1946 and changes life on earth forever. Ninety percent of those exposed to the wild cards virus draw the black queen and die horrific deaths (think creative Ebola on crack) and nine percent become twisted into mutated Jokers. A lucky few become Aces, those gifted with powerful abilities. I read and re-read that book as I recovered from my injury.
Now, thirty-two years later, I’ve just finished one of the latest novels in the Wild Cards series, Mississippi Roll, and what a ride! The story pinwheels around the Natchez, a Mississippi steam boat that is facing retirement and the “ghost” of the captain, Steam Wilbur, who once commandeered her. On the journey up the Mississippi, we meet aces who have to stand up to ICE and protect a group of Kazakh Joker refugees, Jokers who perform miracles for the paying customers and many old and fond characters that have been featured in previous volumes. The story is simple and the scope is tiny compared to many of the novels in this series, but it takes its time to fully capitalize on the Joker’s plight as an allegory for political realities today. Although some of those readers who love the moral ambiguity of Game of Thrones might find some of the sections a bit saccharine for their tastes,this book was just the thing to remind me what I loved about speculative fiction and helped me once again get lost in a world of wonder and forget for a while the troubles I face.
Only a bibliophile would understand the feeling one gets when discovering a favorite series or author for the first time. It is like recounting a first date with someone who filled your hours with joy for the rest of your days. The book was Wild Cards, Edited by George R. R. Martin and written by slew of writers. Wild Cards created a shared superhero universe where an alien virus explodes over New York City in 1946 and changes life on earth forever. Ninety percent of those exposed to the wild cards virus draw the black queen and die horrific deaths (think creative Ebola on crack) and nine percent become twisted into mutated Jokers. A lucky few become Aces, those gifted with powerful abilities. I read and re-read that book as I recovered from my injury.
Now, thirty-two years later, I’ve just finished one of the latest novels in the Wild Cards series, Mississippi Roll, and what a ride! The story pinwheels around the Natchez, a Mississippi steam boat that is facing retirement and the “ghost” of the captain, Steam Wilbur, who once commandeered her. On the journey up the Mississippi, we meet aces who have to stand up to ICE and protect a group of Kazakh Joker refugees, Jokers who perform miracles for the paying customers and many old and fond characters that have been featured in previous volumes. The story is simple and the scope is tiny compared to many of the novels in this series, but it takes its time to fully capitalize on the Joker’s plight as an allegory for political realities today. Although some of those readers who love the moral ambiguity of Game of Thrones might find some of the sections a bit saccharine for their tastes,this book was just the thing to remind me what I loved about speculative fiction and helped me once again get lost in a world of wonder and forget for a while the troubles I face.
October 6, 2025
"Say a thing out loud and you make it real. So be careful what you say."
Mississippi Roll kicks off the American Triad (books #24-26 in the overall series). This volume is more than 200 pages shorter than the previous one, but thankfully just as strong.
"In the Shadow of Tall Stacks" by Stephen Leigh -- Captain Wilbur Leathers' wild card turns in 1951 after he is scalded and then shot in the chest. As his nat body dies, the virus transforms his spirit into a haint doomed to roam the deck of his Natchez steamboat for sixty-five years. This story forms the interstitial segments that weave the other five stories together.
"Wingless Angel" by John Jos. Miller -- Still recovering from the horrors at Talas, Carnifex and the Midnight Angel reunite with Infamous Black Tongue and Olena, who are trying to bring the Kazakh joker refugees into the Port of New Orleans. Introduces a new pair of aces, Huggin and Munnin, whose powers are derived from Odin's crows in Norse mythology. Also includes the unexpected return of Sewer Jack!
"A Big Break in the Small Time" by Carrie Vaughn -- Wild Fox, last seen on the first season of American Hero (he was a minor character in Vol. 18: Inside Straight), has a new girlfriend and is performing a cabaret show on the Natchez. After he foils one man in the audience from slipping a roofie to his date, Andrew starts wandering the ship looking for other crimes to prevent. I always enjoy the Carrie Vaughn stories for favoring character depth over action.
"Death on the Water" by Cherie Priest -- Ramshead is retired from the force, newly married, and working part-time as an insurance investigator. He is aboard the Natchez to determine whether the slip-and-fall that killed Mary Sighs was an accident or murder. His no-nonsense style is hampered by a group of obnoxious millennial podcasters investigating the ghosts that supposedly haunt the steamboat.
"Find the Lady" by Kevin Andrew Murphy -- Only two of the original members of The Jokertown Boys (introduced in "With a Flourish and a Flair" in Vol. 16: Deuces Down) remain. The lead singer Roger Washburn, aka Amazing Ravenstone, sports devil horns and talks to ravens, but he harbors a deep, dark secret: he is actually a nat, not a joker. (This is my least favorite story in the collection, but I did enjoy the details about the feud between the series' two bands--Joker Plague and Jokertown Boys. Also, I had forgotten that most members of Joker Plague are now dead.)
"Under the Arch" David D. Levine -- Jack Robicheaux intervenes when an angry Kazakh father attempts an honor killing on his promiscuous Muslim daughter. If this is the end of Sewer Jack's story, it ends on an emotional high as the seventy-nine-year-old finally comes to term with his joker form and finds love. (Levine writes an excellent blog piece on the Wild Cards website filling in Jack's backstory between Dealer's Choice and this volume.)
4 stars
Next up: Low Chicago
Mississippi Roll kicks off the American Triad (books #24-26 in the overall series). This volume is more than 200 pages shorter than the previous one, but thankfully just as strong.
"In the Shadow of Tall Stacks" by Stephen Leigh -- Captain Wilbur Leathers' wild card turns in 1951 after he is scalded and then shot in the chest. As his nat body dies, the virus transforms his spirit into a haint doomed to roam the deck of his Natchez steamboat for sixty-five years. This story forms the interstitial segments that weave the other five stories together.
"Wingless Angel" by John Jos. Miller -- Still recovering from the horrors at Talas, Carnifex and the Midnight Angel reunite with Infamous Black Tongue and Olena, who are trying to bring the Kazakh joker refugees into the Port of New Orleans. Introduces a new pair of aces, Huggin and Munnin, whose powers are derived from Odin's crows in Norse mythology. Also includes the unexpected return of Sewer Jack!
"A Big Break in the Small Time" by Carrie Vaughn -- Wild Fox, last seen on the first season of American Hero (he was a minor character in Vol. 18: Inside Straight), has a new girlfriend and is performing a cabaret show on the Natchez. After he foils one man in the audience from slipping a roofie to his date, Andrew starts wandering the ship looking for other crimes to prevent. I always enjoy the Carrie Vaughn stories for favoring character depth over action.
"Death on the Water" by Cherie Priest -- Ramshead is retired from the force, newly married, and working part-time as an insurance investigator. He is aboard the Natchez to determine whether the slip-and-fall that killed Mary Sighs was an accident or murder. His no-nonsense style is hampered by a group of obnoxious millennial podcasters investigating the ghosts that supposedly haunt the steamboat.
"Find the Lady" by Kevin Andrew Murphy -- Only two of the original members of The Jokertown Boys (introduced in "With a Flourish and a Flair" in Vol. 16: Deuces Down) remain. The lead singer Roger Washburn, aka Amazing Ravenstone, sports devil horns and talks to ravens, but he harbors a deep, dark secret: he is actually a nat, not a joker. (This is my least favorite story in the collection, but I did enjoy the details about the feud between the series' two bands--Joker Plague and Jokertown Boys. Also, I had forgotten that most members of Joker Plague are now dead.)
"Under the Arch" David D. Levine -- Jack Robicheaux intervenes when an angry Kazakh father attempts an honor killing on his promiscuous Muslim daughter. If this is the end of Sewer Jack's story, it ends on an emotional high as the seventy-nine-year-old finally comes to term with his joker form and finds love. (Levine writes an excellent blog piece on the Wild Cards website filling in Jack's backstory between Dealer's Choice and this volume.)
4 stars
Next up: Low Chicago
May 11, 2024
When I first picked up this novel from the library, I was tricked into thinking George R.R. Martin had written this, but then after I came home, I realized that this was a collection of short stories by other authors, as well as one overarching story in between those short stories. This is one of many books that take place in this universe, and the primary premise is that a virus has infected humanity, and this virus would either kill the people infected, or transform them and either give them weird afflictions or superpowers that can be equally bizarre. The short stories here take place on a small boat called the Nachez that goes along the Mississippi River and serves as a tour boat. The central character is the former boat captain who has been killed on this boat and is stuck on it as a ghost, only able to communicate with the people around him by going into the boiler room and taking in steam, which makes him appear to others. He also has the power to go inside someone and control their body and speak through them. This man, after his death, gets separated from his wife and is stuck on the boat and witnesses thousands of people going in and out, observing their stories and their lives. We also get a collection of other short stories of people who come into this boat and we get snippets of their lives. The short stories range from romance to mystery and revolve around this strange virus, as well as a group of Kazakh refugees who are hiding in this boat and evading US immigration authorities.
Overall, this is a heart-warming collection of entertaining stories that I enjoyed. I would definitely like to read more Wild Cards novels, and the clever marketing tactic of putting Martin's name in large letters on the cover definitely hooked me in!
Overall, this is a heart-warming collection of entertaining stories that I enjoyed. I would definitely like to read more Wild Cards novels, and the clever marketing tactic of putting Martin's name in large letters on the cover definitely hooked me in!
May 15, 2018
Mississippi Roll was my intro into the Wild Card universe. Mississippi Roll is not the kind of novel I usually read. I flee from the sci-fi side of the fantasy genre and prefer elves, dragons, and far off kingdoms. But I persisted and I'm glad I did. George R. R. Martin assembled a gifted group of writers who chronicle the Natchez's final voyage on the Mississippi River. Mississippi Roll has something for everyone. Each story had a unique voice that added to a greater story.
I enjoyed "Death on the Water" by Cherie Priest. One of the staff members on the boat Natchez is murdered and it's up to Leo Storgman, an insurance investigator, to find the truth. I really liked Priest's humor and storytelling. Usually, I'd try to figure out what happens next but I was so enthralled that I didn't even think about it. I simply enjoyed reading Priest's trail to the final reveal. A Big Break in the Small Time by Carrie Vaughn, was another favorite of mine.
I couldn't follow Wingless Angel by John Jos. Miller. I attribute most of this to the fact that I didn't understand the world and as a result, felt lost. I didn't really care for In the Shadow of Tall Stacks either. Those chapters just felt really long. I only realized what exactly the Wild Card universe is about in chapter three and struggled to remember the difference between jokers and aces. I was pleasantly surprised by Mississippi Roll and I would probably future books in the Wild Card series.
I'd like to thank MacMillian Tor Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed "Death on the Water" by Cherie Priest. One of the staff members on the boat Natchez is murdered and it's up to Leo Storgman, an insurance investigator, to find the truth. I really liked Priest's humor and storytelling. Usually, I'd try to figure out what happens next but I was so enthralled that I didn't even think about it. I simply enjoyed reading Priest's trail to the final reveal. A Big Break in the Small Time by Carrie Vaughn, was another favorite of mine.
I couldn't follow Wingless Angel by John Jos. Miller. I attribute most of this to the fact that I didn't understand the world and as a result, felt lost. I didn't really care for In the Shadow of Tall Stacks either. Those chapters just felt really long. I only realized what exactly the Wild Card universe is about in chapter three and struggled to remember the difference between jokers and aces. I was pleasantly surprised by Mississippi Roll and I would probably future books in the Wild Card series.
I'd like to thank MacMillian Tor Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2021
I'm rating this installment of the America Trilogy higher than the previous primarily for three reasons. 1) The framing device worked better 2) In some ways this was a collection of mystery + romance tales and it worked 3) No time travel.
The framing device for this book is riverboat captain Wilbur Leathers who was killed during an on board dispute. Now he is often mistaken for a ghost, as his body is confined to the Natchez, a body that when his wild card turned is made up of, well apparently steam. Wilbur in a few ways remains a man stuck in the 1950s, but I was willing to accept that over time he would have learned how to accept some of society's changes (he accepts, but not all that well, that the Natchez's newest captain is a lesbian).
Hanging in the backdrop is the threat that this is the riverboat's final voyage, and some of the boat's passengers are from prior installments in the series. One I will not reveal because I don't think he's been around for about 5-20 installments. Admittedly I was pleased with myself for spotting him early on and then being proved correct as his identity.
Another subplot throughout is the smuggling of refugees away from ICE agents and to places of safety or sanctuary.
Could the cast of crew, on board entertainers, and riverboat passengers be used again in this series? I would say yes. I mean Hollywood knows this is a proven formula.
Mystery (i.e. usually a murder) + romance with Hollywood endings can still succeed.
The framing device for this book is riverboat captain Wilbur Leathers who was killed during an on board dispute. Now he is often mistaken for a ghost, as his body is confined to the Natchez, a body that when his wild card turned is made up of, well apparently steam. Wilbur in a few ways remains a man stuck in the 1950s, but I was willing to accept that over time he would have learned how to accept some of society's changes (he accepts, but not all that well, that the Natchez's newest captain is a lesbian).
Hanging in the backdrop is the threat that this is the riverboat's final voyage, and some of the boat's passengers are from prior installments in the series. One I will not reveal because I don't think he's been around for about 5-20 installments. Admittedly I was pleased with myself for spotting him early on and then being proved correct as his identity.
Another subplot throughout is the smuggling of refugees away from ICE agents and to places of safety or sanctuary.
Could the cast of crew, on board entertainers, and riverboat passengers be used again in this series? I would say yes. I mean Hollywood knows this is a proven formula.
Mystery (i.e. usually a murder) + romance with Hollywood endings can still succeed.
January 22, 2018
Mississippi Roll (Wild Cards #24)
by George R.R. Martin , Stephen Leigh, David D. Levine, John Jos. Miller, Kevin Andrew Murphy , Cherie Priest , Carrie Vaughn
Mississippi Roll is the beginning of a new trilogy in the Wild Card Consortium. The dynamic story of the individual struggles of men and women whom are affected by the devastating Wild Card Virus. The book links back to the original and the previous trilogy. New characters allow the new readers and current public to find links to the original events of September 15th, 1946 when the Wild Card virus was released and afflicts those less fortunate souls. The book takes on the story from High Stakes about the refugee status of the joker population that escaped the violence and destruction of their homes and lives.
Wild Cards as a series uses the tapestry of the stories to address political and social problems from a separate manner from the real world. The terrors of the people afflicted with the virus brings into question the problems and conundrums in the American society. It brings to question how we look and accept others who are different, and find that we are all human, looking for the same things, and wanting peace and safety. It has been a phenomenal ride, and the authors have brought to light so many political ideas.
by George R.R. Martin , Stephen Leigh, David D. Levine, John Jos. Miller, Kevin Andrew Murphy , Cherie Priest , Carrie Vaughn
Mississippi Roll is the beginning of a new trilogy in the Wild Card Consortium. The dynamic story of the individual struggles of men and women whom are affected by the devastating Wild Card Virus. The book links back to the original and the previous trilogy. New characters allow the new readers and current public to find links to the original events of September 15th, 1946 when the Wild Card virus was released and afflicts those less fortunate souls. The book takes on the story from High Stakes about the refugee status of the joker population that escaped the violence and destruction of their homes and lives.
Wild Cards as a series uses the tapestry of the stories to address political and social problems from a separate manner from the real world. The terrors of the people afflicted with the virus brings into question the problems and conundrums in the American society. It brings to question how we look and accept others who are different, and find that we are all human, looking for the same things, and wanting peace and safety. It has been a phenomenal ride, and the authors have brought to light so many political ideas.
April 27, 2018
i have to say after the last Wildcards book Mississippi Roll was a necessary palate cleanser. I think Roll was a way to reset the world of Wildcards and just deal with common themes; immigration, finding love in all of it forms and even a where are they now rock story. I admit some of the stories did not hold my attention always but it was nice not be overwhelmed by abject horror, disgust and fear that was caused by the last novel (and don't get me wrong I loved the last book but some of the passages in that book and things that happened to our cast of characters in that book are the thing of nightmares). I loved that we got to see Sewer Jack again after so many years and that he found happiness and Wild Fox and Ravenstone are great characters to read about. If this is your first Wildcards novel and you did not love it that is understandable but from a rabid fan like me this entry was perfect based on the previous books preceeding it and I look forward to next chapter as always in this amazing series of books.
January 12, 2018
While I haven't read all the Wild Cards books, I have enjoyed several of them. This anthology is set on a riverboat with the underlying theme of love. There is a base story by Stephen Leigh, and the other stories are interwoven with it and each other.
A bit of background-the Wild Card virus was unleashed at the end of WWII. It turns people into either Aces (superhero types) or Jokers (not so useful powers), or seems to have no effect. Most have physical changes. It can lay dormant in the body for many years. There is great prejudice against Jokers.
This book brings back the Ace from the first book I read, Leo Storgman, now a private eye retired from the police force. He and his wife are written really well.
This book address serious issues, like prejudice, PTSD, and greed, but doesn't slam us over the head with it, or pretend to have all the answers.
I got this from my local library.
A bit of background-the Wild Card virus was unleashed at the end of WWII. It turns people into either Aces (superhero types) or Jokers (not so useful powers), or seems to have no effect. Most have physical changes. It can lay dormant in the body for many years. There is great prejudice against Jokers.
This book brings back the Ace from the first book I read, Leo Storgman, now a private eye retired from the police force. He and his wife are written really well.
This book address serious issues, like prejudice, PTSD, and greed, but doesn't slam us over the head with it, or pretend to have all the answers.
I got this from my local library.
January 16, 2018
The latest Wild Card weave novel shows the final trip of the steamship Natchez as it moves up from New Orleans on a Mississippi Roll (hard from TOR and edited by George R. R. Martin) going to Cincinnati where it is supposed to be converted to a casino, . The original owner, Captain Wilbur Leathers, turned into a steam creature in 1951 has been locked to the boat ever since. There are Kazakh Joker refugees hidden on board, Joker entertainers like Wild Fox who can create illusions provide entertainment ans sometimes find adventure. Retired NY police detective Leo Storgman is looking into the suspicious death of a crew member. And I.C. E. Is waiting at ever stop. This is a light entry to a series that takes comic book tropes to higher level.
I enjoyed it a lot. The Amazon listing suggests the series is still being considered for television. Review printed by Philadelphia Free Press
I enjoyed it a lot. The Amazon listing suggests the series is still being considered for television. Review printed by Philadelphia Free Press
August 9, 2018
I know this novel is intended as a work of alternative history/ speculative fiction. In this timeline, the Natchez (the 9th of its kind) was built in the 30s and travels up and down the Mississippi, plying its trade in an every shrinking market.
The events of the previous wild cards novel (#23, High Stakes) are glossed over in the first chapter, with a few short cameos to provide a totally unconvincing transition. The problem is that those chapters weren't necessary. The Wild Cards series has always skipped around in time, starting and stopping wherever and whenever it wished. Some stories have been developed in great detail, while others received a brief mention.
And while the Wild Cards have attempted to have modern relevance- the ham handed interjection of ICE and immigration issues is out of place. Overall- this is a poorly written, boring entry in the series.
The events of the previous wild cards novel (#23, High Stakes) are glossed over in the first chapter, with a few short cameos to provide a totally unconvincing transition. The problem is that those chapters weren't necessary. The Wild Cards series has always skipped around in time, starting and stopping wherever and whenever it wished. Some stories have been developed in great detail, while others received a brief mention.
And while the Wild Cards have attempted to have modern relevance- the ham handed interjection of ICE and immigration issues is out of place. Overall- this is a poorly written, boring entry in the series.
May 26, 2023
Beginning my Wild Cards catch-up with this release from late 2017 from Tor Books, this is the twenty-fourth entry in the series and the first of three books that make up The American Triad. Structurally, one of the six stories ("In the Shadow of the Tall Stacks") acts as the framework with the other five interspersed as it goes.
"Wingless Angel" had a very current-events element to it, dealing with refugees and immigration. ICE Agent Jones sounded like she stepped right out of the US Administration at the time of the writing. The themes hit very close to home. The next tale, "A Big Break In the Small Time" counterbalanced things nicely. I always enjoy the interplay of entertainers, and this one had a very fun vibe to it.
"Death On the Water" was equally as fun. I like the Storgmans as well as the investigators from The Dead Report; the characters played off of one another well.
"Wingless Angel" had a very current-events element to it, dealing with refugees and immigration. ICE Agent Jones sounded like she stepped right out of the US Administration at the time of the writing. The themes hit very close to home. The next tale, "A Big Break In the Small Time" counterbalanced things nicely. I always enjoy the interplay of entertainers, and this one had a very fun vibe to it.
"Death On the Water" was equally as fun. I like the Storgmans as well as the investigators from The Dead Report; the characters played off of one another well.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews