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Wild Cards #29
Joker Moon
In Joker Moon , the next Wild Cards adventure from series editor George R. R. Martin, we follow Aarti, the Moon Maid, who can astrally project herself onto the surface of the moon and paint projections across the lunarscape.
Theodorus was a dreamer.
As a child, he dreamt of airplanes, rockets, and outer space. When the wild card virus touched him and transformed him into a monstrous snail centaur weighing several tons, his boyhood dreams seemed out of reach, but a Witherspoon is not so easily defeated. Years and decades passed, and Theodorus grew to maturity and came into his fortune . . . but still his dream endured.
But now when he looked upward into the night sky, he saw more than just the moon . . . he saw a joker homeland, a refuge where the outcast children of the wild card could make a place of their own, safe from hate and harm. An impossible dream, some said. Others, alarmed by the prospect, brought all their power to bear to oppose him. Theodorus persisted . . .
. . . never dreaming that the Moon was already inhabited. And the Moon Maid did not want company.
Theodorus was a dreamer.
As a child, he dreamt of airplanes, rockets, and outer space. When the wild card virus touched him and transformed him into a monstrous snail centaur weighing several tons, his boyhood dreams seemed out of reach, but a Witherspoon is not so easily defeated. Years and decades passed, and Theodorus grew to maturity and came into his fortune . . . but still his dream endured.
But now when he looked upward into the night sky, he saw more than just the moon . . . he saw a joker homeland, a refuge where the outcast children of the wild card could make a place of their own, safe from hate and harm. An impossible dream, some said. Others, alarmed by the prospect, brought all their power to bear to oppose him. Theodorus persisted . . .
. . . never dreaming that the Moon was already inhabited. And the Moon Maid did not want company.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published July 7, 2022
38 people are currently reading
553 people want to read
About the author
George R.R. Martin
1,505 books120k followersGeorge Raymond Richard "R.R." Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.
As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.
In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.
Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.
Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.
As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.
In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.
Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.
Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 3, 2022
This is another good entry in the long running shared world science fiction/superhero anthology series. It's another mosaic-style novel that goes back in time to the very beginning of the series and details the joker space program. It's interesting to see the historic events as viewed from disparate viewpoints, most of which were first only seen from a U.S. perspective. There's a pleasant mix of new characters and old, familiar ones including The Sleeper, Bubbles, Bugsy, Finn, and many others. (One of the new ones becomes the president, a particularly odious man named Towers...) My favorite of the storylines is an obvious and delightful extended homage to Robert A. Heinlein's The Man Who Sold the Moon. Some of the science is questionable, but, hey, it's a comic book story, don't expect anything too rigorous. It's also a self-contained story, so it's not necessary to worry about needing to have read a bunch of other volumes to appreciate this one. It's a fun and uplifting book, for the most part, with a hopeful message and conclusion. Good stuff!
October 14, 2021
In volume 29, GRRM et all give us the joker space program. An old-money joker uses his wealth and connections to create a joker haven on the moon, an undertaking that spans decades.
It's an audacious storyline, and a timely one that parallels the current trends of billionaires-in-space and burgeoning right-wing extremism around the globe.
But Joker Moon doesn't live up to its promise. The science is weak even by my low civilian standards (eg Mars is too small to terraform, and the moon is a fraction of the size of Mars, ergo...). Some plot threads fizzle out (see the Moon Maid) or make little sense (Schwartz's murderous actions). My 4 star rating is probably generous due to my high hopes for the rest of the trilogy.
New characters:
Moon Maid--A wealthy Indian heiress turned by the wild card into a pain-wracked joker with cratered gray skin and a lunar globe for a head. But at night, she finds herself literally on the moon, with localized godlike powers (a la Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 ). When rapacious Americans and Russians set out to explore and exploit the moon, she fights to keep it safe.
Flatman--A Gumby-like Russian cosmonaut. His space station melts down and he discovers he can survive as discorporated energy.
Theodorus--Billionaire snail-centaur joker with the will, vision, and resources to establish a joker colony on the moon.
Mathilde--A bright red, neckless, flammable engineer extraordinaire who gets to fly in Dr. Tachyon's spaceship when her best friend turns into a snail. She's instrumental to Theodorus's moon plans.
Malachi Schwartz--Spherical gray lawyer/consigliere to Theodorus. Schwartz has secret machine-possession powers that he uses to go on a killing spree. It's not clear whether he's a simple serial killer or murdering in furtherance of the moon colony goal.
Cash Mitchell--The first man to visit the moon, Cash is a deuce with the ability to lift and throw things that he touches. As his first moon landing was not official, no one really believes it happened. Ten years later, he makes the trip again, this time with press and financial backing.
Duncan Towers--A spiteful, racist New York real estate magnate, with the initials DJT, rode a wave of public bigotry to the vice presidency of the United States. Germaphobe. Uses the word "bigly". Once sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent to minorities. He works with Russian criminals to steal the presidency. When they get caught, his underlings take the fall while he skates. I had an odd sense of déjà vu reading this.
It's an audacious storyline, and a timely one that parallels the current trends of billionaires-in-space and burgeoning right-wing extremism around the globe.
But Joker Moon doesn't live up to its promise. The science is weak even by my low civilian standards (eg Mars is too small to terraform, and the moon is a fraction of the size of Mars, ergo...). Some plot threads fizzle out (see the Moon Maid) or make little sense (Schwartz's murderous actions). My 4 star rating is probably generous due to my high hopes for the rest of the trilogy.
New characters:
Moon Maid--A wealthy Indian heiress turned by the wild card into a pain-wracked joker with cratered gray skin and a lunar globe for a head. But at night, she finds herself literally on the moon, with localized godlike powers (a la Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 ). When rapacious Americans and Russians set out to explore and exploit the moon, she fights to keep it safe.
Flatman--A Gumby-like Russian cosmonaut. His space station melts down and he discovers he can survive as discorporated energy.
Theodorus--Billionaire snail-centaur joker with the will, vision, and resources to establish a joker colony on the moon.
Mathilde--A bright red, neckless, flammable engineer extraordinaire who gets to fly in Dr. Tachyon's spaceship when her best friend turns into a snail. She's instrumental to Theodorus's moon plans.
Malachi Schwartz--Spherical gray lawyer/consigliere to Theodorus. Schwartz has secret machine-possession powers that he uses to go on a killing spree. It's not clear whether he's a simple serial killer or murdering in furtherance of the moon colony goal.
Cash Mitchell--The first man to visit the moon, Cash is a deuce with the ability to lift and throw things that he touches. As his first moon landing was not official, no one really believes it happened. Ten years later, he makes the trip again, this time with press and financial backing.
Duncan Towers--A spiteful, racist New York real estate magnate, with the initials DJT, rode a wave of public bigotry to the vice presidency of the United States. Germaphobe. Uses the word "bigly". Once sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent to minorities. He works with Russian criminals to steal the presidency. When they get caught, his underlings take the fall while he skates. I had an odd sense of déjà vu reading this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2021
I am surprised that I didn't like this entry in the WildCards Universe. It's got everything that I like: stories set during the 1st three WildCards novels; appearances from classic characters including Dr. Tachyon; and new characters with well told, well developed plot arcs.
But it also has a lot that I don't like: poorly told, space filling stories that don't add anything to the overall plot (the flat-man arc); rushed, name dropping stories that exist solely to close old plot-holes (the stories involving "The Amazing Bubbles" Michelle); difficult to like main characters for the main plot arc (Theodorus and Malachi); references to out-of-print WildCards novels (The Rox saga and Dr. Tachyon's end); and a really well done story that is criminally undeveloped (The Dr. Finn, President Renssaeler arc). A little more on that last one- the story referenced there is excellent, but the plot it introduces is mostly dropped in the stories that follow. I wanted to know much more about everything it introduced, and got... nothing.
I think what really irked me about Joker Moon is that I expected it to be a continuation of the jokers-outside-the-US theme of Knaves Over Queens. It does feature jokers, but none of the characters from Knaves are featured in Joker Moon. Instead, we get the WildCards space program.
Overall, it was a disappointing read.
But it also has a lot that I don't like: poorly told, space filling stories that don't add anything to the overall plot (the flat-man arc); rushed, name dropping stories that exist solely to close old plot-holes (the stories involving "The Amazing Bubbles" Michelle); difficult to like main characters for the main plot arc (Theodorus and Malachi); references to out-of-print WildCards novels (The Rox saga and Dr. Tachyon's end); and a really well done story that is criminally undeveloped (The Dr. Finn, President Renssaeler arc). A little more on that last one- the story referenced there is excellent, but the plot it introduces is mostly dropped in the stories that follow. I wanted to know much more about everything it introduced, and got... nothing.
I think what really irked me about Joker Moon is that I expected it to be a continuation of the jokers-outside-the-US theme of Knaves Over Queens. It does feature jokers, but none of the characters from Knaves are featured in Joker Moon. Instead, we get the WildCards space program.
Overall, it was a disappointing read.
April 15, 2022
Joker Moon is the 29th book in the Wild Cards series. I adore these volumes. The action here is something we have technically been building up to all this time so it saddens me to report I found the first hundred pages to be a real snooze fest. After that things do get moving and I did find my reading to be much more enjoyable, so I can still rate this four stars with a clear conscience.
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January 2, 2022Much as the last two Wild Cards books gave us the post-War history of Britain as reworked by the Takisian virus, so here we get the space race – with the advantage for me that I don't know space quite so well, so won't notice all the stuff non-space authors are getting horribly wrong. The advantage too that the sweep back to the forties means we get to check in with old friends long absent from the series, like Dr Tachyon and Baby – though also old antagonists. One of the key changes is that, this Earth having first experienced hostile alien contact in 1946, and then again in the eighties, its space programmes were more directly military from the off than ours, with orbital defence prioritised over the luxury of a sense of wonder, and the Moon even more of a sideshow than it was here. To the extent that the first man and the first ship on the Moon end up literally part of a carnival sideshow. Does that follow? I'm not so sure. But then, it's not as if the history of space exploration makes a great deal of sense in our timeline either; the veterans of the Moon may have got more respectable gigs, but we still proved depressingly ready to abandon the whole enterprise. More of a problem is the way some of the writers seem reluctant to play fair by the whole premise of point of view characters from earlier decades; particularly in Michael Cassutt's Have Spaceship, Will Travel there were several times when I was entirely thrown out of the story by characters from the eighties thinking or talking in terms of truthers, trolls or homo-eroticism – concepts which would make perfect sense once explained, yes, but not words in common enough use to be believable from this character. And even strictly within the Wild Cards elements, there's a certain rewriting of history, where for at least 20 years joker characters we knew in previous books, through whose eyes certain stories were told, turn out never even to have privately thought about a plan of which Joker Moon tells us they were already aware, whereby Earth's mutated outcasts were to be built a new home on the Moon through the largesse of one tycoon who happens also to be a sort of giant snail centaur. Yes, this is always an issue with retcons – but some jar more than others, and in many ways it would have been a lot simpler to kick the scheme off more recently and have it as a less irksome mirror of the billionaire space race on our own parallel. Speaking of our world's irksome rich, when so many figures from our world pop up undisguised, it is again jarring to have a certain germophobic, inarticulate New York dick turned national problem clumsily rebadged as 'Duncan Towers'. Still, as we near the present day, and the culmination of the grand scheme, the writers do a pretty good job of pulling the new elements from this book together with the worldwide sweep of the series' previous volumes* and, after a few books of more local interest, producing what feels like a stepping stone to a whole new phase of Wild Cards.
(Also, it's more of a passing mention, but I was very taken with the idea, apparently drawn from the Pendergast political machine in 1920s Kansas City, of 'honest graft' - "my brother-in-law may get the city contract to put a roof on the orphanage, but it will be a good roof!" If only such enlightened standards still applied a century later, eh?)
*This includes, for the first time in a while, reminding me that, what with the reprint programme having seemingly stalled on this side of the fishpond, there's a whole chunk of books in the middle of the series which I've yet to read. Books to which subsequent volumes have generally not made much reference, to the extent that it had never occurred to me that someone like Dr Finn, of whom I had always thought as a sort of medical plot functionary, might once have been a protagonist in grand plots of genocide and intergalactic exile. But apparently he was, and here he gets another big story all his own. Just goes to show, doesn't it?
(Also, it's more of a passing mention, but I was very taken with the idea, apparently drawn from the Pendergast political machine in 1920s Kansas City, of 'honest graft' - "my brother-in-law may get the city contract to put a roof on the orphanage, but it will be a good roof!" If only such enlightened standards still applied a century later, eh?)
*This includes, for the first time in a while, reminding me that, what with the reprint programme having seemingly stalled on this side of the fishpond, there's a whole chunk of books in the middle of the series which I've yet to read. Books to which subsequent volumes have generally not made much reference, to the extent that it had never occurred to me that someone like Dr Finn, of whom I had always thought as a sort of medical plot functionary, might once have been a protagonist in grand plots of genocide and intergalactic exile. But apparently he was, and here he gets another big story all his own. Just goes to show, doesn't it?
June 1, 2023
On the plus side, this collection of tales stands can stand on its own - a good point for new readers to jump in. While other characters and other events from the franchise are referenced, they are not critical to getting these stories. And, like the last few collection, there is a common theme or element that carries through the stories. Here it is space travel and the moon.
On the down side, a few technical things bothered me. First, the font on the printed book is very small. My old eyes had to really adjust. Also, there are a handful of stories that are told in present-tense while the majority of the collection is in past-tense. If this was just a staight short story collection, it wouldn't have flagged for me. However, these are done as mosaic novels where the hole is very much more than the sum of its parts. When some of the parts are doing is while the rest is doing was, it throws off my reading groove.
On the down side, a few technical things bothered me. First, the font on the printed book is very small. My old eyes had to really adjust. Also, there are a handful of stories that are told in present-tense while the majority of the collection is in past-tense. If this was just a staight short story collection, it wouldn't have flagged for me. However, these are done as mosaic novels where the hole is very much more than the sum of its parts. When some of the parts are doing is while the rest is doing was, it throws off my reading groove.
March 24, 2022
Moon Girl - Chalk this one up as one of the stranger powers created in the series.
Flat Man - a bit evocative of Plastic Man (but too early to assess?)
Way overlong moon trip segment (Have Spacesuit Will Travel)
On the other hand, the Luna Incognita entry was quite absorbing, hard to put down.
Much less personal involvement here than with Knaves Over Queens.
Happy to report that once it got rolling, the segments sustained interest and suspense, with some surprises as to established and new characters, raising my assessment to a rating of 3.5 stars (here 4) and jacking up my anticipation for the next entry in the series.
Flat Man - a bit evocative of Plastic Man (but too early to assess?)
Way overlong moon trip segment (Have Spacesuit Will Travel)
On the other hand, the Luna Incognita entry was quite absorbing, hard to put down.
Much less personal involvement here than with Knaves Over Queens.
Happy to report that once it got rolling, the segments sustained interest and suspense, with some surprises as to established and new characters, raising my assessment to a rating of 3.5 stars (here 4) and jacking up my anticipation for the next entry in the series.
August 8, 2021
Bit of a romp through the time periods of all the other books, with an OK narrative thread throughout. Last few books have really missed the mark.
September 7, 2022
At about the one-third point I was ready to do a review that included my usual rant about Martin's misogyny and how Aarti was nothing more than a recycle of Badb from the UK cycle. A character full of hatred towards people, and wants nothing more than their own personal wants fulfilled.
I was wrong.
Aarti has a full character arc, and I would argue that she ends up being a three dimensional person. She has reasons to be upset, hateful, towards those who have persecuted jokers and she feels a little possessive of the Moon. Like a real person she goes through periods where she is upset with her joker appearance, settles into acceptance, goes through grief (avoiding spoiler), and at the end a well rounded person. A character with pluses, flaws, and the desire to do harm, and to do good.
Much like the first book in the UK sequence it beings with the virus hitting Britain (where Aarti is in university), and goes through 2020. During this span the reader is introduced to more new characters, and if I'm correct I'm guessing the series is growing into even more of a science fiction slant and possibly expanding beyond Earth (not counting the off planet sequence I haven;t read yet).
As a timely note the U.S. political scene does resemble the 2020 real world scene. That part is disheartening to say the least (note: I've worked criminal courts, processed search warrants and there is truly no need for a special master that the Federal judge approved).
I was wrong.
Aarti has a full character arc, and I would argue that she ends up being a three dimensional person. She has reasons to be upset, hateful, towards those who have persecuted jokers and she feels a little possessive of the Moon. Like a real person she goes through periods where she is upset with her joker appearance, settles into acceptance, goes through grief (avoiding spoiler), and at the end a well rounded person. A character with pluses, flaws, and the desire to do harm, and to do good.
Much like the first book in the UK sequence it beings with the virus hitting Britain (where Aarti is in university), and goes through 2020. During this span the reader is introduced to more new characters, and if I'm correct I'm guessing the series is growing into even more of a science fiction slant and possibly expanding beyond Earth (not counting the off planet sequence I haven;t read yet).
As a timely note the U.S. political scene does resemble the 2020 real world scene. That part is disheartening to say the least (note: I've worked criminal courts, processed search warrants and there is truly no need for a special master that the Federal judge approved).
January 20, 2022
Very nice addition to - and expansion of! - the Wild Cards series. This book goes back decades, showing different parts of the space race that hadn't been touched upon, sometimes segueing into larger events of the series, predominantly the coming of the Swarm.
The sad parts are the death of yet another very long-time character as well as having to say good-bye to another of the original writers of this decades-running shared world.
I will definitely read on and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the events in this book will influence the overall setting.
The sad parts are the death of yet another very long-time character as well as having to say good-bye to another of the original writers of this decades-running shared world.
I will definitely read on and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the events in this book will influence the overall setting.
March 24, 2025
Not the best WILD CARDS book. Not the worst. There's this thing with WC books where I run out of steam about halfway through and the book usually sits in my car for about 6 months before I gear up to finish it. This time it sat in there for about 18 months. Not sure if that reflects on the book's quality or not.
So, the moon. This book follows all the wild card interactions with the moon, including the Joker-Ace who is its sole inhabitant: The Moon Maid. Parallel is the story of Theodorus Witherspoon, 4th richest person in the world and gigantic snail Joker. Forever obsessed with space he decides to build the first self-sufficient Joker nation on the Moon. We follow the book through approx. 7 decades of the Wild Card Earth space race. Checking in with some old favorites like Dr. Finn, The Amazing Bubbles and even Dr. Tachyon. My favorite stories were how a group of wild cards managed to land on the moon first with their powers and the story of a doomed Russian cosmonaut habitation.
That said the book is a mosaic novel following one long plot with multiple authors. The integration of all the stories isn't great. The moon maid and Russian space elements start out strong but then peter off by the end of the book. There's a last-minute villain reveal that seems oddly out of place. We never get the villain's motivations, and it's almost immediately brushed aside so he can return to his place in the main plot. The stories are better by the end of the book, but it's lost a lot of it's cohesion.
Still, I've never read a WILD CARDS book that I hated. (Although they are reprinting the CARD SHARKS trilogy. Hmm...) This marks the end of their association with TOR publishing. A shame because the covers from this era (The WC rebirth though to this book; about 12 or more novels) featured the best cover art since Tim Truman did the paperbacks in the 90's. The newer covers from Bantam are just awful. I don't think you'll hate this book. I doubt you'll love it.
So, the moon. This book follows all the wild card interactions with the moon, including the Joker-Ace who is its sole inhabitant: The Moon Maid. Parallel is the story of Theodorus Witherspoon, 4th richest person in the world and gigantic snail Joker. Forever obsessed with space he decides to build the first self-sufficient Joker nation on the Moon. We follow the book through approx. 7 decades of the Wild Card Earth space race. Checking in with some old favorites like Dr. Finn, The Amazing Bubbles and even Dr. Tachyon. My favorite stories were how a group of wild cards managed to land on the moon first with their powers and the story of a doomed Russian cosmonaut habitation.
That said the book is a mosaic novel following one long plot with multiple authors. The integration of all the stories isn't great. The moon maid and Russian space elements start out strong but then peter off by the end of the book. There's a last-minute villain reveal that seems oddly out of place. We never get the villain's motivations, and it's almost immediately brushed aside so he can return to his place in the main plot. The stories are better by the end of the book, but it's lost a lot of it's cohesion.
Still, I've never read a WILD CARDS book that I hated. (Although they are reprinting the CARD SHARKS trilogy. Hmm...) This marks the end of their association with TOR publishing. A shame because the covers from this era (The WC rebirth though to this book; about 12 or more novels) featured the best cover art since Tim Truman did the paperbacks in the 90's. The newer covers from Bantam are just awful. I don't think you'll hate this book. I doubt you'll love it.
September 30, 2022
Phew! What a ride. Hold on, I’m still having jet lag from all those journeys from Earth to the Moon (acah 🤭)
This is a mosaic style novel, where each chapter sets in different places but altogether they tell a linear story of what the book is about. I went blindly hence it took me until 4th story to understand this “galaxy”.
To sum; everyone is normal, healthy human until they’re infected by an unknown virus from the moon. Once they’re infected, their body mutated into unimaginable beings (snail-like, crocodile, hologram, anything that’s weird) called joker. These jokers felt like moon is their home so they attempted to go & live there but the moon maid doesn’t allow them to… I don’t know if these mutated creatures are attainable by science but if it is, urgh creepy 👀
I don’t really have much to say about this but if you’re into sci-fi, this is a great one. Here’s pros & cons about this book:
Pros
1. Scifi world that isn’t hard to imagine due to
2. Detail descriptions, IT’S WILD IN HERE BABY!
3. Every character has their own personality, easy to remember
4. Refreshing historic events seen from the eyes of different cultures (I giggled when some countries’ stereotypes & races even President/ monuments are mentioned, authors were so direct about this) - but also swipe left to see how blunt & controversial it could be
Cons
1. Too lengthy, some stories weren’t much needed in developing the universe
2. Technical part but the font in here =.=
Overall an enjoyable cosmic experience but I won’t recommend to scifi/fantasy beginners 4🌟 Walk to the moon with me? Haha!
TQ Ms @putrifariza & @times.reads for the copy! 🌙
This is a mosaic style novel, where each chapter sets in different places but altogether they tell a linear story of what the book is about. I went blindly hence it took me until 4th story to understand this “galaxy”.
To sum; everyone is normal, healthy human until they’re infected by an unknown virus from the moon. Once they’re infected, their body mutated into unimaginable beings (snail-like, crocodile, hologram, anything that’s weird) called joker. These jokers felt like moon is their home so they attempted to go & live there but the moon maid doesn’t allow them to… I don’t know if these mutated creatures are attainable by science but if it is, urgh creepy 👀
I don’t really have much to say about this but if you’re into sci-fi, this is a great one. Here’s pros & cons about this book:
Pros
1. Scifi world that isn’t hard to imagine due to
2. Detail descriptions, IT’S WILD IN HERE BABY!
3. Every character has their own personality, easy to remember
4. Refreshing historic events seen from the eyes of different cultures (I giggled when some countries’ stereotypes & races even President/ monuments are mentioned, authors were so direct about this) - but also swipe left to see how blunt & controversial it could be
Cons
1. Too lengthy, some stories weren’t much needed in developing the universe
2. Technical part but the font in here =.=
Overall an enjoyable cosmic experience but I won’t recommend to scifi/fantasy beginners 4🌟 Walk to the moon with me? Haha!
TQ Ms @putrifariza & @times.reads for the copy! 🌙
July 4, 2024
This book advances the overall history of the joker universe. It starts in 1948, brings events up to 2020, and includes jokers settling the moon, the Moon Maid (I think I saw that name in a previous book?), and current American politics, which are as scary as they are in reality.
There are two main threads. One is about Theodorus, a very rich joker who is a 3000-pound snail centaur (human at the top), and his childhood friend and business associate Mathilde, who is red and can heat things up. Theodorus wants to colonize the moon with jokers, as they are hated many places on Earth. The other is about the Moon Maid, at least a generation older that Theodorus and Mathilde. She started as Aarti, daughter of a prosperous family in India, whose joker made her misshapen and disabled by pain, but also gave her the power to have a presence on the moon, where she can shape herself and other things and create beautiful art. She thinks the moon should remain pristine, and sabotages exploration of the moon from the start. When jokers start arriving and working on permanent habitation, she needs to decide how to deal with it.
The mosaic format works well, anchored by these two intersecting stories. In the earlier segments, it shows the alternate history of the Soviet and American space race. There's a subplot with the Egyptian aces/gods and Bubbles (always a favorite). Other recurring characters also have cameos. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here. I've already put the next book on hold at the library.
There are two main threads. One is about Theodorus, a very rich joker who is a 3000-pound snail centaur (human at the top), and his childhood friend and business associate Mathilde, who is red and can heat things up. Theodorus wants to colonize the moon with jokers, as they are hated many places on Earth. The other is about the Moon Maid, at least a generation older that Theodorus and Mathilde. She started as Aarti, daughter of a prosperous family in India, whose joker made her misshapen and disabled by pain, but also gave her the power to have a presence on the moon, where she can shape herself and other things and create beautiful art. She thinks the moon should remain pristine, and sabotages exploration of the moon from the start. When jokers start arriving and working on permanent habitation, she needs to decide how to deal with it.
The mosaic format works well, anchored by these two intersecting stories. In the earlier segments, it shows the alternate history of the Soviet and American space race. There's a subplot with the Egyptian aces/gods and Bubbles (always a favorite). Other recurring characters also have cameos. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here. I've already put the next book on hold at the library.
March 1, 2022
Amazing, heady, inspired. Cool editing, splitting up stories and integrating them smoothly. But this did sacrifice the flow, for me.
This is at least two books from my view, well, three, with Dreamers of the Day and Fatal Error making up a 'source' novella integrated into the main book. I think a reference line or two encompasses the relevance of these pieces, and anyone seeking out the work separately would have enjoyed them on their own, without losing the pace and tone of the rest of this collection.
Similarly, the Living Gods story line could have easily been a separate work also. I think I would have preferred three books to the one, all relating to and referencing each other, but without the jarring pace changes and extreme writing style variations.
I do appreciate that the separate story lines retain their subtitles throughout, yet note the omission of a Table of Contents to help the reader follow them. The Moon Maid, for example, is a beautifully told, lyrical tale - that its too easy to forget about when reading "The House Secure" and other main lines.
Also, the end plodded, written in the style of a very long epilogue, seeming like notes for a movie rather than bringing the reader along through the flow of the story.
I enjoyed this book, but felt that the multiple contributors were being chosen to help many excellent short story writers create the illusion of a fleshed out novel. For me, it fell short, and I wonder how it would work as a collection of intact short stories and novellas. I look forward to rereading it in that manner, maybe it will work better for me in that presentation?
This is at least two books from my view, well, three, with Dreamers of the Day and Fatal Error making up a 'source' novella integrated into the main book. I think a reference line or two encompasses the relevance of these pieces, and anyone seeking out the work separately would have enjoyed them on their own, without losing the pace and tone of the rest of this collection.
Similarly, the Living Gods story line could have easily been a separate work also. I think I would have preferred three books to the one, all relating to and referencing each other, but without the jarring pace changes and extreme writing style variations.
I do appreciate that the separate story lines retain their subtitles throughout, yet note the omission of a Table of Contents to help the reader follow them. The Moon Maid, for example, is a beautifully told, lyrical tale - that its too easy to forget about when reading "The House Secure" and other main lines.
Also, the end plodded, written in the style of a very long epilogue, seeming like notes for a movie rather than bringing the reader along through the flow of the story.
I enjoyed this book, but felt that the multiple contributors were being chosen to help many excellent short story writers create the illusion of a fleshed out novel. For me, it fell short, and I wonder how it would work as a collection of intact short stories and novellas. I look forward to rereading it in that manner, maybe it will work better for me in that presentation?
August 10, 2022
I always, always enjoy this series. I think it is the plethora of characters and styles of the various writers that keeps me coming back. Well, and the brilliant concepts they keep writing about. The idea of the Jokers is just genius and massive kudos to all those involved many moons ago in developing it. (I am aware I used both words of the title in the last sentence :)).
In this volume there is a plan to set up a Joker Haven on our Moon. This gives plenty of opportunity for stories, and most of the short stories could easily have been spun out into full length novels of their own. Unsurprisingly we have stories about space and Moon exploration and I love how they are different from our own history. Private enterprise and the Russians play a different role here. The stories did a great job of evoking what this would be like.
My favourite story is the one with two writers starring Bugsy and a new (or at least I can't remember her), cool character Ice Blue Sybil. This story felt like an old school Wild Cards story, conspiracies always seemed to work well in this universe.
Unsurprisingly the Amazing Bubbles is in this book, she is nearly ubiquitous in the recent novels. That is fine though as she is a great character.
Also - Duncan Towers ;)
In this volume there is a plan to set up a Joker Haven on our Moon. This gives plenty of opportunity for stories, and most of the short stories could easily have been spun out into full length novels of their own. Unsurprisingly we have stories about space and Moon exploration and I love how they are different from our own history. Private enterprise and the Russians play a different role here. The stories did a great job of evoking what this would be like.
My favourite story is the one with two writers starring Bugsy and a new (or at least I can't remember her), cool character Ice Blue Sybil. This story felt like an old school Wild Cards story, conspiracies always seemed to work well in this universe.
Unsurprisingly the Amazing Bubbles is in this book, she is nearly ubiquitous in the recent novels. That is fine though as she is a great character.
Also - Duncan Towers ;)
August 17, 2023
Given that the previous novel had already made mention to Joker's living on the moon, it seems a strange choice to set this novel before it and to release it afterwards. The fact that they succeed was already known, with the only unknowns being how they would manage it and who would make it there. The rest of the stories seemed to be there to either tell us a whole lot about characters who were largely unimportant to that story , or were tied in to the 'Joker's going to the moon' story just to have them publishable in the novel. There was at least one story that had no real place there, the one about flat-man, and the only interesting ones (involving Bradley Finn and Ice Blue Sybil) didn't have as much of an effect on the story as would have wanted them to and ended up
October 7, 2025
Before I say anything else, I should give potential readers a warning: Goodreads calls this the 29th entry in the "Wild Cards" series. It is clearly the 28th; events that happen in this book are clearly referenced in the "previous" entry, "Three Kings". I don't dock the book a star for that error, because I'm not sure whether it's an error on the part of the publishers, or Martin himself, or just Goodreads, but by all means, read this book before "Three Kings".
As to the book itself, it is well-written, with interesting new characters and the occasional interaction with previously established characters, a reasonable premise and excellently handled plot. The pacing is good, the interactions are handled well, and even the ending is satisfying.
As to the book itself, it is well-written, with interesting new characters and the occasional interaction with previously established characters, a reasonable premise and excellently handled plot. The pacing is good, the interactions are handled well, and even the ending is satisfying.
August 27, 2021
I don't know why this says it's not out until next year, my library had the ebook already. Nice to see the authors back, mostly jokers (but Bubbles is here too and she's mostly an ace), with a framing 'history' story going up to the present. I was sad to see a couple of characters die, one in particular was a long running (if mostly minor) character and he died in a very off-handed way.
November 13, 2022
Great collection
An anthology of sorts, linking the moon to the Wild Card version of Earth. Mixed stories, all coming together over many years to create a cohesive whole. Well put together and most enjoyable
An anthology of sorts, linking the moon to the Wild Card version of Earth. Mixed stories, all coming together over many years to create a cohesive whole. Well put together and most enjoyable
November 25, 2024
Another worthy addition to the Wild Cards universe.
It got off to a fairly leisurely start, but soon grabbed my undivided attention
As someone who has been there from the beginning, and without giving too much away, it was also nice to catch up with sone old friends again.
It got off to a fairly leisurely start, but soon grabbed my undivided attention
As someone who has been there from the beginning, and without giving too much away, it was also nice to catch up with sone old friends again.
January 24, 2022
Ends great, starts rough.
July 17, 2023
Great book
One of my favorites in the series so far. I hope we get a new one soon because I doubt we will ever see the other series finished
One of my favorites in the series so far. I hope we get a new one soon because I doubt we will ever see the other series finished
January 24, 2026
weaving together a lot of threads into a satisfying narrative
September 29, 2021
2.5 stars, rounded up to that point just because I'm pretty sure that this is a transitional story in order to set up for a continuation of an otherwise excellent series.
I've been a Wild Cards fan from book one, and while I acknowledge that the series is far from perfect, the entries from the last decade or so have largely been excellent. This? This was an exception to that rule.
It drags like nothing I've read in the series before. The pace is agonizing, the characters are weak and poorly fleshed out, the separate threads don't tie together well, and the whole ends up reading like a series of disjointed bits forced together. It picks up a bit once they start reintroducing established characters, only to flounder as their stories fail to mesh with the overall arc of the book.
I wanted to like some of the new characters, but they're never given much personality or development, and even less resolution. Many side plots are just abandoned, and a few old favorite characters are given seriously short shrift.
Please, Wild Cards, get better from here. I abandoned you once before, for a long time, and I don't want to have to do so again....
I've been a Wild Cards fan from book one, and while I acknowledge that the series is far from perfect, the entries from the last decade or so have largely been excellent. This? This was an exception to that rule.
It drags like nothing I've read in the series before. The pace is agonizing, the characters are weak and poorly fleshed out, the separate threads don't tie together well, and the whole ends up reading like a series of disjointed bits forced together. It picks up a bit once they start reintroducing established characters, only to flounder as their stories fail to mesh with the overall arc of the book.
I wanted to like some of the new characters, but they're never given much personality or development, and even less resolution. Many side plots are just abandoned, and a few old favorite characters are given seriously short shrift.
Please, Wild Cards, get better from here. I abandoned you once before, for a long time, and I don't want to have to do so again....
March 24, 2022
A crazy and whacky premise that just fell short of a 3.5 rating. A couple of good stories in here and was nice seeing some old faces that haven’t been seen in awhile.
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