Inside Straight

The Wild Cards series came out in the 1980's, featuring various authors contributing individual short stories that formed an overall composite tale. This book brings the series into the present day, with a fun take on reality TV and a superhero version of middle-eastern conflicts. The basic premise is that an alien ship was destroyed in the mid-1900's releasing a virus that mutates individuals based upon their personality and the thoughts they have while infected. Humans aren't entirely compatible so the virus is fatal in the majority of cases but some come through with fantastic mutations ("jokers"). The ones who gain useful powers are called "aces". This particular book concerns a group of young "aces" coming to grips with a wide variety of abilities while participating in a reality TV project. Each author tells a story from the viewpoint of one of the aces as they deal with artificial crises and personality conflicts. Meanwhile, the Middle East has become increasingly unstable due to the presence of jokers resembling the old gods of Egypt and the activities of some aces. The overall story was interesting, the individual sections were usually fun and the characters were memorable. I was going to say I hope they continue with the series, but apparently another book is already out with more planned for 2010.

I was skeptical about this book for several reasons: 1). The "mosiac" novel concept - a collection of short stories? Sorry, not my thing. 2). The book is edited by George R. R. Martin. I don't want to read something he edited. I want to read something he wrote. 3). Do I really want to pick up a series that's already 18 books long without having read any of the first 17? As it turns out, all of my apprehensions were short-sighted. The book's many authors contribute the well-written pieces of short prose that Martin masterfully weaves together to tell one single tale. It is not a collection of short stories; it is a novel written by many authors. The enthusiasm of its multi-authorship keep the story fresh and crisp, with each contributor (including a passage by Martin) adding flesh to the book's ensemble cast and color to the story. Like Martin's own bibliography, nothing is sacred. The story is at times gritty and the authors are not bound to the rule that good always prevails. The inclusion of graphic violence, sex, language, homosexuality, racial and religious discrimination might scare away the casual reader. This is not a good book to read your children when they finish the Narnia series. In regards to starting the series at book 18, I had no trouble at all picking it up. Tor and Martin made A conscious effort to make the volume easily accessible: the Wild Card concept is explained well, the story occurs independently of previous novels, and enough back story is provided when needed (i.e. John Fortune). What I liked best about the story was this: despite occurring in an alternate reality, many of the events parallel what we see on the news today. Though this was not a moral tale or a story written for us to be "good" kids, the use of modern culture to make statements about materialism, discrimination, and what it means to be a hero are especially potent in a society saturated with "reality" television and entitlement philosophy. Martin's contribution in the middle of the novel is especially moving. The character growth, or lack of it, in some cases, around these central themes make the book more than just a flashy, pop-culture superhero book. Can't wait to read the next book.

I was slightly worried over some early negative reviews but never considered eschewing a new book in one of my favorite mythologies. I'm happy to say that under GRRM's able editorship, "Inside Straight" preserved the "Wild Cards" series almost paradoxical combination of fantastic yet realistic portayal of current trends, with a stubborn optimism in our continuing need for heroism. The "seams" in the mosaic are barely visible (don't impede the novelic flow of the story). The writing is intelligent, the characters memorable, and the portrayal of the strengths and weaknesses of reality TV is just great fun. Highly recommended.

I'm a long time fan of the Wild Cards series, and I loved this book, but it also can be enjoyed by newcomers the series, as it makes a pretty good entry point. Though the book is technically a collection of short stories by several writers, "Inside Straight" feels much more like a true novel instead. Even though we had a rotating point of view, it is truly a single story. So, I'll not be reviewing each individual tale, like I planned to. I'll just write my thoughts in no particular order. First, it's a very hopeful, heart-warming book. While I'm a self-confessed fan of the darkness of the former books of the Wild Cards series, I couldn't help but cheer the heroes on this one. Their journey from fake TV heroes to real heroes is impossible not to root for. The book is a crescendo of dramatic, moving moments. These superheroes (aces) are very much different from the usual superheroes you see in the comics and movies. They're inexperienced, ordinary people with superpowers, much like the "Heroes" TV show. Most of them are like you and me, but with powers. Except for Stuntman and Double Helix, all of the protagonists are extremely sympathetic. Following the book's general theme of rite of passage, they're all on a journey to heroism and personal redemption. Each one of them is very different, each one of them will realize their potential in a different way, but all of them are very uplifting. Some go from cynicism to the discovery that there are things worth fighting for. Some are ugly ducklings that will come out of their shells. Some want to erase past impressions. Another new great thing in this book is the presence of strong female protagonists. Perhaps one of the few negative points of the old Wild Cards series, that usually had very few kick-ass female heroes. Curveball, Bubbles, and Earth Witch are all great. Both "Chosen Ones" and "Metagames" feature relationships between two female characters as the main point of the stories, giving the new female characters more realism: they're not there just as romantic interests for the guys. One last thing I liked a lot. This book is also very "epic". Great superhero battles, change the world stuff, superpowers used in the world stage of global politics. It struck me how great the Wild Card characters are in this sort of war/political/spy story. They're powerful enough to do things, but they're not so powerful that they overwhelm the other side too easily (as would happen if you had, say, DC Comics' Justice League going to a war). They can take armies, but they're not unbeatable, and this mantains the tension and suspense. The politics of the book also, thankfully, avoid being "partisan" or panfletary. While you do have at least two characters that have Christian undertones (Crusader and Holy Roller) battling Muslims, it's hard to categorize this book as "right-wing", when a lot of it revolve around the very pagan Egyptian Gods and John Fortune, and characters such as lesbians, debauched roc

Launched in 1987, the Wild Cards series dares to take superheroes seriously, breaking ground for comic books like RISING STARS and TV shows like HEROES. There are heroes and villains, along with plenty in between, with story arcs that cover many comic tropes (alien invasion, supervillain-led conspiracy, organized crime with superfolk) and many that are pure social or political commentary. The new book, INSIDE STRAIGHT, does a fantastic job of bringing together these two thematic strands into one dazzling whole. The comic trope is very much au courant-- young people dealing with their powers (a notion explored in books like RUNAWAYS)-- while the social/political angles include reality TV (with the start of a series called AMERICAN HERO) and an analog of some serious real-world crises. The stories lead up to two critical questions: 1) what is a hero? and 2) if you have superpowers, do you have a duty to help make a difference in the world? I cannot recommend the book enough. There are some deeply moving moments and some true hilarity, with the whole assembled brilliantly by George R.R. Martin. If you like the idea of superhero fiction written for adults, you're going to love this book.