Ace in the Hole

by Ed. Martin, George R R

Book Overview

This sixth alternate universe volume in the Wild Cards saga is set in Atlanta of 1988. Against a backdrop of passion and intrigue, a handful of Aces and Jokers struggle for control of a nation. Includes a new Afterword by the author and a new interior by popular comics artist Timothy Truman.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553282530
• ISBN13: 9780553282535
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 385 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A Superb Start to the Series

This is the first book in the long-running Wild Cards series, edited by George R. R. Martin. Several authors contribute stories, which taken together form a "mosaic" novel. This works better than you might think. The quality of these stories is very high, and while there are one or two rough spots, Martin's editing, ably assisted by Melinda Snodgrass, keeps the continuity smooth. The premise is simple enough: In 1946, an alien virus is detonated over New York City. The Takisians decide to use Earth as a guinea pig to test this new weapon, and although one of their princes comes to Earth to prevent this, he fails. 90% of those exposed to the virus "draw the Black Queen" --- they die a horrible and painful death. 9% suffer horrific disfigurement --- these are the Jokers. And 1% develop supernormal abilities, and these are the aces. Yes, this is superhero fiction, but it's much more sophisticated than the X-Men or the Heroes TV series. It's occasionally tongue in cheek, but it's much darker than you'd expect from a superhero story. It's graphically violent and sexually explicit, and a lot of the action is extremely grim. It's a strangely compelling world, a kind of funhouse mirror held up to our own world, dealing with serious drama while maintaining a light, breezy tone on the surface. This first volume begins with a story by the eccentric genius Howard Waldrop, which contains some of the finest writing I've come across in 50 years of reading. The following stories develop the Wild Card universe from the late 40s until the late 80s, setting the stage for the later volumes, which are contemporary in setting. You'll find some of the best science fiction ever published in this book, with everything good fiction offers: drama, suspense, tragedy, comedy, hope, fear, disappointment, love, sex, death and rebirth --- all in a world where people can fly and read minds and have super strength ... and so on. George R. R. Martin contributes most of the connecting material that links the stories together, plus an excellent story of his own, but this is nothing like Song of Ice and Fire. As Martin's name is now being used to sell the books, some people may be surprised. If you like superhero fiction, or fast paced adventure SF, this is for you. If you're reading it for the first time, I envy you.

A fantastic new world of heroes!

A month ago (as of this writing) I'd never ever heard of this series, but now I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume. George R.R. Martin has assembled some fantastic writers to concoct an entire universe of "Wild Card" superheroes that parallels our own world even moreso than the worlds of Marvel and DC Comics which serve as much of the inspiration.Here's the concept -- in the days after World War II a bomb went off in the skies above New York City, blanketing the people in a virus. Most of them died. Some, the "jokers" underwent a terrible transformation. A select few drew "aces" -- superpowers without a deformity. Each writer in this collection (an intriguing device martin calls a "Mosaic Novel") tells the story of an ace or joker of his or her creation. All of the stories stand on their own, although many feel very much like a chapter in a longer tale (John J. Miller's "Comes the Hunter" especially) and I hope these threads are picked up in the later books.As with any collection of diverse writers, some stories are better than others. Martin's own "Shell Games" is my favorite in this volume -- I could have done without the sewer tale, "Down Deep." Even with that lesser story, the concept and execution is wonderful -- I for one am hoping Martin deals out a few more Wild Cards in the future.

A golden oldie

I read this series when it was originally released. I wasnt happy with where the series eventually ended up late in the series, but the earlier works are fond favorites.People buying this book (or others in the series) because they are fans of GRRMartins Song of Ice and Fire series are likely to be disapointed due to misaligned expectations. The only thing this series has in common with the Song of Ice and Fire is a gritty certainty that favorite characters will get killed....or worse, and the use of widely scattered often disconnected characters and plotlines that sometimes may cross but also might never. Further, as this is a 'mosaic' novel, GRRMartin isnt the sole proprietor of the stories. Treated as a seperate entity from GRRMartin's more recent series, the Wild Cards series is a fairly unique and often brilliant body of work. Due to its nature, not all of the short stories will appeal to everyone; to be sure there are stories and story arcs that dont appeal to me either. Regardless, taken as a whole the series is really something special. Its similar to a massive wall mural which cant be appreciated from up close; you have to pull back abit and look at it in its entirety to fully appreciate the overall effect.The strength of the series lays in its deft characterizations. Some of my favorite fictional characters are from this series; the Turtle, Croyd Crenson (the Sleeper), Golden Boy, Mackie Messer, Carnifex, Mr Nobody, Jumpin Jack Flash (et al), Kid Dinosaur.....the list goes on and on.The series really picks up in the second book, but the 1st is where all of the necessary background resides. Unfortunately, the books are being released in a grossly overpriced large softbound edition; my advice it to find the original paperbacks in a used book store.

A classic series yet to be fully discovered

Wild Cards is a comic book/sci-fi lovers dream. Putting superheroes/villians into the real world makes for the compelling drama. I read and collected this series around 8 years ago and have wanted to find someone else who read them ever since. Now that the first two volumes (out of thirteen) have been re-released I may finally get that chance. Not to be missed.

Why all comic readers need this book

For those of you out there that grew up on comic books as I did, this book is a must. From the get-go the collaborative authors strip down super-heroes to their roots and show how truly heroic people are. There aren't any fancy teams or 2 dimensional characters. These are all people that you might meet and love, hate, want... etc. Except some of them have weird powers and some of them as bizarrely misshapen. Oh, and make sure to watch a little boy name Tom become a true hero, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TURTLE, through the books.