George RR Martin Presents Wild Cards: Pairing Up: An Anthology (book review).
In 2023, the ‘Wild Cards’ book franchise moved back to Bantam Books. In that year, they released two graphic novels and the first of their anthologies, ‘Pairing Up’. Looking at the nine authors, none of the names bar Melinda Snodgrass, looked familiar with me so we are into the new generation. Since I’ve been reviewing these books and reprints for over 20 years now, you should be familiar with this reality. In September 1946, the Earth was selected by the alien Takisians to try out a virus to endow super-powers, supposedly to enhance their own psionic powers, with only one dissenter. Things get a bit muddled when a terrestrial crime boss, Dr. Tod, steals it and plans to release the virus over New York and stopped by a young pilot, Jetboy, resulting in the spread of the virus across the world with the Big Apple getting the worse of it initially. 90% of the population were infected, most dying and the survivors mutated and being called jokers and those with successful mutations aces. Reading the preface again here, I did wonder what was different about the naturals or nats that prevented them being infected other than a statistical anomaly.
‘Pairing Up’ is following the pattern of other genre fiction, heavily dosed with romance, with some odd pairings depending on how you look at it. Whether this would attract new readers is debatable because this book is unlike the other ‘Wild Cards’ books because they lack mosaic linkage.
For the moment, this book moves back to 1957 with the story ‘Trudy Of The Apes’ by Kevin Andrew Murphy. Trudy Pirandello was part if Dr. Tod’s gang and turned the ace with the Wild Card virus which she exploits as a jewel thief as she can teleport small objects like, well, like jewels. She finds some of the details of a secret horde and needs to get close to Jack Braun, the Golden Boy, who is filming a Tarzan show, and get his help where it is being filmed. The pacing was good but a little rushed at the end. With each story allocated roughly 50 pages, except the penultimate one of novelette length, I suspect that was more from necessity. I’ve commented before about the problems of setting stories in the past with the Wild Cards reality is that much of it has already been established and if you have any significant aces or jokers then you have to wonder why they haven’t popped up later. Jack Braun’s history is pretty much known and this is an attachment to that. I can see the problem of setting it in modern day but you do have to wonder what happened to Trudy?
More up-to-date in 1981, Christopher Rowe’s story, ‘Cyrano d’Escargot’, and the 14 year-old snail-boy Theodore Witherspoon has been corresponding using an alias and acting far older himself, falling in love with the older joker/ace Peregrine. The problem is Peregrine is going to be in the area and wants to meet him at the university, which he also isn’t attending. Witherspoon pays nat actor Trevor Fitzgerald to pose as him, equipped with an earpiece so he can provide the right information. So much of this is spoiler and it’s a shame that more isn’t done with Peregrine, especially with so much more attention is given with the media in the later books.
Now we are in 2010 with ‘In The Forests Of The Night’ by Marko Kloos and the knave, meaning a joker/ace, Samir Khan leads a two-man bodyguard team protecting a prominent drug dealer in a visit to a tropical holiday resort with his opposite number. Khan’s wild card is that half his body, split down the middle if you can imagine it is tiger and his joker enhances his strength and hearing, although messes up his sight a little. He’s also attracted to another tourist called Maryann, and then things turn pear-shaped and that’s spoiler. A lot of this references the previous book series and this is the first time we actually have a new character.
Hope you picked up those ‘Wild Cards’ graphic novels before reading this book. Melinda Snodgrass’ ‘The Wounded Heart’ relates to her graphic novel, ‘Sins Of The Father’, and is actually a continuation, with information that is less apparent there. Nat Detective Francis Xavier Black, otherwise called Frannie, has a new girlfriend, Abgail Baker, but is becoming more suicidal after the discovery that his late father and police inspector wasn’t as squeaky clean as his image. He isn’t doing that in the traditional way, just taking bigger risks all the time until he’s put on leave and then forced into a situation with an existing case. Snodgrass shows her true form here and nicely played.
Writer Bradley Denton’s story, ‘Echoes From A Canyon Wall’, is also the basis for the book cover with its two aces, Auntie Ink and Freddie ‘Amplifier’ Fullerton in 2013. They are being pursued by El Alacrán who wants to sedate Fullerton with his venom for one of the Wild Card security agencies. Auntie Ink is there to keep track of Fullerton until other aces can reach them at a mountain holiday resort. Fullerton is also a step-brother to Michelle Pond aka Bubbles and a former lover of Ink. The story is written in first person or rather first persons as the story moves across the three main characters. Its also not a good time to lose phone reception.
The year is 1913, a long time before the Wild Card virus, we have the setting for ‘The Long Goodbye’ by Walter Simons. In one of his changes, the Sleeper has become an ace with time travel abilities and after a poker game that went wrong, deposited John Fortune, shape-shifter Jerry Straus and Irena into the past buck naked. Not knowing when the Sleeper can retrieve them, after starting as thieves to get clothes and money, they start a small film studio in Los Angeles in the silent age. The trappings of this are all nicely staged (sic) and film fan Strauss really is in his element. I have vague memories of the poker match in one of the other books but from the Sleeper’s perspective.
The year is 2021 and writing duo Gwenda Bond and Peter Newman set their novelette story, ‘What’s Your Sign’ in the UK, flipping between two aces. Stuart Hill powers up by people’s affection for him and a recent recruit to Reachers, a rescue organisation from which he has recently been doing some work for. His PR, Colin, is heavily promoting him, even to the point of getting her a hero name by voting and he gets lumbered with Hero McHeroFace. I wonder how long before he can change that to, say, Attenborough? Anyway, he meets the American horoscope reader and secret ace Stella Sumner, who can shape-shift into horoscope animals but avoids revealing it, for a horoscope reading. At a later time, another charity event and the audience pays for them to go the The Ivy, an expensive restaurant in any reality. Stella also has a stalker whose messages are getting ever more descriptively threatening violence as she and Stuart fake a romance for the digital media. Beyond that is spoiler and nicely played out.
Lastly, we have ‘The Wolf And The Butterfly’ by David Anthony Durham. Set in 2023, Bacho has a hidden ace that manifests itself as a shadowy wolf. He gets talked into acting in a university drama by Adesina Pond aka Morpho Girl, the adopted daughter of Michelle Pond aka Bubbles. With her six legs and wings, she makes a perfect butterfly and an unusual romance develops as Bacho’s previous girlfriend had dumped him. With an eruption of violence at the theatre there’s a lot to survive but that’s spoiler.
Unusual for the ‘Wild Cards’ mosaic novels, there is no cohesion across the stories here although I would hesitate to use it as an introduction to this reality. What you do get is top notch writing and sensitive handling of a variety of subjects which explains how this series had lasted over 38 years. It’s a shame that its instigator, George RR Martin, only acts as head editor and not occasionally contributes a short story from time to time but I guess ‘Game Of Thrones’ took up so much time.
GF Willmetts
April 2025
(pub: Bantam Books, 2023. 428 page enlarged paperback. Price: varies. ISBN: 978-0-593-35788-0)
check out websites: https://wildcards.fandom.com/
