Decades after an alien virus changed the course of history, the surviving population of Manhattan still struggles to understand the new world left in its wake. Natural humans share the rough city with those given extraordinary—and sometimes terrifying—traits. While most manage to coexist in an uneasy peace, not everyone is willing to adapt. Down in the seedy underbelly of Jokertown, residents are going missing. The authorities are unwilling to investigate, except for a fresh lieutenant looking to prove himself and a collection of unlikely jokers forced to take matters into their own hands—or tentacles. The deeper into the kidnapping case these misfits and miscreants get, the higher the stakes are raised. Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lowball is the latest mosaic novel in the acclaimed Wild Cards universe, featuring original fiction by Carrie Vaughn, Ian Tregillis, David Anthony Durham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David D. Levine, Michael Cassutt, and Walter John Williams. Perfect for old fans and new readers alike, Lowball delves deeper into the world of aces, jokers, and the hard-boiled men and women of the Fort Freak police precinct in a pulpy, page-turning novel of superheroics and mystery. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

The fourth volume of the annual Unidentified Funny Objects series features the theme of dark humor.What happens when you ask some of the genre's masters to interpret this theme? The enclosed twenty-three darkly humorous tales range from black comedy to biting satire to morbid irony and everything in between.Inside this book you'll find Faustian bargains gone awry, time-traveling ghosts, flawed supervillains, talking hamsters, and much more.Featuring stories by:George R. R. MartinNeil GaimanAndrew KayeCaroline M. YoachimEsther FriesnerBrent C. SmithLaura PearlmanTim PrattPiers AnthonyIan CreaseyOliver BuckramAnaea LayKaren HaberEric KaplanJody Lynn NyeTina GowerZach ShephardMike ResnickJames AquiloneMichael J. MartinezTina ConnollyGini KochJonathan Ems

In e-book for the first time, Full House brings together the Wild Cards stories that have been previously published on Tor.com, including works from:Daniel AbrahamCherie PriestDavid D. LevineWalter Jon WilliamsPaul CornellCarrie VaughnCaroline SpectorStephen LeighMelinda M. SnodgrassAnd more!At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Scanned, converted, re-formatted, proofed, custom title page, custom book cover, and eBook creation by Jerry

Texas Hold'em: A Wild Cards Novel is an adventure in the bestselling shared-universe science fiction superhero series, edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin.San Antonio, home of the Alamo, is also host to the nation's top high school jazz competition, and the musicians at Xavier Desmond High are excited to outplay their rivals. They are also jokers, kids with strange abilities and even stranger looks. On top of that, well, they are teenagers, apt for mischief, mishaps, and romantic misunderstandings.Michelle Pond, aka The Amazing Bubbles, thinks that her superhero (and supermom) know-how has prepared her to chaperone the event. But when her students start going wayward, she’ll soon discover the true meaning of “Don't mess with Texas.”Texas Hold'em features the writing talents of David Anthony Durham (Acacia Trilogy), Max Gladstone (the Craft Sequence), Victor Milan (Dinosaur Lords series), Diana Rowland (Kara Gillian and White Trash Zombie series), Walton Simons, Caroline Spector and William F. Wu.The Wild Cards Universe*The Original Triad*#1 Wild Cards2 Aces High3 Jokers WildThe Puppetman Quartet**#4: Aces Abroad5: Down and Dirty6: Ace in the Hole7: Dead Man’s HandThe Rox Triad**#8: One-Eyed Jacks9: Jokertown Shuffle10: Dealer’s Choice11: Double Solitaire12: Turn of the CardsThe Card Sharks Triad**#13: Card Sharks14: Marked Cards15: Black Trump16: Deuces Down17: Death Draws FiveThe Committee Triad**#18: Inside Straight19: Busted Flush20: Suicide KingsThe Fort Freak Triad**#21: Fort Freak22: Lowball23: High StakesThe American Triad**#24: Mississippi Roll25: Low Chicago26: Texas Hold 'EmAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.**ReviewPraise for the Wild Cards series“Perhaps the most original and provocative of the shared worlds books.” ―Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn"Delicious...Everything I hoped for in a new Wild Cards book. The character interactions and plot twists have exactly the complexity, surprise, and unsentimental realism I'd expect out of a George R. R. Martin project." ―Austin Grossman, author of Soon I Will be Invincible on Inside Straight“This is a wild ride of good, blood-pumping fun that packs a surprisingly emotional punch for a book that looks on the surface like just another superhero adventure.” ― Publishers Weekly on High Stakes“Emotionally powerful. Wild Cards deals up the variety of short fiction without losing the continuity of a novel.”―The Seattle Times“A delightfully imaginative speculation.”―The Toronto Star"Martin has assembled an impressive array of writers. . . . Progressing through the decades, Wild Cards keeps its momentum to the end." ―Locus"The shared-world series known as Wild Cards has had a long and illustrious history of contributors and achievements." ―SciFi.com"New readers and fans of the long-running series will both love the fast-paced plotting and the ever-expanding history of the Wild Card virus on this alternate Earth, where even the superheroes are human." ―Shelf Awareness on Lowball"Highly recommended." ―SFRevu on LowballAbout the AuthorGEORGE R. R. MARTIN is the author of the acclaimed, internationally bestselling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, which is the basis for HBO's popular Game of Thronestelevision series. Martin has won multiple science fiction awards, including four Hugos, two Nebulas, the Bram Stoker, the Locus Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Daedelus, the Balrog, and the Daikon (Japanese Hugo).

Commissioned by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, these tales of dangerous women by the most stellar names in fiction are available for the first time in a three-volume paperback. George R.R. Martin is the bestselling author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the inspiration for HBO's hit series Game of Thrones. This third volume features an original short story by Joe Abercrombie. 'Some Desperado' centres on Shy South, the protagonist of Abercrombie's novel Red Country. Having robbed a bank, Shy is carrying 2,000 silver pieces, and she's on the run when her horse catches an arrow. Marooned in a dusty ghost town, she faces up to a trio of murderous, flea-bitten criminals... This volume of stories about hard-living bad girls, killers and superheroes also includes contributions from worldwide bestselling authors Jim Butcher, Melinda Snodgrass and Pat Cadigan. DANGEROUS WOMEN 3Gardner Dozois's introduction from the hardcoverJoe Abercrombie, "Some Desperado"Diana Rowland, "City...

It all began in 1946, when the bizarre, gene-altering Wild Cards virus was unleashed in the skies over New York City. A virus that created super-powered Aces and bizarre, disfigured Jokers. Now, thirty years later, the victims face a new nightmare.

"Shadow Twin" is a finely crafted science-fiction novel that was started in the mid-1970s by Gardner Dozois. A few years later, Dozois passed the unfinished manuscript on to George R.R. Martin to complete -- but while both writers agreed the story had promise, neither could work up the initiative to finish it. Over the next 20-some years, the story languished in a creative limbo between them; both worked on it now and again, but neither could or would finish it. Then, in 2002, young turk Daniel Abraham got his mitts on it and finally polished the thing off. Whew! An especially nice thing about this novel is that it doesn't read like a story assembled piecemeal over the course of three decades. Nor does it read like the work of three writers with their own voices and styles. "Shadow Twin" is a short science-fiction novel that packs a punch and leaves you thinking, and the three authors involved deserve kudos for a successful -- if long delayed -- collaboration.

From the #1 "New York Times "bestseller, the third of a new generation of Wild Cards tales In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent survived to mutate into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by "New York Times "#1 bestseller George R. R. Martin ("The American Tolkien"--"Time "magazine) along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then--and of the heroes among the one percent. Ranging from New York and New England to ravaged Africa and New Orleans, encompassing war, devastation, and stubborn hope, "Suicide Kings" advances the story of the Wild Cards, and their struggle to be fully human in a world that fears and mistrusts them.

This exciting volume in the bestselling series brings to a conclusion the gripping three-book adventure in which Jokers and Aces deal their last cards in a deadly game against the threat of the violent and vicious Jumpers, who jump their minds into other bodies. More than 750,000 copies of the series in Bantam print. Optioned by Disney Studios.

Two telepaths investigate the newly discovered world of Shkea, where every native inhabitant, and an increasing number of human colonists, worships a mysterious and deadly parasite. Winner of the 1975 Hugo Award for Best Novella. Other short stories in this collection: With morning comes mistfall The second kind of loneliness Override Dark, dark were the tunnels The hero Fta Run to starlight The exit to San Breta Slide show

The entire history of the Wild Cards universe in the UK and Ireland, starting back in 1946 and going right up to the present day.

Edited by George R. R. Martin, the New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones, Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire from Melinda Snodgrass, creator of Dr. Tachyon, is the first solo Wild Cards novel! Soon to be a show on Hulu! Rights to develop Wild Cards for TV have been acquired by Universal Cable Productions, the team that brought you The Magicians and Mr. Robot, with the co-editor of Wild Cards, Melinda Snodgrass as executive producer.Aboard his grandfather's spaceship and fleeing the violent turmoil between jokers, aces, and nats that his vicious ambition spawned, Blaise is headed for a new conquest: the planet Takis. Dr. Tachyon is left behind... but he's lost more than his only way of returning to his homeworld. Blaise has stolen his body, as well—leaving Tach trapped in the pregnant body of a teenage runaway.Tachyon must sell...