General Books - Page 2

Wild Cards VI: Ace in the Hole

George R. R. Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Superb Start to the Series 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

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.

Editorial Review:

Continuing the best-sage alternate universe series edited by George R.R. Martin, the sixth volume in the Wild Cards saga is set in Atlanta of 1988. Terror stalks the halls of the Omni convention center. For a fanatical religious leader has vowed to crush the rights of all Wild Cards, and a hidden Ace wields a terrifying power to determine the outcome of the convention. Against this backdrop of passion and intrigue, a handful of Aces and Jokers struggle for control of a nation.

Features stories by Walton Simons, Victor Milan, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Stephen Leigh, and Walter Jon Williams.

The Ice Dragon

George R.R. Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

good for childrens 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

well, i boght this book excpecting to read a short and pretty childrns fiery tale.
i was wrong.
the book is about a war, about death and a broken family. adults probably won't like it, becuse it's simple.
this is a book that will be complicated for young readers, but perfect for intlegant one.

Editorial Review:

         The ice dragon was a creature of legend and fear, for no man had ever tamed one. When it flew overhead, it left in its wake desolate cold and frozen land. But Adara was not afraid. For Adara was a winter child, born during the worst freeze that anyone, even the Old Ones, could remember.
         Adara could not remember the first time she had seen the ice dragon. It seemed that it had always been in her life, glimpsed from afar as she played in the frigid snow long after the other children had fled the cold. In her fourth year she touched it, and in her fifth year she rode upon its broad, chilled back for the first time. Then, in her seventh year, on a calm summer day, fiery dragons from the North swooped down upon the peaceful farm that was Adara’s home. And only a winter child—and the ice dragon who loved her—could save her world from utter destruction.

Hunter's Run

George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Daniel Abraham

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Like so many others, Ramón Espejo ran from the poverty and hopelessness of the Third World to the promise of a new world—joining a host of like-minded workers and dreamers aboard one of the great starships of the mysterious, repulsive Enye. But the life he found on the far-off planet of São Paulo was no better than the one he had abandoned.

Tough, volatile, and angry—a luckless prospector hoping for that one rich strike that will make him wealthy—Ramón is content only when on his own out in the bush, far from the dirty, loud, bustling hive of humanity that he detests with sociopathic fervor. Then one night his rage and too much alcohol get the better of him, resulting in sudden bloodshed and a high-profile murder. Ramón is forced to flee into the wilderness for however long it will take for the furor to die down.

Here, mercifully, almost happily alone, Ramón is once again free. But while searching for his long-elusive lode, he stumbles upon something completely unexpected: a highly advanced alien race in hiding; fugitives like himself on a world not their own. Suddenly in possession of a powerful, dangerous secret, Ramón must battle for his freedom from alien captors and also against the hostile and unpredictable planet. And so the chase begins.

Police, fugitive aliens, and a human murderer weave a web of shifting alliances as Ramón enters the greatest manhunt the alien world of São Paulo has ever known. If he is to survive, Ramón must overcome inscrutable aliens and deadly predators, but his greatest enemy is himself. With every move in the desperate game, he struggles to outwit his enemies and solve the mystery of a murder he himself committed.

A rip-roaring adventure tale and character study of a fascinating and twisted mind, Hunter's Run showcases three masters of the form at their best.

Legends II: New Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Fantasy fans, rejoice! Seven years after writer and editor Robert Silverberg made publishing history with Legends, his acclaimed anthology of original short novels by some of the greatest writers in fantasy fiction, the long-awaited second volume is here. Legends II picks up where its illustrious predecessor left off. All of the bestselling writers represented in Legends II return to the special universe of the imagination that its author has made famous throughout the world. Whether set before or after events already recounted elsewhere, whether featuring beloved characters or compelling new creations, these masterful short novels are both mesmerizing stand-alones—perfect introductions to the work of their authors—and indispensable additions to the epics on which they are based. Beyond any doubt, Legends II is the fantasy event of the season.

ROBIN HOBB returns to the Realm of the Elderlings with “Homecoming,” a powerful tale in which exiles sent to colonize the Cursed Shores find themselves sinking into an intoxicating but deadly dream . . . or is it a memory?
GEORGE R. R. MARTIN continues the adventures of Dunk, a young hedge knight, and his unusual squire, Egg, in “The Sworn Sword,” set a generation before the events in A Song of Ice and Fire.
ORSON SCOTT CARD tells a tale of Alvin Maker and the mighty Mississippi, featuring a couple of ne’er-do-wells named Jim Bowie and Abe Lincoln, in “The Yazoo Queen.”
DIANE GABALDON turns to an important character from her Outlander saga—Lord John Grey—in “Lord John and the Succubus,” a supernatural thriller set in the early days of the Seven Years War.
ROBERT SILVERBERG spins an enthralling tale of Majipoor’s early history—and remote future—as seen through the eyes of a dilettantish poet who discovers an unexpected destiny in “The Book of Changes.”
TAD WILLIAMS explores the strange afterlife of Orlando Gardiner, from his Otherland saga, in “The Happiest Dead Boy in the World.”
ANNE McCAFFREY shines a light into the most mysterious and wondrous of all places on Pern in the heartwarming “Beyond Between.”
RAYMOND E. FEIST turns from the great battles of the Riftwar to the story of one soldier, a young man about to embark on the ride of his life, in “The Messenger.”
ELIZABETH HAYDON tells of the destruction of Serendair and the fate of its last defenders in “Threshold,” set at the end of the Third Age of her Symphony of Ages series.
NEIL GAIMAN gives us a glimpse into what befalls the man called Shadow after the events of his Hugo Award–winning novel American Gods in “The Monarch of the Glen.”
TERRY BROOKS adds an exciting epilogue to The Wishsong of Shannara in “Indomitable,” the tale of Jair Ohmsford’s desperate quest to complete the destruction of the evil Ildatch . . . armed only with the magic of illusion.

The Armageddon Rag

George R.R. Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Gives a good idea of the author's development 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

An older book by this author, but a good one. You can see the development of his style from The Armageddon Rag to A Game of Thrones. Worth reading if you are a fan and even if you're not but you like eclectic science fiction/fantasy.

An overlooked classic tale expressing the zeitgeist of the 60's 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

George Martin has written better books, but, perhaps, none closer to his heart. He lived through and participated in a number of the seminal defining moments of the 60's, and has recorded, as well as anyone can do, the pain and the glory of an era. He has presented, in a modern fantasy fiction format, the hopes and dreams of a generation, exalted; and the bitter disappointment when it all falls apart, and the dreams die. You don't have to have lived through the 60's in your youth to enjoy this book. It will give it a special frisson, but being human is enough.

Editorial Review:

Onetime underground journalist Sandy Blair has traveled far from his radical roots in the ’60s—until the bizarre and brutal murder of a millionaire rock promoter draws him back. As Sandy sets out to investigate the crime, he finds himself on a magical mystery tour of the pent-up passions of his generation. For a new messiah has resurrected the once legendary rock band Nazgûl—but with an apocalyptic new beat that is a requiem of demonism, mind control, and death only Sandy may be able to change in time. . . .

Tuf Voyaging

George R. R. Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the multiple award-winning, best-selling author of The Song of Ice and Fire series: Haviland Tuf is an honest space-trader who likes cats. So how is it that, in competition with the worst villains the universe has to offer, he's become the proud owner of the last seedship of Earth's legendary Ecological Engineering Corps? Never mind, just be thankful that the most powerful weapon in human space is in good hands-hands which now control cellular material for thousands of outlandish creatures. With his unique equipment, Tuf is set to tackle the problems human settlers have created in colonizing far-flung worlds: hosts of hostile monsters, a population hooked on procreation, a dictator who unleashes plagues to get his own way... and in every case the only thing that stands between the colonists and disaster is Tuf's ingenuity-and his reputation as an honest dealer in a universe of rogues... Tuf Voyaging interior illustrations by Janet Aulisio. Included will be her original eight illustrations, along with 28 newly commissioned ones.

Dying of the Light

George R.R. Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Leaves you wanting more... 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have to say, when I bought this book, I was skeptical. I love GRRM's series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire', and being his latest work, in contrast to 'Dying of the Light' which is over two decades older, I had very high expectations.

However, my expectations were most definately fulfilled. I was left with a permanent engraving of Worlorn and it's people, and I have fleeting memories, as if I'd spent time where myself.

As always, GRRM's ability to draw in his readers is well shown, and my permanent attachment to Dirk, and "Jenny" will last long long after I turned that last page.

Thank you again George!

Editorial Review:

A whisperjewel summoned him to Worlorn, and a love he thought he’d lost. But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk t’Larien imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight, forever falling toward night. Amid this bleak landscape is a violent clash of cultures in which there is no code of honor—and the hunter and the hunted are often interchangeable.

Caught up in a dangerous triangle, Gwen is in need of Dirk’s protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her—and his cunning cohort. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it’s becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. While each will fight to stay alive, one is waiting for escape, one for revenge, and another for a brutal, untimely demise.

ACES HIGH (Wild Cards, No 2)

Various authors

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

30 years later, the victims of the gene-altering 'Wild Cards' virus face a new nightmare. From the far reaches of space comes The Swarm, a deadly menace that could very will destroy the planet. Aces and Jokers must form an uneasy alliance and prepare for a battle they must not lose. When a group of SF's most imaginative writers discovered they shared a secret love of the larger-than-life heroes of the four-colour comics and Saturday matinee serials, they gave each other a challenge: What would our world be like if these superhuman heroes and villains had been real flesh-and-blood men and women who lived through this century's most turbulent history? In WILD CARDS 2, the year is 1970. The place is New York City, home of Aces High, the glamourous lounge atop the Empire State Building, and Jokertown, the squalid residence of the city's underclass. The victims of the Wild Card Virus are no longer new and strange, but neither are they accepted by a world that still fears them. But as the '80s dawn, all eyes are drwn to the skies, and the Wild Cards may be the planet's only hope, as an abomination called the Swarm arrives to threaten Earth.

Starlady and Fast-Friend

George R. R., Martin

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Editorial Review:

Two novelettes by the award-winning author of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, bound like the Ace Doubles of yesterday.

Dead Man's Hand (Wild Cards, Book 7)

George R.R. Martin, John J. Miller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A thrilling ride 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Wild Cards 7, written by George R. R. Martin and John J. Miller is one of the best Wild Cards books so far. Eventhough I don't generally like the mosaic novels, this is a prime example on how it should be done.

It's possible that it is so succesful because there are only two writers, which clearly helps the pace. And ofcourse, the fact that half the book is written by my favorite writer George R. R. Martin, speaks for itself.

Dead Man's Hand is a 'parallel novel' to Wild Cards VI: Ace in the Hole. It follows a plotline that was mentioned in WC6, but not exploared - Chrysalis's murder, and the attempts by Martin's Jay 'Popinjay' Acroyd and Miller's 'Yeoman' Brennan to find the killer.

Popinjay, previously meerely a secondary character, proves to be a classic Martin hero - witty, clever and seemingly superficial, there is more to him than meets the eye, although that is only revealed slowly. I must admit I was disappointed that we won't see the Turtle in this story, but Jay was a suitable compensation.

Yeoman was a different story. Although I have allways liked him, his new love affair with Jennifer 'Wraith' Maloy, is not only unlikely but uninteresting, unlike his past relation with Chrysalis. Now Brennan is little but your average action hero running aroung beating people up and delivering one liners.

As a mystery, the novel works rather well. Certainly the identity of the killer is unexpected. On the other hand, the authors don't quite let you feel this is a Mystery novel - you're too focused on the action/thrilelr plots resolving the story of T-Malice, the master that enslaved so many Wild Cards characters, and the Shadow Fist gang - who try to benefit from Chrysalis's murder.

One of the things I liked best about this novel was the focus on jokers. Although the heros are an ace and a nat, there are more Jokers active in this Wild Cards novel than in any other, many of them showing strength and courage. The Wild Cards series tends to focus on Aces, but I personnaly like the Jokers at least as much, and quite possibly more. The dark side of the Virus, so to speak, can be more fascinating than the more obvious Superhero stuff.

Overall Dead Man's Hand is a thrilling ride, filled with action, advanture, cool ideas, and an extremely powerful climax, in which there is a confrontation between several major characters. The confrontation at the end is one of the Wild Cards' strongest moments, and this novel certainly holds up there with DOWN AND DIRTY, as the best of the Wild Cards so far.