George R.R. Martin (grrm) wrote,
George R.R. Martin
grrm

Wild Cards Times Three

Some exciting news on the WILD CARDS front for fans of the world's longest running shared world anthology series.

HIGH STAKES will be out later this year, as previously announced. That's the third and concluding volume in what we've come to call our "mean streets and madness" triad, and the twenty-third volume in the overall series (which originally began way way back in 1987). It was also the last new volume under contract to Tor.



But no longer! Wild Cards will fight another day. Tor has just stepped up and signed us for three more originals. This set we will be calling (informally) "the USA Triad." But it won't really be a triad, more like three stand-alones, each with its own setting, cast, and tone.

The three new books are:
TEXAS HOLD 'EM
MISSISSIPPI ROLL
LOW CHICAGO


Details? Sorry. You'll need to wait for those. The ink on the contracts is not quite dry yet, so we're just getting up to steam (as in MISSISSIPPI... no, that would be telling).



This much I can tell you. I'll be editing the new volumes, natch. Melinda Snodgrass will continue as my assistant editor and right hand woman. And we'll be calling on the madman and wild women of the Wild Cards consortium for stories, as ever. Whenever we begin a new triad and a new contract, however, we like to reach out and recruit a few new writers. Fresh blood is just so tasty, and adding some new characters to the mix always helps to enliven things.

So let me introduce you to our Class of 2016. The newest inmates in the asylum are:
SALADIN AHMED
MAX GLADSTONE
MARKO KLOOS
DIANA ROWLAND

They're all insanely talented, and they claim they play well with others (we'll see). And no, I won't tell you about the new characters they've created for us... but we think you're going to like them.

WILD CARDS! From 1987 to forever....

((And if you have not caught the virus yet, there's still time. Head over to the Jean Cocteau Bookshop at http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/ and you'll find all sorts of signed Wild Cards books on sale, some of them with multiple autographs from editors and writers both).



[[Comments welcome. On Wild Cards only, please. Stay on topic]].
Tags: editing, wild cards, writing
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aota

March 11 2016, 00:52:10 UTC 4 years ago

Great news. Wild Cards forever!

ladybird97

March 11 2016, 01:33:11 UTC 4 years ago

WOW! Those are some great new authors. Can't wait to see what they come up with!

John Nelson

March 11 2016, 01:33:27 UTC 4 years ago

I want to start reading the wild card series, but I'm quite daunted by the vast legacy. Do I need to start from the first book and go forward from there and/or are there anthology of the earlier books so I can get caught up faster?

grrm

March 11 2016, 01:36:45 UTC 4 years ago

Start with Inside Straight. You can always go back and check out the earlier books later.

John Nelson

4 years ago

  • New comment

James Moberley

4 years ago

  • New comment

Collin Heisler

4 years ago

  • New comment

grrm

4 years ago

  • New comment

a_cubed

March 11 2016, 02:13:32 UTC 4 years ago

So, from 1987 to forever. While the recent rumours of your demise were exaggerated, well mistaken identity, you're not going to last forever, though may you last a good while longer. Do you have an arrangement in place for Wild Cards to easily continue "under new management" when you've passed on?

grrm

March 11 2016, 06:52:45 UTC 4 years ago

Why is everyone always so eager to discuss my death?

In any case, Wild Cards is a trust. I am the editor and trustee, not the owner. If I should die or retire, a new editor and trustee would be voted in by the members.

Racetrack1982

4 years ago

  • New comment

bart_leby

4 years ago

  • New comment

a_cubed

4 years ago

  • New comment

Saladin Ahmed!!!

s_scottstephens

March 11 2016, 03:03:51 UTC 4 years ago

Wow, so awesome you got Saladin Ahmed writing something for Wild Cards. Throne of the Crescent Moon was probably my favorite book of the past few years. It had a very different feel than most of the fantasy out there. Really solid stuff. It was nominated for the Hugo when it came out, if I remember correctly.

The Name of the Rose

ADragonDemands

March 11 2016, 03:40:42 UTC 4 years ago

Fun fact: through pure coincidence, my full real life name is shared by a character in the Wild Cards series. I was surprised when I stumbled upon it.

RE: The Name of the Rose

grrm

March 11 2016, 04:09:34 UTC 4 years ago

So you are the real Thomas Tudbury, is what you're saying?

Re: The Name of the Rose

ADragonDemands

4 years ago

  • New comment

Re: The Name of the Rose

grrm

4 years ago

  • New comment

Re: The Name of the Rose

Rasmus B Wayne

4 years ago

  • New comment

Re: The Name of the Rose

grrm

4 years ago

  • New comment

Re: The Name of the Rose

cashcraig

4 years ago

  • New comment

Re: The Name of the Rose

grrm

4 years ago

  • New comment

writing_mombie

March 11 2016, 06:28:19 UTC 4 years ago

That's awesome!

Copyright permission

Nacho L

March 11 2016, 08:42:38 UTC 4 years ago

I have developed a nonprofit Android app for fans of Game of Thrones, and I would like to ask you for copyright permission.
Please contact me in nachocooper@gmail.com and I will be glad to send you all the details.

Thanks, I love your work!!

Re: Copyright permission

grrm

March 11 2016, 21:21:38 UTC 4 years ago

You will need to talk to HBO. They control all such secondary rights now.

Audiobook Version???

Jason Raper

March 11 2016, 16:47:45 UTC 4 years ago

Will there be plans for an audiobook version? I spend a lot of time on the road and audiobooks help keep me sane in the Houston traffic. I'm also a notorious multi-tasker and enjoy listening to audiobooks while I perform mind-numbing, monotonous, tasks. The previous audiobooks for the WildCards series were excellent!

new to wild cards

harleyquinn87

March 11 2016, 19:01:16 UTC 4 years ago

I have never read a multi-authored anthology series, I was sort of wary it would have a more choppy feel to it, with different authors not gelling well together - man I'm so happy I got over that hesitation.

I just got done with the first two books and they are freaking fantastic. To anyone who's like "do I really want to delve into another huge universe with multiple authors?" Yes. You do.

I remember you saying something about some of these books being on audiobooks, how is that coming along? Audiobooks are a savior for someone who doesn't always have time to sit down with a book.

Re: new to wild cards

grrm

March 11 2016, 21:23:20 UTC 4 years ago

Yes.

The audibooks of volumes one and two came out years ago, from Brilliance Audio. A single reader.

Random House Audio has since picked up the series. Future volumes will have a mosaic of readers. Books three and four are in the can, and book five is being recorded even as we speak.

See some of my posts downstream for the casts.

Re: new to wild cards

harleyquinn87

4 years ago

  • New comment

Re: new to wild cards

harleyquinn87

4 years ago

  • New comment

shannon_a

March 11 2016, 20:37:57 UTC 4 years ago

Congrats! By chance I just started rereading Vol. 1 last night. It's still damned good. (I hope to read the whole series this time; previously I think I've read 1-8 and 18-21.)

grrm

March 12 2016, 06:58:21 UTC 4 years ago

Stopped after 8 , did you?

So did a lot of other readers, I confess.

James Moberley

4 years ago

  • New comment

grrm

4 years ago

  • New comment

renepavan

4 years ago

  • New comment

grrm

4 years ago

  • New comment

renepavan

4 years ago

  • New comment

renepavan

March 12 2016, 00:08:39 UTC 4 years ago

Congrats!

I've read every single one of the published books, and they're awesome (yeah, I love even the dark and despairing Jumper books that many people like to complain about).

It's interesting that you got Saladin Ahmed now. One of the complaints I've heard about Wild Cards was the accusation of "Orientalism", on account of the Islamic villains in some of the novels. I don't agree with the accusation, and I think that having an Islamic Fundamentalist as a major villain in 1987 was indeed prophetic.

But the addition of an Arab-American writer to the fold is great. I hope we'll get to see some Islamic heroes, for balance.

grrm

March 12 2016, 20:23:43 UTC 4 years ago

It does appear that we predicted a caliphate a decade or so before ISIS. Not to mention the madness of the Iraq War... though the details are notably different.

As for the Islamic Fundamentalist villains, I should point out that our long list of villains also includes Roman Catholic Fundamentalists, Evangelical Protestant Fundamentalists, Soviet communists, greedy capitalists, aliens from space, different aliens from space, Third World dictators, Freemasons (Egyptian Rite), corrupt cops, misguided idealists, sadistic teenagers, sadistic senators, leftist revolutionaries, right-wing reactionaries, would-be world conquerers, lying lawyers, amoral television executives, a couple of undead, a vampire of sorts, and most recently a dark god from another dimension.

With twenty-three books under our belts, and three more to come, our appetite for villainy is voracious.

(But we do try for a certain level of nuance, though I will not claim that we have already succeeded).

kallisti

4 years ago

  • New comment

milkforfree

March 12 2016, 16:26:41 UTC 4 years ago

Any hints as to when we'll see the sequel to Throne of the Crescent Moon? I liked that one.

grrm

March 12 2016, 20:08:58 UTC 4 years ago

Only Saladin knows for sure.

Mysticon

gianetta

March 13 2016, 01:26:44 UTC 4 years ago

Sorry for putting this in the wrong post, but I just had to say thank you for the reading in Roanoke. I wasn't able to attend your other sessions, so didn't get to meet you, but I was thrilled to get into your reading. Thank you!

Jack Ashcraft

March 13 2016, 04:40:12 UTC 4 years ago

Will the final volume of this triad be another full blown mosaic?

grrm

March 13 2016, 18:08:15 UTC 4 years ago

No. This is not a traditional triad. This is a bit of a change-up, we're doing what are in essence three stand-alones.

We'll return to the triad format with subsequent contracts. The next two are already in the planning stages.
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  • Season's End

    The NFL has wound up its regular season. Both of my teams had miserable years and are out of the playoffs. The Giants managed to win their final…

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