Wild Cards
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| Edited by | |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Superhero, Science fiction |
| Publisher |
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| Published | January 1987 – present |
| Media type | |
| No. of books | 23 (as of 2016) |
Wild Cards is a series of science fiction superhero shared universe anthologies, mosaic novels, and solo novels written by a collection of thirty authors referred to as the Wild Cards Trust and edited by George R. R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass. Set largely during an alternate history of post-World War II United States, the series follows humans who contracted the Wild Card virus, an alien virus that rewrites DNA and mutates survivors; those who acquire minor or crippling physical conditions are known as Jokers, and those who acquire superhuman abilities are known as Aces.
The series originated from a long-running campaign of the Superworld role-playing game, gamemastered by Martin and involving many of the original authors. The framework of the series was developed by Martin and Snodgrass, including the origin of the characters' superhuman abilities and the card-based terminology.
The first installment, Wild Cards, was released in January 1987 by Bantam Books, and as of August 2016, twenty-three books have been released through four publishers; a future triad of books is being written for release through Tor Books. The series has also been adapted to comics and role-playing games.
Set during an alternate history of post-World War II United States, the series follows events after an airborne alien virus is released over New York City in 1946 and eventually infects tens of thousands globally. The virus, designed to rewrite DNA, was developed as a bioweapon by a noble family on the planet Takis, and it is taken to Earth to test on humans, who are genetically identical to the people of Takis. Dr. Tachyon, a member of this family, objects and attempts to stop them. However, his attempt crashes their ship, releasing the virus.
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