The Wild Card series

[Chris Fluit]

Well go ahead and post what it is you want to say, whether that's questions, reactions or reviews.  I'm sure that once you do that, and we have something concrete to reply to, the other posters will chime in.  

As for me, I've read 1-3, 6-8 and 11.  I also have a copy of number five that I bought last month but haven't yet gotten around to reading.  And I've noticed that my local library has a copy of number four (they were also my source for number three which I've read but don't own).

I'd like to read the rest of the series, with the sole exception of the one that was written solely by Melinda Snodgrass (#10?).  I don't care for her individual chapters and reading an entire book of them seems like torture.

[Eric L. Sofer, the Silver Age Fogey]

I've read them all, and I rather liked them... but it seems, as is always the case, that the story focuses more on the characters than the abilities (to the point that quite a few of the characters might as well not even BE aces), and also it seems to strive to wallow in the gritty side.

I mean, it's very hard to find the good guys in these books... and I can't believe that NO ONE is a good guy!  Even Dr. Tachyon and Modular Man and the Great and Powerful Turtle seem to end up with feet of clay now and again.

And having taken a page from the X-Men, the dichotomy between normals and supers is tremendous, pronounced, and very violent.  I don't see why it ALWAYS has to be that way...

[Chris Fluit]

It's not always that way, but it does seem to be the norm.  For example, I'm pretty sure that Yeoman had a non-Ace lover for some time but as far as I know she was never a regular in the book.  She was just somebody that he'd be sleeping with before setting out on his mission for that particular volume.

[DneColt]

QUOTE(guttermouf5150 @ Dec 6 2004, 01:13 AM)

come on people!
 i just read books 1-8, and i am itching to discuss them! i cant stand reading something and not talking about it with someone. i would join a book club, but then i would have to read what they want.

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Fire away, mouf.

As you can tell, I've sort of stalled out on books 5 and 6 (I'll get there), but I have read the whole series and -- in anticipation of finishing this post -- I've got the whole schmeer sitting on my bedroom bookshelf.

[DneColt]

Just finished V6 (and updated the entry to reflect that).

I have to say it was better than I remembered it. Still plenty of cheese, don't get me wrong, but I was really interested in Jack Braun's progress, as well as James Spector's.

I never liked Mackie "the Knife) Messer even a little, and thus was as cheered by the end as I was dissapointed.

I also found hilarious all the "hi-tech" references from 1990 ("cell phones" in brief cases, portable computers, and sending things "by modem.") Hard to believe that a 128K used to be smoking.

[Chris Fluit]

The redemption of Jack Braun is one of the high points of the Democratic National Convention books.  I really find myself pulling for him throughout.  

And as you noted concerning James Spector, Wild Cards does have a way of making you cheer for the bad guys.  Except Mackie Messer.  Not a great name.  Not an interesting power.  Not much of a character.  In a way, I'm reminded of the "desktop" characters that we make fun of in comic books.  The writer knows he needs a new villain and is just completely stuck for ideas.  So he looks around his workspace.  That's it!  The Calculator!  Or the Eraser!  Or something like that.  I get the same feeling with Mackie Messer.  The writer tried to make use of a famous song title, but never really took the time to make the character more than a song reference.

[Eric L. Sofer, the Silver Age Fogey]

And yet... I thought that Mackie Messer was one of the scariest characters in the books.  Deadly attack, could walk through walls, couldn't be stopped - and was crazy as an outhouse rat.  Whenever that character got involved in a story, I started hearing either Twilight Zone or Psycho music in the background...

YMMV, as always.

As for Jack Braun... I always thought of him as a character who needed OTHERS to redeem him, and that he couldn't redeem himself.  But I liked him quite a bit, and still do.  Very solid, stable character.  I rather picture the younger Mr. Incredible when I think of Jack... of course, that was before the movie, so one kind of blends into the other, but you know what I mean.

[DneColt]

QUOTE(Silver Age Fogey @ Dec 15 2004, 02:15 PM)

And yet... I thought that Mackie Messer was one of the scariest characters in the books.  Deadly attack, could walk through walls, couldn't be stopped - and was crazy as an outhouse rat.  Whenever that character got involved in a story, I started hearing either Twilight Zone or Psycho music in the background...

YMMV, as always.

As for Jack Braun... I always thought of him as a character who needed OTHERS to redeem him, and that he couldn't redeem himself.  But I liked him quite a bit, and still do.  Very solid, stable character.  I rather picture the younger Mr. Incredible when I think of Jack... of course, that was before the movie, so one kind of blends into the other, but you know what I mean.

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Oh, Mackie's a scary IDEA, I just didn't much like the execution.

[guttermouf5150]

for some reason i really like Jack Braun, i think its cause i just think its so cool to be really strong. it sort of bums me out how he is always made out to be such a weenie. always making wrong decisions, messing things up.

i really like Jay Ackroyd too. he's funny, and he also has a very cool power.

i have grown quite sick of Brennan. for some reason he just rubs me the wrong way nowadays. he just thinks he is so damn cool.

[guttermouf5150]

what was the deal with Leo Barnett? how did he heal Quasi-man? or did he even do anything? I was always a little confused by that part.

[guttermouf5150]

QUOTE(Chris Fluit @ Dec 6 2004, 02:52 PM)

It's not always that way, but it does seem to be the norm.  For example, I'm pretty sure that Yeoman had a non-Ace lover for some time but as far as I know she was never a regular in the book.  She was just somebody that he'd be sleeping with before setting out on his mission for that particular volume.

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i dont recall that from any book. Chrysalis and Wraith are the only two that I remember.

[Eric L. Sofer, the Silver Age Fogey]

Yeoman had a Vietnamese wife (I think she was Vietnamese) who was pregnant when she was killed by that USVN colonel that he hunted.  He was Chrysalis' and Wraith's lover, and also an oriental girl (maybe Chinese) named Mai, perhaps, who was the one that merged with the Swarm Mother and convinced her to leave Earth.

Yeah, kinda promiscuous, but that's how those Punisher types are...  And come to think of it, HE'S sad and powerful as well... uh oh...

[guttermouf5150]

QUOTE(Silver Age Fogey @ Dec 23 2004, 09:46 AM)

Yeoman had a Vietnamese wife (I think she was Vietnamese) who was pregnant when she was killed by that USVN colonel that he hunted.  He was Chrysalis' and Wraith's lover, and also an oriental girl (maybe Chinese) named Mai, perhaps, who was the one that merged with the Swarm Mother and convinced her to leave Earth.

Yeah, kinda promiscuous, but that's how those Punisher types are...   And come to think of it, HE'S sad and powerful as well... uh oh...

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i dont think he was sleeping with Mai, she was the daughter of an old friend from vietnam. yeah he had a wife in vietnam, but i was saying that he never had a different girlfriend in these stories.

[DneColt]

Just finished Dead Man's hand -- I'd forgotten how much I liked Jay Ackroyd.

With all of the rpeated scenes (mostly Jay in Atlanta) I found myself wishing they'd just combined these two novel into one two volume book and intercut them more. Reading them back to back I found it annoying to have to read through a scene with Tachyon and Ackroyd a second time.

Also, as to where Ti Malince went -- as near as I could tell, Jay didn't really have a clear location in mind, except for the subway platform in his dream, so maybe he sent him nowhere -- or to a random platform in NYC.

Anyway, on the the Jumpers!

[guttermouf5150]

QUOTE(DneColt @ Dec 24 2004, 05:10 PM)

Just finished Dead Man's hand -- I'd forgotten how much I liked Jay Ackroyd.

With all of the rpeated scenes (mostly Jay in Atlanta) I found myself wishing they'd just combined these two novel into one two volume book and intercut them more. Reading them back to back I found it annoying to have to read through a scene with Tachyon and Ackroyd a second time.

Also, as to where Ti Malince went -- as near as I could tell, Jay didn't really have a clear location in mind, except for the subway platform in his dream, so maybe he sent him nowhere -- or to a random platform in NYC.

Anyway, on the the Jumpers!

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yeah same here about Ackroyd. i think he really shined in that one, and ever since to me.

i agree about the repeated scenes. waste of space.

as far as Ti Malice goes, that really bugs me that they just left it wide open like that.  i would think that a subway platform in NYC wouldnt really completely eliminate his threat. he could always crawl on some bum or something real fast. i would think they would have rushed to check it out.

I dont want to use my imagination, dammit! sometimes i just want someone to tell me how things are.