Publisher Description
The action-packed alternate fantasy returns for a new generation, featuring fiction from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, Michael Cassutt, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lewis Shiner, and more―plus two completely new stories from Kevin Andrew Murphy and bestselling author Carrie Vaughn. Forty years after the Wild Card Virus's release, the World Health Organization decides it's time to take a delegation of Aces, Jokers, politicians, and journalists on a fact-finding mission to learn how other countries are dealing with the virus that reshaped humanity. Leading the team is Gregg Hartmann, a senator with presidential aspirations and a dangerous ace up his sleeve. Joining him is a menagerie of some of the series' best and most popular Wild Cards, including Dr. Tachyon, aces Peregrine and Golden Boy, and jokers Chrysalis, Troll, and Father Squid. From the jungles of Haiti and Peru to the tumultuous political climate of Egypt, from a monastery in Japan to the streets of the most glamorous cities of Europe, the Wild Cards are in for an eye-opening trip. While some are worshiped as actual gods, those possessing the most extreme mutations are treated with a contempt that's all too familiar to the delegates from Jokertown. New alliances will be formed, new enemies will be made, and some actions will fulfill centuries-old prophecies that make ripples throughout the future of the Wild Cards universe. Various Roles Read by a Full Cast of Narrators: “Peregrine” read by Kathleen Turner (Down by the Nile) “Chrysalis” read by Selma Blair “Sen Gregg Hartmann / Puppetman” read by Clancy Brown “Yeoman Brennan” read by Adrian Paul “Xavier Desmond” read by Armin Shimerman (From the Journal of Xavier Desmond) “Dr Tachyon” read by Raphael Sbarge (Mirrors of the Soul) “Cordelia Chaisson” read by Kasey Lansdale (Down in the Dreamtime) “Ti Malice” read by Nicholas Guy Smith “Jayewardene” read by Sanjit de Silva (The Teardrop of India) “Troll” read by Richard Moll (Warts and All) “Sara Morgenstern” read by Emily Rankin “Joann Jefferson” read by Donnabella Mortel (Always Spring in Prague) “Xbalanque” read by Noel Bearheart “Wilfried Molniya” read by Stefan Rudnicki (Legends) ”Hunapu” read by Ozzie Rodriguez “Mackie Messer” read by PJ Ochlan “Misha / Kahina” read by Yasmeen Barghouty “Fortunato” read by Prentice Onayemi (Zero Hour)
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“Perhaps the most original and provocative of the shared-worlds books.”
—
Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn
About the Authors
Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. As a young teenager, he became quite well known in Odense as a reciter of drama and as a singer. When he was fourteen, he set off for the capital, Copenhagen, determined to become a national success on the stage. He failed miserably, but made some influential friends in the capital who got him into school to remedy his lack of proper education. In 1829 his first book was published. After that, books came out at regular intervals. His stories began to be translated into English as early as 1846. Since then, numerous editions, and more recently Hollywood songs and Disney cartoons, have helped to ensure the continuing popularity of the stories in the English-speaking world.
George R. R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally ever since. He spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer-producer, working on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid ’90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. Whenever he’s allowed to leave, he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with the lovely Parris, a big white dog called Mischa, and two cats named Augustus and Caligula, who think they run the place.
About the Narrators
Armin Shimerman is familiar to science fiction fans as Quark on Star Trek: DS-9 and as Principal Snyder on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An acclaimed stage actor, he has also cowritten four science fiction novels.
Kathleen Turner is an award-winning actress who has starred in over twenty-five films including Prizzi’s Honor, Romancing the Stone, and The War of the Roses, along with twelve Broadway shows including The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. She is active in Planned Parenthood, People for the American Way, and City Meals on Wheels. She lives in New York City.
Prentice Onayemi is an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator and a voice and film actor who is known for his roles in The Steam-Room Crooner, AmeriQua, and as Joey in the Tony Award–winning play War Horse.
Fred Sanders, an actor and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has received critics’ praise for his audio narrations that range from nonfiction, memoir, and fiction to mystery and suspense. He been seen on Broadway in The Buddy Holly Story, in national tours for Driving Miss Daisy and Big River, and on such television shows as Seinfeld, The West Wing, Will and Grace, Numb3rs,Titus, and Malcolm in the Middle. His films include Sea of Love, The Shadow, and the Oscar-nominated short Culture. He is a native New Yorker and Yale graduate.
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.
Emily Rankin is an audio narrator and winner of two AudioFile Earphones Awards.
George R. R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally ever since. He spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer-producer, working on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid ’90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. Whenever he’s allowed to leave, he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with the lovely Parris, a big white dog called Mischa, and two cats named Augustus and Caligula, who think they run the place.
George R. R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally ever since. He spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer-producer, working on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid ’90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. Whenever he’s allowed to leave, he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with the lovely Parris, a big white dog called Mischa, and two cats named Augustus and Caligula, who think they run the place.