George R. R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Sleeper Straddle
A Novel in Stories
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
An original collection of interwoven short stories set in the Wild Cards universe, where an alien virus mutates some and grants superpowers to others, created by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones
An alien virus ravages the world, with effects as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and are bizarrely mutated.
Croyd Crenson is the Wild Card’s greatest failure—and its greatest success. Dubbed “The Sleeper,” he randomly undergoes hibernations that can span days, weeks, or even months. After each hibernation, he awakens with a new appearance and set of powers—sometimes a joker, sometimes an ace, and sometimes a combination of both—until exhaustion claims him and his next inevitable sleep shuffles the cards anew. Ever since his initial infection in 1946, he’s awoken in a singular body—until now. His latest awakening has left him split into six different incarnations, each of them a self-contained piece of the original and each with a unique look and ability.
One of them, at least, recognizes this for the disaster that it is, and tasks the clever and elusive Tesla—a joker with ace powers—to locate and gather the remaining five versions of himself before sleep claims them again and leaves Croyd permanently fractured.
What follows is a journey through Croyd’s long and colorful life, through the lens of some who have encountered the world’s most unusual wild carder. And as Tesla delves deeper into the investigation, he’ll have to work fast, because not every Croyd is as amiable as the first—and they’ll do whatever it takes to survive.
Featuring stories from:
Christopher Rowe • Carrie Vaughn • Cherie Priest • William F. Wu • Walter Jon Williams • Stephen Leigh • Mary Anne Mohanraj • Max Gladstone • Edited by George R. R. Martin • Assisted by Melinda M. Snodgrass
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Martin and Snodgrass continue the long-running Wild Cards series (after Pairing Up) with a fascinating anthology exploring the elusive character of the Sleeper. In 1946, an alien virus forever changed the course of humanity. Many who survived were transformed into inhuman jokers or blessed with amazing powers as aces—or some combination thereof. One of the first victims was 14-year-old New Yorker Croyd Crenson, who became known as the Sleeper for the way in which his powers change every time he sleeps, becoming folk hero, urban legend, and cautionary tale throughout the decades. In Christopher Rowe's interstitial "Swimmer, Flier, Felon, Spy," Croyd hires joker information broker Tesla to find five alternate versions of himself, the multiplicity a bizarre consequence of his latest manifestation. In tracking them down, Tesla interviews others who've met Croyd over the years, resulting in a grab bag of stories, including Carrie Vaughn's "Days Go By," set in 1961 Greenwich Village; "The Bloody Eagle" by Mary Anne Mohanraj, set in 2003 Sri Lanka; and Max Gladstone's 2019-set "The Boy Who Would Be Croyd." Despite the vast timeline, this volume barely scratches the surface of Sleeper lore. Nevertheless, it's a satisfying sampling of Sleeper anecdotes, paying homage to the Roger Zelazny creation while reflecting the versatility of the Wild Cards franchise as a whole. Fans will be pleased.
