Sleeper Straddle

An original collection of interwoven short stories set in the Wild Cards universe, created by the globally bestselling author of A Game of Thrones

'A complex, intricately imagined universe' Telegraph

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 Cards' greatest failure, and its greatest success. Dubbed 'The Sleeper', he undergoes sporadic hibernations, after each one awakening with a new appearance and powers. Till now he's awoken in a singular body: but this time he finds himself split into six different incarnations, each with a unique look and ability.

Recognizing this for the disaster that it is, one of the incarnations tasks Tesla – a joker with ace powers – to gather the remaining five versions before sleep claims them again and leaves Croyd permanently fractured.

What follows is a journey through Croyd's long and colourful life, through the lens of some who have encountered the world's most unusual Wild Carder. And as Tesla will have to work fast, because not every Croyd is as amiable as the first incarnation, 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, and Max Gladstone.

About the author

George R.R. Martin is the author of fifteen novels and novellas, including five volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire, several collections of short stories, as well as screenplays for television and feature films. Dubbed ‘the American Tolkien’, George R.R. Martin has won numerous awards including the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an Executive Producer on HBO’s Emmy Award-winning Game of Thrones, which is based on his A Song of Ice and Fire series. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.