A True Classic!

Remembering back to the 80s and what a splash this series made, I had to give the audio treatment a try. Very well done presentation with a large variety of unique character voices.
The story itself is a classic, treating the impact of superhuman (and non-human) characters on the 'real' world. If you aren't familiar with this series, but enjoyed the TV series Heroes, give this a try!

33 people found this helpful

Wrong execution of a good idea

I understand why people give this top ratings, but for me, there was such a lack of cohesion that I was too often left wonder what the heck did one chapter have to do with another.. or anything at all.
I liked the different writing styles as the differences became part of the characters, but again, some skills were distractingly lacking. Made it to chapter 19 when I realized I wasnt interested in hearing more.

10 people found this helpful

Nice Surprise

I decided to give this book a try after reading the reviews and am very pleased I did. It shows a world where an alien virus has infected the population post WWII. I greatly enjoyed the format of jumping POV's and showing how our timeline might have been effected by such an event - something I think was handled quite artfully by the writers.

The "Wildcard Virus" has effected people in several ways ranging from the Aces (superheroes) to the Jokers (those deformed or negatively effected) - and that isn't counting the overwhelming majority of those that get it that simply die horribly. With this in play it effects more than just everyday social interaction, it effects government, entertainment, crime, and quite a few other things in between.

There were characters and storylines I enjoyed more than others (the Sleeper, the Turtle, and the government anylist who can stop time being among my favorites) but all in all it was thoroughly enthralling with a wonderfully narrator to guide the whole thing.

22 people found this helpful

good story until it gets raunchh

story is very interesting until about 2/3 of the way through when he gets really raunchy and then towards the last 30 minutes or so goes back to good

6 people found this helpful

WHO KNEW "SUPER HEROISM," IS A DISEASE

What did you love best about Wild Cards I?

I've read some of the books. It was an experience to hear it brought to life by a voice. Dr Tachyon's voice was not what I imagined but then I never fully read or digested his description in the book. All the characters came to life for me in this work.

What did you like best about this story?

Each chapter is a new story. There are several "literary voices" in this work. Each chapter is written by a different author. This very feature lends itself to the idea that each chapter was written by the character most prominently featured in the segment.

What about Luke Daniels’s performance did you like?

His voices weren't as distinctive as some readers I've listened too in past. However his voice had a feel, sound and quality that lent itself to the era where the story began and progressed through.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Super heroism is a disease. Look out "Body Snatchers," we've got one up on you this time.

Any additional comments?

Some of the segments of this book are not for young listeners. Personaly those stories too heavily focused on sex did not appeal to me as much now as when I read the books. For that reason the Fortunata chapters got skipped. Not that his story wasn't interesting and poiniant I just didn't like them as much as I did in my younger years.

11 people found this helpful

Alternate reality never felt so right!

What did you love best about Wild Cards I?

I'm an old Wild Cards fan. I own all of the books to the series and have loved reading them for years. When I found out that there was an audiobook of book 1 I had to have it and I was not disappointed. Luke Daniels is a great reader of the stories and his voice acting was great. I really enjoyed the new story of Ghost's origin with the Sleeper (Roger Zelazny's immortal character).

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wild Cards I?

My favorite part was Luke's reading of

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene is where the Radical (Mark Meadows) and the Lizard King (Thomas Marion Douglas / this world version of Jim Morrison of the Doors) team up to fight Hardhat during the 60 counterculture movement.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Not because it wasn't good but because it's one of my favorite books and I like to savor it like a fine wine.

Any additional comments?

If you know of or have been introduced to the Wild Cards shared universe this is a great production of book 1. If you know nothing about it I highly recommend it. It is kind of a Super Hero / Villain in an alternate reality of our world which diverged shortly after WWII into a realistic vision of our world with super powers.

11 people found this helpful

Worth waiting for!!!

Any additional comments?

Loved these books when they came out and was overjoyed they had finally been released as audiobooks. And as a bonus there are some stories in the collection that didn't make it into the book... at least into the UK edition. Definitely worth a listen by anyone who enjoyed the books or later shows like Heroes and Alphas

17 people found this helpful

Disjointed and Incomplete

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone who enjoys short stories in the fantasy genre.

What could the authors have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Explained that it was a loosely connected series of short stories that may or may not have endings. What happened to Croid (and his drug problem), the great and powerful turtle or Ghost girl (and others), no one knows.

Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favorite?

The reader did a great job with all the characters. I just didn't get invested in any character enough because they just quit being.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Ripped off. It was a collection of stories, not a novel.

Any additional comments?

It's not the Game of Thrones. I don't know what George R Martin did for this collection of stories, but I suspect mostly, he lent his name and collected money.

2 people found this helpful

Just don't like it....

So I decided that since I do like Science Fiction & I really enjoy the Game of Thrones series, a SIFI series by George R.R. Martin should be a perfect fit. Well I gave it an honest effort, but sadly I really, really do not like the Wild Card series. Yeah I only made it through book 1 but quite frankly I would rather suffer a root canal minus paid medication than force myself to read or listen to another Wild Card book.
Some of the character development was great & some well not so, the story was all over the place & a lot of the time gave the sense of a jumbled mess or that of a story written during a Hendrix Purple Haze.
I'm sure there are those out there who feel that this story line is the greatest thing since sliced bread & well I don't begrudge them that, I will just leave it at it's not for me. From my perspective it's too chaotically written and the development is to hap hazard for my taste.

2 people found this helpful

Dry Politics

I was excited about this book, George R.R. Martin is a great author. The premise for the book is excellent. A virus from outer space attacks Earth, resulting in lots of freaks and some super heroes. For every ten freaks, there is one Ace.

The prologue sets it up well. The first story by Howard Waldrop starts the book out with an exciting story about Jet Boy, the main hero. The next story by Roger Zelazny is really good. Then Walter Jon Williams gets extremely political and the list of nobody authors that follow continue the politics. There are several hours of McCarthyism and black lists. Like the holocaust we need to be reminded of these black parts of our history, so we don't repeat them, but this pretty much killed the series and droned on for hours. Martin comes in with his story and with his brand of sex and realistic horrors tries to bring the series back to interesting. Victor Milan's and Stephen Leigh's stories help, but my mind had already gone numb from the 19 hours of disappointment.

The narrator does nothing to help. I ended up toward the end putting him on fast play and that helped a little. If you have to be put on fast play to be interesting, that is saying something.

I have a soft cover of this book and there are three stories in this expanded version that are not in the soft cover. I also have volumes 2,3 and 5. I will try reading them the old fashioned way instead of listening. Do not be fooled by the amount of books in this series. There are plenty of series out there that are not worth reading.

42 people found this helpful