"Wildcards - 16 - Deuces Down" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

Edited by
George R.R. Martin
Wild Cards XVI
Deuces Down
Copyright 9 2002 by George R.R. Martin and the Wild Card Trust
Illustrations copyright C 2002 by ibooks, Inc.
"Storming Space' copyright C 2002 by St. Croix Productions, Inc.
"Four Days in October' copyright @ 2002 by John L miller
'Walking the Floor over You' copyright C 2002 by Walter Simons
-A Face for the Cutting Room Floor' copyright C 2002 by Melinda m.
Snodgrass 'Father Henrys Little miracle' copyright 0 2002 by Daniel
Abraham 'Promises' copyright 0 2002 by Stephen Leigh
"With a Flourish and a Flair' copyright C 2002 by Kevin Andrew
Murphy
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WILD CARDS XVI
DEUCES
DOWN
A MOSAIC NOVEL
EDITED BY GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
ASSISTANT EDITOR MELINDA M. SNODGRASS
and written by:
Michael Cassutt • John J. Miller
Melinda M. Snodgrass 4.6. Walton Simons
Daniel Abraham IP Stephen Leigh
Kevin Andrew Murphy
ILLUSTRATIONS BY TIMOTHY TRUMAN
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new 'OA
www.ibooksinc.com
A MOSAIC NOVEL
WILD CARDS XVI
DEUCES DOWN
To Lc!: ltn and Chris Valath;
my four Dolor jiiends
INTRODUCTION
That the Wild Cards series is still alive and kicking after over is years might be a surprise to some, but not to me. Then again, Int the creator of lames Spector. aka Demise, who died from the Wild Card virus but still managed to stay alive long enough to wreak havoc through several volumes of the series. The book you're getting ready to read. Deuces Douw, is not only the first new Wild Card opus in quite some time but also proof that the story ideas and concepts nurtured by the series' writers have a way of coming to fruition eventually.
Let me digress for a moment to explain how I was lucky enough to become a Wild Cards author in the first place, since it beats to some degree on Deuces Down. When George R.R. Martin. Melinda Snodgrass. and the rest of the blew Mexico writers and garners were creating the foundation for the series. George cleverly decided to expand his group of participating writers beyond the borders of the Land of Enchantment. Being either incredibly insightful or a masochist, depending on how you look at it. one of the first people George turned to was his long time buddy Howard Waldrop, who wrote "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!" the lead story in Wild Cards. To know Howard is to love him, but his artistic temperament can best be described as inflexible, so it doesn't
vii
INTRODUCTION
make him ideal for team projects. Howard's plan was to write his one story and jump ship, which he did. Master agreements and consortium points weren't part of his game plan.
At that time. Howard lived in Austin (of which I'm a native and current resident) and was one of the Turkey City writers. Turkey City was, and is, a writers conference where friends sit around reading and then dismembering each other's stories in turn. Given its Texas location. Turkey City was a bit more of a rock-em. sock-em affair than some of the more genteel writers conferences, but to date no fatalities have been reported among even the more brutalized participants. Another then-Austinite and Turkey Citizen was Lew Shiner. who George also quickly got on board for Wild Cards. Lew loved comic books and was an up-and-comer on the science fiction scene, being (with Bruce Sterling. also an Austinite and a Turkey City writer. I'm sure you're getting the general drift of this by now) one of the core group in the newly formed cyberpunk movement. Lew's character Fortunate, along with his antagonist. the Astronomer, was an integral part of the first Wild Cards triad. Levi. Howard. and I hung out a lot. including going on a weekly comic-buying run. Since I was also a Turkey City regular. Lew knew I could write, and sold George on giving me a shot at Wild Cards. How hard a sell he had to give George. I'm not sure. George had met me several times. read one of my early (unpublished and unpublishable) stories, and agreed to see vihat I could do. I wasn't entirely without credentials, having done some work for DC Comics that eventually showed up in World's Finest and Hone of Mystery as well as having a short story or two published.