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Wild Cards Volume XII — Turn of the Cards
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Published By
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Bantam Books
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First Published
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1993 (softcover)
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Previous Novel
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Following Novel
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Turn of the Cards is the twelfth volume in the Wild Cards shared universe fiction series edited by George R.R. Martin.
This was the last book of the Bantam contract. Rather than begin a new triad, Victor Milán wrote a single, stand-alone novel.
Plot[]
After coming back to Earth from his adventures on Takis, Mark Meadows finds himself on the run. As America's Most Wanted Drug Pusher, Mark is pursued by two violent DEA agents, the government Ace Mistral and a mysterious character named The Mechanic (Randall Bullock).
Mark travels from Amsterdam to Greece, into India and through the Middle East ending up in Vietnam, a country now offering sanctuary to anyone possessing the Wild Card. Mark meets up with Croyd Crenson and they join the New Joker Brigade. Mark’s pacifist ways don’t mesh with his new life and he soon breaks away from the group and starts his own revolution.
Carnifex and Crypt Kicker are sent in to quell the insurgency and Mark must rely on a new ‘Friend’ to rescue himself and his associates.
Book Covers[]
The cover shown here depicts New Joker Brigade entering a Vietnamese village. From left to right are Moonchild, Croyd Crenson, Eyes, Rhino, and another unidentified joker. Note that it was actually Mark Meadows who carried a machinegun throughout the story. Moonchild would never carry a lethal weapon. The art was by comic book artist Timothy Truman.
Trivia[]
Quotes[]
Croyd speaking to Mark Meadows, after eating a giant bug.
- “Mmm, Breakfast of champions. I tell you, man, I must be working out my insect-eating karma — you’re an old hippie, you’re into that karma shit, right? I was a bug-eater last year, too, during my giant-pink-bat phase.”