"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...

Let the secret history of the world be told-of the alien virus that struck Earth after World War II, and of the handful of the survivors who found they now possessed superhuman powers. Some were called Aces, endowed with powerful mental and physical prowess. The others were Jokers, tormented by bizarre mind or body disfigurements. Some served humanity. Others caused terror. And now, forty years later, as a gang war between the Shadow Fists and the...

The action-packed alternate fantasy returns for a new generation, featuring fiction from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, Michael Cassutt, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lewis Shiner, and more―plus two completely new stories from Kevin Andrew Murphy and bestselling author Carrie Vaughn.
Forty years after the Wild Card Virus's release, the World Health Organization decides it's time to take a delegation of...

Provides an overview of important historical events or periods in world history. This volume focuses on the highly contagious disease called bubonic plague, also referred to as "the black death", from the past to the present, and features quotations from sources such as diaries, public records, and contemporary chronicles.