Deuces Down

Praise for the George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series: ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ''Martin has assembled an impressive array of writers. . . . Progressing through the decades, Wild Cards keeps its momentum to the end . . . I'm looking forward to the next episodes in this saga of mutant Americana.'' -Locus ''Well written and suspenseful and a good read. . . . The authors had a lot of fun rewriting recent American history.'' -Aboriginal Science Fiction ''Commendable writing . . . a zany premise . . . narrated with rueful humor and intelligence.'' -Publishers' Weekly On September 15, 1946, a biological weapon created by an alien race was accidentally detonated above the streets of New York City, killing countless numbers of men, women, and children. But those who survived the initial explosion soon began to wish they had died also, once they discovered they had been forever mutated by the virus unleashed in the blast. Set in an alternate, shared-world universe, Deuces Down is the one place you'll find such never-before-told tales as John J. Miller's exciting 1969 World Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Brooklyn Dodgers; Michael Cassutt's first moon landing, when the whole world wasn't watching; Walton Simons' Great New York City Blackout of 1977; and Melinda M. Snodgrass's account of Grace Kelly's mysterious disappearance during the filming of The French Lieutenant's Woman. It's a strange and terrifying world, where anything can happen. A world of Wild Cards. Editor GEORGE R.R. MARTIN was born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: ''The Hero,'' sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed. Four-time winner of the Hugo Award, two-time winner of the Nebula Award, and six-time Locus Award winner, Martin is the author and editor of over two dozen novels and anthologies, and the writer of numerous short stories. His New York Times bestselling novel A Storm of Swords-the third volume in his epic fantasy series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' -was published in 2000. Martin lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.