Rate this book

Lowball (2014)

by George R.R. Martin(Favorite Author)

3.96 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0765331950 (ISBN13: 9780765331953)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Tor Books

series

Wild Cards

review 1: I had not read any of the Wild Card stories prior to reading this one. You don't have to know a thing about those stories to get into this book. It reads like a standalone. I was actually expecting an anthology with all the authors writing the book but I got a full book. In one way it was a bunch of stories about various characters taking the spotlight at one time or another, but it felt cohesive. I feel that is the work of the two editors, George R. R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass.There were some lulls to the story I would think about skipping but then something would catch my attention. A character would have an interesting trait and I was captivated. The pacing felt a bit uneven when this happened, but not as much as you would think with so many authors. And although... more you sometimes felt you would have rather followed one character so you didn't feel like you only got a partial story at the same time it felt complete enough. It was just a bit different than what I am used to reading in the format I have been reading. I did enjoy it.I give this book 4 stars. I recommend it to those that love the Wild Card series. As I said you can read it as a standalone. I also recommend it to those that enjoy sci-fi fantasy.
review 2: It's a rich, amazing world GRRM has co-created. Lowball contains endless cameos for fans of the series--Croyd, Curveball, Earth Witch, Carnifex, Drummer Boy, Tesseract, more--as well as some inventive new characters: Eel, Vaporlock, Wheels, El Monstro, Baba Yaga... As one would expect from a Martin creation, no character is safe so you have to check your expectations at page one. Stuntman struggles with the failure of his bounceback ability. Frank Black gets promoted young and is shunned by his fellow detectives. His partner Michael Black lives the dream with two cohabiting girlfriends and a wonderful ace toddler daughter. Rustbelt searches for Ghost's missing teacher. IBT and Father Squid lead an effort to find missing jokers. Baba Yaga turns people into living (for a short time) furniture. The satellite plots all fit together to tell the story of a kidnapping ring that forces jokers to fight to the death for the entertainment of the bored sadistic wealthy. My only complaint is that so much of the story goes unresolved. Typically each Wild Cards installment has a contained story arc, but in this case it ends mid-climax. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?! less

Download links for: Lowball

Advertising