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citizen6174's review
2.0
2.5..my least favorite trilogy out of all the Wild Cards books. This one was entirely too long and drawn out but did have some good moments as well as some great characters and development.
jamjimham's review
5.0
Received an advanced readers copy from Tor.
This was my first time reading a novel from the Wild Cards series. I must say this was a fun and entertaining read. Although I was a bit lost in the beginning (felt like tuning into a TV show for the first time after a commercial break). But after a few pages the characters and plot made a lot more sense.
The story is broken into days of the week. Starting on Sunday and ending on Sunday. And revolves around a situation in Talas, Kazakhstan. This was my first reading a Mosaic novel written by so many authors (I currently love the Expanse series which is written by two authors). I must say the novel doesn't feel like it is written by multiple hands. It feels like it was written as one story.
I really enjoyed Frank (Franny) Black arc and Mollies character arc the most. Joey was also a colorful character that I enjoyed. The one thing that gave me a little pause with High Stakes was the detail of violence. It seemed to be graphic for graphics sake (describing everything to the Ichor detail) with not leaving much for the imagination. Which seems to be a common thing with this series. But it didn't bug me too much, and didn't distract from the story. The Barn comes to mind......
I would say that if you are looking to get into this series (is daunting as there are 23 books currently in the series). I would have probably started with Fort Freak or Lowball. But I had no problem following the characters and their abilities. High Stakes also does a great job at trickling in some of the characters backstories to further flesh out these characters.
I am super excited to be done with this novel, so that I can now start from the beginning and further flesh out this universe. I just hope Tor continues to release new novels and re-release the earlier books (as they are quite expensive to find in stores). Also cannot wait to tune into the TV series when it comes out.
This was my first time reading a novel from the Wild Cards series. I must say this was a fun and entertaining read. Although I was a bit lost in the beginning (felt like tuning into a TV show for the first time after a commercial break). But after a few pages the characters and plot made a lot more sense.
The story is broken into days of the week. Starting on Sunday and ending on Sunday. And revolves around a situation in Talas, Kazakhstan. This was my first reading a Mosaic novel written by so many authors (I currently love the Expanse series which is written by two authors). I must say the novel doesn't feel like it is written by multiple hands. It feels like it was written as one story.
I really enjoyed Frank (Franny) Black arc and Mollies character arc the most. Joey was also a colorful character that I enjoyed. The one thing that gave me a little pause with High Stakes was the detail of violence. It seemed to be graphic for graphics sake (describing everything to the Ichor detail) with not leaving much for the imagination. Which seems to be a common thing with this series. But it didn't bug me too much, and didn't distract from the story. The Barn comes to mind......
I would say that if you are looking to get into this series (is daunting as there are 23 books currently in the series). I would have probably started with Fort Freak or Lowball. But I had no problem following the characters and their abilities. High Stakes also does a great job at trickling in some of the characters backstories to further flesh out these characters.
I am super excited to be done with this novel, so that I can now start from the beginning and further flesh out this universe. I just hope Tor continues to release new novels and re-release the earlier books (as they are quite expensive to find in stores). Also cannot wait to tune into the TV series when it comes out.
brandt's review
4.0
One nitpicking flaw that prevented me from giving this book 5 stars. A continuity error. The authors/editor totally missed it.
Still, this Wild Cards book was made like a Game of Thrones book. The very definition of a Pyrrhic victory. Can't wait for more in this series.
Still, this Wild Cards book was made like a Game of Thrones book. The very definition of a Pyrrhic victory. Can't wait for more in this series.
brian's review
3.0
This was an impulse buy when I was between books and walked past a book store.
Part of a series where a virus has turned some people into super heroes and others into mutants.
The background/characters are pretty much X-Men/Doom Patrol, but given super swearing powers on top of everything else.
What I didn't know is that the books are written as story arcs, and this was the final installment for this particular arc.
Based on that, the start of the story was confusing as different heroes/mutants popped up with a lot of stuff already going on around them. Once you get used to names then the back story is explained to show how people got to where they are.
When the main part of the story gets going, and you've got a handle of who is who, and what their powers are, then it turns into some Horror from beyond the Stars novel.
As there are multiple characters, all written by different authors and then stuck into some semblance of order by the editors, the story can be a bit choppy in places and differences in writing style are apparent.
Overall it's a fast paced novel with a lot going on, but probably not the best book to read as a starting point to this franchise.
Part of a series where a virus has turned some people into super heroes and others into mutants.
The background/characters are pretty much X-Men/Doom Patrol, but given super swearing powers on top of everything else.
What I didn't know is that the books are written as story arcs, and this was the final installment for this particular arc.
Based on that, the start of the story was confusing as different heroes/mutants popped up with a lot of stuff already going on around them. Once you get used to names then the back story is explained to show how people got to where they are.
When the main part of the story gets going, and you've got a handle of who is who, and what their powers are, then it turns into some Horror from beyond the Stars novel.
As there are multiple characters, all written by different authors and then stuck into some semblance of order by the editors, the story can be a bit choppy in places and differences in writing style are apparent.
Overall it's a fast paced novel with a lot going on, but probably not the best book to read as a starting point to this franchise.
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