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Wild Cards Volume VIII — One-Eyed Jacks

Wc08

Published By
Bantam Books
First Published
1991 (softcover)
Previous Novel
Following Novel


One-Eyed Jacks is the eighth volume in the Wild Cards shared universe fiction series edited by George R.R. Martin.

Plot[]

This book is the first of the Jumper triad, and contains multiple stories about the rise to prominence of the jumpers and of Bloat, governor of the Rox. The main narrative of the story follows Jerry Stauss as he investigates the murder of his brother and tries to deal with his growing attraction to his brother's wife. Jerry's story is the connecting narrative of the book. The individual chapter titles are “Nobody’s Girl”, “Nobody Knows Me Like My Baby”, “Mr. Nobody Goes to Town”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”, “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You”, “My Name Is Nobody”, “Nobody’s Home” and “Nobody Gets Out Alive”.

Book Covers[]

The cover shown here depicts the Oddity fighting a gang of Jumpers. Note that the Oddity's face is in mid-transition, which would mean that one personality is becoming dominant. The art was by comic book artist Timothy Truman.

Trivia[]

Jerry Strauss refers to himself as Mr. Nobody, which makes each of the chapter titles of his story into a double entendre.

Quotes[]

Dr. Finn "Now, miss..."
Dr. Havero "Doctor."
Dr. Finn "Yes."
Dr. Havero "No, I'm a doctor."

Stories[]

One-Eyed Jacks contains the following stories:

Story Author(s) Description
"Nobody’s Girl" Walton Simons Mr. Nobody is rejected by Veronica, one of Fortunato’s Geishas. He tries to reconnect with her but also finds himself falling for his brother’s wife. Jerry soon discovers that his brother’s business partner, Edward St. John Latham has a Jumper in his employ. Jerry’s life slowly spirals out of control as Kenneth is killed by jumpers and Beth leaves the city, and him, behind.
"Luck Be A Lady" Chris Claremont Since the loss of his hand Dr. Tachyon has needed another chief surgeon. His prayers are answered by Dr. Cody Havero who quickly learns how weird and dangerous the streets of Jokertown really are.
"Horses" Lew Shiner Veronica tries to get her life straightened out with the help of Hannah Jorde. When Hannah becomes the first victim of the Jumpers, Veronica’s life starts to take unexpected turns and she also discovers that a date with Croyd Crenson has left her with ace powers.
"Snow Dragon" William F. Wu Lazy Dragon meets a new leader of the Fists. Leslie Christian gives him an assignment to retrieve drugs from a Jokertown gang and deliver them to the Rox.
"Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing" Victor Milán Mark Meadows reunites with his ex-wife, only to find that she wants custody of his daughter Sprout, who is the centre of his existence.
"Sixteen Candles" Stephen Leigh The Oddity celebrates the sixteenth anniversary of the day their card turned. The wild card virus united Patti Roberts, Evan Crozier and John Sheak into one powerful body, and they have been together ever since — until they met the jumper, David Butler who changed all that.
"The Devil’s Triangle" Melinda Snodgrass Blaise Andrieux’s maturing sexuality and terrorist upbringing combine to create a young man that Dr. Tachyon and Cody Havero can’t control.
"Dead Heart Beating" John Jos. Miller With the Mafia driven out of New York, Kien Phuc decides to do a little house cleaning. Using Jumpers he lays a trap and in the end, only those Fists loyal to him remain alive.
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