A review by unwrappingwords
Aces High by George R.R. Martin

4.0

Aces High continues the format and story from the first Wild Cards book; different stories told by different authors, about the on-going effects of the wild card virus, dropped on humanity a few years previously. The second book shows us some familiar characters, and introduces new ones. There's a new threat in the shape of the Swarm, and the aces have to band together to defeat it. In this book, we meet the alien race that developed the virus, find out more about them, their planet and their sentient spaceships (which, to be fair, I absolutely loved). We also meet Capt'n Tripps (someone does mention a reference to Stephen King with that, too), who very quickly became one of my favourite characters. There's also Jube, also known as Walrus, who wonders around Jokertown selling newspapers. The stories here felt more closely linked than in the last book - we've moved past the introduction of the world, and here we delve into the lives of the characters themselves, criss-crossing as they fight off aliens and as a group of cultists is uncovered. It's a fantastic follow-up, with characters that just completely draw you into this alternative history of America.