How much material is there?
A lot. There are 22 books (both standalone novels and short story collections) and a new title is due out later this year. Some of the stories have also been adapted into graphic novel form.
The series itself grew out of a complex role playing game named Superworld.
Back in the Eighties, George RR Martin and a group of science fiction writers began playing Superworld… before eventually deciding that the stories and characters they were creating within its world were worthy of their own written series.
Is it like Game of Thrones?
Yes and no. While it’s not all that similar in terms of genre – taking its inspiration from the world of science fiction and comic book superheroes rather than Medieval history and Tolkienesque fantasy – Wild Cards does take place in a complex , intricately imagined universe. It would also require a big cast, and offers the potential for some pretty epic story telling.
Like Game of Thrones, it’s also squarely, unashamedly aimed at grown-ups, and set in a morally complex universe where the struggle of the outcast Jokers is analogous to the civil rights movement of the Sixties.
“Wild Cards is a series of books, graphic novels, games…. But most of all it is a universe, as large and diverse and exciting as the comic book universes of Marvel and DC (though somewhat grittier, and considerably more realistic and more consistent), with an enormous cast of characters both major and minor,” wrote Martin. “There are thousands of stories to be told in the world of the Wild Cards, and Gregory and Melinda and UPC hope to be able to tell many of them.”
Source : www.telegraph.co.uk/
