ild Cards is a shared world anthology created by George R.R. Martin, most recently reprinted by iBooks. The last anthology, Deuces Down is still available and I have a story in it, "With a Flourish and a Flair," concerning the adventures of His Nibs and Topper, and introducing Peregrine and Fortunato's son, John Fortune--who is also the hero the next book in the series, Death Draws Five, by John J. Miller. The rest of the books in the series were being reprinted as trade paperbacks with really nice illustrations. Unfortunately, due to the sudden death of iBooks publisher, Byron Preiss, the later reprints are on hold and what copies of the books that are with distributors are what is currently available. I'm writing a roleplaying game version for Backstage Press's "Theatrix" roleplaying system, but the latest and greatest news is that Tor Books has purchased a new trilogy. Here's the announcement from George R.R. Martin:

The WILD CARDS series is back in business. We've just signed a contract with Tor Books for a new triad of WILD CARDS mosaic novels, to be titled Inside Straight, Busted Flush, and Suicide Kings. Work on the books has already commenced. Tor hopes to release the first volume in hardcover in 2007, with the subsequent volumes following a year apart. The three new books will be volumes eighteen, nineteen, and twenty in the overall chronology, but they will also represent a new beginning for the series. A few of our older characters will make appearances in the new books, but the spotlight this time around will be on the next generation of aces and jokers, coming of age in a world transformed by xenovirus Takis-A. "It's 2007. Do you know where your children are?" Here's a first peek at ten of our new cast members, courtesy of Mike S. Miller. From L to R, let me present (back row) Jonathan Hive, Double Helix, Drummer Boy, and Lohengrin, and (front row) Hoodoo Mama, Little Fat Boy, John Fortune, Curveball, Dragon Girl, and The Genetrix. Many of the writers who helped make the original WILD CARDS series so popular will be contributing to the new books as well, including Walter Jon Williams, John Jos. Miller, Michael Cassutt, Walton (Bud) Simons, Stephen Leigh, Kevin Andrew Murphy, and others. They will be joined by Daniel Abraham, who made his WILD CARDS debut in volume sixteen, and newcomers Christopher Rowe, Caroline Spector, Ian Tregillis, and Carrie Vaughn. As with previous volumes, George R.R. Martin will edit the books, with the able assistance of Melinda M. Snodgrass. The WILD CARDS series made its debut in 1987, during the heydey of the shared world anthology, when a dozen different series from as many publishers were competing for rack space. Twelve volumes were published by Bantam from 1987 through 1993, and three by Baen Books from 1993 to 1995. After a seven-year hiatus, iBooks revived the series in 2002, reprinting six of the old Bantam titles and adding two new volumes, the anthology Deuces Down and a solo novel by John J. Miller, Death Draws Five, before going into bankrutcy. The series has also spawned a comic mini-series from Marvel/ Epic, a role-playing game from Steve Jackson Games, and several film options. WILD CARDS has outlasted all the other shared world anthologies of the 80s to become the longest-running series in the history of our genre... and with a little help from our readers, we hope to run for another twenty years at least.

I've got a couple new characters set to join the new triad as well, but we're not revealing our full hand just yet. I'll keep everyone posted.