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WesternSFA


Sleeper Straddle
Wild Cards #32
Edited by George R.R. Martin
Tor, $28.00, 396 pp
Published: February 2024

This is the 32nd installment or book to be published in Martin’s Wild Cards universe.

Here’s a brief background:  in the 1940s, some aliens decided to use Earth as a proving ground for a virus designed to create super-powered humans.  The virus was released over New York City and can have one of four main effects:  mostly normal-appearing but super-powered known as Aces; mostly normal-appearing with a less-than-impressive superpower known as Deuces, a completely non-human, deformed appearance known as Jokers, or death by drawing a Black Queen.  A Knave is an Ace who is deformed by the virus and a Jack is a Joker with a superpower (not particularly sure how those last two differ).  The stories have followed different groups of characters since the 1940s.  And new characters show up all the time as the virus is still in the atmosphere, and can be genetically inherited. The series is unique in that most stories are a composite done by several authors; not an anthology as they are a complete novel. 

The last book “Pairing Up” was a departure from the long-established formula of a group of writers creating a single story.  We’re back to that with this title.  As the title suggests, the focus of the story is Croyd Crenson, otherwise known as The Sleeper.  Croyd was fourteen-years-old back in 1946 when he was infected.  His situation is that he’ll remain awake for a long period of time and when he finally sleeps, his appearance and abilities will change.  He could be anything: an Ace, a Joker, or even a Deuce.  Since sleeping is a terrifying prospect (he worries he’ll draw a Black Queen or become stuck in a Joker body forever), he’ll try delaying it with loads of caffeine or amphetamines.   When speeding, he can become quite paranoid and violent; otherwise he’s a sort of anti-hero with a moral code.

Surprisingly, considering the title of this book, our main protagonist is not Croyd; it is a new “Jack” character, Tesla.  Tesla is a sort of information broker and finder of lost things.  He leads a reclusive life, rarely leaving his home to interact with other people.  Tesla has a Joker appearance with the Ace ability to generate an electrical charge.  He is tempted to leave his home when offered $200K to meet with someone interested in engaging his services.  That someone happens to be Croyd Crenson.  Croyd wishes Tesla to find five other Croyds and bring them together.  Apparently, during his last sleep period, Croyd found himself split into six distinct people, each positive they are the only ‘real’ Croyd.  This particular Croyd is unique in that he is convinced all six must be together the next time they sleep or they risk losing their singular identity.  And, of course, not all of them subscribe to this idea.

Tesla finds himself intrigued and even interested in this case and eventually comes to believe that he, and he alone, has the chance to help Croyd.  And he finds that he really does want to help.

The framework of this novel is Tesla moving about New York City finding and then convincing each Croyd to come at an appointed time to a particular location: the high school where Croyd began his life as The Sleeper.  Interspersed with Tesla’s adventures, are anecdotes of Croyd’s life; giving the reader, I suppose, an understanding of all that Croyd has been and how it affected him.  I do not, however, feel convinced that any of those stories lend any background to the six Croyds now living.  They were, for this reader, at least, purely anecdotal and did not influence the main story.  Sorry for being so negative but this book was a bit of a disappointment.

I was hoping for a more indepth story from Croyd’s point-of-view.  It might have made more sense if it were Croyd remembering his life in an attempt to find and connect with his other five parts.  They would, I expect, each have the exact same memories to the point of the split.  Instead, a new character, Tesla, was employed to connect each of the six.  I did not think it was effective.

And I have to confess to a diminishing excitement in these titles.  I’ve been an enthusiastic fan since 1986 but these later novels don’t seem to capture the same excitement as the first three decades did.  I rather suspect the diminishing excitement might correlate to the amount of GRRM’s involvement in the planning and plotting. I also have a bit of nostalgia for the first characters who have, of course, disappeared over the course of time.  The Sleeper (and Jubal) are the only ones to have remained; which is why I was so looking forward to this new book.  But I remain a devoted fan and believe future books will be worth the time. ~~ Catherine Book

For more titles in this series click here
For more titles by George R R Martin click here

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