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52-765: The series originated from a long-running campaign of the Superworld role-playing game , gamemastered by Martin and involving many of the original authors. The framework of the series was developed by Martin and Snodgrass, including the origin of the characters' superhuman abilities and the card-based terminology. The first installment, Wild Cards , was released in January 1987 by Bantam Books and, as of February 2024, thirty-two books have been released through four publishers. The series has been adapted to comic books, graphic novels, and role-playing games. Set during an alternate history of post– World War II United States,

104-454: A consequence of the combination of this rule and the rolling eligibility, the 2007 awards, despite nominally being for works published in 2006, instead were all given to works initially published in 2005. Beginning with the 2010 awards, the rolling eligibility system and paperback publication exemption were replaced with the current rules. The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book, inaugurated in 2006, and

156-565: A contemporary setting and the Sleeper among its characters. This was the second time the series was optioned. In August 2016, Universal Cable Productions acquired the rights to create a television series. Martin stated that the development was in early stages and that the production was working on choosing characters and stories to adapt. Because of his exclusivity contract with HBO , which aired Game of Thrones based on Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire , Martin said he will not be involved in

208-640: A forty-year gap between the first chapter and the remaining stories, pushing later contributions to fill in the intervening decades. Martin noted that this forced the authors to write about events they would have otherwise ignored, particularly the House Un-American Activities Committee and the McCarthy hearings , which gave rise to characters and plot points that "added immeasurable richness to our world and depth of our characters". Waldrop's story also forced Williams to rewrite

260-577: A new story, "Witness", which became the only shared world story to appear on the final ballot for a Nebula Award . British writer Neil Gaiman met with Martin in 1987 and pitched a Wild Cards story about a character who lives in a world of dreams. Martin declined due to Gaiman's lack of prior credits at the time. Gaiman went on to publish his story as The Sandman . Bantam Books , under its Spectra imprint , published twelve books between 1987 and 1993, including two solo novels written by Melinda M. Snodgrass and Victor Milán . Baen Books published

312-404: A new triad between 1993 and 1995 subtitled of a New Cycle . In 2002, Martin commented that he felt the triad was creatively "three of the strongest volumes Wild Cards ever had" and that the series "came back strong" after stumbling with a previous storyline; he conceded, however, that the triad was "very dark", acknowledging it was a commonly-voiced complaint, and that he felt switching publishers

364-511: A novel on his character, Turtle. However, he realized this would have "rescued one character from [the] SuperWorld campaign, but would have meant discarding all the rest". Since the game had been built by a group, he felt it should be a shared universe anthology, which were popular at the time. Martin invited other writers he believed would be interested in the universe, including Roger Zelazny , Lewis Shiner , Pat Cadigan , Howard Waldrop , Edward Bryant , and Stephen Leigh . Martin said that

416-477: A single plausible source was needed. Snodgrass suggested a virus, which allowed for the superpowered Aces, the "monsters and freaks" Jokers, and a high death toll. Snodgrass and Martin also developed the card based terminology, and Milán developed the pseudoscience of the series. The series was originally meant to be set in a then contemporary 1985, but Waldrop, who was to write the first story, insisted that his story take place right after World War II. This created

468-499: A two-year-long campaign of the Superworld role-playing game , gifted to George R. R. Martin by Victor Milán , in Albuquerque, New Mexico ; the players were science fiction writers, including Gail Gerstner-Miller, Milán, John J. Miller , Melinda M. Snodgrass , and Walter Jon Williams , and Martin served as gamemaster . Because of the amount of time and creative energy put into the campaign, Martin initially thought to write

520-677: A variety of SFWA members. It was started in 1966 as a collection of short story winners and nominees for that year, and has continued every year since. The contents of each year's collection is at the discretion of its editor. The sales of these anthologies were intended to pay for presenting the awards themselves. The anthology The Best of the Nebulas (1989), edited by Ben Bova , collected winners of Nebula awards from 1966 through 1986 officially selected by SFWA members. The unofficial anthology Nebula Award Winning Novellas (1994), edited by Martin H. Greenberg , contained ten stories which had won

572-554: Is a superhero -themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983 that uses the generic Basic Role-Playing rules system. The game began as just one part of the Worlds of Wonder product before being published as a stand-alone game. In competition against other well-established and popular superhero games, Superworld never found an audience, and was discontinued after only three supplements were published for it. Superworld uses Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing system, with

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624-447: Is very good. I doubt that it will ever supplant Champions , but it certainly supplements it . . . especially now that both Hero Games and Chaosium are putting out adventures with stats for both games." The Wild Cards series of science fiction books came from a Superworld campaign gamemastered by George R. R. Martin , and played in by other science fiction writers. Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize

676-716: The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award (since 1975) for "lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy", the Author Emeritus (since 1995, not awarded since 2014) for contributions to the field, the Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. Award for service to SFWA, and the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award (since 2009) for significant impact on speculative fiction. All four are discretionary but a Grand Master, selected by

728-829: The Hugo Award , the Nebula Award is also considered one of the premier awards in science fiction, with Laura Miller of Salon terming it "science fiction's most prestigious award", and Justine Larbalestier , in The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (2002), referring to it and the Hugo Award as "the best known and most prestigious of the science fiction awards". Brian Aldiss , in his book Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction , claimed that

780-771: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for the best science fiction or fantasy fiction published during the previous year. To be eligible for consideration works must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. The awards are not limited to American citizens or members of SFWA. Works translated into English are also eligible. There are no written rules as to which works qualify as science fiction or fantasy, and

832-483: The American science fiction awards". Winning works have been published in special collections, and winners and nominees are often noted as such on the books' covers. SFWA identifies the awards by the year of publication, that is, the year prior to the year in which the award is given. For lists of winners and nominees for each Nebula category, see the list of categories below. The Nebula Awards are given annually by

884-579: The Brick Tower Press imprint, acquired all of Preiss' assets, including those of ibooks, for $ 125,000. Brick Tower Press offered e-book versions of its titles, including Deuces Down and Death Draws Five via Humble Bundle in February 2016. Tor Books , an imprint under Macmillan Publishers , published the series in both print and e-book format. It released thirteen new installments from November 2008 to August 2022. Tor Books also reprinted

936-742: The Nebula Award provided "more literary judgment" while the Hugo was a barometer of reader popularity, rather than artistic merit, though he did note that the winners of the two awards often overlapped. David Langford and Peter Nicholls stated in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2012) that the two awards were often given to the same works, and noted that some critics felt that the Nebula selection reflected "political as much as literary ability" as it did not seem to focus as much on literary talent over popularity as expected. Several people within

988-551: The Nebula Awards have changed several times during the awards' history, most recently in 2010. The SFWA Nebula Conference , at which the awards are announced and presented, is held each spring in the United States. Locations vary from year to year. The Nebula Awards are one of the best known and most prestigious science fiction and fantasy awards and together with the Hugo Awards have been called "the most important of

1040-554: The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, replacing the Best Script award in 2010, were previously annual literary awards on the Nebula ballot but not considered full award categories, but in 2020 both were added as official categories and their full names changed to be "Nebula Awards". Beside the Nebulas, several other awards and honors are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony. The others are

1092-590: The SFWA. Works are nominated each year between November 15 and February 15 by published authors who are members of the organization, with the six works that receive the most nominations forming the final ballot. Additional nominees are possible in the case of ties. Members then vote on the ballot throughout March, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, though they can decline nominations. Ties in

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1144-464: The Script category. Beginning in 1980 the eligibility year for nominations was set to the calendar year, rather than December–November as initially conceived, and the SFWA organizing panel was allowed to add an additional work. Authors were also allowed to use the mass-market paperback publication of their books as the beginning of their nomination period, rather than the initial hardback publication. As

1196-511: The adaptation. Snodgrass is to serve as an executive producer. In a blog post, Martin said that Noveck is also to serve as an executive producer. Universal Cable Productions was teaming up with Hulu in November 2018 to develop two series based on the novels to establish a potential connected Wild Cards universe for the streaming service, but as of 2021, the upcoming series was moved from Hulu to Peacock . Superworld Superworld

1248-652: The addition of rules for super-powers. The game box contains Editions printed in 1984 and later also contain a 4-page booklet of errata. As with all games using the Basic Role-Playing rules, skill tests and combat are resolved by rolling percentile dice against skills. Rolls that are much lower than needed can result in increased effect, while high rolls can cause critical failures. Combat rules have many options and take into account three types of energy for damage: Kinetic, Electric, and Radiation. In 1982, Chaosium published Worlds of Wonder to demonstrate

1300-460: The best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. They were first given in 1966 at a ceremony created for the awards, and are given in four categories for different lengths of literary works. A fifth category for film and television episode scripts

1352-483: The calendar year after their publication and then be awarded in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary list for the year if they had ten or more nominations, which were then voted on to create the final ballot. In 1970, the option was added for voters to select "no award" if they felt that no nominated work was worthy of winning; this happened in 1971 in the Short Story category and in 1977 in

1404-557: The cover, even as a nominee, was a "powerful inducement" to science fiction fans to buy a novel, and Gahan Wilson , in First World Fantasy Awards (1977), claimed that noting that a book had won the Nebula Award on the cover "demonstrably" increased sales for that novel. The Nebula Winners series, renamed the Nebula Awards Showcase series in 1999, is published annually by SFWA and edited by

1456-478: The decision of eligibility in that regard is left up to the nominators and voters, rather than to SFWA. The winner receives a trophy but no cash prize; the trophy is a transparent block with an embedded glitter spiral nebula and gemstones cut to resemble planets. The trophy itself was designed for the first awards by J. A. Lawrence, based on a sketch by Kate Wilhelm , and has remained the same ever since. Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of

1508-539: The final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. The first Nebulas were given in 1966, for works published in 1965. The idea for such an award, funded by the sales of anthologies collecting the winning works, was proposed by SFWA secretary-treasurer Lloyd Biggle, Jr. in 1965. The idea was based on the Edgar Awards , presented by the Mystery Writers of America , and

1560-655: The first Wild Cards novel. Bantam Books published two original Wild Cards graphic novels in 2023: George R. R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Now & Then by writer Carrie Vaughn and artist Renae De Liz, and George R. R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Sins of the Father by writer Melinda Snodgrass and artists Michael Komarck and Elizabeth Leggett. Unabridged audiobook versions of the first five books have been released. Audiobooks of

1612-416: The first twelve, sixteenth & seventeenth novels as of November 2021. Tor Books also published online supplementary material. A multi-author blog supporting Inside Straight opened in February 2008. The blog followed American Hero , the fictional reality television show in the book, and posted in-character "confessionals" from the twenty-eight characters competing on the show. That supplemental material

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1664-531: The first two installments were released by Brilliance Audio in November and December 2011. Versions of the third, fourth, and fifth novels were released by Penguin Random House from February to March 2016, featuring voice talents for each character. The sixth and seventh installments were released in February and June 2017. Commencing in August 2018, HarperAudio (UK) began releasing a new set of audiobooks in

1716-604: The flexibility of its generic Basic Role-Playing System ; the game included three separate settings with the idea that player characters could be moved from setting to setting using the same rules system: The following year, Superworld was published as a stand-alone boxed set designed by Steve Perrin , with interior illustrations by Chris Marrinan, Markus Harrison, and cover art by Michael Dooney. Three supplements followed: Up against well-established rival superhero games Villains & Vigilantes ( Fantasy Games Unlimited ) and including Champions (Hero Games), Superworld

1768-671: The game debuted at Gen Con that year. Two supplements were released: an adventure anthology titled All-in and a character book titled Aces & Jokers . A four-issue Wild Cards limited series was released in 1990 by Epic Comics , an imprint of Marvel Comics . The issues were then collected and published as a trade paperback in October 1991. They were also included in Epic: An Anthology , released in 1992. A second limited series titled Wild Cards: The Hard Call , written by Daniel Abraham and illustrated by Eric Battle ,

1820-433: The group loved comic books and superheroes but wanted to approach the material in a "grittier, more adult manner than what we were seeing in the '80s". He cited the series' "sense of history" as a strength and expressed frustration with the retroactive continuity of mainstream comics. Martin also felt that the multitude of sources for superpowers in comics strained suspension of disbelief when taken together, and he believed

1872-499: The idea to have a ceremony at which to present them was prompted by the Edgar and Hugo Awards . The initial ceremony consisted of four literary awards, for Novels , Novellas , Novelettes , and Short Stories , which have been presented every year since. A Script award was also presented from 1974 to 1978 under the names Best Dramatic Presentation and Best Dramatic Writing and again from 2000 through 2009 as Best Script, but after 2009 it

1924-462: The officers and past presidents, has been named every year for more than a decade. The Solstice Award may be presented posthumously (where only living writers may be named Grand Master or Author Emeritus). The Nebula Awards have been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards . Along with

1976-460: The opposite is set to happen in the US. In October 2011, Syfy Films, a joint venture between Syfy Channel and Universal Pictures , acquired screen rights to Wild Cards under the direction of Gregory Noveck, senior vice president of production. Snodgrass was asked to write the screenplay, and she and Martin were to serve as executive producers. At the time of announcement, the film was intended to have

2028-546: The publishing industry have said that winning or being nominated for a Nebula Award has effects on the author's career and the sales of that work. Spider Robinson in 1992, as quoted in Science Fiction Culture (2000), said that publishers "pay careful attention" to who wins a Nebula Award. Literary agent Richard Curtis said in his 1996 Mastering the Business of Writing that having the term Nebula Award on

2080-473: The series follows events after an airborne alien virus is released over New York City in 1946 and eventually infects tens of thousands globally. The virus, designed to rewrite DNA , was developed as a bioweapon by a noble family on the planet Takis, and it is taken to Earth to test on humans, who are genetically identical to the people of Takis. Dr. Tachyon, a member of this family, objects and attempts to stop them. However, his attempt crashes their ship, releasing

2132-400: The series. Five authors have written for at least one novel released by each publisher of the series: Michael Cassutt , Stephen Leigh (often writing as S. L. Farrell), John J. Miller , Walton Simons, and Snodgrass. Every installment was edited by Martin, who has also contributed as an author to ten books; later installments were co-edited by Snodgrass. (often as S. L. Farrell) Wild Cards

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2184-468: The series. The first three ( Mississippi Roll , Low Chicago and Texas Hold'em ) were narrated by William Hope. Next, Peter Noble narrated the two UK Wild Cards works ( Knaves Over Queens and Three Kings ). The sixth audiobook from HarperAudio (UK) (which was released in August 2021), Joker Moon , was performed by Maya Saroya. On a side note, in the UK, Three Kings has been released before Joker Moon , while

2236-600: The virus. The virus affects each individual differently, and it becomes known as the Wild Card virus because of these "random and unpredictable" symptoms. It kills 90% of those who contract it and mutates the remaining percentage. 9% survive but become Jokers, who develop minor or crippling physical conditions. The remaining 1% become Aces, who remain human or mostly human in appearance but develop superhuman abilities; Aces whose abilities are too trivial or specific to be generally valuable are called Deuces. Wild Cards began as

2288-521: Was a mistake. In 2000, ibooks Inc. purchased two new installments and the rights to reprint the first eight books of the series; the two new books were published between 2002 and 2006, including a solo novel by John J. Miller , and reprints for six of the first eight books were issued. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2005, shortly after the death of founder Byron Preiss . In December 2006, J. Bolyston & Co. Publishers, parent company of

2340-628: Was adapted into a role-playing game format by Steve Jackson Games . Written by John J. Miller and published in June 1989, the sourcebook used GURPS Supers rules and contained descriptions of sixty of the characters. A supplement titled Aces Abroad , written by Kevin Andrew Murphy , was released in 1991. Green Ronin Publishing published Wild Cards Campaign Setting , written by Miller, for its Mutants & Masterminds RPG in August 2008;

2392-498: Was again removed and replaced by SFWA with the Ray Bradbury Award . In 2018, a new Game Writing category was added, for writing in video and tabletop games. Prior to 2009, the Nebula Awards employed a rolling eligibility system. Each work was eligible to qualify for the ballot for one year following its date of publication. As a consequence of rolling eligibility, there was the possibility for works to be nominated in

2444-473: Was given 1974–78 and 2000–09, and a sixth category for game writing was begun in 2018. In 2019 SFWA announced that two awards that were previously run under the same rules but not considered Nebula awards—the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction and the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation —were to be considered official Nebula awards. The rules governing

2496-400: Was not able to establish a strong player base, and no further supplements were released by Chaosium. Jon Sutherland reviewed Superworld for White Dwarf #51, giving it an overall rating of 7 out of 10, and stated that "This represents an intelligent attempt to provide a playable format for a difficult topic to simulate. The only rules that I have ever seen with anything like this in scope

2548-660: Was published on the official Wild Cards website in July 2020. The series returned to Bantam Books in July 2023. Upcoming books include House Rules . Bantam also began publishing original graphic novels featuring stories set within the Wild Cards universe. The collection of authors who have contributed to the Wild Card series is known as the Wild Cards Trust or the Wild Card consortium. As of Joker Moon , published in July 2021, forty-four authors have written for

2600-540: Was published over six issues from April to September 2008 by Dabel Brothers Productions . Dabel Brothers partnered with Del Rey to collect the titles in July 2008, including Wild Cards: The Hard Call , as graphic novels beginning in fall 2008. The issues were collected in a hardcover edition published by Dynamite Entertainment in February 2011. Marvel Entertainment began publishing a 4-issue comic book limited series Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards scripted by Paul Cornell in July 2022. The series adapted material from

2652-672: Was republished by Tor as an e-book titled American Hero: A Wild Cards Novel on March 3, 2020. Twenty-three short stories were published through the Tor Books website from January 2013 through July 2022: A short story, titled "Lies My Mother Told Me" by Caroline Spector , was published in the Dangerous Women anthology, also edited by Martin. The anthology was released in December 2013. An additional short story, titled "I Have No Voice and I Must Zoom Meeting" by Paul Cornell ,

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2704-593: Was the Golden Heroes FRP which may soon be available in a modified form from GW ." Steve Marsh reviewed Superworld in Ares Magazine #17 and commented that "The game is anything but chaotic, but should create change in any gaming group that sees it. It is well done, and worth the price." Crede Lambard reviewed Superworld in Space Gamer No. 70. Lambard commented that " Superworld

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