Fort Freak: A Wild Cards Novel

The start of a new “trilogy” of Wild Cards novels, this focusses on the eponymous NYPD precinct station that covers the area of Jokertown. As such, there is more of a focus on jokers than usual, especially in the earlier parts of the book, although we do also see a number of new aces.

Unusually, for the start of a WC trilogy, the book is a tightly woven mosaic novel, with several plot lines running through it, in addition to the main linking story, concerning a cold case multiple homicide from the '70s. The atmosphere is also notably different, at times feeling like a regular police procedural that happens to involve people with unusual powers or appearances. That, of course, is something that may or may not appeal, but it worked for me.

A number of old characters make a re-appearance here, notably Father Squid and the Oddity, who are both viewpoint characters. Combined with the return of Jokertown itself as a setting, there's much that's familiar here to long-time readers, and less of a clear break with the past than with, say, Inside Straight (#18). Even so, since all the plotlines are new, it's not a bad jumping-in point for the series - certainly better than either of the two books that precede it, for instance.

As for the individual stories themselves, the stand-out for me was “More!” by Paul Cornell, an often comedic piece that lifts the somewhat darker tone of the rest of the book, and (unsurprisingly) manages to get a British character right for once. Plus re-introducing a certain ace that we haven't seen for a long time... Also notable, but at the opposite end of the spectrum, tone-wise, is “Hope We Die Before We Get Old” by Stephen Leigh, spread in three parts throughout the novel as the background plot unfolds, and featuring the Oddity facing a potentially tragic fate.

But, honestly, I enjoyed all of the stories, binding together to make Jokertown, its citizens and its cops, feel like a very real place.