Sleeper Straddle (Wild Cards)

'A complex, intricately imagined universe' Telegraph

An alien virus ravages the world, with effects as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and are bizarrely mutated.

Croyd Crenson is the Wild Cards' greatest failure, and its greatest success. Dubbed 'The Sleeper', he undergoes sporadic hibernations, after each one awakening with a new appearance and powers. Till now he's awoken in a singular body: but this time he finds himself split into six different incarnations, each with a unique look and ability.

Recognizing this for the disaster that it is, one of the incarnations tasks Tesla – a joker with ace powers – to gather the remaining five versions before sleep claims them again and leaves Croyd permanently fractured.

What follows is a journey through Croyd's long and colourful life, through the lens of some who have encountered the world's most unusual Wild Carder. And as Tesla will have to work fast, because not every Croyd is as amiable as the first incarnation, and they'll do whatever it takes to survive...

Featuring stories from:

Christopher Rowe, Carrie Vaughn, Cherie Priest, William F. Wu, Walter Jon Williams, Stephen Leigh, Mary Anne Mohanraj, and Max Gladstone.