Wild Cards Books in Order
There are 57 Wild Cards books, published between 1986 and 2025: 55 in the 3 main-line series and 2 related titles. The first book is Wild Cards (1986) and the newest main-line book is Ante Up (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 57
- Published
- 1986–2025
- Confirmed
- 57 of 57 titles
- Pages on record
- 9,005 in 21 of 57 books
Wild Cards is a shared-world science fiction listing built from the work of many writers. Superheroes, a virus, short stories and comics and graphic novels all appear in the recorded subjects, along with the Second World War. The catalogue holds 57 books between 1986 and 2025, from Wild Cards (1986) through Aces High (1987) and Jokers Wild (1987) to Ante Up (2025). Credits on the listed books spread across George R.R. Martin, named on 25, Melinda M. Snodgrass on 15, Carrie Vaughn on 7, David Anthony Durham on 3, and Victor Milan, Caroline Spector and Bradley Denton on 2 each.
How many Wild Cards books are there?
Wild Cards has 57 books, released between 1986 and 2025. 55 of them belong to the 3 main-line series (Wild Cards, Wild Cards Mosaic: New Cycle, Wild Cards: USA Triad), and 2 related titles sit outside it: graphic novels.
Wild Cards Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 57 Wild Cards books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 119865944/4
- 219873203/4
- 319875283/4
- 419885284/4
- 519885183/4
- 619904784/4
- 719903284/4
- 81991–3/4
- 91991–3/4
- 1019924373/4
- 111992–4/4
- 1219923844/4
- 1319934524/4
- 1419934484/4
- 1519934184/4
- 1619945444/4
- 172002–3/4
- 182006–3/4
- 1920083984/4
- 202008–3/4
- 212009–3/4
- 2220091404/4
- 232009–3/4
- 242010–4/4
- 2520115763/4
- 272013–4/4
- 282014–4/4
- 292014–4/4
- 302014–3/4
- 312016–4/4
- 322016–3/4
- 332016–4/4
- 342017–4/4
- 352017–4/4
- 362017–4/4
- 3720184293/4
- 3820183814/4
- 392018–4/4
- 402018–4/4
- 422019–4/4
- 432019–4/4
- 442019–4/4
- 452020–4/4
- 4620204004/4
- 472021–3/4
- 4820213684/4
- 492021–4/4
- 502022–4/4
- 512022–4/4
- 5220223364/4
- 532023–4/4
- 542023–3/4
- 552024–3/4
- 562025–3/4
- 572025–3/4
Where to start with Wild Cards
Start with Wild Cards (1986), the earliest published book in the 3 main-line series.
What is the newest Wild Cards book?
Ante Up (2025) is the newest book in the 3 main-line series.
Is there a new Wild Cards book coming?
No next Wild Cards book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Award nominations for Wild Cards
Wikidata records 1 nomination for Wild Cards. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1987Shortlistedfor Wild Cards
Wild Cards at a glance
- Still running
- Wild Cards is still running, with a main-line title published as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Wild Cards books have appeared more than one a year on average.
- Length
- 9,005 pages across the 21 of 57 books with a recorded length, a median of 429 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Wild Cards books, 21 of 57, were published in the 2010s.
- Corroboration
- 36 of the 57 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
- Attribution
- Of the 57 titles, 25 are credited to George R.R. Martin, 15 to Melinda M. Snodgrass, 7 to Carrie Vaughn and 3 to David Anthony Durham. A further 19 writers are credited. 4 titles carry no credit.
What the Wild Cards books are about
25 of the 57 Wild Cards books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: science fiction is tagged on 16 of 25. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Science fiction 16 of 25 books
- American literature 4 of 25 books
- Superheroes 4 of 25 books
- Science fiction, action & adventure 3 of 25 books
- Science fiction, short stories 3 of 25 books
- Virus diseases 3 of 25 books
- Comics & graphic novels, science fiction 2 of 25 books
- Fantasy 2 of 25 books
- Monsters 2 of 25 books
- Science fiction & fantasy 2 of 25 books