Low Chicago

The second in a triad of books exploring the Wild Cards universe outside of New York, this consists of seven short stories in each of which characters are sent back to a different point in the history of Chicago. Although the cover claims that it's “perfect for new readers” I'd argue that, while this it's certainly possible to follow without having read anything else, the segments set after 1946 include a lot of references to other events in the series. Characters return that we haven't seen in a long time and it's clear that the world does have its own distinct history from that point on. Having said which, in terms of the triad, it's a self-contained set of stories, neither directly following on from anything else nor ending on a cliffhanger.

Down the Rabbit Hole - The first story is a bit of sexy fun set in the original Playboy Mansion shortly after it opened in 1959. But there's more to it than that, since it not only explores the Wild Card prejudice of the time but also introduces the question of whether the time travellers should be attempting to change history for the better, given that they know what's coming - in this case by trying to prevent a real-world tragedy that happened not much later. As is appropriate for the first story in the set, it's also the most standalone, featuring all-new characters and beign placed before the reader fully knows what's going on.

The Mothering Apotheosis of Todd Mothering Taszycki - (Yes, the book doesn't blank that out). I confess to having forgotten that Todd Taszycki was the real name of an ace who hasn't been seen, and in a minor role at that, since the first book in the series. But this cleverly melds his story, following on from where we last saw him, with that of a character from the modern books. It's also arguably the most timey-wimey of the stories in the book, given that it includes the younger selves of two of the other characters in the book (it's set in the recent past). It manages to fill in some blanks from previous books while still being fun and including some of the dark themes that the series deals with from time to time.

A Bit of a Dinosaur - In some ways, this feels a little out of place, being a rather different sort of story, although admittedly still about one of our time travellers. Once again, it brings back elements from a much earlier book in the series, and seems to lay hints that they might be featuring again in an upcoming plot arc - although who knows, at this point? It's these connections, and the well-rounded depiction of the viewpoint character that help to raise this above the average, but the plot itself doesn't particularly go anywhere.

Stripes - Well, what would be a book about time travelling through Chicago's history without at least one story being set during the Prohibition? Clearly not much, given how prominently this features on the covers of both the US and UK editions. Here, a modern-day gangster finds himself transported back to just before the St Valentine's Day Massacre and into a violent blood-filled tale that seems to be heading towards inevitable tragedy. It's a good contrast with the stories that precede it, from the viewpoint of a rather different kind of character, albeit one who isn't entirely unsympathetic.

The Sister in the Streets - The darkest story of the set, set around the 1968 Democratic Party Convention which, as American history fans will know, wasn't exactly the city's brightest hour. Characters from previous books turn up, as we see what this looked like in the Wild Cards universe and then things get, if anything, even bloodier than they did in the previous story. It's a story of injustice and good intentions going awry and perhaps the most memorable in the book.

A Beautiful Facade - This time, we visit the rather brighter setting of the Chicago World's Fair, although there's clearly something creepy going on in the background. It's possible that Americans will figure out the full details sooner than I did, since it features a real historical figure that I'd not actually heard of and who is crucial to events. But either way, it's good story of late 19th century America with the dark-skinned central character finding herself subject to racial prejudice, something that also features in some of the other stories in the book. And, perhaps, less dark than the nature of the villain might imply.

Meathooks on Ice - And then, finally, an upbeat story about redemption for another gangster, set in a much earlier time period. It's interspersed with his life story and how he became forced into the life he leads and it really wasn't what I expecting by this point in the narrative arc. Nonetheless, it's a good way to end it, another effective contrast in this collection of rather disparate stories.

A Long Night at the Palmer House (interstitial) - Tying the whole thing together we have a framing device that focuses more directly on the time travel itself. It shows some of the other stories from the perspective of outsiders, as well as adding its own snippets about time travellers not significant enough for their own viewpoint stories, and including probably the most famous event in Chicago's history that isn't covered in the others. There's also some stuff about baseball, a sport I gather is quite popular in America. And, honestly, even that fits with the larger theme.