Melinda M Snodgrass

"Scholarship student Thracius "Tracy" Belmanor and Princess Mercedes de Arango have graduated from the High Ground and become officers in the Orden de la Estrella. Stung by Mercedes' choice of Beauregard "Boho" Cullen as her consort, Tracy is glad that they are posted on battleships light years apart, but soon finds that without her protection he is nothing but a target. Meanwhile, Mercedes' posting has its own challenges, not least her unfaithful...

Princess Mercedes, daughter of the Emperor-beautiful, privileged, sharp as a sword-has no say in her life. When her father determines she must graduate from the Solar League's elite military academy, The High Ground, in order to ascend the throne, she does as he commands. Even though she'll be the first woman admitted to the Star Command academy, which means no one wants her there, including herself.But Mercedes is not one to back down from a challenge.Thracius...

It's been two hundred years since the Solar League has faced an alien threat, but now one is on their doorstep, and it has fallen to the Empress Mercedes de Arango to inspire and lead her people even as the aliens rain down death on League worlds.The need for competent military officers is desperate, so Mercedes reaches out to her secret love and begs Tracy to return to active duty – even though that might risk Tracy learning the truth about the...

"An alien virus ravages the world, its results 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. Nevertheless, human nature reigns supreme. And one of the most enduring human drives is the search for love. Aces and jokers alike both want to find it, or have lost it...or perhaps just want to use it for personal gain. Within these stories,...

"In the aftermath of World War II, the Earth’s population was devastated by an alien virus. Those who survived were changed forever. Some, known as jokers, were cursed with bizarre mental and physical mutations; others, granted superhuman abilities, became the lucky few known as aces. Queen Margaret, who came to the English throne after the death of her sister Elizabeth, now lies on her death-bed. Summoning the joker ace Alan Turing, she urges him...

"In Joker Moon, the next Wild Cards adventure from series editor George R. R. Martin, we follow Aarti, the Moon Maid, who can astrally project herself onto the surface of the moon and paint projections across the lunarscape. Theodorus was a dreamer. As a child, he dreamt of airplanes, rockets, and outer space. When the wild card virus touched him and transformed him into a monstrous snail centaur weighing several tons, his boyhood dreams seemed out...

"An original collection of interwoven short stories set in the Wild Cards universe, where an alien virus mutates some and grants superpowers to others....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 Card's greatest failure-and its greatest success. Dubbed 'The...

"In this revised collection of classic Wild Cards stories, the spotlight is on the most unusual Wild Cards of them all--the Deuces, or people with minor superpowers. In Deuces Down, iconic celebrities and landmark events are seen in a whole new light, such as John Jos. Miller's exciting 1969 World Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Brooklyn Dodgers; Michael Cassutt's first moon landing, when the world wasn't watching; Walter Simons' Great...