Alternate Reality Show

So when the Wild Cards series was relaunched in the early 21st, one of the plot elements involved a reality show called American Hero, in which 28 super-powered individuals competed for a million-dollar prize.

The program followed the conventions of the form, with plenty of soap opera and conflict between the participants, participants doing “confessionals” straight into the camera, and everyone being anxious about their ranking.  All was set for some big-time hit TV.

Those of who who have read Inside Straight know it didn’t work out that way, as a bunch of the competitors decided to fly off to Egypt to battle an ongoing genocide.

However, not all the participants defected, and the game went on.  By the end it had generated a lot of content on the American Hero blog (which, unlike the TV show, was a real thing).  What it produced was a kind of self-satire of Inside Straight, which (I remind) was a serious novel, featuring genocide and everything.

Tor has assembled all the material into an ebook, which is now for sale in the usual places.

I have a contribution or two in the collection.  By all means feel free to get a copy.