The Visitor: Kill or Cure

Wild Cards #27.6

by Mark Lawrence

For over 25 years, the Wild Cards universe has been entertaining readers with stories of superpowered people in an alternate history. The saga continues with Mark Lawrence's short story The Kill or Cure , which is a follow-up to the short story The Visitor .

The visitor comes... but she needs to be invited in.

Ever since she woke up in the hospital with the ability to generate heat, Ruby Johnson, a.k.a the Dragon, has built a reputation as an unstoppable force of nature. She makes her living as an assassin for hire, but one day she comes across a benevolent ace whose powers she vastly underestimates.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Superheroes, Fiction

38 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2020

About the author

My books vary a LOT - so here's a handy guide.

[My new book The Book That Broke The World is out now!]

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Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. Before becoming a fulltime writer in 2015 day job was as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. He has held secret level clearance with both US and UK governments. At one point he was qualified to say 'this isn't rocket science ... oh wait, it actually is'.

Mark used to have a list of hobbies back when he did science by day. Now his time is really just divided between writing and caring for his disabled daughter. There are occasional forays into computer games too.

Reviews

[Mark Lawrence]

Free to read - no series knowledge required - might tempt you into this huge, ongoing multi-author, decades-spanning project!

Story here:
https://www.tor.com/2020/03/18/the-vi...

The Visitor's origin story, The Visitor, can be found free on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Visitor-Wild-C...



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[John Mauro · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Visitor: Kill or Cure" is a sequel to Mark Lawrence's previous short story, "The Visitor." Both stories feature an awesome heroine in Angela, a severely disabled girl who is given a superpower to inhabit other people's bodies.

This second short story has a darker tone and is full of action. I won't spoil anything about the plot. Let me just say that I love how Mark Lawrence followed up on his original story, and I hope to see more of Angela in the future. She is so cool.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.66 stars. In this SF/fantasy "Wild Cards" story, you gradually are introduced to a benevolent but weirdly innocent (you find out why, later) character initially called the Visitor, who can (usually for a brief time) take over other people's bodies. She tries to do that only by invitation, and she can only take over your body if she or someone she's inhabiting has touched you. And often people really do invite her in: she also has a certain superpower that travels with her and is temporarily assumed by whosever body she's in.

Gradually the story focuses in on an evil pharmaceutical corporation that's trying to prevent the release of a new medicine that would hugely benefit humanity but trash their profits. They'll stop at nothing ... and they have other superpowered people like Ruby, the "Dragon," whose power is about what you might expect with a moniker like that.

It's a pretty straightforward plot, other than the initial confusing part where you're trying to figure out what this story is all about and the author keeps changing to different characters' points of view. It has some stock villains and a few more interesting and complex characters, including the assassin Ruby.

"Wild Cards" is a shared author universe set in an alternative future where an alien virus kills 90% of the people who get it, disfigures and/or gives useless superpowers to 9% (the Jokers), and useful superpowers to the last 1% (the Aces). It's helpful to be familiar with some of the other stories, but knowing that concept will see you through.

[Becks! · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. The main character, Angela, who is the visitor, really brought me to tears. Being that it hit way too close to home for me personally, but also the meaning that came across as the book was ending.
Sad, but good. A very worthwhile read

[Saeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great entry in the Wild Cards universe by Mark Lawrence.
I would love to see more of Angela. An amazing character that is really underrepresented in fiction and we desperately need more of.
She pulls on my heartstrings! MORE ANGELA!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Wild Card short story is a little darker than recent stories -in that the previous instalments have been of characters making their most of their situation - either by embracing it or at the very least accepting it - to others who have actively engaged it as their living and livelihoods.

Now do not get me wrong - these stories encompass both sides of the line from those who are reluctant heroes to those who clearly are employing their powers (I would never go as far as saying gifts) for more nefarious activities.

However this story has a very much darker tone - but I would not want to give away any spoilers as this for me is a new realm altogether and one which I think opens up all sorts of possibilities while at the same time embracing the world of Wild Cards. The question is what will I discover next as I work my way through these stories

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging short story for sci-fi fans

This story melted my heart and made me smile. It expressed frustration with doctors and the pharmaceutical industry while making a paralyzed young woman powerful enough to protect herself and those who she cares for. Immensely satisfying.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

A riveting read with a great ending. Not a bad way to start the 2021 reading challenge :)

Plus, it's free on the Tor website.

[G.R. Paskoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first and best Wild Cards short stories that I have read (about 3 dozen now) and features some fantastic Aces with powers and depth that make them mysterious, terrifying, and human. The confrontation between the Visitor and the Witch was truly epic and the ending a great and satisfying twist. Well done, Mr. Lawrence, well done.

[Preeti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsure if this is a part of a series or an anthology, but what a riveting read! I loved the concept of wild card virus and the character of the Visitor. And it all ended with the perfect adrenaline rush.

[Soheil Vafaee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story cleansed my soul.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining short story from the Wild Cards universe. Mark Lawrence is always a worthwhile read. Although I liked the companion story (Visitor) better... this rendition is still solid. Ace against Ace. The visitor vs the dragon. 38 pages which is also a free read on tor.com

[Heike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story!

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciate how one of the PoV characters has an unequivocal black and white morality, yet the story is all shades of grey. Part of the dramatic tension comes from that absolute view of the world adapts and accommodates a world that isn’t black and white.

[Mister Vimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a Mark Lawrence fan for a long time. I have been a Wild Cards fan even longer. This is the second appearance of the Visitor (the first being "Knaves over Kings" the 26th Wild Cards novel). No spoilers, but this is one of my favorites of the Wild Cards short stories. It's dark (as Wild Cards often is), but the sheer overwhelming sense of justice in an unjust world makes it immensely satisfying.

I look forward to another visit from the Visitor.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Visitor: Kill or Cure was written by Mark Lawrence. Lawrence wrote Prince of Thorns, a book I am still looking forward to reading as I've heard so many good things about it. Based on what I read today I have something to look forward to. This is an exciting story with a clever resolution-I enjoyed not knowing exactly where things were headed.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Visitor: kill or cure
Mark Lawrence
It's a nice twist of ace powers, the violence and remarkable gifts us a new wrinkle in the ever changing roles of the takis a virus and the heroes, villans, and others denoted and afflicted. The tragedy and triumph is an interesting twist. I think it's a great new start for the old and the new fans.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been enjoying these short stories from Wild Cards universe for a while now. But this story whilst I did enjoy, took me a while to get into. Don't know if it was the multiple POVs or just the story itself. Having said that I really liked The Visitor and I'd like to know more about her.

3 stars

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice little short story. I hadn't read any of the others in this series but it wasn't hard to get into the world, once you worked out what was going on. Nice to see a touch of hope in what appears to be a dystopian world. Loved the hero.

[Andrew Wild-Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good short

An interesting story set in the version of the world infected with the Wild Card virus. Well-written and thought out, introducing new characters and abilities. Entertaining

[Brendan Gaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent addition to this shared Universe by Mark Lawrence. I loved Angelas story in Knaves over Queens and it's great to catch up with her again in this short story. Well worth a read!

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Visitor can help, but she must be invited in.

Almost vampiric and Gothic in tone, Lawrence's creepy little tale is intriguing.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Starts slow though...

[Alex Sarll]

I wonder whether it was coincidence or planning that Tor's latest free story was a Wild Cards one, which is to say set in a world reshaped by a virus? Although like so many fictional diseases, for all that it nominally has a much higher mortality rate it turns out to have been surprisingly non-disruptive compared to the last couple of weeks, and at least there is some compensation for the small percentage of the infected who survive and develop superpowers. The pharmaceutical industry shenanigans here do feel timely, though, as too the eponymous ace - her lungs are fucked and she can't go outside, at least bodily, though she can 'visit' those she's met, possess them and lend them her powers. It's an interesting twist to take the idea of a naive yet monstrously powerful character, not to mention possession powers - all conventionally associated with antiheroes at best - and use them for an unambiguously benevolent character. But while I know a few people who really rate Mark Lawrence's novels, I'm not entirely convinced by his plotting and transition between viewpoints in this shorter piece.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story in the Wild Cards Universe about the Witch, Ruby and Alice. It is hard to believe that this Universe was created back in 1987. Stories are still being written which are as innovative and fresh as ever.

[Heather Romanowski Book Realm Revisions, LLC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this enough to go find the rest of the universe it is from.

[Bookymonster · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story that slowly draws you in and with a great ending.

[Nova5829 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun

The Wild Cards world remains intriguing. This is a longish short story, well written, good character development and made me want more...

[Katrina Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite Wild Cards adventure, I found it hard to follow.

[Eugenio · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started off like this would be a 2 or 3 star story, but picked up half way through. Really cool power and finish.