Review: Lucky Day
/ by Eddie M. | Leave a comment
Tor Nightfire (Macmillian Publishers), pub. August 12, 2025,240pp
Tor Nightfire (Macmillian Publishers), pub. August 12, 2025, 240pp
Lucky Day is a wild, existential horror‑thriller that throws you head‑first into the absurd. Vera, a brilliant bisexual statistics professor, is haunted by a world‑shattering “Low‑Probability Event” that kills eight million people in bizarre, improbable ways. Her grip on meaning vanishes—until Special Agent Layne, part of a shadowy government commission, turns her world around by recruiting her to investigate a supernaturally lucky Las Vegas casino that may be linked to the catastrophe. What unfolds is a grotesque, mind‑bending chase through chaos and cosmic horror… but with a beating heart of love and the faint glimmer of hope amid absurdity. Readers will stay for the grotesque thrills, but they’ll remember the emotional core: finding meaning when the universe seems indifferent.
More Like This
Review: Camp Damascus
by Chuck Tingle There’s a conversion camp nestled in the wilderness near a Christian community in the mountains of middle America, and its employees aren’t quite locals. They’re demons adorned in red polos, khakis and name tags and they’ve been employed by the church to keep the queers in line and on the straight and […]
The Ruins Beneath Us by Sasha E. Sloan: Review
The Ruins Beneath Us is one of those fantasy stories that feels less concerned with grand battles and more interested in the quiet tension of secrets–who’s hiding them, who might discover them, and what happens when they finally surface. At the center of the story is Lyria, an elf raised in isolation and taught that […]
Your Behavior Will Be Monitored: Justin Feinstein (Review)
our Behavior Will Be Monitored by Justin Feinstein is an unsettling meditation on surveillance, control, and the subtle ways modern systems shape human behavior. Grounded in psychological tension and speculative unease, the novel feels timely and uncomfortably close to our current reality. While the themes are compelling, I wasn’t entirely sold on the execution. The […]
“The Universe Box” by Michael Swanwick
“The Universe Box” is a dazzling short-story collection from Hugo Award-winning author Michael Swanwick, blending science fiction, fantasy, and myth with sharp wit and boundless imagination. From high-tech futures to timeless legends, these stores explore humanity’s ingenuity, ambition, and sense of wonder. Featuring brand-new tales alongside celebrated classics, this collection showcases Swanwick at his most […]
“Akira Falling In Love” By Shinta Harekawa
“Akira Falling In Love” is a charming and genuinely funny high school romcom that leans fully into awkwardness, miscommunication, and heartfelt intent. Akira’s determination to confess to her childhood crush – and her spectacular inability to do so smoothly – makes for consistently entertaining moments, while Hajime’s obliviousness only heightens the comedy. Shinta Harekawa’s expressive […]
Review: “I Will Kill Your Imaginary Friend for $200” – Robert Brockway
No, not every paragraph in this book is a run-on sentence, but this short rant of endless ‘ands’ perfectly represents its sarcastic tone and overall mood of childhood loneliness; The kind of loneliness that would spur the creation of imaginary friends. Themes of neglect, abandonment, social disorders and general boredom are slathered in a gravy […]
Review: “Tailored Realities” -Brandon Sanderson
By Nick Osgood TBH, after reading the Stormwind Archive, I couldn’t have possibly imagined Mr. Sanderson writing a short story, let alone an anthology of short stories. I mean, the shortest book in the Stormlight series was a meaty one-thousand pages. “There’s no way he can fit his masterful world-building into just a chapter or […]
Alice With a Why, by Anna James
Highly recommended for middle reader through YA and certainly adults who enjoy a clever fairytale and loved the original Wonderland.
Review: “A Wild Radiance” By Maria Ingrande Mora
“A Wild Radiance” is a bold, emotionally charged fantasy that marries high concepts (magic, revolution, industrialization) with deeply personal stakes (identity, desire, belonging). It isn’t shy about spectacle nor about tenderness: it invites you into a world that is both irrepressibly imaginative and sharply attuned to oppression and hope. If you enjoy YA (Young adult) […]
Review: “Hole in the Sky” -Daniel H. Wilson
By Nick Osgood “INTELLIGENCE MANDATE – THE END IS NIGH. ENTITY IS FORCE OF NATURE AKIN TO GRAVITY. LOCAL AREA OF REVERSED ENTROPY. DREAMS OF CHAOS. BLOOD. FILTH. DEATH. MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR GODS. PREPARE FOR HELL ON EARTH. THIS IS THE END. PRAY. -MD” A man in a basement who accidentally found a way […]
Review: “Kill the Beast” – Serra Swift
“Lyssa leaned her elbows against the counter and watched the Morning Star’s proprietor, Molly, fill another pint glass. She was a buxom battle-axe with a slash of a mouth and a gleam in her eye that said she welcomed trouble, if it meant she got to use the lovingly polished mace hanging above the liquor […]
”We Burned So Bright” T.J. Klune
We Burned So Bright by T.J. Klune hit me like brick. As a husband here in Vermont, this story felt achingly close to home. It follows Don and Rodney, two men who’ve spent forty years together when they learn the world is ending. They take one last road trip across America, revisiting the places and […]