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Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds
The hateful Path, that of the 9th Born.
The survival of the Ark—humanity’s last bastion after God's wrath destroyed the world—is balanced by birth order: the oddborn are assigned a Path, the evenborn are given over to the will of God. And it is upon those of the 9th Born Path to sanitize the evens.
John 59129’s first walk as a Niner is the same day the scientists of the Ark plan to defy God by seeking to turn back time. An electrical surge sends John past the safety of the Ark, into an unblemished world. A glimpse of perfection. Of all the evenborn saved.
But when John wakes, he's back in the Ark, twenty years after the failure to harness time. Was his encounter real or just a dream caused by his accident? Are those in charge of the Ark keeping the oddborn caged? Is God the monster, or is it mankind?
For John 59129 to find out before his own child is born, he must be willing to play the odds.
The survival of the Ark—humanity’s last bastion after God's wrath destroyed the world—is balanced by birth order: the oddborn are assigned a Path, the evenborn are given over to the will of God. And it is upon those of the 9th Born Path to sanitize the evens.
John 59129’s first walk as a Niner is the same day the scientists of the Ark plan to defy God by seeking to turn back time. An electrical surge sends John past the safety of the Ark, into an unblemished world. A glimpse of perfection. Of all the evenborn saved.
But when John wakes, he's back in the Ark, twenty years after the failure to harness time. Was his encounter real or just a dream caused by his accident? Are those in charge of the Ark keeping the oddborn caged? Is God the monster, or is it mankind?
For John 59129 to find out before his own child is born, he must be willing to play the odds.
- GenresScience FictionNovella
107 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 2, 2024
About the author
Bill Adams
6 books112 followersSci-fi/Fantasy author of middle grade and adult, sometimes editor, book reviewer at FanFiAddict, pizza connoisseur, beard grower, Ace, father, he/him
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 7, 2024
First published on Fanfiaddict.com
First of all, this is a tour de force novella. Mind-bending, thoughtful, lyrical. Desperate characters in an absolutely horrific dystopian world run by unfeeling zealots. However, there’s a hopeful touch that I absolutely needed. It’s bleak, it’s grim, but it’s also the opposite of those things.
John 59129’s life is all planned out for him. He walked the 9th path, meaning he must “sanitize” even born children. I’ll let you figure out exactly what that is. After a freak accident of timey-wimeyness, John finds himself sent 20 years into the future. He still walks the 9th path–now with a wife and a child on the way–but in the aforementioned timey-wimeyness, he sees a different path: one where oddborn and evenborns coexist together, where the Toppers don’t rule over the Ark with an iron fist. Complications ensue and John is a sent on a winding path toward either freedom or death.
Adams is a brilliant writer; that must be said first. He has an amazing command of the English language. Sometimes, like in his novel, The Godsblood Tragedy, he went a bit overboard with his expansive vocabulary. However, in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds, Adams keeps things poetic while also writing in a style that leans more to the succinct.
The world is also lovingly created, full of clever nods to numbers–they are all odds and evens, after all–and an amazing scene where we see the justice system on the Ark: playing the odds. In general, I’m a bit burnt out on dystopian settings, as I feel like most of them have been done before, but this one feels new, not just a rehashing of previous dystopian stories. I liked the worldbuilding quite a bit, but this is a novel about characters. John, who struggles between duty and choices that would be morally right but against everything he’s been raised to believe. There are some heartfelt moments between John and his wife, and it can’t be understated how much Adam smakes you feel in this short little book–less than 100 pages. By the end, you’ve been put through the emotional ringer, but you’ll be happy about it.
However, for all its darkness, there’s hope in these pages. Adams has talked about how this novella was a passion project as he and his wife navigated an IVF pregnancy and all the stresses involved with that. As someone going through IVF currently with my wife, that part of the novella really connected with me. There’s such an impermanence to life, so many unknowns that can happen, and Adams recreates the feel masterfully here.
If you’re on the lookout for a novella that will hit you in the feels while also giving you characters to root for a touch of hope, this is the book for you!
First of all, this is a tour de force novella. Mind-bending, thoughtful, lyrical. Desperate characters in an absolutely horrific dystopian world run by unfeeling zealots. However, there’s a hopeful touch that I absolutely needed. It’s bleak, it’s grim, but it’s also the opposite of those things.
John 59129’s life is all planned out for him. He walked the 9th path, meaning he must “sanitize” even born children. I’ll let you figure out exactly what that is. After a freak accident of timey-wimeyness, John finds himself sent 20 years into the future. He still walks the 9th path–now with a wife and a child on the way–but in the aforementioned timey-wimeyness, he sees a different path: one where oddborn and evenborns coexist together, where the Toppers don’t rule over the Ark with an iron fist. Complications ensue and John is a sent on a winding path toward either freedom or death.
Adams is a brilliant writer; that must be said first. He has an amazing command of the English language. Sometimes, like in his novel, The Godsblood Tragedy, he went a bit overboard with his expansive vocabulary. However, in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds, Adams keeps things poetic while also writing in a style that leans more to the succinct.
The world is also lovingly created, full of clever nods to numbers–they are all odds and evens, after all–and an amazing scene where we see the justice system on the Ark: playing the odds. In general, I’m a bit burnt out on dystopian settings, as I feel like most of them have been done before, but this one feels new, not just a rehashing of previous dystopian stories. I liked the worldbuilding quite a bit, but this is a novel about characters. John, who struggles between duty and choices that would be morally right but against everything he’s been raised to believe. There are some heartfelt moments between John and his wife, and it can’t be understated how much Adam smakes you feel in this short little book–less than 100 pages. By the end, you’ve been put through the emotional ringer, but you’ll be happy about it.
However, for all its darkness, there’s hope in these pages. Adams has talked about how this novella was a passion project as he and his wife navigated an IVF pregnancy and all the stresses involved with that. As someone going through IVF currently with my wife, that part of the novella really connected with me. There’s such an impermanence to life, so many unknowns that can happen, and Adams recreates the feel masterfully here.
If you’re on the lookout for a novella that will hit you in the feels while also giving you characters to root for a touch of hope, this is the book for you!
February 21, 2025
4.5 stars, rounded up!
December 6, 2024
Full disclosure that I'm the author's wife but I'm giving this sci-fi novella five stars and I'll tell you why: this book had me STRESSED on the verge of tears a couple times.
I didn't know anything about this story (possible worst wife award, but also Bill told me "RAFO"). I picked it up because the cover art was so intriguing (a space person.. holding a baby?), started leafing through the pages, and then had a hard time putting it down until I was finished. It's a quick, entertaining, and tense read that left me wanting to know more about this dystopian world.
I didn't know anything about this story (possible worst wife award, but also Bill told me "RAFO"). I picked it up because the cover art was so intriguing (a space person.. holding a baby?), started leafing through the pages, and then had a hard time putting it down until I was finished. It's a quick, entertaining, and tense read that left me wanting to know more about this dystopian world.
February 3, 2025
A couple of pages in and Bill grabbed me already. A quick read that made me wish this was longer than a novella. If you like sci-fi, pick this up.
8.33/10
4.5/5 ⭐️
8.33/10
4.5/5 ⭐️
November 25, 2024
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is a novella by an author I’ve come to eagerly anticipate. This is pulpy sci-fi of the sort I grew up with - dystopian, time travel, post apocalyptic, with your job in the Ark and whether you live or die is determined by birth order. As bleak as it starts out there is also a thread of hope spun through it as John 59129 gets a glimpse that makes him question everything his people have lived by since the world ended. Have they truly been punished by God or is there an insidious lie at play? Is it all in his head, or have they been deceived?
Not knowing if he can trust anyone around him or even his own senses and memory, John begins to question the truth that the survivors of the End of the World have embraced for generations - even if he faces punishment from the only home left.
I primarily know Bill from his fantasy work, The Godsblood Tragedy, but in each work his characters have a sense of heart that makes me understand and empathize with them. I flew through this quickly and if you’re a fan of 80s and early 90s sci-fi books/films you’ll feel right at home.
Not knowing if he can trust anyone around him or even his own senses and memory, John begins to question the truth that the survivors of the End of the World have embraced for generations - even if he faces punishment from the only home left.
I primarily know Bill from his fantasy work, The Godsblood Tragedy, but in each work his characters have a sense of heart that makes me understand and empathize with them. I flew through this quickly and if you’re a fan of 80s and early 90s sci-fi books/films you’ll feel right at home.
April 4, 2025
Looking back at the overall worldbuilding and complexity of this plot, I'm impressed with how it is only a novella.
I enjoyed following the niner, John, and learning about the class structure of this dystopian future. Without spoiling the story, a single event changes John's outlook and makes him question his role in society and the governing norms created by the elites.
The customs of this society are quite horrific, but I also found them fascinating. Because of this, I kept turning the pages since I wanted to learn all the roles and how each one plays a part in their society. In the end, I understand why they are the cursed odds, and I can't help but question if an unlucky even is the better role to be born in.
My only critique is that I did have trouble following the plot. It was a little too convoluted to me, but I also felt like maybe that was the point. The major plot points were very clear, but I am not 100% sure of how they all connect.
Overall, this is a mind-bending sci-fi with timey-whimey stuff. I appreciated the themes of questioning authority and their decision-making. The world-building is truly top-notch, especially for a novella. This is a unique sci-fi dystopian that will leave a lasting impression.
I enjoyed following the niner, John, and learning about the class structure of this dystopian future. Without spoiling the story, a single event changes John's outlook and makes him question his role in society and the governing norms created by the elites.
The customs of this society are quite horrific, but I also found them fascinating. Because of this, I kept turning the pages since I wanted to learn all the roles and how each one plays a part in their society. In the end, I understand why they are the cursed odds, and I can't help but question if an unlucky even is the better role to be born in.
My only critique is that I did have trouble following the plot. It was a little too convoluted to me, but I also felt like maybe that was the point. The major plot points were very clear, but I am not 100% sure of how they all connect.
Overall, this is a mind-bending sci-fi with timey-whimey stuff. I appreciated the themes of questioning authority and their decision-making. The world-building is truly top-notch, especially for a novella. This is a unique sci-fi dystopian that will leave a lasting impression.
December 2, 2024
John 59129 is yet another Odd born into this world with the cursed task of sanitation—a gruesome fate for all Even-born. But even if he knows his path in life, he still struggles with the reality of the task on his first walk when the child is in hand. An accident sends him a vision of beautiful world that had been lost and he questions God, the Odds knowledge aboard the Ark, and even his own sanity as he seeks a better life for everyone, Even and Odd.
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds gives you plenty to think about. With a post-apocalyptic setting, copious biblical references, and Aristotle's Metaphysics as the background for John 59129's struggle against his fate and the knowledge of the masses. Oh and there's time travel involved... maybe?
The opening scene is visceral and memorable as John 59129 goes on a “walk” for the first time carrying a newborn Even to offer him as the latest sacrifice to appease a spited God. Their world choked in fog, the sun blotted out, and lighting flashing, they are just trying to survive.
I cannot help but draw the connection between fate decided at birth and Adams' own infant children, to whom he dedicates the story to. Equal parts sad and hopeful, this fate sets a poignant tone that fittingly mirrors the struggle of all of humanity on the Ark.
I think this is one of those stories that needs to be experienced fresh, where the reader has the chance to experience it as it happens and reflect on the meaning of things after. So I'm keeping this review intentionally short. Go read Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds. It's fast paced sci-fi dystopia that'll leave you thinking.
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds gives you plenty to think about. With a post-apocalyptic setting, copious biblical references, and Aristotle's Metaphysics as the background for John 59129's struggle against his fate and the knowledge of the masses. Oh and there's time travel involved... maybe?
The opening scene is visceral and memorable as John 59129 goes on a “walk” for the first time carrying a newborn Even to offer him as the latest sacrifice to appease a spited God. Their world choked in fog, the sun blotted out, and lighting flashing, they are just trying to survive.
I cannot help but draw the connection between fate decided at birth and Adams' own infant children, to whom he dedicates the story to. Equal parts sad and hopeful, this fate sets a poignant tone that fittingly mirrors the struggle of all of humanity on the Ark.
I think this is one of those stories that needs to be experienced fresh, where the reader has the chance to experience it as it happens and reflect on the meaning of things after. So I'm keeping this review intentionally short. Go read Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds. It's fast paced sci-fi dystopia that'll leave you thinking.
January 27, 2026
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds has a strong emotional core thanks to good character work, especially John and the relationships that shape his moral struggle within such a harsh society.
The dystopian premise is imaginative and thought provoking, and I appreciated how much depth Adams gives to the characters in a relatively short story. The worldbuilding and themes of fate, duty, and choice kept me engaged. However, the time travel and some of the sharp plot changes didn't always work for me 🤷♂️. That’s likely more a matter of taste than execution, as I’m probably not the target audience for stories that lean heavily into that scifi/ time travel elements.
Overall, this was a solid with strong characters, even if not everything fully clicked for me.
The dystopian premise is imaginative and thought provoking, and I appreciated how much depth Adams gives to the characters in a relatively short story. The worldbuilding and themes of fate, duty, and choice kept me engaged. However, the time travel and some of the sharp plot changes didn't always work for me 🤷♂️. That’s likely more a matter of taste than execution, as I’m probably not the target audience for stories that lean heavily into that scifi/ time travel elements.
Overall, this was a solid with strong characters, even if not everything fully clicked for me.
January 19, 2025
"They cannot control our nature behind their elegant shield. Their bubble of false destruction, their currents of lies.”
Nifty little distopyian post-apoc novella. Plays on a lot of complex themes like time, faith, and govt oversight. Not a ton of answers here, but in someways we're not supposed to know *all* of them. It's a peak into their lives on the precipice of change, and the glance we see is enough.
Grim but still laced with hope, well worth the price of admission.
“Lad, I’m not talking about reading the words as they are written. I mean the ones not written.”
Nifty little distopyian post-apoc novella. Plays on a lot of complex themes like time, faith, and govt oversight. Not a ton of answers here, but in someways we're not supposed to know *all* of them. It's a peak into their lives on the precipice of change, and the glance we see is enough.
Grim but still laced with hope, well worth the price of admission.
“Lad, I’m not talking about reading the words as they are written. I mean the ones not written.”
November 30, 2024
My rating 4.5
I really like how this world has been built! I was a little worried, at first, about the babies! I'm glad I kept going though because the story just keeps getting better. While not a long novella, it's full and robust in character development and sheer scope. Such an interesting dystopian civilization Bill has built and the society being broken down into evens and odds (people/classes) along with PLAYING THE ODDS, really make your mind expand.
Time bending and future forward, I'm hoping there is more to come of this cool world.
I really like how this world has been built! I was a little worried, at first, about the babies! I'm glad I kept going though because the story just keeps getting better. While not a long novella, it's full and robust in character development and sheer scope. Such an interesting dystopian civilization Bill has built and the society being broken down into evens and odds (people/classes) along with PLAYING THE ODDS, really make your mind expand.
Time bending and future forward, I'm hoping there is more to come of this cool world.
April 11, 2026
I really enjoyed this story. It was dark, and definitely landed on more of a grim tone for my taste, but the story had hope, or the promise of hope. I found myself really sympathizing with the characters, the oddborns, and deeply disliking the Toppers. This book was giving off a post-apocalyptic, authoritarian theocracy, which honestly made me think of some classic post-apocalyptic black and white movies. In all I world definitely recommend this book! The ending gave me chills. 10/10 recommend!
August 26, 2025
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is a quiet but extremely cool novella. It’s a post-apocalyptic story that dabbles in philosophy, time travel, and fighting the big bad establishment. Had a great time with this one! Check out my full review on Before We Go Blog.
December 4, 2024
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is a gripping and introspective dystopian novella that dives deep into themes of oppression, morality, and the enduring power of hope. Set in a bleak, fog-shrouded world ruled by a rigid social hierarchy, the story follows John 59129, a Niner who begins to question the oppressive doctrines of the Ark after a transformative encounter beyond its boundaries.
One of the novella’s greatest strengths is its meticulously crafted atmosphere, which I found utterly captivating. The oppressive fog, relentless lightning, and decaying infrastructure of the Ark create a vivid backdrop that mirrors the suffocating psychological weight carried by its inhabitants. John’s internal conflict is deeply compelling, rendering his journey both harrowing and profoundly relatable as he grapples with reconciling his ingrained beliefs with the possibility of a freer, brighter world.
But then there's John 59129’s profound sense of isolation. John's experiences resonates deeply with me as he uncovers a hidden truth, one that threatens to shatter the carefully constructed reality designed to perpetuate the power of a select elite. Initially, the idea that knowing the truth could lead to a better world feels inspiring. However, it gradually becomes a sobering reminder of the naivety of individual resistance within a system so meticulously engineered. Bill conveys this message with incredible precision, and I am here for it!
The novella carries echoes of classic 70s and 80s dystopian sci-fi, the kind that challenged readers to grapple with existential questions like, “Why are we here?” and “Is this all that we are?”. In fact, it reminded me of the iconic song “2112” by Rush—a story of one person’s revelation and their struggle to defy the establishment and the elite (this song is directly inspired by another novella, Anthem by Ayn Rand, which explores many of the same themes as UECO). This parallel adds a nostalgic, philosophical depth that makes the novella even more compelling.
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds feels daringly prescient in its message. It holds a mirror to contemporary struggles, daring readers to confront the complexities of defiance, the weight of systemic oppression, and the fragile yet vital role of hope. Overall, it is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant tale—a must-read for fans of dystopian fiction and philosophical explorations of human resilience.
One of the novella’s greatest strengths is its meticulously crafted atmosphere, which I found utterly captivating. The oppressive fog, relentless lightning, and decaying infrastructure of the Ark create a vivid backdrop that mirrors the suffocating psychological weight carried by its inhabitants. John’s internal conflict is deeply compelling, rendering his journey both harrowing and profoundly relatable as he grapples with reconciling his ingrained beliefs with the possibility of a freer, brighter world.
But then there's John 59129’s profound sense of isolation. John's experiences resonates deeply with me as he uncovers a hidden truth, one that threatens to shatter the carefully constructed reality designed to perpetuate the power of a select elite. Initially, the idea that knowing the truth could lead to a better world feels inspiring. However, it gradually becomes a sobering reminder of the naivety of individual resistance within a system so meticulously engineered. Bill conveys this message with incredible precision, and I am here for it!
The novella carries echoes of classic 70s and 80s dystopian sci-fi, the kind that challenged readers to grapple with existential questions like, “Why are we here?” and “Is this all that we are?”. In fact, it reminded me of the iconic song “2112” by Rush—a story of one person’s revelation and their struggle to defy the establishment and the elite (this song is directly inspired by another novella, Anthem by Ayn Rand, which explores many of the same themes as UECO). This parallel adds a nostalgic, philosophical depth that makes the novella even more compelling.
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds feels daringly prescient in its message. It holds a mirror to contemporary struggles, daring readers to confront the complexities of defiance, the weight of systemic oppression, and the fragile yet vital role of hope. Overall, it is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant tale—a must-read for fans of dystopian fiction and philosophical explorations of human resilience.
September 20, 2025
The Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds novella is a timey-wimey critique on the time-honored tradition of a small group of men using religion to control the masses and justify the atrocities that would keep them in power over said masses.
The first chapter really sent me for a loop and sets the scene for the type of post-apocalyptic world we are going to be moving through.
The air? Toxic.
The crops? Soy.
The weather? None. Lightning only.
The morale of the people? Lower than the subterranean levels of the Ark.
Hope for the future? Time…travel?
John 59129 is a 9th born in a post-apocalyptic earth where everyone lives in a rigid hierarchy based on birth order. Odds are given a job that ranges from farmer to sanitation, jobs that are needed to keep the Ark running, clean, and full of soybeans. The evens…well that's where sanitation expert John 59129 comes into play! He and other niners are tasked with keeping the balance in the Ark. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Hint. It’s not looking great for those even born babies.
We quickly find that John 59129 is not one to roll over and accept his grim task, and in an act of dissention he is shown a snapshot of what the world outside of the toxic fog that keeps the Ark and her people cloistered away. It’s hope, and a world full of everything the Toppers have said did not exist in the world any longer.
Then we time travel, and everything goes sideways.
The time travel aspect of the novella is one that can feel a little jarring, until the very end, where I felt that it is all pulled together neatly. In fact, I think the off kilter feeling I got from the first time travel experience was something I enjoyed, and it seemed like a purposeful tool to immerse the reader. John 59129 sure as hell does not know what is happening, and it makes sense that we should be as uncomfortable as he is.
I enjoyed the theme of man vs nature that was explored, and I think this could have been dug into at an even deeper level. We see it as John 59129 tries to 1) figure out WTF just happened to him and 2) try to bring hope to the rest of the people in the Ark.
Overall, a quick read that makes you think!
The first chapter really sent me for a loop and sets the scene for the type of post-apocalyptic world we are going to be moving through.
The air? Toxic.
The crops? Soy.
The weather? None. Lightning only.
The morale of the people? Lower than the subterranean levels of the Ark.
Hope for the future? Time…travel?
John 59129 is a 9th born in a post-apocalyptic earth where everyone lives in a rigid hierarchy based on birth order. Odds are given a job that ranges from farmer to sanitation, jobs that are needed to keep the Ark running, clean, and full of soybeans. The evens…well that's where sanitation expert John 59129 comes into play! He and other niners are tasked with keeping the balance in the Ark. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Hint. It’s not looking great for those even born babies.
We quickly find that John 59129 is not one to roll over and accept his grim task, and in an act of dissention he is shown a snapshot of what the world outside of the toxic fog that keeps the Ark and her people cloistered away. It’s hope, and a world full of everything the Toppers have said did not exist in the world any longer.
Then we time travel, and everything goes sideways.
The time travel aspect of the novella is one that can feel a little jarring, until the very end, where I felt that it is all pulled together neatly. In fact, I think the off kilter feeling I got from the first time travel experience was something I enjoyed, and it seemed like a purposeful tool to immerse the reader. John 59129 sure as hell does not know what is happening, and it makes sense that we should be as uncomfortable as he is.
I enjoyed the theme of man vs nature that was explored, and I think this could have been dug into at an even deeper level. We see it as John 59129 tries to 1) figure out WTF just happened to him and 2) try to bring hope to the rest of the people in the Ark.
Overall, a quick read that makes you think!
December 2, 2024
“The Almighty did not take man back to his divine breast. Man was on their own. And man paid for it.”
This was a fascinating little novella that went in a completely different direction than I expected. I figured from looking at the cover this would be a sci-fi about a new father or something like that.
Instead, Unlucky Odds is a deeply philosophical story about a man struggling with his role in a dystopian future, and trying to determine what’s real, what isn’t real, what’s a dream/vision, etc. it’s pretty difficult to discuss without spoilers. I will say things are wrapped up nicely enough to where the story and characters have a satisfying conclusion.
The biggest strength here is the word building. There is so much detail in this dystopian world, and it’s all handled naturally through dialogue. I appreciate how the different layers of the world/authority are explained depending on who is speaking. The council speaks in all absolutes, while characters John comes across demands he questions everything. And I loved the idea of “Playing the odds.” It’s near comical how even the “good” outcomes are absolutely horrible. People cheering for the spectacle of it feels realistic in this day and age.
To wrap up my rambling, this was a great novella. It’s more on the dialogue/philosophical side. If that’s what you’re looking for, this is the perfect read
This was a fascinating little novella that went in a completely different direction than I expected. I figured from looking at the cover this would be a sci-fi about a new father or something like that.
Instead, Unlucky Odds is a deeply philosophical story about a man struggling with his role in a dystopian future, and trying to determine what’s real, what isn’t real, what’s a dream/vision, etc. it’s pretty difficult to discuss without spoilers. I will say things are wrapped up nicely enough to where the story and characters have a satisfying conclusion.
The biggest strength here is the word building. There is so much detail in this dystopian world, and it’s all handled naturally through dialogue. I appreciate how the different layers of the world/authority are explained depending on who is speaking. The council speaks in all absolutes, while characters John comes across demands he questions everything. And I loved the idea of “Playing the odds.” It’s near comical how even the “good” outcomes are absolutely horrible. People cheering for the spectacle of it feels realistic in this day and age.
To wrap up my rambling, this was a great novella. It’s more on the dialogue/philosophical side. If that’s what you’re looking for, this is the perfect read
July 26, 2025
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds by Bill Adams is a twisty little novella that I enjoyed quite a bit.
There's a little bit of time travel without getting too much into the weeds on the trap of "how time travel works." The protagonist John 59129 goes through the wringer in Adams' taut 100-page scifi tale that deals with a religious zealotry in a post-apocalyptic world. I was reminded of Hugh Howey's WOOL books, but Adams definitely takes his characters and story in a much different direction than Howey in the end.
4.5 stars - rounded up to 5 overall. Well done.
There's a little bit of time travel without getting too much into the weeds on the trap of "how time travel works." The protagonist John 59129 goes through the wringer in Adams' taut 100-page scifi tale that deals with a religious zealotry in a post-apocalyptic world. I was reminded of Hugh Howey's WOOL books, but Adams definitely takes his characters and story in a much different direction than Howey in the end.
4.5 stars - rounded up to 5 overall. Well done.
June 25, 2026
Full disclosure: The author is my cousin, and as someone who is just getting into reading, I’m not exactly an avid reader yet.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s a very fun, quick read with vivid imagery that kept me completely engaged—which is a big deal for me, since I usually lose focus easily. The underlying themes hit very close to home regarding today's world and captured those emotions beautifully.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s a very fun, quick read with vivid imagery that kept me completely engaged—which is a big deal for me, since I usually lose focus easily. The underlying themes hit very close to home regarding today's world and captured those emotions beautifully.
July 4, 2026
A quick read and an engaging one. Take some post apocalypse, some possible time meddling, a slap of genre-bending and a dash of class-organised society. You have yourself this here tale. Very satisfying without having to explain all its mysteries.
February 26, 2025
A delightful dystopian tale of the future of the human race. The last vestiges of the human race cower in the wreck they call the Arc, after God destroyed the world. Your place in society is determined by the number of your birth order. Those that end in 9 have the unwelcome task of sacrificing the even-born children. John 59129 first walk ends with an accident that sees him transported to an unblemished world where the even survive. Then gets zapped back to the Arc 20 years later. Can he solve the mystery around the destruction of the world before he has to sacrifice his own even-born child?
Loved this short and dark tale of a hellish future and the mystery of how it came to pass. It takes up several interesting subjects, such as the order of society, religion and time. Hope there are more tales to come from this dark world.
Loved this short and dark tale of a hellish future and the mystery of how it came to pass. It takes up several interesting subjects, such as the order of society, religion and time. Hope there are more tales to come from this dark world.
August 20, 2026
Bill’s right to call this a fever dream! A wildly dystopian setting with a surprising amount of hope and vibes through the roof. As usual, everything was visceral and punchy and powerful, and the characters plunged through an increasingly bleak plot with admirable tenacity. It’s the kind of story that is best served by its brevity, even though it leaves me wanting so many answers. Excellently done.
January 16, 2025
An excellent pulpy science fiction tale that has pepperings or Philip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury. The world Adams has created is as visceral as it is bleak. The prose is dense and dreary, everyone speaks with a tone of hopelessness and defeatism. The story touches on climate fatalism, misinformation and oligarchy, where the order you are born in determines whether you even get to live. And even then, Playing the Odds in this world may be a fate worse than death.
A great read you could devour in an afternoon.
More bleak sci-fi Bill!
A great read you could devour in an afternoon.
More bleak sci-fi Bill!
December 11, 2025
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is about oligarchy, artificial scarcity, revolution and why murdering babies is bad.
The world has been destroyed by God (or climate change, perhaps), and the remnants of humanity live in a dystopian tower where all resources, including life, have to be rationed. One half of all babies have to be killed at birth, and the once who survive, the oddborn, are required to perform various menial tasks (including killing the evenborn babies by placing them in chutes to eject them from the tower) while the Toppers, who live at the top of the tower, enjoy luxurious lives paid for by the sacrifices of everyone else.
The social commentary in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is hard to miss, and that’s not a bad thing. Using a fantastical far-future dystopia to comment on uneven wealth distribution and classism is an effective literary technique that Bill Adams wields well in this novella. John 59129, his protagonist, discovers that not everything in the world is as the Toppers have told him and his friends, which makes him realize that there’s no real reason for him to participate in their baby-killing exploitation racket anymore, and start to look for a way out with his fellow oddborn, knowing that there’s a better world out there somewhere, if only he can convince people to listen to him.
The embeddedness of our cultural beliefs and values is a strong theme in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds, as John struggles hard to convince any of his fellow oppressed oddborn to help him or even believe him when he tells them that he has been to a world outside their tower and that it isn’t what they’ve been told. I can’t say too much about the nature of what he discovers without spoiling an important part of the book’s plot, but suffice it to say the things he’s trying to convince his friends and family of are difficult to believe even in the best of times, let alone when they’ve all been brainwashed by the oligarchal Toppers into being their service workers forever.
The theme I liked most about this book was the commentary about how capitalism demonizes nature, constructing it as hostile and dangerous to humans, who are only safe in their consumer-led cities, when in reality (both real reality and the reality of the book), nature is a neural or even good thing that has no particular malice for us, and which we could live harmoniously with if we could stop exploiting it for two seconds. Everyone in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds believes that the world was destroyed by God as a punishment to humans, but it seems clear that it was human-made climate change that caused the ecological catastrophes that killed most humans. While the survivors’ descendants have been holed up in their isolated tower, the earth has healed and become perfectly pleasant again. It’s possible, in fact, that the idea that nature was inhospitable and dangerous was never true, and that the whole dystopian society is a construct of the Toppers purely for their own benefit—just like the time machine they’re building go supposedly go back in time and prevent the catastrophe.
Again without spoiling too much, there is a time travel element to this book, which I personally like. I love time travel as a narrative tool. When used well it can help craft a fascinating world and a narrative where character actions have strange and unexpected consequences. I do wish that Adams had chosen to spend less time trying to explain time travel, which happens in two separate chapters, both of which are burdened with nonsensical technobabble and both of which essentially explain the same thing. There is space in the sci-fi genre for detailed explanations of nonreal technologies, but Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is not such a hard sci-fi work, and the explanations, for me at least, get in the way of the larger point of the story.
I found that there was too much exposition overall in this book. The opening chapter is one long awkward expository monologue broken up by somewhat clunky expository narration. The prose in the rest of the book does improve from the first chapter, but the reliance on exposition remains consistent. While establishing the setting is important, often we get explanations of how things work in lieu of anything happening for long stretches of time. This continues to be an issue for me throughout the book, and I find that as a result, it has some fairly significant pacing issues in which long stretches of pages pass without John making any particular progress in his goals, then culminating in what I felt was a very rushed ending that really needed another few chapters to explain how he and the other characters suddenly got mentally and emotionally to where they were.
Though I do have many criticisms of it, Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is worth reading if you’re interested in human relationships with nature, the individual’s relationship with the state, and the worker’s relationship with capitalism.
The world has been destroyed by God (or climate change, perhaps), and the remnants of humanity live in a dystopian tower where all resources, including life, have to be rationed. One half of all babies have to be killed at birth, and the once who survive, the oddborn, are required to perform various menial tasks (including killing the evenborn babies by placing them in chutes to eject them from the tower) while the Toppers, who live at the top of the tower, enjoy luxurious lives paid for by the sacrifices of everyone else.
The social commentary in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is hard to miss, and that’s not a bad thing. Using a fantastical far-future dystopia to comment on uneven wealth distribution and classism is an effective literary technique that Bill Adams wields well in this novella. John 59129, his protagonist, discovers that not everything in the world is as the Toppers have told him and his friends, which makes him realize that there’s no real reason for him to participate in their baby-killing exploitation racket anymore, and start to look for a way out with his fellow oddborn, knowing that there’s a better world out there somewhere, if only he can convince people to listen to him.
The embeddedness of our cultural beliefs and values is a strong theme in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds, as John struggles hard to convince any of his fellow oppressed oddborn to help him or even believe him when he tells them that he has been to a world outside their tower and that it isn’t what they’ve been told. I can’t say too much about the nature of what he discovers without spoiling an important part of the book’s plot, but suffice it to say the things he’s trying to convince his friends and family of are difficult to believe even in the best of times, let alone when they’ve all been brainwashed by the oligarchal Toppers into being their service workers forever.
The theme I liked most about this book was the commentary about how capitalism demonizes nature, constructing it as hostile and dangerous to humans, who are only safe in their consumer-led cities, when in reality (both real reality and the reality of the book), nature is a neural or even good thing that has no particular malice for us, and which we could live harmoniously with if we could stop exploiting it for two seconds. Everyone in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds believes that the world was destroyed by God as a punishment to humans, but it seems clear that it was human-made climate change that caused the ecological catastrophes that killed most humans. While the survivors’ descendants have been holed up in their isolated tower, the earth has healed and become perfectly pleasant again. It’s possible, in fact, that the idea that nature was inhospitable and dangerous was never true, and that the whole dystopian society is a construct of the Toppers purely for their own benefit—just like the time machine they’re building go supposedly go back in time and prevent the catastrophe.
Again without spoiling too much, there is a time travel element to this book, which I personally like. I love time travel as a narrative tool. When used well it can help craft a fascinating world and a narrative where character actions have strange and unexpected consequences. I do wish that Adams had chosen to spend less time trying to explain time travel, which happens in two separate chapters, both of which are burdened with nonsensical technobabble and both of which essentially explain the same thing. There is space in the sci-fi genre for detailed explanations of nonreal technologies, but Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is not such a hard sci-fi work, and the explanations, for me at least, get in the way of the larger point of the story.
I found that there was too much exposition overall in this book. The opening chapter is one long awkward expository monologue broken up by somewhat clunky expository narration. The prose in the rest of the book does improve from the first chapter, but the reliance on exposition remains consistent. While establishing the setting is important, often we get explanations of how things work in lieu of anything happening for long stretches of time. This continues to be an issue for me throughout the book, and I find that as a result, it has some fairly significant pacing issues in which long stretches of pages pass without John making any particular progress in his goals, then culminating in what I felt was a very rushed ending that really needed another few chapters to explain how he and the other characters suddenly got mentally and emotionally to where they were.
Though I do have many criticisms of it, Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds is worth reading if you’re interested in human relationships with nature, the individual’s relationship with the state, and the worker’s relationship with capitalism.
January 7, 2025
In the acknowledgments page, Bill Adams describes this novella as a "fever dream." And yeah, that's a great way to describe it! It's hard to talk about shorter stories without spoiling them, especially one that holds its central mystery, the question of whether the experience outside the Ark was real or not, so close to its chest, exactly like John 59129 does with the babies. An unexpected but smart play by the story, as it kept adding to the whole feeling of being in this fever dream where you can't tell truth from lies; where your heart tells one thing, your heart tells you another thing, and the battle keeps going.
The world-building, I must point out, is what I came to expect from Bill: deep, intriguing, and delivered in a way that feels organic.
This is the third story I read from him, and I'm curious to see what new projects might come in the future. A children's story, a chunky fantasy saga, now a sci-fi novella—this man can write anything!
(Also, irrelevant to the story or the review since these are nothing alike, but the cover immediately made me think of Death Stranding 😅)
The world-building, I must point out, is what I came to expect from Bill: deep, intriguing, and delivered in a way that feels organic.
This is the third story I read from him, and I'm curious to see what new projects might come in the future. A children's story, a chunky fantasy saga, now a sci-fi novella—this man can write anything!
(Also, irrelevant to the story or the review since these are nothing alike, but the cover immediately made me think of Death Stranding 😅)
June 8, 2026
I picked this novella (audiobook in this case, narrated by Joel Porter, who does a superb job of bringing Adams’ words to life) up without looking too much into it.
I knew I had been meaning to read some of Bill Adams’ work and, I believe it was when SFINCS 3 was getting started, I saw this. It hit enough marks on a glance to grab my attention: awesome cover, an author I had been meaning to read, and a novella (c’mon, free time just doesn’t seem to happen anymore, I love short books for that!)
So I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the synopsis before hand. And I’m kinda glad I didn’t. Not that it would have changed my mind in anyway, it was just kinda fun going into this with no other expectations.
Being someone that generally reads more fantasy than science fiction, this novella is another added to the list of some straight up SF GEMS I’ve read recently!
When we meet the protagonist, John 59129, he’s working. First day on the job, and we follow him in his duties and his inner thoughts, and those paragraphs are just oozing with character. It feels like it takes no time at all for Adams to establish John 59129’s very being to the core. And we know him. Relate to him. Feel for him. And from that point on, the characterization of John 59129 will keep you hooked.
As this bleak world unfolds before the reader’s eye (and/or ears) little bits and pieces are revealed as we come to understand a bit more of the world building, and there is so much of it packed in, but the story maintains a wonderful pace. Nothing ever feels forced.
But as interesting as everything about this novella is, I find it hard to stray from John 59129. Because his voice is so strong. Perhaps strong isn’t the right word. It’s insistent. It’s utterly real. It’s unique and human.
This novella is a quick read/listen, and you’ll be done with it before you realize, and as fun and interesting as it is, it also comes with a punch. There’s something about it that I find hard to place and I think it has to do with Adams’ voice. It drips with this honest reflection of humanity. Quite frankly, I think this book is a fucking gem!
I knew I had been meaning to read some of Bill Adams’ work and, I believe it was when SFINCS 3 was getting started, I saw this. It hit enough marks on a glance to grab my attention: awesome cover, an author I had been meaning to read, and a novella (c’mon, free time just doesn’t seem to happen anymore, I love short books for that!)
So I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the synopsis before hand. And I’m kinda glad I didn’t. Not that it would have changed my mind in anyway, it was just kinda fun going into this with no other expectations.
Being someone that generally reads more fantasy than science fiction, this novella is another added to the list of some straight up SF GEMS I’ve read recently!
When we meet the protagonist, John 59129, he’s working. First day on the job, and we follow him in his duties and his inner thoughts, and those paragraphs are just oozing with character. It feels like it takes no time at all for Adams to establish John 59129’s very being to the core. And we know him. Relate to him. Feel for him. And from that point on, the characterization of John 59129 will keep you hooked.
As this bleak world unfolds before the reader’s eye (and/or ears) little bits and pieces are revealed as we come to understand a bit more of the world building, and there is so much of it packed in, but the story maintains a wonderful pace. Nothing ever feels forced.
But as interesting as everything about this novella is, I find it hard to stray from John 59129. Because his voice is so strong. Perhaps strong isn’t the right word. It’s insistent. It’s utterly real. It’s unique and human.
This novella is a quick read/listen, and you’ll be done with it before you realize, and as fun and interesting as it is, it also comes with a punch. There’s something about it that I find hard to place and I think it has to do with Adams’ voice. It drips with this honest reflection of humanity. Quite frankly, I think this book is a fucking gem!
September 7, 2025
This was the perfect dark and disturbing novella as a palate cleanser between more cosy reads! The imagery is moody and the prose has a certain punchiness to it that fits this kind of dystopian sci-fi perfectly.
The path John must walk is shocking and horrible but we instantly root for him as he voices many of the thoughts and questions the reader sits with. I enjoyed his growing reluctance to remain complacent and attempts and bringing more of his friends on board with his theories and hope for a different life/world.
I didn't read the full blurb before starting and I think that made the story more exciting for me as I didn't know the timey-wimey twist after John is knocked out but I generally prefer to go in knowing as little as possible(yes, I judge books by their covers and boy is this one's cover fantastic!)
The audiobook for this one was superb and I highly recommend listening to it if you're so inclined.
The path John must walk is shocking and horrible but we instantly root for him as he voices many of the thoughts and questions the reader sits with. I enjoyed his growing reluctance to remain complacent and attempts and bringing more of his friends on board with his theories and hope for a different life/world.
I didn't read the full blurb before starting and I think that made the story more exciting for me as I didn't know the timey-wimey twist after John is knocked out but I generally prefer to go in knowing as little as possible(yes, I judge books by their covers and boy is this one's cover fantastic!)
The audiobook for this one was superb and I highly recommend listening to it if you're so inclined.
August 26, 2025
I picked this up on audiobook, expecting it to be sitting in my library for a while. However, a brief listen to the first few minutes and I was hooked into the world of the Ark, and John, as he faces a harrowing role designed to maintain the population of the self-contained building as the world continues to die around them. Unlucky evens.
Complete review on https://fanfiaddict.com/review-unluck...
Complete review on https://fanfiaddict.com/review-unluck...
January 6, 2025
I'm confused about the high rating for this novella.
Pros - overall vibe
Cons - the entire book is in the blurb, very little happens, average to poor prose, pointlessly confusing
The only reason I was able to finish this was because of how short I knew it was. There is no depth. There are no answers. And there really weren't even any questions.
Pros - overall vibe
Cons - the entire book is in the blurb, very little happens, average to poor prose, pointlessly confusing
The only reason I was able to finish this was because of how short I knew it was. There is no depth. There are no answers. And there really weren't even any questions.
March 10, 2025
LRTC. (Maybe) I swear I thought I rated/reviewed this.
4.5 unlucky babies rounded up.
Sci-fi, dystopian or not, isn't usually my thing. But Bill's smooth prose, plotting, and pacing made this an easy, enjoyable read. Potential time-travel aside :P
I can picture this sitting right alongside stories in sci-fi mags, like Azimovs and Clarkesworld.
4.5 unlucky babies rounded up.
Sci-fi, dystopian or not, isn't usually my thing. But Bill's smooth prose, plotting, and pacing made this an easy, enjoyable read. Potential time-travel aside :P
I can picture this sitting right alongside stories in sci-fi mags, like Azimovs and Clarkesworld.
August 9, 2026
This was an interesting novella that seemed to mix Snowpiercer and 2012 vibes. It has a trippy, mind-bending premise to it (and the ending revealed that an earlier prediction I had was correct). While the writing was good and the premise interesting, I struggled to understand some of the world-building and some plot points. 3 1/2 out of 5
August 4, 2025
Noah's Ark meets Hugh Howey's Wool in Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds - a philosophical sci-fi tale that can be read during an extended lunch hour when, you know..., work can just wait, man. Perfect for fans of Edward Ashton.
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