Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds

De: Bill Adams

Narrado por: Joel Porter

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.

©2024 Bill Adams (P)2025 Bill Adams

Tight short story. Well crafted.

Strong voice. Immediately builds a world. Like the Fahrenheit 451 version of Hugh Howey’s Wool. Or Pierce Brown’s Red Rising. Draws a clear line between class warfare and parenthood.

An extremely cool, quiet, post-apoc

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. I had a great time with this one!

Good Narration and a Decent Story

Not the most cutting-edge dystopian fiction, but was engaging most of the time. Enjoyed the listen.

Excellent sci-fi novella

This is an excellent sci-fi novella. Well-paced and persistent, it tells a tidy tale of finding truth in a society fraught with lies.

The audiobook is superbly narrated. An enjoyable read and listen!

Perfect for Fans of Edward Ashton

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.

When your choices are not your own, what's real?

Born into captivity, like everyone else, and assigned a life-long work-duty might make most people grateful. Thankful that they were allowed to live past birth at all, and given the chance to thrive with family and friends. But what if you caught a glimpse of an alternate outcome. How far would you travel, and how much would you risk, for even a glimmer of unachievable hope that there might be a different path. John wrestles with his visions, pressing hard against the laws and structure of his community, in a short but thought-provoking story. Other reviewers mentioned Wool as a related inspiration. My first thought was Logan's Run. There are likely others as well, but Bill Adams presents different rules here. Narration by Joel Porter is straightforward and clear. The opportunities to have discussions far longer than the story's length are plentiful. [Disclosure: I received this title for free and listened at 1.95x.]

Worth the Listen...

First off, I received a free code to get this book with the expectation that I left a fair and honest review.

This was a okay book with a unique perspective on time travel and I liked the overall premise.

The characters were good, with the exception of the main character, who seemed ignorant to what was going on even though it was blatantly obvious. This is really my only negative on the book itself, but it made it tough for me to complete the listen, even though it is less than three hours.