MathFiction: Luck be a Lady (Dean Wesley Smith)

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

...
Luck be a Lady (2009)

Dean Wesley Smith
...

Contributed by "William E. Emba"

A seriously bizarre story about how Laverne, the Goddess of Luck, has gone missing, and superheroes Poker Boy, Front Desk Lady, and Screamer go looking for her, only to discover that the Bookkeeper has mathematically proven that Chance does not exist, and now Reality is changing. It takes an emergency appeal to the Gods of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry to save the Universe.

One of two mathematical stories in Denise Little's anthology Intelligent Design. (See also Year of the Rat).

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Luck be a Lady

According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:

Euler's Equation by Neil Hudson
The Devil You Don't by Keith Laumer
The Adventures of Topology Man by Alex Kasman
Conservation of Probability by Brook West
Math Takes a Holiday by Paul Di Filippo
Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
Borzag and the Numerical Apocalypse by Jason Earls
Unreasonable Effectiveness by Alex Kasman
life.exe by Jason Rogers
On the Quantum Theoretic Implications of Newton's Alchemy by Alex Kasman

Ratings for Luck be a Lady:

Ratings		Have you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
(unrated) PLEASE HELP US OUT BY ENTERING YOUR OWN RATINGS FOR THIS WORK.

Categories:

Genre	Humorous, Science Fiction,
Motif	Religion,
Topic	Probability/Statistics,
Medium	Short Stories,

Home All New Browse Search About

Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)