Beneath Ceaseless Skies #443, October 16, 2025

“A Random Walk Through the Goblin Library” by Chris Willrich

“My Sincere Apologies For the Demon” by Adrian Ward

Reviewed by Axylus

Magic users who traffic with the dead play a role in both stories of this issue.

Call me low-brow. I am firmly encamped among the tribe of readers who feel that Second Person Point of View (deliberately capitalized) stories are inherently annoying, ostentatious, unreadable escapees from the outbox of a university creative writing program—works filed under “could not finish,” despite whatever lofty awards they may have won. “A Random Walk Through the Goblin Library” by Chris Willrich almost won me over. I followed the tale with rising excitement, sincerely cheering for the unlikely outcome of an enjoyable read. I almost got my wish. You, the protagonist, are a book thief in a fascinating magical world. You live and breathe your thievish craft, and are now facing the ultimate challenge: stealing a hidden book from the Goblin Library. This particular tome is an assassination weapon. You have been sent here by your grandfather, a necromancer and spymaster. You dodge the goblins’ servants, bookhounds and bats and imps, knowing that two other thieves have been searching for the same text. Along the way, you can’t resist opening and reading from a few otherworldly tomes. I, standing in as You, wholeheartedly loved far more than half of this story. Alas, its latter portion did not not quite sustain its early, intoxicating promise. Nevertheless, You recommend this tale.

“My Sincere Apologies For the Demon” by Adrian Ward is a very brief correspondence between two warlocks, one of whom has committed the embarrassing faux pas of summoning a destructive demon. The warlocks attempt to navigate the social minefield of this regrettable event, with even more dire consequences.