“It doesn’t get any better than this” is the motto that graces the entrance to Stewart Beach Amusement Park in Lubbock native Sean Stewart’s phantasmagorical Galveston (Ace Fantasy). But during Mardi Gras 2004, those words acquire droll irony after a tidal wave of magic inundates the Island and wreaks insidious mutations. Revelers and metamorphosed creatures are condemned to a perpetual debauch while the rest of the town tries to carry on. Years later the melting pot comes to a boil with predictably bizarre results. Galveston becomes an inventive Grand Guignol where poker signifies life and luck and magic is not just possible, it’s inevitable.
