God, I love the description of this novella. Plus, it uses the word “embiggening.” How often do you run across that word?

This novella focuses on the three folks whose job it is to study the daemon problem in the States: Professor Emmeline Ashbury, Professor Raymond Compton, and Captain Michael Heath, of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (Special Programs Division). Each character has a different perspective, a different specialty, and a different challenge.

We meet these three characters just after the fight between Dave and the daemons on the oil rig, as the government responds to the event. Profs. Ashbury and Compton head out to the rig while Captain Heath goes to get Dave. They all end up in New Orleans for the big battle.

Though we get to see Dave interact with these characters, the novella isn’t about him, really. It’s about how these three characters respond to the daemon invasion. Prof. Ashbury is dealing with Asperger's; I find it really fascinating to read about her interactions with others from this perspective. Prof. Compton can’t see past his own MASSIVE ego, as we know from the Dave books. And Captain Heath is quietly and steadfastly attempting to deal with the professors, Dave, other government entities, and even civilians just to do his job. It’s actually interesting to compare the perspectives of all three of these folks on the same event as well as go “behind the scenes” of the Dave books. ( )