Here's where I confess that I'm often unsure what Bear is doing in novellas. Sometimes. The Abby Irene stories have this problem for me. I mean, I know it's "Have some Abby Irene" but if I don't get into plot-following mode, I'm left at the end about where I started. This is one of those. But I liked the batch of disagreeable wizards, and I like Erem.