LOS ANGELES, USA, October 27th, 2026, FinanceWire
Rory AB Forrest’s debut novel, Dave the Space Pet, is now available to pre order worldwide ahead of its November 18 release through Unsolicited Press. The science fiction comedy follows an accountant who is abducted by aliens and experiences the world from the perspective of a household pet, exploring the relationship between humans and animals through adult comedy and satire.
In an interview with KTLA 5, anchor Andy Riesmeyer said the book changed his perspective on his relationship with his animal, describing the experience as “fun and funny, and kind of shocking” and saying it made him more empathetic. Readers on BookTok have also shared their reactions. Brycefromtheshelf said, “Dave the Space Pet is making me a better pet owner,” while Corinne Soares described it as “maybe the weirdest book I’ve ever read, and I’m absolutely recommending it.”
The novel is listed by retailers in several international markets, including Barnes & Noble and Walmart in the United States, Waterstones in the United Kingdom, Cultura in France and Booktopia in Australia.
Life From the Other Side of the Leash
The premise is simple. Accountant Dave is abducted by aliens, and everything that happens to pets happens to him. Yes, really everything. From family cuddles to getting ‘fixed’, he has to face it all.
Cover of Dave the Space Pet, artwork by Sam Gilbey, creator of the Brie Larson Captain Marvel poster art. Review by @jonahfromtheshelf.
That was important to Forrest. “To really look at this relationship we all have meant it needed to be unfiltered and unflinching, and that actually ended up driving most of the comedy,” he said. “It seemed to me that every pet story we get served is celebrity-voiced creatures who, firstly, all know they’re pets and, secondly, are universally stoked about it, and both of those felt like pretty colossal assumptions. I wanted to finally see an adult conversation about the whole thing, one that was rooted in love, sure, but was finally honest.”
A great example is how Dave believes he is on a Project Hail Mary-style space mission for the good of humankind, and never realizes, through the whole story, that he is a pet to the giant creatures he cannot speak to. “Just like our pets don’t know why they’re in our houses, that’s got to be weird for them, at least at first, right?” Forrest said. “Imagine the first time they’re pooping in front of you. No wonder they look so nervous.”
That is the thesis for Forrest. The relationship is so universal that we may all be overlooking its wilder details, which only become clear when seen from the other side. Taking that step back is what helped the project find its feet. “Think of all that wild intimacy of a somewhat bonkers daily life, and then knowing 57% of households worldwide have pets. That’s more than any one nationality, religion or even gender,” he said. “We do pets more than we do anything else. And that number is 71% in the US. It’s an industry worth 256 billion dollars globally per year. I started to wonder if there was maybe a bigger blind spot for us all. At least something worth exploring.”
From Hollywood Stunts to a Passion Project
Rory AB Forrest, author of Dave the Space Pet, Executive Creative Director of Extra Credit, and Commercial Film Director.
Professionally, Forrest is an internationally awarded, multi-award-winning Executive Creative Director at Extra Credit, an entertainment marketing company taking the industry and America by storm with stunts like Charlize Theron climbing a rock wall above Times Square for the adrenaline thriller Apex, and a man living inside a billboard for three days for The Last House, which became a viral sensation, both for Netflix releases. It was during a recent stint back in England that he turned his professional copywriting into a passion project, one that was quickly noticed on his return to California.
“I didn’t have pets as a kid and something always itched my brain about it. But seeing it all up close when I got a cat as an adult suddenly made the subject something I had to scratch,” he said. “The poor thing never left our house. I started seeing every day through its eyes.”
His advertising background armed him with “everything I needed to attempt something like this. I just wrote a list of everything we do and turned those into chapters. Collars to dog parks to snuggles to vets and what each would be like to live through with no explanation.”
“That’s also how Dr. Pierce’s endorsement came in,” he added. “She has literally written the books on this, but for science, not fiction. I was so honored when she supported Dave the Space Pet.” Dr. Jessica Pierce is one of the world’s leading bioethicists and scholars on the ethics of pet ownership. Her books include Who’s a Good Dog? And How to Be a Better Human, a New Scientist Best Book of 2023, and Run, Spot, Run, her book on the ethics of keeping pets, which Seth MacFarlane called a “must read.”
A Chance Meeting for International Publishing
It was Forrest’s return to Los Angeles where the real magic happened for the project. “I honestly never thought anything would come of it, but I’d just moved into my new spot in DTLA and a literary festival happened to be on at the LA Convention Center,” he said. “I was noodling away on day-job stuff in a local spot after work and Summer happened to sit next to me.”
Summer Stewart is the owner and managing editor of Unsolicited Press, an independent publisher based in Oregon. “We just struck up a conversation by chance, and then when she told me what she did, I said, ‘if I don’t tell you about this thing I wrote, I’ll never forgive myself,’ and she loved it,” Forrest said. “Everything Unsolicited publishes is brave in one way or another, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Still, we each could have gone anywhere else that day.”
Stewart could see the bigger industry picture. “Much like Hollywood’s appetite for adult comedy sci-fi but with real heart in recent adaptation successes like Project Hail Mary, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and The Murderbot Diaries, Dave looks ready to follow a similar path from page to screen,” she said. “You’ve gotta be ready for this book. There are bits that should (and do) make you gag, but don’t think any of it is gratuitous. Every scene and every moment, however graphic, has a purpose. It’s what I loved in Rory’s writing. It makes the ‘good-boy’ moments hit all the harder.”
.Screenwriter Brendan Casey (Scrubs, Free Agents) agrees. “Forrest is nothing short of brilliant in his debut, delivering some of the most poignant satire to hit bookshelves in years… If you’ve ever wanted to know what Rick and Morty would look like with the weirdness turned up to eleven, this will take you there.”
It’s quotes like that which have left the ad man a little speechless. “I honestly don’t know what to make of it all some days. Having my day job is incredibly grounding but also mind-blowingly lucky. I get to bring movies and TV to the world in the loudest, most fun ways possible. I wouldn’t do anything else even if Dave the Space Pet takes off, but I am proud it exists. Maybe proudest that it can span poop jokes and philosophy in four hundred pages, for the good of these creatures who brighten our lives.”
The question for the rest of us is whether facing these mirrored realities of pet ownership, and seeing life from the dog bed upwards, will make us flinch or make us better parents to the animals we share our homes with. The writers and critics, it seems, are willing to bet we’ll step up to the plate.
Dave the Space Pet is available to pre-order worldwide now and publishes on November 18, making it the perfect holiday gift for the definitely adult pet parents in your life. Readers can even have their own pet’s name added as a dedication in the front pages.
About Rory AB Forrest
Rory AB Forrest is an internationally awarded, multi-award-winning Executive Creative Director and Film Director at Extra Credit, an entertainment marketing company based in Los Angeles. Dave the Space Pet is his debut novel, published by Unsolicited Press and represented by The Rights Factory in Canada.