The Sheriff of Yrnameer

When we first meet Cole--just Cole--he's being dangled upside down by a many-eyed, many-tentacled debt collector with a rich, mellifluous voice named Kenneth. Since Cole is unable to pay his debt immediately Kenneth is about to deposit his eggs through Cole's eye socket and into his brain. Cole escapes, barely, and will continue to escape, barely, for the duration of the book.

Oh yes, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is that kind of book. It's antic, it's wacky, it's high concept, it's in the tradition of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, with a little bit of Silverado and The Seven Samurai thrown in for good measure. It's also hilarious and surprisingly big hearted.

As the book opens a rapidly dwindling crew of dim-witted Bad Men, who keep show more getting killed (and killing each other) in truly horrible ways is approaching town. When they get there they intend to force the townspeople--who consist overwhelmingly of artists, writers, musicians, craftspeople, film-makers, and other folk who are free, if not strategic, thinkers--to give up all of their crops. What a boon when Cole, escaping his own demon(s) in a stolen space vehicle crash lands on their planet, in their town, and--much in the manner of Dorothy when she lands in Oz--right on top of the Bad Men. During the drunken revelry celebrating the temporary victory (because it's a very large band of Bad Men, and the squashed were just the first messengers) Cole is signed up as sheriff.

Some of the wacky highlights of the book include a shipload of freeze-dried orphans, a cast and crew of awesomely repulsive aliens, and the concept of a universe which, with the exception of the tiny planet of Yrnameer (a contraction for that old advertising come on: Your Name Here), is completely co opted by big business. Pop ups dance around people's heads, planets have names such as InVestCo3 (which resides in the Financial System), and the very dust on the ground forms into advertisements.

Michael Rubens has written a thoroughly enjoyable, compulsively readable science fiction romp, and I look forward to his next.

I leave you with this, explaining why Cole ran from his home planet, and continues to run to this day:

"You could run away and you'd end up in exactly the same place, the surroundings interchangeable, the inhabitants nearly so. Cole knew it because he'd done it. Several times. He'd end up back in his room again, moodily smoking whatever he could get his hands on, the sole source of light in the room the faint radioactive glow coming from the commemorative chunk of Earth in its crystal cube, inscribed with the famous quote from the Administration. AT LEAST WE GOT THE TERRORISTS, it said." show less

I almost did not pick up this book. The cover sucks. I mean, some covers are simply bad but the cover of this book crosses over bad without looking down and lands well over the border to ‘WTF were they thinking?’ The blurb on the back cover by Stephen Colbert doesn’t help things. It says nothing about the story and, if fact, makes it sound sophomoric. The blurb on the inside dust jacket that compared it to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett attracted me, though, so I gave it a try.
It’s good. It’s not the wild, bizarre ride of the Hitchhiker’s guide or the insightful, satirical humor of Discworld, but it is lighthearted and fun and a thoroughly enjoyable romp with an almost competent space faring rogue trying to escape his show more luck and his past. I found it a very welcome addition to the far too small field of humorous science fiction. I recommend it. show less

First book of 2010! and it was a wonderful choice. I fully admit, I picked it up based on the cover, than when I saw Steven Colbert's blurb on the back of the book, I had to have it. And the best part, the book not only didn't disappoint but was much better than I was expecting.

First thing to know is that I've read many different sorts of science fiction comedy. Sometimes they miss, sometimes they are actually well written, but they are usually all clones of each other, usually include the criminal with a heart takes on the world with near misses and luck plot line.

This book takes the criminal turned hero to new heights, and the author actually fills in many of the gaping plot holes that get glossed over -for example, why is it that show more in a technological society, humans still act and look like the humans in today's world.

I suspect those who like their aliens to be well, alien, will be disappointed. Also, Rubens takes certain plot elements from other sci-fi novels (ship jumping to points improbable and random will sound familiar) and makes them over a bit, probably in homage to the great sci-fi stories of the past, but it can be a bit old. It fits for this book,

The characterization is great. Each character has a clear voice and while sometimes cliched (the bright eyed and hero worshiping teenager for example), it is done well, and these character are more than just the cliche. I especially like Nora, who is both practical, hard and a caring woman. Our hero has faults, and while he does undergo a change of heart, it doesn't really change his character.

And, I hope to see more books set in this universe with the same characters. The last sentence in the book seems to imply that there will be. show less

One of my favorite books of the genre. It was just as good the second time around. My only disappointment is when, after finishing the ebook for the first time, I went to look for other titles by this authour only to find he has only written one book! what a major disappointment! The subgenre of comedic fantasy is filed with very few amazing authors, namely, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin. Rubens is only one of a handful of new humorous sci-fi/fantasy authours that have recently written a fantastic story that begs to be part of a series (or at least more works of a similar vein). For other titles similar to "The Sheriff of Yrnameer," see my Goodreads list on "comedic science fiction." (If you know of any other authors show more or titles that I have not yet listed, yet might enjoy please let me know. Thank you.) show less

I don't read lots of scifi books, but I loved this one - it was a bit zany and jumps around a good deal in the beginning (until all the stories collide with Cole's). Definitely looking forward to a sequel - which the ending certainly permits. The other reviewer has done a great job of summarizing, so I'm not going to bother.

The characters are just fun to travel with and their interactions with one another are almost always comical. Cole may start off as a bad guy, but deep down, you know he'll *probably* do the right thing - or at least try to. And his specialty is escaping by the skin of his teeth.

The setting is a future where earth has been destroyed and people live on planets and satellites that are covered in trademarks and lots show more of advertising. When Cole reaches Yrnameer - an unscathed land of artisans and non-business minded people - he is amazed that the sand at his feet isn't trying to sell him something.

I definitely enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone looking for some fun reading - as long as you don't mind a bit of violence, multitudes of different species and a bit of bad language - depending on what English equivalent you choose for 'farg'. show less

I read other reviews after I had already bought this - I suspect if I had known it was so much like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I'd have saved my money. Not that it's bad - it's not - it's just silly and pointless like HGG is. Oh, perhaps there's supposed to be some hidden meaning or commentary on the state of the world in it, but all I really got were the over the top references to commercialism and the silliness of "hero" worship.

I got those bits 'cause they were hammered into me over and over and over again.

This isn't to say that I didn't laugh, 'cause I did, several times. But... it was a bit too much of the same thing, and went on a bit too long.

A book about a guy who steals a spaceship and finds more trouble than he bargained for. A very fun and funny read. The comparison with Douglas Adams was dead on. The characters were well defined and sympathetic. You cared what happened to them. Three and a half stars.