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    The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Novel
    The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Novel
    The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Novel

    Written by Michael Rubens

    Narrated by William Dufris

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Meet Cole: hapless space rogue, part-time smuggler, on a path to being full-time dead. His sidekick just stole his girlfriend. The galaxy's most hideous and feared bounty hunter wants to lay eggs in his brain. And the luxury space yacht Cole just hijacked turns out of be filled with interstellar do-gooders, one especially loathsome stowaway, and a cargo of freeze-dried orphans.

    Reluctantly compelled to deliver these defenseless, fluidless children to safety, Cole gathers a misfit crew for a desperate journey to the far reaches of the galaxy. Their destination: the mysterious world of Yrnameer, the very last of the your-name-heres-planets without corporate sponsors. But little does Cole know that this legendary utopia is home to a murderous band of outlaws bent on destroying the planet's tiny, peaceful community.

    Follow Cole's adventures through a delightfully absurd science-fiction universe, where the artificial intelligence is stupid, dust motes carry branding messages, and middle-management zombies have overrun a corporate training satellite. In the spirit of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is sci-fi comedy at its best-mordant, raucously funny, and a thrilling must-listen.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 24, 2009
    ISBN9781400183258
    The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Novel
    Author

    Michael Rubens

    Michael Rubens is a producer and correspondent for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. In addition to The Bad Decisions Playlist he has published two novels: The Sheriff of Yrnameer (Pantheon), and Sons of the 613 (Clarion). His fourth novel is slated for publication in June of 2017. His work has also appeared in The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, HuffPost Comedy and Salon. He was previously a producer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and was for a very brief period the world’s least effective bouncer. Visit him online at www.michaelrubens.com and on Twitter @michaelsrubens.

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    Reviews for The Sheriff of Yrnameer

    4/5

    9 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      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 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."
    • 4/5
      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 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'.
    • 4/5
      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 disappointing 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 quite written, but they are usually all clones of each other. With the criminal with a heart takes on the world with near misses and luck. 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 in a technological society, humans still act and look like 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.
    • 4/5
      A pretty straightforward clone of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, complete with a less-than-heroic protagonist and an artificial intelligence with a personality disorder. I just can't decide if the author should be praised or disparaged for not really trying to do too much with his material.

      Beyond that, the book didn't really impress itself upon me. It's a fun read, but in a day or two, I'll barely remember it.
    • 1/5
      Very shallow, television script quality. Forgettable.
    • 4/5
      Cole is a no good bounty hunter along the lines of Han Solo. He has to deal with a practically indestructible bounty hunter with a smooth voice that wants to plant its eggs in his brain, a "very handsome" smuggler that gets the best gigs and gals, and various mishaps that never seem to go his way. A good travel across the universe of monsters and cannibals that will make you smile warmly with various and sundry giggles.
    • 3/5
      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.