The Sheriff of Yrnameer

A Novel

By: Michael Rubens

Narrated by: William Dufris

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.

©2009 Michael Rubens (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A science fiction book your grandmother will love - if she's a lustful, violent lady." (Stephen Colbert)

Love it!

Hilarious! This is one of my top 10 funniest reads and I've been hoping for more in this (possible?) series!! It's a great space opera along the lines of Space Team, Sir Giles Mysteries and the Great Rex Nihilo. Well read and hugely entertaining, I've returned to this story 3x and still not tired of it. Again, my only complaint is there aren't more adventures with this cast of characters!

Stellar performance!

I howled out loud a number of times, chuckled constantly throughout, and even giggled and snorted. Dufris did a fantastic job - his characters were out of this world... literally! And the production values were top-notch.

When's the sequel???

Great space sitcom-like book

The comparisons are inevitable to Douglas Adams, but let's face it, I can compare almost every fantasy series to J.R.R. Tolkien so it's a moot point to me. Just enjoy the ride.

This is definitely a book you're going to want to listen closely. The production is top notch with multi-voiced in-book jingles for space adverts, modulated voices for intercoms and radios and various vocal tweaks to really give you the sense of a world were every planet is named for a sponsor and the world is filled with non-stop marketing.

The jokes are never so over the top that it feels like the author is trying too hard although they come often.

If you like shows or movies like Spaced, The IT Crowd, Galaxy Quest, Monty Python and the Holy Grail or the Daily Show, you'll most likely love this one.

A bit hard to follow...

It was a little hard to get into this book, but after I did it was really enjoyable. I love nothing more than a reluctant hero! I would definitely recommend this book to any science fiction fan.

The reader makes this great

Put aside the inevitable comparisons to Douglas Adams. Though this is a comic novel, Michael Rubens has a different sensibility, and presents more of an emphasis on the adventure, and most jokes are on the hero, rather than the rest of the universe. Along the way, he also pokes fun at commercialism, heroics, and business meetings as part of his broad adventure comedy. Little made me laugh out loud, but I was consistently amused.

Transcending the novel, however, is the production. Man, this is what audio books were made for - William Dufris acts every part, with some subtle sound effects for backing. Along with Gaiman's Anansi Boys, this is the best read out of some 200 audio books I have listened to. So, though the novel is 3.5 stars, the 5+ star production makes it an easy purchase.

Best part of the story was the narration

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. After 2/3 of the way in, it was only the very excellent narration that made the book bearable to finish. Of course, the plot is so weak that you won't miss anything if you just stop listening at any given point after they land on Yrnameer.

Light, and fun.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes. The book was easy to follow with little in the way of a deep plot. The main character was a cross between Han Solo and Born Looser. You just had to laugh at times and wonder how this person ever survived long enough to reach adulthood. This is also his charm and quickly becomes a much liked, if no loved, character in the book.

Have you listened to any of William Dufris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was the first. Very well read, easy to follow.

Any additional comments?

A great tongue-in-cheek story with very lovable characters. How often do you absolutely enjoy waiting to hear what the bounty hunter (bad guy) will say next?

I rated this story 3 starts since it was a one time listen with no real depth to it. It passes the time well... but I will most likely not listen to it again any time soon. That being said, I gave it three stars with a lack of depth because it made me laugh and smile several times.

Excellent Production

The story is funny and light hearted but the narration production is what makes this a premier choice. The narrator is charming and talented. This was quite an unexpected find! What a gem!

Bit Naf

What did you like best about The Sheriff of Yrnameer? What did you like least?

The premise of the story

Would you ever listen to anything by Michael Rubens again?

I might but it was just an ok story.

What three words best describe William Dufris’s performance?

Solid performance given the material

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No not for the cost of the ticket

very good

while the main the story does sound familiar (you will be thinking of Han Solo when introduced to Cole) the plot is varied enough and clever enough that you wont mind and will probably forget anyway and become completely immersed in the adventures of the sheriff of yrnameer. the narration makes the book, it is perfect! a thoroughly enjoyable romp across the galaxy, well worth a credit.