Yo, Tyrania - Ric Weiss

2010; 296 pages. Genre : Fiction; Satire. Suitable both for YA and adult readers. Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

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Full Disclosure. I have never met Ric, but I've followed his blog for years, and so am cyber-acquainted with him. His blog is here, and his new webpage is here. No promises were made re this review, and I paid full-price for my copy of Yo, Tyrania when I ordered it through my local Barnes & Noble. It is also available through Amazon. I truly enjoyed this book, but I recognize that knowing the author may subconsciously color my opinion a bit.

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Tyrania is a miniscule kingdom located high in the Alps, in or abutting Switzerland. Its horrible location (it is on the side of a mountain, not nestled in a valley), Neanderthal genes, and persistent inbreeding have left it isolated (except for a rare, straying tour bus) and technologically ignorant.

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12-year-old Queen Doreen is determined to change all that, and so recruits (or shanghais) a passing tourist, Eula Gibson, to teach her and a couple select friends all about the outside world. Mayhem, culture-shock, and intrigue ensue.

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What's To Like...

The author lays out an a Tyranian society vastly different from ours. Examples : no pets, tourists eat free, no weekends, and a genuine appreciation for noisy flatulence. He also gives you some great Tyranian idioms, a couple of which you can hear on the audio clip at his website.

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The characters are engaging. Our hero is a 30-year-old, black-American schoolteacher with a 'tude. The Tyranians are hilariously backward and none of them is "all black" or "all white". The good Queen is a bit of a brat; and the bevy of baddies are nevertheless likable. Then there are things like MacYeno's, St. Nuflurg's Day, and the Tyranian meaning of "Eula".

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The main theme seems to change every so often. It starts out as a The King and I story; then switches to focus more on the cultural impact (as in The Gods Must Be Crazy), and later still changes to political satire (think Animal Farm). At the end, it morphs into an action tale, which YA readers will eat up. Ric handles this all adeptly, and I'll avoid spoilers by simply saying that none of these four themes has a clichéd ending. Which is a pleasant change.

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There are some great references to oldie movies and TV shows - Lost In Space, The Sound of Music, Bewitched, Gentle Ben, F Troop, and one of my childhood favorites - Car 54, Where Are You? Most of these will probably leave any reader under 30 scrambling for Google. Some of the other references are equally obscure. I had to wiki Vladimir Zworykin to see why he was said to be one of the two major influences (the other being Eula) on Tyranian culture.

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Kewl New Words...

Précis : a summary or abstract. Plenitude : an ample quantity; a full supply. Inculcate : to teach and impress certain concepts on someone. Cachet : an indication of approved status; a mark of distinction. Prolix : tediously prolonged or wordy. Portmanteau : a new word made by combining two others (eg. : smog (smoke + fog) or chortle (chuckle + snort).

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Excerpts...

"This is your Congress?" Eula wondered, gaping at the motley bunch. "They look like the most hopeless scum you'd dredge out of a gutter."

"They are," Polonowitz replied. "They are chosen to legislate because they have no other useful skills." (pg. 34)

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She was a victim of a craving larger than herself. There was only one way to confront that craving. Despite all that had transpired, she felt compelled to return to Tyrania, land of the Silent Yodel, of the Burning Zvuts, of the Beaver reborn as a Phoenix - before she went bananas. (pg. 173)

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Fluytl klugs himsblek. Which is translated as :

It never pays to be in arrears

To those who'd impale you on their spears.

The overall style reminded me of another childhood favorite - Rocky & Bullwinkle - in that there was both a superficial storyline (for the YA readers) and a subtler, more complex one (for the adult readers). Both are quite enjoyable, but it has to vex an agent trying to determine a target audience.

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Ric points out that "all of the above" is a suitable answer, but the agent might counter with a memorable line from a long-forgotten movie. "A point in every direction is the same as no point at all."

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In the end, this is a labor-of-love that is well-written and honestly kept my interest throughout. We'll give it 8½ stars, and highly recommend it. So give your support to a first-time author (you can say you were reading him even before he first made the NYT best-sellers list) and pay a visit to your local Barnes & Noble store soon. Order Yo, Tyrania, while testily asking the salesclerk (as I did) why B&N isn't already stocking this hot, new novel.