Book Review: Crap Kingdom By DC Pierson

The Chosen One must be retrieved from Earth. He will bring down the wall and restore the kingdom to glory. His name is Tom Parking.

If you think you know how this story is going to proceed, you don’t know Derrick Comedy alum DC Pierson.

His anti-epic Crap Kingdom, the novel takes all of those large-scale, larger–expectation stories by J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling and flips them on their collective heads. If Crap Kingdom is no Middle Earth Hogwarts then Tom Parking is certainly no Bilbo, Frodo or Harry Potter. But that difference is the greatest strength of this young adult novel, written for readers 13 or older.

If young, theatre geek Tom Parking is a reluctant “Chosen One,” and Crap Kingdom is Earth’s garbage dump, then it’s no surprise when he initially turns down the job. What is surprising is that just as he reconsiders his decision they turn around and anoint his best friend the new “Chosen One.” Fantastic premise, and I expect one day it’ll be a film.

The book is a fast, enjoyable read. At times, however, it was unclear whether to view it as an over-the-top farce in the tradition of Lewis Carroll or a sly commentary on consumer and youth cultures. In either case, the story’s humor feels tamped down from Pierson’s usual biting humor, partly to adhere to the genre’s content restrictions. And yet the title and cover image were off-putting to my son who is slightly younger than the recommended age, but for whom this book would seem a sure-fire hit.

At times it is also difficult to root for Tom as a protagonist. For most of 200 pages he reacts to events happening to him rather than taking actions to forward the plot. The cast of characters around him seem better suited and more motivated to deal with the crisis that comes later.

The ending seems to set up a sequel, one that will likely come with immediate stakes and a protagonist more confident in his ability to, well, protag. If that will be Pierson’s version of The Two Towers, I believe the next journey will be one well worth taking.

Rating: Two and a half Golems out of Four.

Crap Kingdom
By DC Pierson
Published by Penguin Young Readers Group