Why read Dark Lord of Derkholm?

Book cover of Dark Lord of Derkholm

Book description

Everyone - wizards, soldiers, farmers, elves, dragons, kings and queens alike - is fed up with Mr Chesney's Pilgrim Parties: groups of tourists from the next-door world who descend en masse every year to take the Grand Tour. What they expect are all the trappings of a grand fantasy adventure,…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Dark Lord of Derkholm as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jinn Nelson

Author

This is a high fantasy adventure that does hilarious things with classic RPG tropes.

A magical kingdom grows fed up with hosting epic fantasy adventures for tourists from the world next door, complete with Wizard Guides, tavern stays, dragons, and epic battles with a Dark Lord.

Wizard Derk is assigned to be this year’s Dark Lord and—while he’s at it—save the world from these destructive tours.

The story romps across countries and continents, includes plenty of action, and doesn’t hold back when it comes to the somewhat messy familial relationships between Derk, his wife, and his children.

This is one…

From Jinn's list on The best underrated humorous fantasy books with mostly happy endings.

Ian Rodgers

Author

What better way to appreciate what we have than to explore a world where fantasy and adventure have become just another corporate commodity. When the position of ‘Dark Lord’ is nothing more than the equivalent of a theme park mascot, is there any magic or mystery left in the world? Exploring the world from the eyes of its inhabitants, who are forced to give heavily scripted tours to wealthy people from other worlds, really brings to light how similar people can be, even across different cultures.

From Ian's list on The best books with the best world building.