Derkholm

Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
Reviewed by Joie

The lands are riddled with evil. They decay and fall apart as the reign of the tyrannical Dark Lord stretches far and wide. Only you have the power to stop the maniacal campaign before all is lost. The clues are scattered across the land, in secret places. For it is they that contain the power to rid the land of the Dark Lord once and for all! Are you up to the feat of doing so? If you can, join Mr. Chesny's Pilgrim Parties to set your powers against the Dark Lord. Join today!

Wit is a hard substance to find these days. Originality is even scarcer. The lovely novel, Dark Lord of Derkholm, manages to do this in a never before seen feat of writing.

Life isn't easy with foreigners barging into your country and attempting to slay you. It isn't easy when you are trying to lead ignorant Pilgrims older than you through the supposed wilderness of the world. It doesn't get much worse, though, when you are assigned to become the Dark Lord, organizer of all evil, redesigned of house to an evil fortress, and carrying the entire burden of so many lives. Wizard Derk of Derkholm is the normal wizard with a giant responsibility. He lived most of his life peacefully, if not strangely. Yet the post of Dark Lord is suddenly thrust upon him as he must don the guise to please the ruler of this world, Mr. Chesny, and his Pilgrim Parties.

This book has to be one of the most delightful books I have ever read. The plot has a mind of its own, twisting into greater understandings. There is not black or white, rather a gray of the mindset of characters. It is a fantasy book with no peer in plot and its author, Diana Wynne Jones, has surpassed herself again in this marvelous book. Read it, you shall enjoy it so much, you might start wondering whether you should try the post for Dark Lord next year.