Dark Lord of Derkholm
by Diana Wynne Jones
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Book Summary Information
Author: Diana Wynne JonesEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-04-10
ISBN: 0064473368
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Book Reviews of Dark Lord of Derkholm
Book Review: Probably my favorite DW Jones
Summary: 5 Stars
The way I came about this book is rather interesting. I found this in an English book store in Taiwan and was so completely enthralled by it that I had bought the sequel by the time I had to fly back to the US a few days later!
I think the book is not just great fun, but it has its darker side. In fact, I see this as one of Jones' grimmest books, which is odd because many people approach a book by Jones assuming they were written for pre-teens and only pre-teens and that they are good fun. Sadly, it is when readers attempt to put a work like Dark Lord into neat boxes such as "Juvenile Fantasy (TM) (R) (C)" when they find that her books wi ll tear its way out of hard-and-fast categories and bite them squarely in their bottoms.
It is easy to see that this is where most of the negative criticisms on this page come from. Having said that, dismissing this book as overcomplicated and vague is simply absurd if one realizes that her books were meant to be very unusual, fleeting, and surreal.
In fact, the author herself states in several interviews that the reason she writes the way she does and gets away with it is that generally, pre-teens have the easiest time accepting fantastic worlds and ultimately the best minds for cracking a difficult plot like Dark Lord's.
"Children are used to making an effort to understand."
--Article in The Medusa by DWJ
Adults?
"I...relied on my readers having the nous to pick up the situation as they went along...Adults are different. They need me to do all that for them."
--The Medusa
Having said all that, this is a wonderful book that, after having bored myself to death with the likes of Melanie Rawn, David Drake, Eldon Thompson, and David Gemmel, I come back to read again and again. Nothing excites me like fantasy well-done, and Diana Wynne Jones delivers in this book. I am particularly fond of the griffins, who are more human than a lot of people I know.
A couple of other grittier and darker reads I recommend are Garth Nix's Abohorsen series (for younger readers too) and a sci-fi, Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton (very graphic, readers strongly cautioned).
For supreme humor, try Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, any fantasy humor lovers best friend. Alternatively, try the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer.(Both should be suitable for most readers, but younger ones may need parental approval for Pratchett.)
Summary of Dark Lord of Derkholm
Mr. Chesney operates Pilgrim Parties, a tour group that takes paying participants into an outer realm where the inhabitants play frightening and foreboding roles. The time has come to end the staged madness . . . but can it really be stopped? Master storyteller Diana Wynne Jones serves up twists and turns, introduces Querida, Derk, Blade, and Shona and a remarkable cast of wizards, soldiers, kings, dragons, and griffins, and mixes in a lively dash of humor. With all the ingredients of high fantasy, this unforgettable novel will delight fans old and new.If, next door to our ordinary world, there existed a world full of magic, wouldn't you want to visit it? That's the situation that Diana Wynne Jones explores in Dark Lord of Derkholm, and she makes an effective and comical tale of it.
Groups of tourists, called Pilgrim Parties and organized by the cold-hearted profiteer Mr. Chesney, take a portal to the magical realm, where they are shepherded about the countryside by a wizard guide. Mr. Chesney sets the rules, such as that all wizard guides must have long white beards--even 14-year-old Blade--and every Party gets to "slay" the Dark Lord. No wizard wants to be chosen as the year's Dark Lord, because Mr. Chesney demands large battles that cause great devastation in the local villages and farms, and he doesn't pay very well, but he does have a captive demon to enforce his will. This year, things are going especially badly for the chosen Dark Lord, Derk. He can't seem to keep his evil forces on the right track, despite help from his son Blade, his daughter Shona the bard, and his griffin sons and daughters. His chief aide, Barnabas, is drinking heavily and muddling his spells. And the dwarfs are taking their baskets of gold as tribute to the one they say is the real Dark Lord--Mr. Chesney.
Jones spoofs many of the trappings of fantasy epics, while at the same time portraying a family, with its surface squabbles and underlying love, through a rollicking and somewhat unwieldy story. Her messages about exploitation and responsibility come through clearly. Although not as tightly focused as some of her earlier novels, the galloping pace makes Dark Lord of Derkholm a quick, fun read for her numerous fans. --Blaise Selby
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