I really think this is one of the best works by Diana Wynne Jones - equal to the Crestomanci Series. It has quiet humor, heart twinging action scenes, lots of loving family, and of course, Gryphons. It works well for both teens and adults. Its just a good, well told story. ( )

Derkholm is a fantasy world peopled with wizards and griffins and dragons and a variety of other interesting types of people, including some who are ordinary and some extraordinary. It is also a tourist attraction for another world, but the people of Derkholm are fed up with the tyrannical Mr. Chesney and his pilgrim parties so they petition their High Chancellor to put a stop to these expeditions once and for all.

What follows is more fun than a barrel of monkeys when Wizard Derk is chosen to be this year's Dark Lord and his son Blade is chosen to be the Wizard Guide. Even the dragons and griffins have to get into the act... and then, of course, Murphy's Law intervenes. Dark Lord of Derkholm is fantasy at its zaniest. I haven't laughed so hard since I first read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy many years ago.

Recommended to fantasy lovers age 12 and up who are not put off by some violence in the story, which, in this case is a necessary part of the plot.

This review was previously published on Dragonviews ( )

This book is a fun fantasy novel. A fun and quick read. ( )

Like some others who have reviewed this book, it took me a while to get into it, but by the end I was thoroughly enjoying the plot and characters. It's definitely worth sticking out any iffy bits to get to the end. ( )

Summary: The world's in trouble, and the University Emergency Committee has been convened to decide what to do about it. Their world is being used as a theme park for tour groups, and they are bound by demon-enforced contracts to provide a proper adventure for each Pilgrim Party that comes though - complete with a wizard guide, bandits, the Wild Hunt, an Evil Enchantress, a battle between the forces of Good and the forces of Evil, and ultimately a chance for the Pilgrims to defeat the Dark Lord - no matter the cost to the land, the townsfolk, or the livelihood and mental well-being of whoever has been appointed to play the Dark Lord in any given year.

When an Oracle says that the best way to stop the tours is to appoint the Wizard Derk as Dark Lord, the Committee cheerfully obliges. Derk wants nothing more than to stay at home with his children (two human, five griffin), his farm, and his animals, and the committee is sure he'll bungle things up nicely. However, when Derk is injured in an accident right before the start of tourist season and his children are forced to take over his Dark Lord duties, things start going more wrong than anyone could have imagined.

Review: Diana Wynne Jones is not much for introductions - she tosses the reader straight into the middle of things and expects them to work out what's going on. Here, it works mostly to her advantage by hooking the reader in quickly and effectively, although it also has the effect of relegating supporting characters quickly to one-dimension-ville. There's a lot going on, and some of the tertiary story threads do kind of get lost when the reader's asked to hold all of them in her mind.

I've seen this book variously listed as Young Adult and Adult, and while there's certainly nothing here that would be inaccessible or inappropriate, even for younger teens, it just didn't have the feel of a young-adult book to me. Maybe it's because, like most satire, getting most of the humor depends on being conversant with the genre standards (although The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede strike a similar satirical tone, while still definitely feeling like YA). I was also surprised with the depth of the story: hiding underneath the satire is actually a family story with a fair bit of heart. Derk and Mara's human and griffin children each had clear, well-developed personalities, and I liked watching the siblings interacting with each other and with their parents more than any other part of the book - although it makes me glad my brother didn't have talons.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this clever, fast-moving, funny send-up of the fantasy genre. It's getting four stars mainly because while I enjoyed it, I was never really fully absorbed in the story the way I'd expect from a five-star book. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Non-fantasy fans aren't going to get most of the jokes, but for those familiar with the tropes, it's a fun read with some surprising emotional depth. ( )