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The Dark Lord of Derkholm

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The Dark Lord of Derkholm

By: Diana Wynne Jones
Narrated by: Jonathan Broadbent
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About this listen

A humorous fantasy adventure from the Godmother of fantasy, Diana Wynne Jones. Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature in 1999.

A humorous fantasy from Diana Wynne Jones. In a world next door to ours, the tourist industry is devastating the population by its desire to experience all the fantasy clichés – Dark Lords, impoverished villages, dragons etc.

The Head of the University resolves to shut the tours down; the only problem being the ruthless tour-master – and his all-powerful demons. To save them all, the incompetent wizard Derk is appointed as Dark Lord in the hope that he will ruin the tours, and sure enough proceeds to fail at everything due to his general uselessness. But can failing at everything lead to a win this time?

©2013 Diana Wynne Jones (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Fiction Humorous Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Fantasy Comedy Witty

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This book had a rather interesting idea - pilgrim trips from our world into a world of magic and wonder. The magical world is being exploited like a theme park, aiming to fulfil all cliche ideas of magic of the visiting travellers. The organiser of these trips is the almighty Mr. Chesney, who holds all people in the magical world in his hand due to his power over a demon he can call his very own.

This is a very entertaining listen with all the proceedings told in a very "matter-of-fact" tone, presenting the woes and troubles of organising fake battles and a fake, but believable dark overlord. The book is funny and light-hearted, but almost sounding too mundane. Still, if you are in the mood for a light listen, definitely give this one a go.

Witty and strangely matter-of-fact story

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I thought it was one of Diana's best stories and I really enjoyed the satire of fantasy tropes. The narrator does use different accents for different family members but it makes it easier to understand who is speaking. It's not easy to come up with distinct voices for 15+ characters so hats off to him.

Fun story

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Excellently read and written. It's one of my favourite books and the reading is perfect. I liked the choice to give the characters different accents to make it easy to tell who was who. Otherwise the large cast would get very confusing.

Wonderful

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I think this would appeal if you like Angie Sage's books - or indeed others by Diana Wynne Jones. The narrator is very good. I liked the idea that annually, someone is awarded the dubious burden of being made the bad guy or 'Dark Lord' for the benefit of other-worldly tourists on the Grand Tour. It's full of wizards, magic, dragons, fighting and intrigue and so on - there's a lot going on. Sometimes I found the plot hard to hang onto and got bored with the story, but there are some great characters. Worth persevering with.

Interesting idea, but plot not gripping enough

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Couldnt wait to listen to this! Unabridged so excellent value for money. Great story and the narrator managed to easily convey multiple characters without confusion (although if you think about the real world accents I guess it's a little strange!) I will buy more Diana Wynne Jones books in the future and would happily listen to Jonathon Broadbent again.

Wonderful!

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This made me laugh a lot. The author has a mind akin to Roald Dahl or Terry Pratchett.

Hilarious!

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I really like this book. it really holds up to my very fond memories of it from my childhood.

Great story I remember from my early teens.

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Any additional comments?

An acceptable reading of a favourite book - but why do siblings all raised together in one family have accents ranging from RP to cod French, via Liverpool and Mummerset?! The impression given is that the narrator did not understand what he was reading...

Odd accents!

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Characters brought to life in vivid colour and fantastical settings created. A perfect listen, and great for older kids!

great reading of a wonderful book

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One of Diana Wynne Jones' best novels, with great world building, strong characters and exciting plot build-up. Narration was generally good, but as mentioned by other reviewers, some of the accent choices were bizarre. Calette's in particular - a sort of French/North African hybrid - seemed particularly out of place and I never got used to it.

Great book, generally good narration

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