Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, fun book
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this engaging novel. It was fun reading how Derk, the man chosen to be the Dark Lord, and his family met the challenges that faced them. As the cover copy states, Derk's world faces a problem: Mr. Chesney's Pilgrim Parties come for tours through the world every year. They expect to see magic and face dangers, and the world's population, including dragons, elves, dwarves, humans, and so on, must supply these to Mr. Chesney. The author's depictions of the people on these Pilgrim Parties reminded me very much of tourists in Disney World or some such place, though with a D&D player character wannabe twist. The cast of characters was good, though there were plenty of them! I found the way the elves were presented in comparison to humans rather amusing.I think the book could improve in its pacing. I found myself skipping through some of the details that I didn't find quite as necessary to the plot. I wanted to see how it turned out, after all! I also thought it took an awful long time to get to the Pilgrim Parties, but I think if the pacing had been increased in the first 2/3 of the book, the balance between the non-Party part of the book vs. the part of the book where we travel with a Party would have worked better. As it was, I read more than half the book (not quite 2/3) before I finally saw a Pilgrim Party up close. I also think that the normal relationship between Derk and his wife Mara could have been shown a bit more before the whole Tour thing interrupted their lives. That would have set up the scenes that included Mara and/or Derk better. If you like books with griffins, dragons, humans, elves, dwarves, and a mix of other magical and mundane creatures, you should have fun with this one. If you like books that have a mixture of worlds (fantasy world with magic with portals to a different world that MIGHT be similar to ours), then you'll like this book. If you like things to be a bit goofy and whimsical, but not overly so, this book will suit you, too. If you like serious, epic, political fantasy only, this isn't the book for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: I thought this book was really great I really liked the plot. The flow of this book was really good. Diana didn't stop in important parts to go to another part of the book. My favorite character was Elda. I really recommend this book and all of Diana Wynne Jones other books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Uncomfortable execution of a great idea
Review: I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. This is the first Diana Wynne Jones book I've said that of, but unfortunately not the last. The idea of the "behind-the-scenes" people in a fantasy adventure plotting to get rid of the troublesome types who regularly appear to make their lives a misery in the name of adventure is a great one. This idea had the potential to turn the genre on its head. Unfortunately it was badly handled in the execution.
Why do I say this? There are too many characters and too many plot elements, too many things that appear to no good purpose or are suddenly there as a solution to a plot difficulty with no warning to the reader. Mysteries are solved with no clues for the reader to pick up on. It's like the reader has been dumped into a load of stuff they should already know. If Wynne Jones had instead concentrated on developing only a few characters such as Blade and Derk (as the beginning seemed to promise) and fleshing out the setting, the book would have been better for it. It would not have seemed so thin.
The other problem I had was with the tone of this book. At one moment it's full of hilarity and pitched at the junior reader's level, at the next it becomes quite disturbingly dark. Are we supposed to assume, for example, that the worst happened to Shona when the soldiers escaped and attacked her? If so, what on earth is that scene, those elements, doing in a book pitched at children?
Sorry. Two stars only.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT GREAT GREAT
Review: I was only looking for one more book as a "filler" as I had to buy a certain amount to qualify for a discount/coupon. Surprise surprise! Of the 5 books I bought, this is the one I truly enjoyed the MOST! Excellent writing, plenty of humor and my interest was kept well up throughout the book, start to finish. I was sad when I neared the last few pages, I wanted to read more about Derk and his family's adventures. The other book I bought, a $17.95 hardcover copy of The Last DragonLord was SOOOO DULL and boring, ridden with cliches every corner you turn. Ironically, the other book I bought was also Jones' - TOUGHT GUIDE TO FANTASYLAND - which pokes fun at fantasy book cliches. Wish I had bought more of Jones' books instead.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT GREAT GREAT
Review: I was only looking for one more book as a "filler" as I had to buy a certain amount to qualify for a discount/coupon. Surprise surprise! Of the 5 books I bought, this is the one I truly enjoyed the MOST! Excellent writing, plenty of humor and my interest was kept well up throughout the book, start to finish. I was sad when I neared the last few pages, I wanted to read more about Derk and his family's adventures. The other book I bought, a $17.95 hardcover copy of The Last DragonLord was SOOOO DULL and boring, ridden with cliches every corner you turn. Ironically, the other book I bought was also Jones' - TOUGHT GUIDE TO FANTASYLAND - which pokes fun at fantasy book cliches. Wish I had bought more of Jones' books instead.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read
Review: I wasn't expecting much when I first picked up this book, but it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. "Dark Lord of Derkholm" keeps a nice pace so you are not bored once, and there are several good laughs through out the story. This book is a wonderful spoof on the whole concept of the evil Dark Lord versus the good guys. I believe people of most ages would definitely enjoy reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: If you read only one fastasy book this year, let it be Dark
Review: If you read only one fantasy book this year let it be Dark Lord of Derkholm. Only Diana Wynne Jones genius could create a magical world beseiged by tourists and populated by middle-aged wizards with teenaged griffins enarmored by gameboys. And all the while you're reading this grin-producing treasure, you can sense JRR Tolkien smiling over your shoulder. Don't wait for paperback! This is a keeper - buy it today.
Rating:
Summary: Hail the Dark Lord!
Review: Immensely enjoyable book, written by the mistress of alt-universe fantasy. (...)Pilgrim Parties (read: Fantasy tourists) are taken through a magical portal to the magical land where they can battle and triumph over the Dark Lord, who is elected periodically. Everyone is sick of the Dark Lord tours, such as kings and magicians, who have to take sides with Good or Evil; however, the tour guide Chesney isn't about to lose any money there. The newest Dark Lord is Derk, a wizard who mainly wants to create bizarre critters. But apparently, like jury duty, you have to be Dark Lord.. The problem is, Derk isn't very GOOD at it. He and his odd family manage to rearrange things and make him Dark Lord, but unfortunately being the Force of Evil is not as easy as it looks. Add that to possible stealing from Chesney and you have a bizarre fantasy/fantasy-spoof that is difficult to put down. Jones's spoofing of fantasy started in her delightful "Tough Guide to Fantasyland," and many of the elements involved appear here, as if she has novelized the pseudo-encyclopedia. This fact occasionally makes the book a bit more "drifty" than her Chrestomanci tales, but it's still a darn sight better than most books. And funny indeed this book is (well, where it isn't creepy). The scramble to create the perfect "Dark Lord's stronghold"-type building is hilarious, as is the side-splitting idea of tourists engaging in specialized tours in which they get to be High Fantasy heroes. Derk's kids aren't as well defined as is usual for Ms. Jones, but Derk the Reluctant Dark Lord makes up for that. Her writing style is its usual chipper, brisk style, full of fun descriptions. The blue demon was an especial treat, as were those terrific griffins... A small warning: You may want to have a copy of "Tough Guide" alongside you while reading this book, to get the full effect of it's kookiness. And can't wait to see the sequel, "Year of the Griffin..."
Rating:
Summary: The Paralel Universes
Review: In Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones, Wizard Derk's world has been forced to change everything to accommodate Mr. Chesney's tours. Mr. Chesney is a man from another world, and his orders are backed by the queen of all demons. This year Wizard Derk has been selected to be the Dark Lord and his son Blade must be the Wizard Guide for the last tour. Derk must turn his idyllic country home into a crumbling fortress lit by balefire and manifest himself as a ten-foot tall shadow with blazing red eyes. At the same time, Blade must lead a group of pilgrims through the adventures that have been set up especially for them. From the start everything goes wrong. The drug used on the convict soldiers from Mr. Chesney's world wears off too fast, and the base camp for the forces of darkness is too close to the base camp for the forces of good. Then the wizard making the base camp for the forces of darkness gets drunk and doesn't finish. Meanwhile Derk has been almost killed by an angry dragon so his griffon children Kit and Don, with the help of Blade, must run the battles. Can Derk overcome these challenges and keep up with the things that are required? If he doesn't it will be bad news for himself and his whole world. This is the book for you if you like adventure books. It has battles, magic, and much more.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes it's best to start with book two . . .
Review: My daughter got this book for her birthday, and I immediately borrowed it. Truly wonderful - a very funny and affectionate send-up of D&D. But my daughter had a hard time getting into the story. Probable cause: after a rousing start there's a fair amount of set-up time for the complicated plot, and lots of characters to keep track of. For Christmas, the same friends gave my daughter "Year of the Griffin." This time it was love at first sight. "Year of the Griffin" begins with a group of new students arriving at school, so the introduction of the characters is very simple and straightforward. After finishing "Griffin," my daughter returned to "Dark Lord" and read it straight through. While that's the wrong order chronologically, it might be the right order for some readers. (I know this book has nothing to do with ballet. But it's only natural for ballerinas to enjoy fantasy, right?)
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