How to Become The Dark Lord or Die Trying by Django Wexler

Book Review

Matthew Johns

Imagine waking up in a fantasy world populated with orcs, magic and more, but with some memories of our world. To add to the weirdness, how about if each time you die, you wake up back where you started – like a save point in a video game? That’s Davi’s life – she wakes up in a rocky pool up a mountain with all of the memories she’s gained during her lives in this world, to be greeted by Tserigern, a famous wizard who tells her that her coming has been foretold and that only she can save the kingdom. She’s been through this 237 times so far – she has tried to follow the path that Tserigern offers, becoming queen and trying to defeat the Dark Lord. But each time, she ends up dying – often after extensive torture. Frankly, it’s enough to make anyone a tiny bit annoyed.

Davi understandably gets more than a tiny bit annoyed, so decides to break the mould. She’s tried – really tried – to save the kingdom and defeat the Dark Lord, but figures that if you can’t beat them, why not join them. So, instead of going with Tserigern, she kills him by brutally smashing his head against the rocks of her pool repeatedly (apparently, it’s very cathartic) and decides to become the new Dark Lord. This first book in a duology takes Davi on her journey to become the Dark Lord – how she builds a horde, finds love in the arms of an orc, dallies a while in the arms of an anthropomorphic fox, and the adventures she and her minions undertake. Davi is an exceptionally likeable character – sassy and sarcastic, and even though she’s determined to become the Dark Lord, she doesn’t want to let all of her principles fall by the wayside. She uses her knowledge of our world, how bad guys in movies get it wrong, and the mistakes that all the Dark Lords before her have made to help her become a better Dark Lord.

There is a lot of fourth wall breaking in this book – Davi often talks to the reader through footnotes, which works very well, making it feel more immersive and helping you buy into her journey. It’s also very funny, rather raunchy at times (Davi has quite the libido), and referential, packed with mentions of things from our world – Star Trek, Johnny Cash, Samuel L Jackson and more. It’s irreverent but without being disrespectful to the fantasy genre. Wexler builds a fantastically detailed world populated with lots of very familiar fantasy tropes. His characters feel almost three-dimensional – he manages to bring them to life and has the reader empathising with them in no time.

I loved this book and found it very entertaining. The cliffhanger ending was built up very well, leaving me wanting more. 10 out of 10 – funny, gripping, raunchy, violent fantasy, what’s not to like?!