Dark Lord of Derkholm
Joseph Smith cover illustration of U.S. editions
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| Author | Diana Wynne Jones |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Campion (UK) Joseph A. Smith (US) |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Derkholm |
| Genre | Fantasy novel, parody |
| Publisher |
Gollancz (UK) William Morrow (US) |
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Publication date
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November 1998 October 1998 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 328 pp (UK) 345 pp (US) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 40338539 |
| LC Class | PZ7.J684 Dar 1998 |
| Followed by | Year of the Griffin |
The Dark Lord of Derkholm, simply Dark Lord of Derkholm in the United States, is a fantasy novel by the British author Diana Wynne Jones, published autumn 1998 in both the U.K. and the U.S. It won the 1999 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature.
The novel is a parody, for its setting is a mock high fantasy world, similar to that Jones covered in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (U.K., 1996), a humorous travel guide on the Rough Guide model. The story continues in Year of the Griffin and the two novels have been called the Derkholm series (which ISFDB does not explicitly link to The Tough Guide).
A fantasy world is dominated by its destructive tourist industry. "Mr. Chesney's Pilgrim Parties" arrange for annual group tours, evidently from our world, to experience all the cliches: wise Wizard Guides, attacks from Leathery-Winged Avians, the Glamorous Enchantress, the evil Dark Lord. It is a devastating show: farmlands are laid waste, people slain, and so on.
The head of Wizards University, Querida, determines a way to end the tours. The apparently incompetent wizard Derk will be the next Dark Lord, and son Blade the Wizard Guide for the final tour. Querida overcomes objections all around and the plan is underway.
The Wizard Derk has seven children with his wife the Enchantress Mara: Shona and Blade, the former being the older; Kit (black with gold eyes), the oldest griffin and a magic-user; Callette (brown with green-grey wings), who makes all 126 of the Dark Lord's "gizmos" with Mr. Chesney's world's technology; Don (gold), who is a rather forgotten griffin who doesn't really do much special; Lydda (gold), who is a great cook (her food is called "godlike snacks" by the rest of the family") and long-distance flier who plants the Dark Lord's "clues" that lead to his lair; and Elda (also gold), the youngest, with the most cat cells, and who is discovered to be a magic-user as well.
In a meeting about the Pilgrim Parties, High Chancellor Querida takes a wizard, a high priest and a thief to see the Oracles, who determine that the next person the group sees will play the role of the Dark Lord, and the second person will be the Wizard Guide that they need. They meet Wizard Derk, who has taken his son Blade to see the Oracles, who say that he will be coached by Deucalion.
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