Dark Lord of Derkholm

Did You Know?

• The novel won the 1999 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, children's section, for best exemplifying the spirit of the Inklings.
• Jones previously won the Fantasy Award for The Crown of Dalemark.
• Six of Jones's books were finalists for the award between 1986 and 2009.

Plot introduction

A fantasy realm’s entire economy and society hinge on an interdimensional tourism business. Mr. Chesney’s Pilgrim Parties runs yearly trips where real-world visitors experience classic fantasy adventures: meeting wizard guides, dodging winged predators, and battling appointed Dark Lords. These tours cause heavy environmental harm and local deaths. Querida, head of Wizards University, devises a scheme to stop them. She picks the seemingly bumbling wizard Derk as the next Dark Lord, with his son Blade as the final Wizard Guide. Despite widespread objections, Querida pushes the plan forward. Derk and his wife Mara have seven children: Shona, Blade, and five griffins—Kit, Callette, Don, Lydda, and Elda—each with distinct traits and roles.

Plot

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 Dark Lord, and the second person will be the Wizard Guide. They meet Wizard Derk, who has taken his son Blade to the Oracles, who say he will be coached by Deucalion. Derk undertakes to evil-fy his home, Derkholm, for its role as the Dark Lord's capital. He summons a demon that escapes. An ancient dragon mistakes him for a ruling Dark Lord, takes offense at the commercial truth, and burns Derk so badly he cannot play Dark Lord. His children take over. Kit, the eldest griffin, takes the lead. With the dragon's help, they settle the Dark Lord's soldiers in permanent camp. Meanwhile, Derk convalesces but his wife Mara seems on the brink of leaving him. The party gets lost in the wastelands, Blade and two tourists get separated, and Shona leads the rest toward Derkholm. Blade's trio discovers a mining and export operation run by Mr. Chesney. Blade is captured and sent to fight as a gladiator, where he meets his griffin brother Kit, captured in battle.

Main characters

Wizard Derk is a wizard specializing in genetics, especially the creation of new animals. He is considered an incompetent bungler by others but is just a different sort of magic user. He is selected as this year's Dark Lord. Mara is Derk's wife and this year's chosen Glamorous Enchantress. Mr. Chesney is an off-worlder who runs the Pilgrim Parties, cruel and unrepentant, exploiting everyone in Blade's world. Querida is one of the most powerful wizards and runs the University of Magic; she is rather amoral. Derk and Mara have five griffin children and two human children. Shona is the human daughter and eldest child, aspiring to be a bard, attractive and bossy. Kit is the elder griffin son, large and black, aggressive and forthright. Blade is the human son and one of this year's Wizard Guides. Callette is the eldest griffin daughter, creative and a high-energy flier. Don is the younger griffin son, lazy but with a beautiful golden coat. Lydda is a griffin daughter whose hobby is cooking, making her overweight but a long-distance flier. Elda is the youngest child, a griffin female who likes glitter and wants to be a wizard. Other characters include Deucalion, king of the dragons; Tripos, a demon king; Barnabas, a wizard friend of Derk; Prince Talithan, an elf; and Anscher, a god.