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The Dark Lord of Derkholm
- Narrated by: Jonathan Broadbent
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
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The Dark Lord of Derkholm
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Summary
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?
Critic reviews
For Diana Wynne Jones:
“…Her hallmarks include laugh-aloud humour, plenty of magic and imaginative array of alternate worlds. Yet, at the same time, a great seriousness is present in all of her novels, a sense of urgency that links Jones’s most outrageous plots to her readers’ hopes and fears…” (Publishers Weekly)
“Truly magical – guaranteed to leave you gasping – even hotter than Potter" (The Bookseller)
For The Merlin Conspiracy:
“The characterisation is first rate, the ideas are fabulous … This is fantasy at its most inventive – canny, funny and far-reaching.” (The Telegraph)
“A curiosity shop of a book … a pleasure to lose yourself in.” (The Sunday Times)
“The Merlin Conspiracy is Wynne Jones on top form … [her] powerful narrative and her ability to create extraordinary charachers with real emotions make her more than a worthy rival to J K Rowling.” (Financial Times)
“A must for all Wynne Jones fans, past, present and future.” (Limited Edition)
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What listeners say about The Dark Lord of Derkholm
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Southyorks1234
- 24-04-18
Hilarious!
This made me laugh a lot. The author has a mind akin to Roald Dahl or Terry Pratchett.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 21-04-21
Fun story
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.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Nadina Vasileva
- 05-04-14
Witty and strangely matter-of-fact story
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Autia
- 06-04-19
Wonderful
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.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- W
- 19-06-14
Interesting idea, but plot not gripping enough
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kariss
- 31-08-19
Wonderful!
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.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Katherine Kam
- 01-04-22
Great book, generally good narration
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.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. B. J. S. Liddle
- 15-11-22
Amazing
This book is a fantastic fantasy adventure, but don't go thinking it's your standard fair. This book fits in with the older style of YA fantasy that authors like Annie Dalton, Robert Westall and Anne Pilling produced so wonderfully, meaning that while it's readable for younger teens, the themes and content could be quite challenging. Broadbent does a great job performing the book, and manages to infuse each and every character with a large helping of personality. If you're looking for something YA with a bit of bite, give this one a go.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- FJM
- 07-02-14
Odd accents!
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...
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lmck
- 20-03-19
great reading of a wonderful book
Characters brought to life in vivid colour and fantastical settings created. A perfect listen, and great for older kids!
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