Dark Lord of Derkholm (Derkholm Series #1)

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Overview

Mr. Chesney operates Pilgrim Parties, a tour group that takes paying participants into an outer realm where the inhabitants play frightening and foreboding roles. The time has come to end the staged madness . . . but can it really be stopped? Master storyteller Diana Wynne Jones serves up twists and turns, introduces Querida, Derk, Blade, and Shona and a remarkable cast of wizards, soldiers, kings, dragons, and griffins, and mixes in a lively dash of humor. With all the ingredients of high fantasy, this unforgettable novel will delight fans old and new.

Derk, an unconventional wizard, and his magical family become involved in a ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Mr. Chesney operates Pilgrim Parties, a tour group that takes paying participants into an outer realm where the inhabitants play frightening and foreboding roles. The time has come to end the staged madness . . . but can it really be stopped? Master storyteller Diana Wynne Jones serves up twists and turns, introduces Querida, Derk, Blade, and Shona and a remarkable cast of wizards, soldiers, kings, dragons, and griffins, and mixes in a lively dash of humor. With all the ingredients of high fantasy, this unforgettable novel will delight fans old and new.

Derk, an unconventional wizard, and his magical family become involved in a plan to put a stop to the devastating tours of their world arranged by the tyrannical Mr. Chesney.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
Derk is a wizard who just wants to be left alone, but for as long as the mild-mannered mage can remember, the detestable Mr. Chesney has infiltrated his realm with horrible packaged "tours" of staged adventures. Today, Derk has had enough.
Publishers Weekly
On a par with Jones's best (Charmed Life; Fire and Hemlock), this expansive novel manages to be both an affectionate send-up of the sword-and-sorcery genre and a thrilling fantasy adventure in its own right. Something is decidedly rotten in the enchantment-laden world in which teenage fledgling wizard Blade has grown up. Each year, the country's magical agrarian economy is disrupted by the Pilgrim Parties--tourists from a world much like ours, come in search of Tolkienesque adventure. Organized by the sinister and implacably bureaucratic Mr. Chesney ("A Dark Lord's citadel must always be a black castle with a labyrinthine interior lit by baleful fire--you will find our specifications in the guide Mr. Addis will give you"), the Pilgrim Parties are in fact highly choreographed package tours. The local population is bullied, cajoled and paid hard cash to participate, all because of a deal struck with a demon some 40 years ago. This year's appointee to the onerous post of Dark Lord (who must act as chief villain and tour-coordinator) is Blade's mild-mannered father, Derk, who would far rather spend his time creating marvelous new animals (he already has flying pigs, talking horses and clever geese). When an encounter with a dragon puts Derk out of commission, Blade's entire family--including his five griffin siblings--must help. As elaborate charades are staged for the tours, a deeper magic also emerges which (in combination with some hilariously banal legalities) offers the hope of release from Mr. Chesney's domination. Thought-provoking and utterly engaging, this tour-de-force succeeds on numerous levels. The marvelously characterized griffins are a particularly noteworthy pleasure. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews
VOYA
Wizard Derk, peacefully living on his plantation with his wife and seven children (five of whom are griffins), never wanted to be Dark Lord. Unfortunately, every year his world is overrun by offworld tourists expecting demons, dragons, spells, elves, dwarves, priests, magic users, and other exciting trappings of fantasy. This year it is Derk's turn and the oracles claim that he will end the devastating tours and bring down their mastermind, evil Mr. Chesney. In the meantime, Derk needs to rebuild his house as a fortress of evil, lay clues, and provide a demon. Chaos reigns when an accident with a dragon puts Derk in a healing coma and his griffin and human children take over for their father. Blade, Shona, and their griffin siblings trail miserably around the countryside leading an argumentative tour group, an unmanageable army, and a wacky menagerie as they organize Wild Hunts, battles, and the odd manifestation. In Jones's fantasy world nothing is what it seems, and demons might be rather helpful after all. The author reveals her satirical genius as she slyly takes on role-playing games, fantasy literature, and organized tours, even as she offers the reader some sharp truths about what constitutes a family. Surprising and uproariously funny, from the wizards' visit to the oracles to the final revelation about Blade's tour group and Mr. Chesney's downfall, this title is one of Jones's best. Fantasy lovers with a sense of humor will grab this title the way a dragon seizes treasure. VOYA Codes: 5Q 3P M J S (Hard to imagine it being better written, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).
Children's Literature
This British author of the fantasy/romance Fire and Hemlock and a whole raft of other impressive offerings returns once more to the fray-literally, in this tongue-in-cheek look at a much put-upon planet. The offbeat wizard Derk and his human-plus-some family (if you count intelligent griffins, flying pigs, talking horses) have been chosen to host the annual onslaught of tourists from a neighboring world. The tourists come to see genuine magic in action, as well as genuine battles. They are organized by the wicked Mr. Chesney, and they must be pleased or their tourist dollars, which prop up the local economy, will disappear. How Derk and his children foil Mr. Chesney is the meat and drink of a very entertaining tale.
School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-An alternate world full of wizards, dragons, and other wonders is controlled by the ruthless Mr. Chesney. He operates a lucrative business in which tourists from his world enjoy staged adventures, and he holds the magic world at the mercy of a powerful demon he controls. When Derk, a goodhearted but apparently bumbling wizard, is chosen for the key role of "Dark Lord," the "Pilgrim Parties" begin to veer sharply from the script. Derk shares his duties with his unusual children; two humans and five griffins (created from a mix of cells, including his own and those of his enchantress wife). The chaos that ensues is exciting, mysterious, and hilarious. Myriad plot twists and undiscovered schemes are slowly unveiled as the seemingly invincible Mr. Chesney gets his just reward. The characters reveal the workings of their world in a delightfully well-paced, and roundabout way. For all of the magic and intrigue, however, the growth and development of Derk's unique family is really at the heart of the novel. All of his children have distinct personalities, and the family relationships are changed and strengthened as the various crises unfold. The griffins are delightful characters who experience the same adolescent concerns as Derk's human son Blade, an eager but uncertain young wizard. Mr. Chesney's power and heartlessness loom throughout the story, keeping a suspenseful edge to all of the fun. Fans of Jones's previous books will not be disappointed, and Dark Lord could also be an excellent introduction to high fantasy for other readers.-Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780064473361
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 4/28/2001
  • Edition description: 1ST HARPER
  • Pages: 528
  • Sales rank: 201,030
  • Age range: 13 - 12 Years
  • Lexile: 0770L (what's this?)
  • Series: Derkholm Series , #1
  • Product dimensions: 4.18 (w) x 6.75 (h) x 1.32 (d)

Meet the Author

In a career spanning four decades, award-winning author Diana Wynne Jones wrote more than forty books of fantasy for young readers. Characterized by magic, multiple universes, witches and wizards—and a charismatic nine-lived enchanter—her books were filled with unlimited imagination, dazzling plots, and an effervescent sense of humor that earned her legendary status in the world of fantasy. From the very beginning, Diana Wynne Jones’s books garnered literary accolades: her novel Dogsbody was a runner-up for the 1975 Carnegie Medal, and Charmed Life won the esteemed Guardian children’s fiction prize in 1977. Since then, in addition to being translated into more than twenty languages, her books have earned a wide array of honors—including two Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honors—and appeared on countless best-of-the-year lists.

Her work also found commercial success: In 1992 the BBC adapted her novel Archer’s Goon into a six-part miniseries, and her bestselling Howl’s Moving Castle was made into an animated film by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki in 2004. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 2006, and became one of the most financially successful Japanese films in history.

Diana Wynne Jones has also been honored with many prestigious awards for the body of her work. She was given the British Fantasy Society’s Karl Edward Wagner Award in 1999 for having made a significant impact on fantasy, received a D.Lit from Bristol University in 2006, and won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Fantasy Convention in 2007.

Born just outside London in 1934, Diana Wynne Jones had a childhood that was “very vivid and often very distressing”—one that became the fertile ground where her tremendous imagination took root. When the raids of World War II reached London in 1939, the five-year-old girl and her two younger sisters were torn from their suburban life and sent to Wales to live with their grandparents. This was to be the first of many migrations, one of which brought her family to Lane Head, a large manor in the author-populated Lake District and former residence of John Ruskin’s secretary, W.G . Collingwood. This time marked an important moment in Diana Wynne Jones’s life, where her writing ambitions were magnified by, in her own words, “early marginal contacts with the Great.” She confesses to having “offending Arthur Ransome by making a noise on the shore beside his houseboat,” erasing a stack of drawings by the late Ruskin himself in order to reuse the paper, and causing Beatrix Potter (who also lived nearby) to complain about her and her sister’s behavior. “It struck me,” Jones said, “that the Great were remarkably touchy and unpleasant, and I thought I would like to be the same, without the unpleasantness.” Prompted by her penny-pinching father’s refusal to buy the children any books, Diana Wynne Jones wrote her first novel at age twelve and entertained her sisters with readings of her stories. Those early stories—and much of her future work—were inspired by a limited but crucial foundation of classics: Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, The Arabian Nights, and Epics and Romances of the Middle Ages.

Fantasy was Jones’s passion from the start, despite receiving little support from her often neglectful parents. This passion was fueled further during her tenure at St. Anne’s College in Oxford, where lectures by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis increased her fascination with myth and legend. She married Medievalist John Burrow in 1956; the couple have three sons and six grandchildren.

After a decade of rejections, Diana Wynne Jones’s first novel, Changeover, was published in 1970. In 1973, she joined forces with her lifelong literary agent, Laura Cecil, and in the four decades to follow, Diana Wynne Jones wrote prodigiously, sometimes completing three titles in a single year. Along the way she gained a fiercely loyal following; many of her admirers became successful authors themselves, including Newbery Award winners Robin McKinley and Neil Gaiman, and Newbery Honor Book author Megan Whalen Turner. A conference dedicated solely to her work was held at the University of West England, Bristol, in 2009. Diana Wynne Jones continued to write during her battle with lung cancer, which ultimately took her life in March 2011. Her last book, Earwig and the Witch, was published by Greenwillow Books in 2012.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

Will you all be quiet!" snapped High Chancellor Querida.

She pouched up her eyes and glared around the table.

"I was only trying to say--" a king, an emperor, and several wizards began.

"At once," said Querida, "or the next person to speak spends the rest of his life as a snake!"

This shut most of the University Emergency Committee up. Querida was the most powerful wizard in the world, and she had a special feeling for snakes. She looked like a snake herself, small and glossy-skinned and greenish, and very, very old. Nobody doubted she meant what she said. But two people went on talking, anyway. Gloomy King Luther murmured from the end of the table, "Being a snake might be a relief." And when Querida's eyes darted around at him, he stared glumly back, daring her to do it.

And Wizard Barnabas, who was vice chancellor of the University, simply went on talking. ". . . trying to say, Querida, that you don't understand what it's like. You're a woman. You only have to be the Glamorous Enchantress. Mr. Chesney won't let women do the Dark Lord." Querida's eyes snapped around at him with no effect at all. Barnabas gave her a cheerful smile and puffed a little. His face seemed designed for good humor. His hair and beard romped around his face in gray curls. He looked into Querida's pouched eyes with his blue, bloodshot ones and added, "We're all worn out, the lot of us."

"Hear, hear!" a number of people around the table muttered cautiously.

"I know that!" Querida snapped. "And if you'd listen, instead of all complaining at once, you'd hear me saying that I've called this meeting to discuss how to put a stop to Mr.Chesney's Pilgrim Parties for good."

This produced an astonished silence.

A bitter little smile put folds in Querida's cheeks. "Yes," she said. "I'm well aware that you elected me high chancellor because you thought I was the only person ruthless enough to oppose Mr. Chesney and that you've all been very disappointed when I didn't immediately leap at his throat. I have, of course, been studying the situation. It is not easy to plan a campaign against a man who lives in another world and organizes his tours from there." Her small green-white hands moved to the piles of paper, bark, and parchment in front of her, and she began stacking them in new heaps, with little dry, rustling movements. "But it is clear to me," she said, "that things have gone from bad, to intolerable, to crisis point, and that something must be done. Here I have forty-six petitions from all the male wizards attached to the University and twenty-two from other male magic users, each pleading chronic over-work. This pile is three letters signed by over a hundred female wizards, who claim they are being denied equal rights. They are accurate. Mr. Chesney does not think females can be wizards." Her hands moved on to a mighty stack of parchments with large red seals dangling off them. "This," she said, "is from the kings. Every monarch in the world has written to me at least once protesting at what the tours do to their kingdoms. It is probably only necessary to quote from one. King Luther, perhaps you would care to give us the gist of the letter I receive from you once a month?"

"Yes, I would," said King Luther. He leaned forward and gripped the table with powerful blue-knuckled hands. "My kingdom is being ravaged," he said. "I have been selected as Evil King fifteen times in the last twenty years, with the result that I have a tour through there once a week, invading my court and trying to kill me or my courtiers My wife has left me and taken the children with her for safety. The towns and countryside are being devastated. if the army of the Dark Lord doesn't march through and sack my city, then the Forces of Good do it next time. I admit I'm being paid quite well for this, but the money I earn is so urgently needed to repair the capital for the next Pilgrim Party that there is almost none to spare for helping the farmers. They hardly grow anything these days. You must be aware, High Chancellor-"

Querida's hand went to the next pile, which was of paper, in various shapes and sizes. "I am aware, thank you, Your Majesty. These letters are a selection of those I get from farmers and ordinary citizens. They all state that what with magical weather conditions, armies marching over crops, soldiers rustling cattle, fires set by the Dark Lord's minions, and other hazards, they are likely to starve for the foreseeable future." She picked up another smallish pile of paper. "Almost the only people who seem to be prospering are the innkeepers, and they complain that the lack of barley is making it hard to brew sufficient ale."

'My heart bleeds," King Luther said sourly. "Where would we be if a Pilgrim Party arrived at an inn with no beer?"

"Mr. Chesney would not be pleased," murmured a high priest. "May the gods defend us, Anscher preserve us from that! "

"Chesney's only a man," muttered the delegate from the Thieves Guild.

"Don't let him hear you say that!" Barnabas said warningly.

"Of course he's only a man," snapped Querida. "He just happens to be the most powerful man in the world, and I've taken steps to ensure that he cannot hear us inside this council chamber. Now may I go on? Thank you. We are being pressured to find a solution by several bodies. Here"-she picked up a large and beautifully lettered parchment with paintings in the margins--is an ultimatum from Bardic College. They say that Mr. Chesney and his agents appear to regard all bards with the tours as expendable. Rather than lose any more promising musicians, they say here, they are refusing to take part in any tours this year, unless we can guarantee the safety of-"

Dark Lord of Derkholm. Copyright © by Diana Jones. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 23 )

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(18)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 23 Customer Reviews

  • Posted August 22, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    9780064473354

    Fantasy Stood On Its Ear

    What if there was actually a world where fantasy adventures happened? What if they were only put on for the benefit of people from our world? What if the people from that world were made to do the pretend adventures by someone from our world? What if the people from the magical world got sick of it all? This book answers all of these questions and more in a wonderful story based around something you don't see in a lot of fantasy novels: a family. I bought this book after I'd read it from the library for years. I look forward to visiting it over and over again--it's one of my firm favorites.

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  • Posted October 27, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    9780064473354 9780064410342

    Loved It!

    I just finished reading this book so I wanted to write a review before I forgot any of it, not that I ever will! I fell in love with this strange family and their magical world. This book had me laughing out loud one minute and practically in tears the next. But don't worry, you'll be laughing again by the end!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 16, 2008

    THE BOOK TO READ!!!

    Derk is the main character and he is the Dark Lord of Derkholm. People pay to take tours of Derk's world. Some people in Derk's world want the tours to stop, but others want them to continue. Read to find out what happens. My opinion is that this is a book that most people will like if you like reading about magic, different worlds and the old times. If you read fantasy books, you would like this book. So, I recomended it to all the fantasy book readers out there.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 2, 2007

    Awesome book

    This was a little confusing at first, but once you got into it, it was very funny and entertaining. The laugh out loud part for me was when no one wanted to push the wizard into the moat so he jumped in by himself.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 3, 2007

    Different.... In a Good Way!

    I read A LOT! And something I've realized is... I read because of books that I can't put down. something different, and excellent about this book is it isn't leading up to one bif adventure. Throughout, different things are thrown at you. As one mishap is dealt with another appears. It goes on, and suddenly they are all linked together. This book is excellent!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 2, 2006

    Excellent... Except for the butchered ending.

    This book was almost an excellent read. I couldn't put it down, until the extremely disappointing ending. Jones ties up so many loose ends at once, it seems as if she got sick of writing this particular book and just wanted to get the rest of it over with. What a let-down!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 3, 2005

    not her best, but still good

    this book is really confusing at first, but the dark lord and his son are the main characters. DWJ is one of my favorite authors, but this isn't one of her best books. You should read it though. It's really good.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 23, 2004

    A REALLY ENTERTAINING BOOK!

    I got this book after looking at all the good things people said about it on this website. I think everyone who reviewed it was absolutely right! I like books about animals and fantasy, and this book managed to tell a story about both. I REALLY LIKED THE GRIFFINS!! (Kit, Callette, Don, Lydda, and Elda) Griffins have always been one of my favorite fantasy creatures. Dragons too.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 13, 2004

    Captivating!

    I read this book (Library book), and I finished it a few days after I ot it! It was so good and enthralling that I could stand outside in the freezing cold and not notice anything! (Which I did). I really enjoyed this book, and I hope to read The Year of the Griffin soon! (Callette was the coolest of the Griffins!!!)

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 12, 2004

    Great and captivating book even for younger people!

    This is one of the best books I've every read from this author. Its really captivating and the characters are 'different' but in a good way. I hope to read her next book the Year of the Griffin.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 11, 2003

    this book rules! 5 stars * * * * *

    i want to the library to look for a good book to read at school the librarian told me this book would be perfect for i looked at it and said i would give it a try i got home and started to read it i could put it down. this book has it all adventure, humer, action, romance, Ect.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 28, 2003

    Totally Worth Reading

    This is the best book I ever read in my whole life. The charactors were sooooooo Loveable. My favorite was Kit. He's really cute. The plot was wonderful. This book was full of action. You can't not like this great book!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 21, 2003

    Amazing Books that the World Should Read

    Confession: I have been waiting for the Harry Potter book to come out forever. But I must say that since I was forced to find substitutes I have come across some of the best books ever written. Fantasy has never gotten the credit it deserves and this is an author who has several exceptional works. This is not my favorite, that title goes to The Lives of Christopher Chant but this is probably my second favorite. I'm rereading this book for the first time in over a year and I forgot how much I truely enjoyed it. This author has tons of books that are equal to almost any fantasy book I've ever read. I'd recommend this book one hundred times over.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 2, 2002

    I love this book!

    The Dark Lord of Derkholm is about a world that has been taken by Mr. Chesney to use as a theme park. The inhabitants of this world want to get rid of him. A wonderful fantasy book with all the things you would expect from a good book. Dragons, Griffins, Wizards, a little bit of romance, and a very cool adventure! If you haven't read this book you should.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 31, 2002

    Another Harry Potter!

    This book is great!! It is like reading Harry Potter in a different context. It's comical yet adventurous and romantic. It takes the elements of daily life to another level. I reccomend this book as well as Year of the Griffin.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 1, 2002

    Great Fantasy Book!

    I love fantasy books, and maybe I'm just easily entertained, but there was something about this book that drew me. I love the characters, the fantasy creatures and the slight romance in it, above all. Everyone who loves fantasy novels should read this. And even if you don't love fantasy, you might start liking it after reading this book. This book was so good that it gave me inspiration for a book.(I love to write.)

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 28, 2009

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 26, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 19, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 27, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

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