I read these books prior to reading the Xanth series so when I did read the first Xanth book my initial though was 'gee, this is a lot like Darksword, only much more light hearted'. Well, since Xanth was written first, it is more likely than not that the idea was taken from the Xanth book, but whereas Xanth tends to be quite light hearted, these books tend to have a much more serious, and darker tone.
What I want to carry on with this book is the idea of discrimination, and this seems to be the theme around which the book revolves, though it is the discriminatory aspect of the Enchanted Kingdom that will finally bring about their downfall. As mentioned, it is not so much the case that Joram has no magic ability, but that his ability is resistance to magic, and he now wields a weapon, the Darksword, that is designed to drain magic. Thus the hero who begun as an outcast returns to destroy the world that kicked him out.
This idea has been floating around for a while, but it is very vengeful thinking. In a sense when the Indians were kicked off of their land to allow for White settlers and capitalists to move in, there was always that dream and desire to not only fight back, but to destroy the invaders. That never happened, and seems to rarely happen in this world. We look at the colonial period of the later half of the 19th century, when the Europeans moved in, they generally stayed, and the native populations were marginalised.
Let us also consider the Afro-Americans. To me, a white person, it is difficult to understand and appreciate the true nature of discrimination. Many of us, at least here in Australia, scream out about reverse-racism, that is the idea that because we are white, we do not receive the special assistance that Aboriginals receive, and as sucb are left behind and have a much more difficult time in getting to where assisted persons get to simply by being of a different race. Those who argue that point really do not truly understand the nature of racism.
It is very hard for a white person to truly understand what it is like to be rejected simply because of the colour of one's skin. To be an Asian in Australia in the 80s could be the same, especially when a lot of conservatives were screaming to get rid of them, and if we did not stop them coming in then we would all be speaking Chinese. Well, 20 years has passed and guess what, we still all speak English, and surprise, the Chinese immigrants not only speak English, but many of them have discarded their culture in favour of the European culture (which I personally do not like).
I don't think that we, being white, are at the same disadvantages as others are, especially Australian aboriginals. Whereas I was born into a middle class family that always had a roof over their head and meals on the table, many are not born into families with the same privileges. However, this isn't necessarily something that is related to race. Granted, aboriginals tend much more likely to be born into a disadvantaged family, but when one considers that some people see all aboriginals as disadvantaged, and ignore the fact that many white children are also born into the same situation, we do, once again, fall into the ugly spectre of racism.