REVIEW: How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
In How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler, Davi has died 237 times, and, strapped to a torturer’s block, she’s about to die again. In this way are we introduced to our protagonist, who is trapped in a kind of death / time loop which can best be described as playing a game of Dark Souls meets Morrowind meets Boss Level.
Early on in How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, it’s well established that Davi has stopped seeing the people in this world as people. Having seen them all reset, forget she ever existed, and start over as if nothing happened so many times means to her they are just things to be used or murdered to defeat the dark lord and get back to her real world of social media and Reddit. Her deaths may take minutes or years, but they always happen and she always loses to the dark lord, in whatever form the dark lord takes.
This time Davi has had enough. It’s time to switch sides from the Kingdom (humans) to the Wilders (fantasy people) and become the dark lord (while dying A LOT trying). She needs the get to the Conclave to claim her dark lordship. She’ll need a horde. She’ll need to cross lands of bandits and beasts and lords who may not be too happy she’s there. It’s time to try something different.
Up front, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying is a dark comedy fantasy. Our protagonist is snarkier than Deadpool, and much like the Merc with a Mouth, we get to see her story arc move from seeing all people as something to be played with—murdered without thought, betrayed without guilt, used as minions to be thrown into the meat grinder without remorse—to caring about those under her charge. Amongst her snarky, driven, angry-at-the-world, cynical as fuck, and tired-of-this-shit attitude, we eventually find a relatively decent human being and somebody to root for. I take my hat off to Wexler for really nailing the voice of Davi. It’s a style that is really hard to get right and deliver across 100,000+ words without it becoming repetitive and boring, and Davi is nothing if not hilariously entertaining cover-to-cover.
Not to be left behind, the supporting cast are excellent, in particular Davi’s horde’s generals. The way they grow to accept Davi at her whacky best (including not understanding 90% of her non-world references, songs, and sayings) is at times hilarious and heartwarming. Their prejudices, failures, and growth make them a superb supporting cast.
I think books like this are important to the grimdark community. It’s a funny, and immensely fun read, while also delivering strong messages around how we treat each other. It’s a different kind of morally grey read to our usual fare, and while it retains so many things we like, it dials up the cheek and laughs for a nice, relevant break from the grit.
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler is a wildly fun tale that is going to appeal to gamers who embrace the grind just as much as to lovers of great dark fantasy books.
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