Demon Lord

Demon Lord #1

by T.C. Southwell

Seven blue wards have imprisoned the Black Lord in the Underworld for aeons. Now he has stolen a human child and made him a mortal god. After eighteen years of torturous training, Bane sets forth to break the wards with aid of a dark army. The Demon Lord will release Arkonen and destroy the Overworld unless an innocent young girl can turn him from his savage path...

Genres: Fantasy, Demons, Ebooks, Magic, Paranormal, Romance, Gods

Paperback

First published December 16, 2010

About the author

T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa.

T. C. Southwell has written over thirty novels, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to romance and adventure, as well as five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a living in the IT industry.

Reviews

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen]

This was...not good.I cant belive this has so good ratings.

An evil fallen god wants to take over the world.But he cant go there because of spells and whatnot. So he gets a human woman pregnant,cuts her baby out of her when shes in labor and hes got a son. Hes named Bane and raised and tortured to be ...well the worst he can be so he can one day take over the world for his dear father. (im joking he hates his father and everything else)

Some group of magical women,learns of evil gods plan and decideds to come up with a counterplan. In form of a...girl. Who is kind of special because shes so innocent and good. Hmm those healers werent too bright I guess.

They send off the dumb unsuspecting (TSTL) Mirra out into the forest right in the path of the demon army. Where surprise surprise she is taken captive and soon to be eaten and/or raped. But Bane takes an interest in her because she CANT HATE HIM.No matter how many horrible things he does in front of her.

Also bad writing.

This was the point where if this had been a paper copy would have hit the wall. Literally. But since I read it on my computer that was not an option.

Stay away. Well at least it was free.

[Tracy]

The terrible Black Lord of the Underworld is locked out of the green and living Overworld by seven wards set by ancient mages. This evil fallen God cannot rise to break these wards so he must twist and trick a human to do it for him. A woman is taken to the Underworld and her son cut from her womb. Raised by cruel demons and other creatures, this boy is named Bane. Vicious tortures and wicked tests make him strong as he grows. He looks to the Black Lord as his father, who imbues Bane with dark powers. As a human, Bane can go to the Overworld. When he is grown he becomes the Demon Lord and sets out to break the seven wards.

The only hope for the Overworld is a sweet and innocent healer girl, Mirra. Her Sisterhood of healers raised her to undo the evil of Bane with her glorious and selfless goodness. During her upbringing, she was sheltered from anger, arguments, conflict, and any unpleasantness. She is pure and giving and guileless and believes in the goodness of the world. A riveting psychological drama unfolds as these two opposing characters influence each other. Mirra is taken prisoner by the Demon Lord as he spreads terror and destruction across the world, marching from ward to ward and breaking them. Bane is intellectually stymied by Mirra's inability to hate him. She even cares for him because she cares for all things. Bane tortures her but will not kill her, despite repeated demands from the Black Lord that he do so. Gradually Bane becomes protective of Mirra although he refuses to accept that she is stirring human feelings within him.

But the progress of Mirra's good influence is slow, and Bane remains stubbornly loyal to the Black Lord. Wards continue to shatter beneath the Demon Lord's awesome power and the suffering of the world grows worse each day.

Demon Lord is a tremendous fantasy novel packed with demons, trolls, depraved humans, and scuttling horrors of the night. Massive mountain fortresses fall. Towns are ravaged. Storms toss ships at sea. Wards holding back the Black Lord are hidden in a great crashing waterfall or insulated within a colossal monolithic crystal. Mirra learns the terror of being chained to a sacrificial altar. Bane rides a demon steed. Every paragraph and chapter of this novel rushes headlong into gripping action and terrible trials as Bane and Mirra grapple with their worst fears.

Southwell's writing flows and is filled with stunning landscapes and lucid insights into the characters' tortured thoughts. And chapter by chapter the seeds of romance reluctantly germinate in the hostile soil. The age old story of a woman trying to change a man for his own good and the good of the world underpins this wonderful fantasy filled with dark horror, cruelty, and persistent hope.

Demon Lord is the first book in a series and I will definitely be reading more of T.C. Southwell's fantasy fiction. Getting a copy of this novel is as effortless as kneeling before the Demon Lord. It is a free ebook download at Smashwords.

Find it at Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...

[Aderyn Wood]

Demon Lord, worth a read ... just!
I have an interest in reading the work of some of those relatively unknown authors on Amazon kindle - you know, the ones whose books are very cheap or free. I'm interested because I will probably be listed as one of them eventually (when I get around to finishing one of my novels). So, recently I scanned the wide range of such ebooks and I came across Demon Lord by TC Southwell.

Demon Lord is the first book of a fantasy series that follows the quest of son of the underworld Bane to overthrow the overworld; and the healer, Mirra's attempts to do, well, ‘good’.

Essentially, Bane, the human Dark Lord of the evil God Arkonen, embarks on a campaign to destroy the wards that keep the dark god trapped in the underworld. An elder Seeress foresaw the trouble and set in motion a plan to bring into the world a girl with powerful healing and goodness. Bane kidnaps the girl, Mirra, who is then dragged along, often literally, with Bane and his army as they journey through the overworld. Mirra tries to help Bane with his many excruciating headaches – a result of the evil rituals he must perform in order to maintain his magical power. However Bane is cruel and abusive and beats Mirra relentlessly.

As a story it is interesting. It has all the typical elements of the fantasy genre particularly a world that Southwell has clearly put a lot of thought into. There is a dramatic and tense divide between evil and good, and it includes a range of supernatural entities including gods, seers, vampires, demon steeds, grims and weirds. Some of the descriptions and imagery reads very well and puts a clear picture in a reader’s mind.

While the story is a bit of a page-turner, there is much in this book that needs improving. To me it read like more of a draft than a novel ready for publication. On a very basic level there were many spelling errors and typos. But, more importantly the characters needed much reworking. Mirra was most unbelievable as a character. She is the protagonist but she is painted as so innocent and naïve that she seems, quite simply, stupid. Bane is angry, aggressive and hostile, and we are not really convinced as to why he is so consistently in this state and why he needs to incessantly beat and torture Mirra. The whole physical abuse was quite unsettling. Like a victim of domestic violence Mirra suffered great abuse from Bane but kept going back for more – there was something very strange about it. The other aspect that needed more attention, before publication, was the ending, it is one of the most unsatisfying endings I have come across. I read the novel, with all its flaws, looking forward to see what would happen, but was sorely disappointed.

So should you bother? Well one of the things Southwell did quite well was to develop a subtle promise of romance between Bane and Mirra (yup, believe it or not). This was interesting and kept me turning the pages. I haven’t as yet read the other books in this series so maybe it will get better and answer many things that remain unanswered in this first book. I guess if you have nothing better to read, you enjoy fantasy fiction and you don’t want to pay for a book (this one is free) then go ahead and read it. I can guarantee you will enjoy some elements, but you will, most likely, detest others.

[Josh Myers]

I love fantasy stories about humans fighting against demons. This one is the reverse with the Demon Lord Bane fighting to take over the Human race. What is really great is the that the protagonist is not only a perfect villain, but he is what he hates, a human. The story is very exciting and there is a lot of fighting and adventure. I think young people will enjoy it because it gives the reader a prospective of the enemy's POV. I think dark fantasies are in a league of their own.

[Elaina]

Underworld and Overworld! A demon able to bind the two! Bane is pure evil and he is powerful, he is the Demon Lord, and only one person stands in the way; a young girl, a healer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and have no hesitation in giving it 5 stars. As with all T.C. Southwell’s books, this is well written and imaginative. I will be reading more of her work!

[Serena Huang]

I LOVE THIS STORY! Even thought this story is filled with corpses, death, Torture and blood, I coundn't put it down. I'm only 8, and I finished in 3 hours and I coundn't put it down. I was disappointed when I finished it so fast. I'm trying to find the next book Demon god for free but I can't find it! If you dd find Demon god 2 Then please send me a link in the comments below!

[Rowan]

I absolutely love this book. It was such a different take on "boy meets girl and they change each other's lives". I enjoyed that there was a bit of monster in Bane in the beginning (and a fair way through) and the dichotomy between him and Mirra who is basically the epitome of good.

[Molly Taylor]

Listen I know the cover is insane but this book is actually really good. Is it going to win any literature prizes? No. But is it a fun fantasy read with an interesting world and characters you want to root for? Absolutely.

[Veronica Lindsey]

A fantasy about the Underworld and the Overworld and the release of the Dark Lord.

[Lordyson Godson]

A cool adventure novel to relax to and read

[Tina]

Bane should have killed that girl the moment he saw her. Then the book could have been 3 to 4 stars as an introduction to a nice new series.

[MG]

Disclaimer: Okay, so I'm a big fan of the whole "Big Bad Guy falls in love with Innocent, Beautiful Maiden, and gets Reformed" plotline. I'm talking really big fan. No matter what you do with it -- bring it to the future, stand it on its head, slather whipped cream and jalapenos all over it -- I'm still there.

I was prepared to love this book with all my heart. I was willing to forgive the fact that I could predict the ending from the first couple of pages. I was ready to overlook the moments when the main narrative was interrupted so the Wise Old Woman could butt in and explain to us things that we already knew.

But what I really couldn't stomach was the sheer repetitiveness of it all.

So our titular Demon Lord is steamrolling down the countryside, right? He's glorying in the slaughter of helpless babies and ultimately trying to break the seven magical wards that hold his father, the Black Lord, prisoner in the Underworld. By his side is our trembling and weeping Innocent Maiden, who constantly tries her best to Heal his wounded soul, while he just as constantly slaps her aside and accuses her of trying to destroy him.

Now I could enjoy all of this, in moderation. Especially if it's building up to that glorious cathartic moment when the Bad Guy finally realizes what an ass he's been and falls down on his knees to beg the girl's forgiveness, sobbing and promising to be good from now on. (Okay, fine, I have issues. Moving on.)

But the thing is, remember that we have seven magical wards? Well, we get seven wards, alright. Seven times we see scenes of really rather pointless butchery. Seven times we see Bad Guy go "Haw haw, bet that hurt you bad, Innocent Maiden, since you can't stand the suffering of others." Seven times we see her offer to help and heal him, despite the fact that he's, you know, destroying her world. Seven times we see him beat her to unconsciousness on the suspicion of secretly plotting to kill him.

I was planning on repeating that particular phrase seven times as well, to drive my point, but I couldn't do it. My brain just shut down in the interest of self-preservation. (And maybe those scenes repeated themselves even more than seven times, I just couldn't keep track of them anymore.)

See, this is why the concept of Magic Three was invented. The prince needs to undergo three trials in the fairytale. The cock crows after Peter denies Jesus three times. And the pop song takes just about three minutes before it's over.

Any more than that, and people's eyes start to glaze over.

I know mine did. I kept going back and forth, thinking, Haven't I read this exact same scene just a couple of minutes ago? And I probably had.

Now don't get me wrong. This isn't really a bad book. It was even pretty good, in that I was hooked until the end, and I definitely enjoyed some parts. And since it's Ms. Southwell's oldest, this might not be the best example of her work. I'm definitely willing to try the rest, and I'll probably be reading Book 2 of this series (just to see if the Demon Lord ever gets to that falling-down-to-his-knees-in-front-of-the-girl scene).

It just needs a bit of trimming down. And less editorializing from the Wise Old Woman. And less use of the word "sniggered". And less beating up the Innocent Maiden (she heals automatically, but that doesn't make it any less horrifying, considering that they're apparently an OTP).

Okay, that's it. I'm done for now. Will see you in Book 2 after payday, probably.

--

EDIT: By the way, if you're looking for something along this vein, I'll suggest Michelle Sagara West's Into the Dark Lands. It also features the good old love story between Good and Evil, though the Good Healer in this case is pretty combative (she's also a warrior herself).

[Ariel The Tempest]

Demon Lord by T.C. Southwell is an intense and dark fantasy that keeps you turning pages, even if the beginning stumbles a bit. The novel presents a unique twist on the classic good-versus-evil trope, focusing more on the complex relationship between its two central characters rather than epic battles or flashy magical showdowns.

The premise is intriguing, Bane, the Demon Lord, raised in the depths of the Underworld by demonic forces, is tasked with breaking seven magical wards that hold his father, the Black Lord, prisoner. He’s powerful, cruel, and relentless, but there's an emotional core to him that slowly begins to unravel. This slow descent is juxtaposed with Mirra, an innocent and kind healer, whose purity and goodness challenge everything Bane has been taught to believe. It’s a psychological drama that unfolds quietly, almost painfully at times, as the two characters wrestle with their beliefs and growing feelings for each other.

Southwell’s writing is descriptive and evocative, particularly when it comes to the dark, twisted world of demons, trolls, and grotesque creatures. The landscape is vivid, and the action never really slows down, giving you a constant sense of urgency. However, some readers may find the repetitive nature of Bane's tormenting Mirra, and the continual journey to break the wards, a little too much after a while. It can feel like the same scenes play out multiple times, which detracts from the tension rather than building it.

That being said, the relationship between Bane and Mirra is what truly carries the book. The slow-burning character development between these two is the heart of the story, with Mirra’s unwavering compassion slowly breaking down Bane’s hardened exterior. Their dynamic makes Demon Lord stand out in a genre filled with battle-driven plots.

The magic system could have been expanded further, as there are moments where the use of powers feels inconsistent. Despite these shortcomings, the book is still a gripping read, and it successfully keeps you invested in both the characters and the world they inhabit.

Demon Lord is a dark fantasy with flawed but fascinating characters, and while it might stumble here and there, the emotional pull and the exploration of good versus evil make it a worthwhile read. If you enjoy character-driven stories with complex moral dilemmas, this is a book worth picking up, especially for those who appreciate darker, more psychological fantasy.

If anything, this book sets itself up for a promising conclusion, and I’m curious to see where Bane’s journey and his battle against his own humanity goes from here. It may not be perfect, but it certainly keeps you engaged.

[Bridget]

I am not really sure how I feel about this horror fantasy. It is really an extensive intro into a series of books, and I have interest in finding out what happens. Mirra is a healer who can heal and stop pain in herself and others, so long as she is able to renew her energy in sunlight. She is captured by the Bane, the Demon Lord, reputed to be the son of the Dark Lord (who is held in the Underworld by magic wards throughout the Overworld - the human world) In truth, Bane was a human baby torn from his mother's womb and raised by the Dark Lord's minions in darkness and pain. Bane is as powerful as his believed father, but only a human can break the Overworld wards, so he is raised to do so.

Cruel and heartless, he still cannot seem to kill Mirra, although he subjects her to numerous tortures. Believing her to have spelled him, he resists her efforts to heal his pain. Every time he manifests his dark power, he suffers pain, and the longer it happens, the worse he suffers.

The story has an interesting concept, although Mirra is repetitively accepting of her fate. It does seem a bit over done. I will have to consider whether my curiosity is enough to pay for the next volume.

[Michelle Proulx]

I read this book a few months ago, and I still remember how much I enjoyed it -- definitely a good thing! The thing I loved most about this book was that the characters were actually *realistic*. Usually when you read a book, and you get the "son of a demon hell-bent on destroying the world", and he meets an innocent girl, he immediately starts caring about her, second-guessing himself, doing nice things, etc. Not so in this book! Bane actually acts like the son of a demon lord should act -- he's cruel, he's ruthless, and he doesn't give a damn about anything but himself. I can't say much more without giving away the ending, but ... it was just a really refreshing change to see a character who -- is evil, yes -- but is actually true to his convictions, and doesn't immediately get sidetracked the second he sees a pretty face. A dark read, but a great one :)

[Mina]

I just flew through this book! It was great! I loved how T.C. Southwell writes and makes my imagination go wild!!!! It really made a great cliff hanger and I can't wait to read the second book! I am hoping for more MirraxBane moments. I ship them so hard it's not even funny.
This book is great for people who love fantasy, demons, religion, action, and a little bit of romance. It was really funny at some points but other than that it was great! Great introduction! I just hope to see more Mirra and Bane moments since they are the cutest. I think I would have this book rated as mature due to the violence and language.

[Andrea]

oh my god! What a gruesome, frustrating, disgusting, annoying, loooong book.......

I couldn't stand how the violence was almost non-stop and extremely graphic.

The only reason why I gave "Demon Lord" 2 stars was because despite how graphic it was, I really wanted to find out what eventually happened to Mirra......

and I was sadly disappointed. It ended with an annoying cliff hanger prompting you to read the next books. UGH!

I will definitely not be reading the next book. I feel like I just wasted my time reading almost 800 pages worth of torture.

[AB]

I thought this book was a lot shallower than Southwell's other stories. The characters are very generic: the good girl with healing powers and lots of love and innocence, the bad guy from Hell, and the guy who tries to be bad but will be good in the end. Come on. It was also very predictable.

I assume that this is one of the author's first books- I haven't looked at the publishing dates- but it is certainly not up to par with what Southwell can produce.

[Reina-chan]

wooow wooow wooow.. after I read this book I knew I had to get the next one. Bane was so ruthless and powerful that I fell in love almost immediately. and Mirra was also patient and compassionate, she wasn't like any heroine I have ever read about. she was not annoying but very likeable.after reading this book I new, I just new deep down in my heart of hearts that I had to get the next one. truly a masterpiece. I highly recommend it to anyone who can read.

[Vivian]

Plays off mythology in a good versus evil battle for the fate of the world. It is violent for violence sake in several areas and narrative. The challenges faced by the characters are entertaining, but nothing new. The main characters are too one faceted for my taste which is understandable in the this context, but so much so that I had a hard time suspending belief in certain instances.

[DM]

Free on Kindle: I finished this book because I needed to know how the story ended. Disappointed because you have to buy the next book, this one just ended. I story was drawn out, the author spared no words in telling this tale. Author captured my attention, enjoyed the book, just not my favorite.

[Milinkalap]

Really liked this book. This author has a habit of a pattern for the first book of a series - non-sexual guy, a healer of some sort (someone who can't be injured), and tons of sexual frustration.

I still very much enjoyed this book. I loved the whole world we were brought into.

The end is very much a cliffhanger that pulls you into the next installment.

[Karen]

For some reason the characters and the setting just didn't catch me. The characters came off as flat and two dimentional. The setting was run of the mill. The situation was standard "evil has been kept in check by an artifact which is destroyed over the course of the story".

[Jordan]

While I did enjoy the read it was very slow. I started reading this because I have read most of TC's books. I will read the next and decide if I would like to read all 6 or so books. I am hoping that this takes a turn for the better.

[Venus Smurf]

I don't expect much from free books, but this one was a gem. Lots of fighting, great twist on demons, and I loved the main characters. Definitely need to get the sequel to finish the story, though.

[Vanessa Finaughty]

It’s good to see local fantasy talent blooming, and, although I’m not a lover of the black and white version of ‘good versus evil’, I loved Demon Lord. Anyone who enjoys fantasy filled with deceit, betrayal and a little romance thrown in on the side will enjoy Demon Lord.

[Parker]

This series is AMAZING!! Very well written it starts off slow and then sucks you right in!!

[Chinpearl]

Long story which just wants you to get into the next book. :o)

[Lord Nouda]

3.5 Stars.

This is a very good epic fantasy ebook, considering the fact that the author is indie and has written over 20 books while working a real job. That's quite impressive.

[Férial]

A bit slow for my taste but interesting enough to keep me reading the series. I am sure that what follows will be better