How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler is a dark comedic fantasy series that is guaranteed to provide for an outrageous and hilarious time. While obviously not for everyone, I can assume that if by the end of chapter two you’re still not warm to the idea and tone of the book, you can safely drop it because it will be like that the entire way. You’re either going to find the “heroine” and the situation she is in funny or not. It is hard to find a middle ground. As for myself, I found the laughs kept coming. Having read many fantasy series over the years, the main protagonist kept making fun of things that are generally accepted in this genre as the defacto standard and mocks it for what it is.

One of the most hilarious aspects is of Davi’s quest to gather her horde of minions. Oh, and her constant sexual jokes. While Davi wants to present herself as a cold-hearted boss who cusses a lot on her way to becoming the Dark Lord, she’s really just a big softie. This makes for some hilarious and really laugh out loud moments when she interacts with the orcs and other creatures. Picturing a skinny armed girl training, commanding and directing a horde of creatures in battle while pretty much poking fun at pretty much everything fantasy related sets the tone for the entire book. The author spares absolutely nothing when it comes to laying on the jokes. Some readers will likely see this as the author trying too hard to play the comedic angle, but the story itself moves in a clear direction and with Davi having the one and only goal of becoming the Dark Lord. Thinking about it now, it would have been hilarious if the author made Davi perform a bunch of side quests and her complaining and making more quips about it.

I feel it’s not that hard to judge this book and likely the next to come after it. While reading about the heroes side of the story is what we’ve all come to expect in pretty much every fantasy setting, it can be refreshing to switch sides for once. The icing on the cake is the comedic angle. This series reminds me of Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots in that running an evil empire requires just as much thought and canny as the good guys. It’s just funnier when the focus is on the villains because it’s rarely done. My one complaint is the constant footnotes, which usually translates to hilarious comments and references from Davi herself. Because the POV is from Davi herself as if she’s talking directly to the readers, I feel like many of the little footnotes could have just been included in the story instead of forcing the readers to go back and forth.

Definitely pick this series up if you’re looking for some fun reading. A Kindle sample of the eBook will easily let you know if this will be your type of comedic fun or not.