Jamie Thomson.
Dark Lord: the Teenage Years.
Orchard. 2011
rating : 4 : passes the time
review : 17 December 2013
This tome of staggering genius is scribed by me, the Dark Lord, a.k.a. Dirk Lloyd. My archenemy has cast me into your world in the body of a teenager. Oh, the indignity! Brutal revenge will be mine! At soon as I’ve done my homework…
BUY THIS BOOK OR SUFFER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING
THE CHOICE IS YOURS. MWA HA HA!
The Dark Lord finds himself in a dreadful situation: he has been transported to mundane suburbia into the body of a teenage boy, with no magical powers. People just won’t believe he’s who he says he is, even mishearing his title as his name: Dirk Lloyd. He has to figure out how to get back to his Dark Realm, whilst doing his homework, avoiding the child psychiatrists, and coping with his nightmares of a great white beast.
This is funny as we get to see the modern world through Dirk’s alien eyes. Dirk manages to gather suitable minions – a goth, a nerd, and even a sports jock who can exploit Dirk’s tactical prowess on the cricket pitch – although they don’t take him as seriously as he would like.
Although funny, and definitely a suitable read whilst under the influence of a heavy head cold (as I was at the time), this is a bit of a one joke book, and so, despite the cliffhanger ending, I won’t be going back for more. And some things are never satisfactorily explained. Why can Dirk start working (some) magic again? And, most confusingly, why are they all going to school during August?