Death of a Darklord is part of an open-ended horror series where different authors each write an entry set in the same world. Ms. Hamilton's earlier book, Nightseer, doesn't read as a one-shot. This book is definitely a one-shot and after reading it, I hope Ms. Hamilton sticks to series where she owns the characters. Then the heroines and their supporting cast have better luck.

Elaine starts out as a younger version of a Hamilton heroine: she has unusually great power and shows more of it as one reads on. Things go horribly wrong for her, though. Then it gets worse.

Yes, this book has no sex. I think the plot was improved by not being made to have as many reasons for the heroine to have sex as a TV show has breaks designed to make sure the viewer wants to see what happens next after the commercials.

Bottom line: read it as an unconnected horror novel and you probably won't be disappointed. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I known what it was when I started.

Fans of sadistic villains should find the one in this book to their taste. ( )

Another of my favorite authors, and this book is different from most of her writing but it was different. I like different! ( )

Death of a Darklord was a major departure for Laurell K. Hamilton when compared with her other writings. Here she weaves a dark tale of a corrupted land that attempts to destroy everything it touches and the struggles of a girl that discovers she has a strange magic flowing within her veins. Hamilton doesn't sugar coat the world of Kartakass or the evil that seeps from the very being of that land to decimate the people stuck there. ( )

This is one of Larell K . Hamilton's older books and it was almost painful reading it and remembering that once-upon-a-time she wrote books with actual plots and characters who were more than the clothes they wear. The book is good, but the ending kind of ruined it for me.

SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING
In most fantasy, the good guys win. I think this book is actually more properly classified as horror for that reason, since evil most definitely wins. It's still a great book, but I'm not a fan of "and it all ended horribly and the bad guys triumphed." Just a personal preference. ( )

I’m a big fan of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita and Merry series; which could be the reason I had such a hard time getting into this book. Death of a Darklord by Hamilton is nothing like Anita or Merry. So if you start to read this book thinking like that, you won’t enjoy it.

Once I got over that it was nothing compared to Anita or Merry, I started to really get into it. The book centers around a group of people who are mage-finders. The theory is that all magic is evil and should be destroyed, at least, according to the leader of the group. However, their world gets turned upside down when it becomes apparent that one of them is an untrained mage. Elaine wasn’t trying to be a mage, but her natural talent was no longer pleased with being dormat. Between dealing with this newfound twist and the evil lurking in a city that beckons them, the group learns that everything they thought they knew is nothing like reality.

I can’t find an excerpt, otherwise it would be here, but if you like DnD/Dragonlance/Ravenloft novels, than you should enjoy this one as well.

http://www.literaryescapism.com/2006/08/20/20/ ( )