Dark Lord, by Ed Greenwood, is the first in the Falconfar Saga trilogy. After a particularly bad dream, Rod Everlar finds himself pulled into a world of his own design. Rod is a writer of fantasy novels centering on a world called Falconfar. Three evil wizards now rule over the land, but Rod soon discovers that he is destined to be an even greater mage, the Dark Lord.
The premise alone sucked me into this story. And I loved the fact that when Rod gets sucked into his own story, he doesn’t automatically become the adept wizard and fighter that one might expect. Instead, he’s a bit clumsy and quite a coward. And the person who has to keep saving him is a maimed female. There’s quite a large cast of characters, but a handy list of who’s who at the end of the book. Danger and action abound in this exciting fantasy novel. With vivid characters and an intense cliffhanger, Greenwood has written a creative world of magic and mystery.
– SciFi Chick
There are certain books you read that give you an idea of who they will appeal to straight away and this book is destined to appeal to anyone who plays RPGs (Role Playing Games). Unsurprisingly, the author is no stranger to these as he is the creator of the ‘Forgotten Realms’ setting for Dungeons and Dragons and his familiarity with the genre shows. The plot... is very much of the ‘ordinary bloke finds himself in extraordinary situation’ kind as Rod Everlar, the creator of a series of books about the fictional land of Falconfar... magically finds sanctuary in his own fictional realm. From there on, Rod finds himself encountering familiar places in the world he has created and also finds that the publishers of his books, Holdencorp, have wreaked havoc with an environment he thought he would know inside and out.
It is an enjoyable read and Rod’s viewpoints along the way relating to how Holdencorp have altered the world he created adds a quirky edge to the tale, for example, remarks about how Rod wishes he had taken more time when thinking up names for characters. The story is garnished with widespread use of sorcery. This is well executed and, in some instances, with a dark twist. For example, a mystical gate allowing evil minions to travel great distances can only be powered by one thing - the life force of an unfortunate victim... I have no doubt that this book will appeal to anyone who is interested in RPGs and the sword and sorcery genre.
— Sue Griffiths, Concatenation
