Paul Dale

Paul's book takes the fantasy genre and rather turns it on its head. 

The Dark Lord's Handbook

Amazon.com  The Dark Lord's Handbook

My review -

A Dark Lord is Rising. He is opposed by a Hero. There are a couple of dragons who spend much of their time in human guise. There are orcs, downtrodden and despised. There are political machinations and skulduggery galore. Pretty standard fantasy stuff eh? Not likely! Paul Dale has produced a fantasy adventure with an inept Dark Lord still learning the business from his mysterious handbook. The Hero is a shouty bumpkin with a serious sword and no common sense. The fantasy hero story is turned on its head and you are really rooting for the Dark Lord in this clever, funny, witty tale.

Paul Dale writes ripping yarns adventure with a tongue in cheek humour that I found enchanting. His characters are wonderful. The `love interest' for both the Dark Lord and the Hero is a stubborn, bad-tempered foul-mouthed piece called Griselda - I love her! Any lover of the fantasy genre is going to find this a hard book to put down. It's a jolly good read!