Title: Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
Media: Book
Approx length: Two YA novels
Where to find it: Available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon, or on Audible.
What is it, in summary?: One of Diana Wynne Jones' lesser known series -- she's more famous for Howl's Moving Castle. The two books are set eight or nine years apart, and are both set in the same fantasy world (magic, dragons, talking griffins, demons, gods, portals). I believe her Tough Guide to Fantasyland is also connected, though I haven't read it.
The first is about the wizard Derk and how he and his family work to free the world from the "Pilgrim Parties", created by a capitalist from another dimension. Essentially, the capitalist (who's from a modern world) has suborned the fantasy world and runs a very lucrative business sending tours through, like an extra-immersive LARPing experience. It's a great satire on capitalism as well as being a downright fun adventure book.
The second book is about Derk's youngest griffin daughter Elda as she goes to the magic university. She and her classmates are all defying their relatives in some way to attend, and this causes problems of various kinds -- assassins, pirates, angry kings, jinxes, etc. Under the hood, it's also a great satire on academia.
What do you love about it?: God, what's not to love about anything Diana Wynne Jones ever wrote? The worldbuilding is light and funny and doesn't take itself too seriously, but the characters are very much of that particular world. Most of the worldbuilding has no explanation or apology, and that works incredibly well for DWJ, as usual. All of the characters are vibrant and well-realized. And DWJ has this wonderful style of setting multiple plot threads in motion, only to have them all culminate in one big event that involves every character and resolves all those interconnected threads at once. The magic in the Derkholm books is particularly flexible; there's everything from teleportation ("translocation" in this canon) to genome magic to demonic summoning. Derk is a wizard but also a middle-aged family man trying to make a living while keeping his marriage intact.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Ten-years-later fic about a protagonist from the first book (Blade) one of Elda's friends from the second book (Claudia); fic about Querida, a bad-tempered old cat lady who also happens to be the most powerful wizard in the world.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: You could get away with just reading Year of the Griffin, although skipping Dark Lord of Derkholm would be depriving yourself of a great time. Blade also has a much larger role in Dark Lord of Derkholm.
Warnings & other content notes: In Dark Lord of Derkholm, there's a brief scene where a group of men attempts to assault a 18yo girl. It's one of about five things happening at a chaotic moment; not detailed at all, and they do not succeed. Also, the books contain a stereotyped version of the Middle East (think Aladdin) consistent with the general air of genre-savvy satire throughout.
Even if you don't intend to write fic for the Derkholm books, I highly recommend them! They've been favorites since I was a teen.
Derkholm - Diana Wynne Jones
Title: Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
Media: Book
Approx length: Two YA novels
Where to find it: Available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon, or on Audible.
What is it, in summary?: One of Diana Wynne Jones' lesser known series -- she's more famous for Howl's Moving Castle. The two books are set eight or nine years apart, and are both set in the same fantasy world (magic, dragons, talking griffins, demons, gods, portals). I believe her Tough Guide to Fantasyland is also connected, though I haven't read it.
The first is about the wizard Derk and how he and his family work to free the world from the "Pilgrim Parties", created by a capitalist from another dimension. Essentially, the capitalist (who's from a modern world) has suborned the fantasy world and runs a very lucrative business sending tours through, like an extra-immersive LARPing experience. It's a great satire on capitalism as well as being a downright fun adventure book.
The second book is about Derk's youngest griffin daughter Elda as she goes to the magic university. She and her classmates are all defying their relatives in some way to attend, and this causes problems of various kinds -- assassins, pirates, angry kings, jinxes, etc. Under the hood, it's also a great satire on academia.
What do you love about it?: God, what's not to love about anything Diana Wynne Jones ever wrote? The worldbuilding is light and funny and doesn't take itself too seriously, but the characters are very much of that particular world. Most of the worldbuilding has no explanation or apology, and that works incredibly well for DWJ, as usual. All of the characters are vibrant and well-realized. And DWJ has this wonderful style of setting multiple plot threads in motion, only to have them all culminate in one big event that involves every character and resolves all those interconnected threads at once. The magic in the Derkholm books is particularly flexible; there's everything from teleportation ("translocation" in this canon) to genome magic to demonic summoning. Derk is a wizard but also a middle-aged family man trying to make a living while keeping his marriage intact.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Ten-years-later fic about a protagonist from the first book (Blade) one of Elda's friends from the second book (Claudia); fic about Querida, a bad-tempered old cat lady who also happens to be the most powerful wizard in the world.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: You could get away with just reading Year of the Griffin, although skipping Dark Lord of Derkholm would be depriving yourself of a great time. Blade also has a much larger role in Dark Lord of Derkholm.
Warnings & other content notes: In Dark Lord of Derkholm, there's a brief scene where a group of men attempts to assault a 18yo girl. It's one of about five things happening at a chaotic moment; not detailed at all, and they do not succeed. Also, the books contain a stereotyped version of the Middle East (think Aladdin) consistent with the general air of genre-savvy satire throughout.
Even if you don't intend to write fic for the Derkholm books, I highly recommend them! They've been favorites since I was a teen.