The Dark Lord's Handbook cover art

The Dark Lord's Handbook

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Dark Lord's Handbook

By: Paul Dale
Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

To become a Dark Lord is no easy thing. The simple ambition to hold dominion over the world and bend all to your will sounds straightforward, but it's not. There are armies to raise, fortresses to build, heroes to defeat, and battles to be fought. After many spectacular failures, Evil decided to lend more than inspiration to these would-be tyrants. He wrote an easy-to-follow Dark Lord's Handbook. And yet the next Dark Lord that came along screwed up like all the others. It had been hundreds of years, and the Handbook was lost in the annals of time, along with all that was mythic and exciting in the world. Then one day, a randy dragon had a chance encounter. Nine months later a Dark Lord was born. In time, the Handbook found its way to this new contender: Morden.

©2008 Paul Dale (P)2014 Tantor
Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Comedy

Listeners also enjoyed...

Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader cover art
Path of Destruction cover art
Knight in the Nighttime cover art
The Silmarillion cover art
The Merchant Adventurer cover art
Tesser: A Dragon Among Us cover art
The Cycle of Arawn cover art
Son of the Black Sword cover art
Forsworn: A Powder Mage Novella cover art
The Verdant Passage cover art
The Dragon's Blade cover art
Forging Hephaestus cover art
Warcraft: Day of the Dragon cover art
Ink Mage cover art
Unbound cover art
Free the Darkness cover art
All stars
Most relevant

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I thought this would be a predictable rip off of similar amusing fantasy novels. But it wasn't at all. A delightfully amusing diversion. The story of Morden, who's career choice is being a dark lord. Made me laugh and kept me thoroughly entertained.

What other book might you compare The Dark Lord's Handbook to, and why?

Terry Pratchet....

Have you listened to any of Gildart Jackson’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Yes I have...he does comedic narration very well. Good array of charachters

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Cant say that with out giving the story away

Any additional comments?

Well worth a credit. Good story and good narration and great entertainment value. There is a second book which I hope audible brings out.

Great fun

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listened to this over a weekend. Was intriguing, memorable and humorous.

I intend to purchase the two sequels in due course. Very worth the purchase.

Exquisite authorship and narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It is a well written book, and I was not sure who was the hero until the end. Well done.
There are a few Terry Pratchet references that are fun to look out for.
It is far better than the formulaic books that are so common

A worthy book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Brilliant and laugh out loud funny. Takes what we all know about heroes and dark lords, plays it out but somewhat on its head.

Narration is ace but there are sections where a step back from the mic would’ve been a good idea.

Please may we have the next two books in the series? xx

When are we getting the next two?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is genuinely one of the best audiobooks I've had the pleasure to listen. I enjoyed every single moment.

Hidden gem! Amazing narration!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews