Book Review of Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler

 

Name of Book: Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me

Author: Django Wexler

ISBN: 9780356519005

Publisher: Orbit

Part of a Series: Sequel to How to Become Dark Lord and Die Trying (Dark Lord David duology)

Type of book: Fantasy, humor, earth girl stuck in fantasy novel, relationships, love, another world, battles, war, friendships 

Year it was published: 2025

Summary:

The hilarious sequel to How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler!

Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that binds her in this hilariously bloody conclusion to the Dark Lord Davi duology.

Davi has left the horde behind her, hoping to find a peaceful solution to keep the Kingdom from being destroyed this time. But her plan to guide the Kingdom to peaceful prosperity is thwarted when she finds her usual love interest, Prince Johann, already married and the bloodthirsty Duke Aster running the government. Johann's new husband is everything Davi is not, but he holds a key to the one mystery she can't solve - the origins of the time loop that has entrapped her.

With restless armies at her doorstep, Duke Aster reaching for power, and an ancient magician hounding her every turn, Davi must scheme her way to peace and uncover the truth behind her curse if she is to break the spell that binds her once and for all.

Praise for How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying

'A darkly comic delight of a novel' Anthony Ryan

'Twisty, pacey and full of reverent irreverence for fantasy. I can't get enough' Max Gladstone

'A brash swords-and-satire romp that draws you into its rollicking adventure even as it pokes fun at the whole genre. Gamers in particular will appreciate the irreverent upending of classic roleplaying tropes' James L. Sutter

Takes the old saying 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em,' to the next level. A sarcastic, action-packed, intrigue-filled (mis)adventure. One of the funniest books I've read in a long time' Matt Dinniman

'Lord of the Rings crossed with Groundhog Day, narrated by a gender-flipped Deadpool' Mike Brooks

Characters:

There are old favorites and new in this book. Main characters would be Davi and Tsav as well as the new friends in terms of Johann who is Davi's on and off ex in previous lifetimes and his husband Matthias who is related to an evil duke. There is also Cyrus one of the founders. Davi continues to show off her personality as she gets closer and closer to Tsav and she also learns a bit about her past and herself. Tsav definitely seems to take a backseat and seems to be more of a prop for Davi in my opinion although she does make her feelings and wishes known. Johann is best described as hypersexual yet someone on marijuana and is very similar to Davi?  And Matthias is highly intelligent and doesn't have poeple he can regularly talk to. 

Theme:

Is what you remember the truth or a lie

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Davi's point of view and begins shortly after the first novel ends, when Davi wins the Dark Lord crown and continues on as Davi and her love interest Tsav decide to go to the castle in hopes of preventing massacre. While there, Davi is struggling to remain her current self instead of turning into her old political self, and we also meet Davi's sort of ex boyfriend as well as some other people and from then on it gets to be a bit crazy as a lot is revealed about Davi and her situation in this world. For some odd reason the second book didn't draw me like the first one, and at the moment I am not sure why, except perhaps there is a feeling of staleness for me. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Django Wexler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with degrees in creative writing and computer science, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. Eventually he migrated to Microsoft in Seattle, where he now lives with two cats and a teetering mountain of books. When not planning Shadow Campaigns, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts.

Opinion:

I loved the first book of the series, HOW TO BECOME DARK LORD, which I found clever, unexpectedly funny and all sorts of positive qualities. The sequel, while important, I wasn't much of a fan of it, and would probably rate it 3.5 stars, with it being rounded it up to 4 stars I am sorry to report. I think the primary reason is that the second book is definitely a stretch with very little new territory explored in terms of Davi's unique situation, and I definitely wasn't much of a fan of the same old jokes as well as the person Davi was in her previous lifetimes. Its definitely hard for me to describe on why the book didn't work for me as well as I wanted it to. I also wanted to know more about earth Davi as well. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5

(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)