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This is a Buddy Read for How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler starting on May 13, 2025.


Happy Reading!

Thank you!

Series schedule
1. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying (May 3rd)
2. Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me (June 3) [link]

#1 seems to pop up on sale frequently.

You're reading this on May 3rd?

The spreadsheet says May 31st...

And comment 1 says May 13th...

Huh oh... I need to check my lists, lol.

Yeah, I think it was supposed to be the 3rd. The 2nd book comes out on the 25th, so that's a week.

I started and it's been fun. Until chapter 3 (view spoiler)[ Fun, and I like Davi and her cynism but by the end of the third chapter I was feeling a bit annoyed at the tone. So I am alternating it with other more serious in tone book (the third Shadows of the apt. I think that one will be sad enough too).

I also like the footnotes.

But it's a shame her point os start doesn't move forward because the more she goes further in time is less useful. Something like Re:Zero. But it makes for more uncertainty and it make her less powerful so we'll see. Maybe there is a reason, like that voice she heard after the prologue. I thought it would be the god of death or the one in charge of the isekaid. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah, her narrative voice is a bit grating at the beginning... I think it does mellow out (or I got used to it) if I remember from my initial read... I think I got used to it..

I liked the premise more than the execution for large parts of book 1� hopefully I like it more on re-read�

I liked where it ended up and the twists enough to continue with book 2�

Who was the 3rd person that read with us last year, Nirkatze?� I know I didn’t trigger the BR, I joined last minute�

I read half of this at work this morning, after finally finished Brothersong...

Had a much more enjoyable time than the first time, knowing what to expect, and when things would get better...

I think we talked about how horny Davi is after 1000 years looping, and I still agree it's... excessive...

Just checked the blurb for book 2, and this is a duology... NICE... means we get to see the conclusion in book 2, and not wait for a book 3/5/7/10 :D

Timelord Iain wrote: "Who was the 3rd person that read with us last year, Nirkatze?� I know I didn’t trigger the BR, I joined last minute�..."

Looking back on the old thread, it might've been Chris... I also don't think I was the one to request it but can't remember... Looks like a bunch of people read it with us though--Lea, Ann-Marie, Felina, Narilka...

Old link: /topic/show/...

Also excited to learn this is a straight duology!

Nice, I'll also check the other thread.

Being a duology was my main motivation. Its good to finish a series and not read 10 books haha

Went back and finished after pausing and reading Chimera at home, first...

I feel like I remembered a fair bit of the plot... except the last 20% or so...

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Who was the 3rd person that read with us last year, Nirkatze?� I know I didn’t trigger the BR, I joined last minute�..."

Looking back on the old thread, it might've been Chri..."

Yes, I read this one with you guys.....I'll pick up with the second one next month

Finished! (view spoiler)[ I was surprised at the death since I thought it would end in her death and next book find where she left. But the rest of the surprised were predictable. Still fun.

But I agree with Iain that she is too horny and that only created problems with Amatsugu.

I have a theory that Araxcles is from earth and that's why he doesn't take his armour ever and why he hates humans.

I read the acknowledgement and he was inspired by Re:Zero (yay, that one is great) and So I am a spider, so what (started the anime but never finished, had potential). (hide spoiler)]

Anything's possible...

Started. But seriously, how does he poop?

The Hogwarts Way... spell it away to be someone else's problem ;)

Hm. That sounds like Full Murderhobo way, honestly. Maybe he shat himself once to make friends with a cleanliness sprite or something.

So, finishing the last book made me realize I never came back and posted here... whoops! Doubt anyone will read this, but here's my two cents! (view spoiler)[I enjoyed the reread more than the initial--like y'all're saying, Davi is waaaaaay horny and that kind of knocked me off kilter reading the first time, but the second time I was prepared and could enjoy it more. I also read a review recently that said there's apparently a stereotype that bisexual people are horny? I was writing off Davi's horniness as having to do with her extreme age.

I really like the side-characters, whose names I can't remember, whoops. S-something. Orc lady. She's very grounded. Fox dude Amatsugu was a bad decision--but also very... hm. Like, Davi has a hard time taking people seriously, because she can always reset. She can do whatever and use whoever and just reload if she messes things up too much... until her first save point kicks in, and freaks her out... serious flaw in character. Good for characters to have flaws.

I haven't seen Re:Zero, but I am not surprised this was inspired by anime! This would make a great anime. When I think of time loops, I think of Steins::Gate... (hide spoiler)]

@Nirkatze, better late than never haha (view spoiler)[ I just glossed over her sex craziness.

Tsav is great. Davi couldn't haven done things withought her.

Re:Zero is great! Like if you want your main character to suffer this is for you haha. I still haven't watched Steins Gate. Now i am in a one piece kick, let's see how long I'll last (hide spoiler)]

Tsav! thank you for the name! So true.

LOL One Piece goes on forever! I tried it and would like to try it again someday... And I do enjoy my characters suffering so I'll have to check out Re:Zero. Lately I've been enamored of Vinland Saga, but my favorite anime is Space Brothers.

I was gonna say... aren't there like 1100+ chapters/episodes?

One of the booktubers I used to watch, fell off the deep end with One Piece, and started a separate channel for non-book talk...

I don't really do anime...

I've been pretty heavily anti-cartoon since I was like 10 years old, sticking to live action... back then I watched Murder, She Wrote :D

And Alex Mac, the nickelodeon show where the girl could turn into ooze... there was a radioactive spill in town, from what I remember of the plot, and she was basically trying to be a normal middle schooler while government or corporate agents tried to find her or anyone affected by the radiation...

Like with any medium, there's good and there's bad. There's YA and there's mature. I will say that some of the craziest and most inventive stories I've ever seen have almost all come out of anime.

I'd probably recommend Erased for you, @Iain, if you wanted to try something. Time travel murder mystery. Plus, it's short--I think only 10 or 13 episodes? And it's a complete story in one season.

I'd probably need to buy CrunchyRoll or something, to add anime to my rotation... there's already plenty of other things I ignore...

I just watch some compilations on youtube or game shows/improv/D&D on Dropout.tv when I want to watch something...

Most major streamers have some good titles on them--Erased is on Hulu and Disney+, Netflix especially has a really good lineup...

I cancelled all those awhile back because I wasn't using them .. I think Crunchyroll is cheaper than going back to those?

I wouldn't be surprised... it used to be entirely free, with ads... doubt it still is...

Probably 5-6$ like dropout... Netflix and other options keep increasing prices, still have ads at cheapest pricing and charge more for 1080p and 4k video now I think...

I just watch One piece in chunks. Now I am around 260 / 1200 episodes. And I have been watching it for two years now.

I love Vinland saga too, though I haven't finished the anime yet. Though I have never heard of Space Brothers, I'll check it out.

Yeah, you mean Merphy right Iain? She got me to one piece too. I thought it would be too childish before that

I watched The Simpsons as a kid so much I could still tell you know a lot of scenes. But it wasn't until a few years that I got into anime

Yeah, anime has some crazy plotlines. I got into anime thanks to Attack on Titan and Deathnote, so I started strong too. Haven't watched Erased yet either.

And it's been only a few years but I am way over the whole isekai over powered main character with a harem of girls, it's been so over used and it's pretty boring at this point

I agree on OP MCs and harems... There's a lot of stuff out there that my students love but I look at and am like "well, maybe if I were their age I'd enjoy it, but now it just looks meh." Like Demonslayer or Jujustsu Kaisen. I've also watched a bunch of stuff I've enjoyed but wouldn't rewatch or recommend.

I also enjoyed AoT (though I'm not caught up) and Deathnote. Other classics I've loved include Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions), Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club, Planetes... I mean, I'm a frickin' Japanese teacher, I've watched a lot of anime in my day.

For more recentish anime, Promised Neverland was really good--at least the first season. I've heard that the 2nd was botched so stop at the first, and then read the manga. Violet Evergarden was super thoughtful and had me crying almost every episode, but I think the overall plotline was weaker.

Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyodai) is about a pair of brothers who dreamed to be astronauts as children. Now they're adults, and the younger brother succeeded while the older gave up. When the older brother loses his job, his family convinces him to give the astronaut program another chance. It's a slice of life series that follows the brothers through the application process, ASCAN program, mission to the moon and more. There are no bad guys, only realistic people with differing objectives, and overall people work together and help each other and it's really cozy.

Demonslayer is okay, the animation saves the anime tbh. Jujustsu I like it but haven't finished either.

I have also not caughed up with AoT but I love it. FMAB is also really good! Fruits Basket is one of my faves too. Never watched Planetes. I am a newish anime watcher

Yeah, same, I also stopped Promises Neverland after the first season. I watched a couple of Violet evergreen but didn't continue, though I agree it was quite emotional

Planetes isn't well known, but it's by the same Mangaka who wrote Vinland Saga. It's a starts out as a slice-of-life anime about a crew of debris collectors on a space station, but ends up dealing with a lot of heavy socio-political issues. It was my favorite anime before Space Brothers took the spot.