Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 27 May 2025)
Series: Dark Lord Davi Duology – Book Two
Length: 327 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
If you are in the mood for some compelling fantasy fiction with some bonkers humour behind it, make sure to check out the 2025 novel, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler, a fantastic and highly entertaining fantasy you can’t help but love.
Back in 2024, I had the very great pleasure of picking up the hilarious novel, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler. The first book in his Dark Lord Davi duology, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying was an amazing read that followed protagonist Davi, the fated hero of a fantasy realm who keeps dying and respawning with every failed attempt to save the humans of The Kingdom from an incoming monster horde led by a rotating array of leaders known as the Dark Lord. After thousands of years spent dying in the most brutal of ways, Davi finally has enough and decides to instead try to become the new Dark Lord herself and win that way. This amazing novel was honestly one of the funniest things I read in 2024, and I have so much love for the addictive story and impressive humour that Wexler loaded into it. As such, I made sure to grab the sequel, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me, as soon as I could last year, especially as it ended the duology. While I did read and deeply enjoy Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me last year, I failed to write a review for it, which has been haunting me for nearly a year. With Wexler’s latest novel, The Only Way Out Is Up, just released and in my reading queue, I had to pull together a review for Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me, so I can enjoy this new book guilt-free.
Plot Synopsis:
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.
After countless failures (let’s not dwell on it), Davi has finally saved the kingdom from evil–by becoming the Dark Lord herself. But now, the hordes of wilders are at her command, and they still want blood. Human blood. And Davi’s not sure she can commit to the total extermination of humanity.
With restless armies at her doorstep, a treasonous duke scheming for power, and the legend of an ancient magician looming over her shoulder, Davi must find a way towards peace and uncover the truth behind her time loop if she is to bring harmony to the kingdom. Also, her girlfriend is mad at her. So, there’s that too.
Wexler did a wonderful job writing Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me, which contains a fantastic story with tons of humour and over-the-top moments. Best read as a sequel to How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, this follow-up perfectly wraps up the duology, while standing out in its own amazing way.
Once again following the duology’s titular protagonist Davi, the recently crowned Dark Lord of the wilders, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me sees Davi try to mend the mistake of bringing together a horde of monsters. To stop all the killing, Davi heads towards the Kingdom in advance of horde, hoping to negotiate a treaty. However, rather than the usual nation that Davi has gained control of multiple times before, Davi instead finds that in the months she was away becoming the Dark Lord, the incompetent Duke Aster has taken over the Kingdom, while her usual love interest, Prince Johann, is already married to someone else. With her horde nearly at the borders of the Kingdom, Davi needs to find a way to convince the humans to trust her. At the same time, Davi attempts to discover who or what is behind bringing her to this world and the constant time loops.
I loved the resulting story, as Wexler showcases an entertaining blend of politics and personal drama, as Davi and her orc girlfriend, Tsav, must attempt to control both sides of the war. The first half of the story is particularly funny, as Davi is at her most entertaining, attempting to build credibility with the lords and adventurers of the Kingdom without the usual introduction of her magical mentor. There are some brilliant moments here, with Davi’s ploys usually falling flat thanks to her manic personality, but her persistence and magical ability allow her to start making strides towards her goals. At the same time, Davi and her friends start making progress uncovering the secrets of her origins in this world, which nicely builds on some hints that Wexler threw into the first book. Naturally, things go to hell, as various antagonists force the war to go ahead, and Davi is forced to come up with some unusual solutions to the problems. I love the crazy scenarios that Wexler envisions his protagonist coming up with, and the resulting carnage was very entertaining. The author does an excellent job moving from there to the big reveal about the villain of the duology, and while the reveal of the ultimate manipulator isn’t too surprising, their identity and how it ties into Davi’s past is both clever and very dark. This results in an epic, fun final confrontation which hits a lot of emotional high notes and is guaranteed to keep you hooked. Readers will come away very satisfied with the resulting story, and I think that Wexler wrapped up this entire duology extremely well.
As with the first book in this duology, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me was an excellently written novel that perfectly combined a compelling fantasy narrative with outrageous humour. Told exclusively from the first-person perspective of the protagonist, much of the book’s humour is drawn from Davi’s oddball personality as she bombards the reader with an array of internal jokes, silly observations and half-remembered references from the real world. This works to lighten most of the scenes in the book, and the contrast between dark fantasy events and the protagonist’s over-the-top or utterly insane responses, especially in the eyes of the other characters who have no idea what is going on or what she is referencing, will keep you laughing the entire way through. Favourites for me include a fun The Lord of the Rings inspired attempt at magical intimidation, which was only slightly ruined by the protagonist’s bad sense of direction, as well as certain dastardly responses to other characters ploys. Special mention once again goes to Wexler’s use of footnotes throughout Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me, which further enhanced the humour, and kept the readers on their toes as the book continued.
While Wexler tends to focus on unleashing his entertaining humour in this duology, there are a lot of other great elements to it that should be mentioned, such as the novel’s excellent character development. This includes around Davi, who, after an untold number of time loops, had started to lose her humanity and had trouble seeing other beings as real. Much of this book is her trying to maintain her sanity amid the chaos, and finally appreciating the connections she has made, both in her previous incarnations and in her current role as a dark lord. I also must highlight Davi’s love interest, Tsav, an orc who accompanies Davi into the human kingdom in disguise. While sharing Davi’s vision for peace between humans and wilders, Tsav is more wary, having grown up oppressed and hunted by human Guildblades her entire life. Her attempts to fit in amongst the humans while witnessing them commit murderous acts against her kind is an interesting subplot that helps remind you just how dark parts of the setting are, even with all the humour. This is honestly just the tip of the amazing character work in this novel, and when combined with other elements like the intriguing fantasy creatures, bonkers action and general insanity of Wexler’s writing, you get an impressive blend of elements that allows for a particularly addictive read.
Overall, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me was an outstanding novel from Django Wexler, and one I should have reviewed earlier. Serving as a great sequel to the author’s previous Dark Lord Davi novel, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me utilises all the charm and humour of the first entry in the duology, allowing for a unique and exceedingly fun fantasy read. As such, this duology comes highly recommended for those readers looking for an entertaining fantasy read that not only has some heart but will also make you laugh like crazy. I am so excited to read Wexler’s next book after enjoying this series, and I am hoping to check out The Only Way Out is Up in the coming week.