Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed by S B West

Abandoning his days of beheading to live out an undercover retirement as a goat farmer, Morfran finds himself accidentally leading a rebellion against the kingdom’s Dark Lord, who, inconveniently, is him.

Morfran the Beheader is done being the Dark Lord of the kingdom of Ruthven. He’s tired of managing minions, and his wife, Queen Ravana, has officially exceeded his personal comfort level of evil. Yet when he books it for the hills with the hopes to live out his days disguised as a goat farmer, his aspirations are tragically cut short when Morfran’s former soldiers catch up with plans to behead him.

Morfran’s only chance at safety is to seek refuge within a tiny forest dwelling where no one recognizes him. But he quickly learns the village is the base for a brewing rebellion against his rule. And after he reluctantly saves said village from an attack, he’s voted the one to lead the charge. Against himself.

Morfran helps the rebels while planning to desert them at the soonest moment. But as he fights by their side, he discovers that they’re actually quite pleasant—especially the lovely assassin who has been out for his blood for a decade. Too bad Ravana has sent Morfran’s best men to nip the revolt in the bud, and too bad his unlikely allies would burn him alive if they learned he’s no hero, but actually their Dark Lord in disguise. Because even Morfran knows that only a hero would stand up to Ravana and fight for friends, and he’s certainly no hero.

Right?

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What happens when the Dark Lord decides he'd rather grow fruit trees and make jam?

✶ PRE-READING ✶

The premise of Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed immediately caught my attention. A Dark Lord who gets tired of being evil, runs away to become a goat farmer, and then accidentally ends up leading a rebellion against himself? That's a fantastic idea, and I was very curious to see whether the story could actually make it work.

Thankfully, S. B. West doesn't waste any time getting started. We meet Morfran while he's already on the run from the soldiers sent to capture him, so there's no lengthy set-up before the story gets moving. From there, the book has plenty of twists to keep things interesting.

✶ POST-READING ✶

As I thought... this is a wonderfully clever spin on the Dark Lord trope. The basic premise is funny enough on its own, but the story goes further than simply putting an evil overlord into an amusing situation. Morfran has genuinely decided that he doesn't want that life anymore, and watching him navigate the consequences of that decision is where the story really becomes interesting.

The dialogue occasionally has a Pratchett-esque quality to it, with some lovely little comic moments and absurdity woven through the fantasy. It's not Pratchett - nothing is Pratchett, GNU - but it does have some of that same affection for playing with fantasy conventions.

It surprised me by... how much I came to believe in Morfran's reformation. I expected his reasons for protecting the people around him to be somewhat self-serving: perhaps he wanted to protect his goats because they're his goats, or he simply didn't want anyone interfering with his new life.

Instead, he genuinely seems to care about the animals depending on him. He's devastated at the thought of leaving his cottage, not because he's abandoning his grand Dark Lord headquarters, but because he'd started planting fruit trees so he could make his own jam.

And somehow, that tells us an enormous amount about him.

Morfran's old life was about power and conquest. His new life is about growing things, caring for animals and making jam. He doesn't just want to stop being a Dark Lord; he has started becoming someone who wants to cultivate rather than control. That's a surprisingly lovely piece of character development hiding underneath all the jokes.

There are some clever twists as the story progresses, and I particularly appreciated that although this is billed as the beginning of a series, it doesn't end on a giant cliffhanger. The main story gets a satisfying resolution while leaving the door open for more adventures.

And I hope there are more adventures. I'd happily spend more time with Morfran, particularly now that we've seen the man underneath the Dark Lord.

✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

Book Recommendation: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett. If you enjoy fantasy that takes familiar tropes, turns them sideways and finds the comedy in the unexpected corners, this has a similar spirit.

TV or Movie Recommendation: Galavant. It's full of fantasy conventions, ridiculous situations and characters who turn out to be rather more complicated than their roles initially suggest.

✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

A colour palette: moss green, warm brown and blackberry purple.

A soundtrack: jaunty folk music with the occasional dramatic orchestral flourish.

A season: early autumn, when the harvest is coming in and you're already thinking about what to preserve for winter.

A mood: mischievous, warm-hearted and unexpectedly wholesome.

A scent: woodsmoke, damp earth and fruit simmering into jam.

★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

The Hermit. Morfran has spent years surrounded by power, soldiers and the expectations of being a Dark Lord, and his first real act of rebellion is to walk away from all of it. He retreats to a quiet life where he can discover who he is when nobody expects him to be the villain.

The irony, of course, is that he doesn't get to stay there. But his time in that little cottage matters because it shows that his reformation isn't just about escaping punishment. Morfran has begun to discover that he actually prefers a life built around caring for things - goats, fruit trees, friendships - to one built around controlling them.

The Hermit asks what remains when we step away from the identity everyone else has given us. For Morfran, the answer turns out to be rather more heroic than he expects.

✦ THE TRUE QUESTION ✦

Can someone who has done terrible things genuinely become a good person?

Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed doesn't let the answer be as simple as “yes, because he says he's changed.” Morfran's past still exists, and the people he once ruled have every reason to distrust him. But neither does the story suggest that a person is permanently defined by the worst things they've done.

Morfran's redemption is shown through the choices he makes when he has nothing to gain from making them. He doesn't set out to become a hero. He simply keeps finding himself in situations where someone needs help - and increasingly, he's becoming the sort of person who helps.

Perhaps that's what makes his accidental heroism so convincing: he isn't trying to prove that he's good. He's just slowly becoming good.

Final Thoughts

Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed publishes on the 8th of September. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.