The Makening

Evil Overlord #1

by Michael McClung

If evil was easy, everybody would be doing it, and there would be more Dark Lords running around than you could shake a stick at. But the road to Utter Domination isn't easy, smooth or straight, as the boy who will one day become Gar the Pitiless will discover. He may one day rise to rule all he surveys - but first he'll have to survive a world that seems bent on his destruction.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Action

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2021

About the author

Michael McClung was born in San Antonio, Texas, but now lives in Europe. He has had the requisite number of odd jobs expected of a speculative fiction author, including soldier, book store manager, and bowling alley pin boy. His first book, the Sword & Sorcery novel "Thagoth," won the Del Rey Digital first novel competition in 2002 and was published by Random House in 2003.

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

😈 We Want to Be Gar the Pitiless When We Grow Up Buddy Read (WWtBGtPWWGUBR™) with the MacHalos and stuff 😈

Previous rating: 5 puny little stars.
New rating: 5.5 somewhat less miserable stars. (Looks like someone saw the light.)

Sorry, what? I read this book for the first time less than 4 months ago, you say? Yes, and your point is?



➽ And the moral of this reread is: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HAHAHAHA. HAHA. HA. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, and also, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. (In case you might be a tiny little bit slow on the uptake, this kinda sorta means this is one of the funniest—and also shrimpiest—books I've ever read. You're welcome and stuff.)

➽ And the other moral of this reread is: Gar the Pitiless is mine mine mine. Because duh and stuff.



👋 Until next time and stuff.



[February 2021]

“A farm boy who actually manages to escape his place in society and, through tests and trials and suffering, gains a measure of power isn’t going to be hailed as a hero. The powers that be will see him as a threat to the order of things, and want the little shit dead, soonest. The hero’s story is, in fact, the story of the villain, suitably altered for public consumption.”

This guy. Now this guy here really is the ultimate role model, if you ask me. Well he is if you are in the nefarious overlord business, obviously. Sorry, I meant to say Nefarious Overlord Business. My new mentor Gar the Pitiless underlines the importance of capitalizing great concepts—like, say, Utter Domination—throughout this very informative little handbook, so follow his wise advice I shall. Even if it means being subject to constant criticism.

“Yes, I capitalize it every time. If you have a problem with that but not me conquering nations and performing mass executions, I’d point out the fact that your priorities might be a little unbalanced.”

(Completely unrelated but wonderfully scrumptious nonetheless: this book is sprinkled with delightfully enlightening footnotes. And it is a truth universally acknowledged that footnotes are sexy as fish. You’re welcome.)

But let’s backtrack a little and start at the beginning, shall we? Here we go and stuff.

So this heart-warming little tale is the autobiography of Gar the Pitiless (formerly known as Gar son of Gar, Gar Garson, aka Puny Gar—just so you know). In this very handy How to Become a Nefarious Overlord manual, Gar recounts his formative years, and tells the reader of the trials and tribulations he went through on the path to Pure Evilness: how he rose from tax liability farm boy to acolyte under the orders of a canker sore local priest, then—after much “Waaaaaaaaaargh!” and “WAAAAAAAAARGH!” and “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” (and also a little goose fat)—brother-scribe in the Scriptorium of the Light, in the nation’s capital city.

“The reader will undoubtedly thank me for moving at speed through the next few years to get to the more salient bits. No one wants to read about going through puberty in a monastery; this is a memoir after all, not a horror story.”

Thank thee kindly indeed. Besides, if I really wanted to read a horror story, I’d pick up the Bridgertons series where I left off.



But anyway, moving on and stuff.

So after eight delightful years learning such lifesaving skills as “the power of pettiness and the vastly underrated skill of not giving a damn” from his fellow scribe brothers, Gar’s life takes several, um, interesting turns. First, he casually encounters a Super Extra Cute prepubescent maniac 8-year-old angel.

“You’ll find two kinds of Evil Overlord in this world. The first kind are those who are made, much like myself. We are not destined for Utter Domination; instead, we build our dark futures one blood-soaked brick at a time, as it were. The second kind, I swear to you, seem to be born for a dark and glorious future, as if the universe looked down on our shit world and said ‘Let’s make it worse.’”

Oh yeah, that’s definitely Dear Chortle for you. Such an enchanting little girl she is. (Well some people seem to think she’s an “industrious little malignancy,” but they only say that because they’re jealous of her two cherubic pits of cruelty dimples, if you ask me.)

Then—during one of his spoiler spoiler spoiler nightly expeditions—Gar accidentally comes across the cozy read that will be instrumental in making him the Evil Overlord that he is today. And, incidentally, will teach him what the expression “burn, baby burn” truly means.



And what happens after that, you ask? Well after that it’s all codpieces (don’t ask), people being slightly murderized, dog-savaged ass cheeks (please don’t ask about that either), leatherbound traitors, me going MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, the mentally challenged and their importance in well-organized armies of darkness, bullshit extortion, village girls with three teeth, eleven fingers and a penchant for strangling cats (don’t ask, I tell you!), necklaces of Fuck You, dumbasses who don’t hire people with ovaries, me going MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA again, ass-kicking Catapults (also capitalized, yes. Because reasons and stuff), goblin killers, bullshit negotiations, me going MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA again again and tentacles (yay!).

Finally, I will say that what really makes this book a must-have for all wannabe tyrants out there is Gar’s ever-enlightening, hands-on advice on Nefarious Overlording. (Utter Domination is, as my new mentor very wisely points out in this manual, “a highly competitive and crowded field,” and his practical approach to the Evil Overlord Business is sure to help many an aspiring despot on their way to Wickedness.)

“Shorter wisdom: what tool do you have with which to beat a recalcitrant world into submission? If the answer isn’t something that can make people run away screaming or beg for their lives, you’re probably not as far along the road of success as you think.”

“What I’m saying is, Utter Domination isn’t for slackers or the thought-challenged. If you are unburdened by a conscience or morality but want someone else to do all the heavy mental lifting for you, consider a career as a minion. Or a tax collector.”

Not sure why this book isn’t the #1 seller in Amazon’s Self-Help section yet, but I bet it won’t be long before it gets there. Well it better be soonest, or else…



➽ Nefarious Last Words (NLW™): the day Michael McClung writes a book I don't lurve will be the day I change my screenname to 💗Sarah💗 (former Gentle Breeder of Fluffy Bunnies and Compassionate Harbinger of Pastel-Colored Rainbows). And that, my Little Barnacles, is a scientifically proven fact.

P.S.





[Pre-review nonsense]

This book is more helpful and informative than all the How To Become A Nefarious Overlord 101 classes I've ever taken in the entirety of my entire life. (And let me tell, that's a whole bloody shrimping lot of classes.) Which calls for a quick but intense celebratory dance, if you ask me.



Whoever said one cannot possibly be nefarious and have super smooth moves is full of fish, as you can see.

➽ Pre-review to come and stuff.

[Karen ⚜Mess⚜ · Rating 5 out of 5]

MacHalo Buddy Read 8 Overlord Stars!!

You know when it's hot out and that feeling you get when you take your first sip of an ice cold soda? The fizziness makes your eyes water and you say, "AAAAH!!" because it's so good? That's this book.

Can you feel how good this is? Imagine the fun you'll have reading this? If you love knee slapping humor with a bite to it and an engaging story then McClung is your man. The writing flows smoothly and it's a quick easy read. I highly recommend!

[Julia Sarene · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like your books dark, but full of humour, this is for you!

I snorted, chuckled and grinned my way through this book, and was well entertained all the way.

While it's bloody and grim, I'd still put it in my comfort book corner, as it's very easy to read, short, quick and silly.

Ever wondered how someone turned from boring monk into an evil overloaded? No, me neither. But boy did I enjoy the ride!

Going from being blown around life like a leave in the wind, without any real agency - aside from finding alcohol, gambling and maybe boobs if lucky - to ruling your citizens, and making big plans for domination...

Meeting a sweary demon, a couple of cannibals, goblins and what not on the way... Life really never gets boring!

[Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t know how much I needed this until I read it.
It’s been instructive… if Utter Domination ends up being my career choice and I succeed, then I will have to thank this book for it.
It’s been a lot since the last time I laughed out loud while reading.
I appreciated the style, the fact that the main character never tries to make excuses for what he does.
All the other characters, even the least important ones, are perfectly characterised even if in a few words.
Thanks Father 🦐 for the recommendation!

[Maraya21 (The Reading Dragon) · Rating 5 out of 5]

✴️ May BotM @ the MacHalo Asylum ✴️

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about a naive but half-clever child growing into an Evil Overlord. The pure honesty, genuinely fun comedy/satire, and elements of the Evil Overlord List make this great. Also, this author isn’t an amateur either despite posting on Royalroad.

This story isn’t about your OP edgy villain inflicting pain on blah blah for blah blah reasons. This is memoir about a 'normal' human man who steadily grew to competence by learning from his many mistakes. He was content to live a life of booze, gambling, and (paid for) sex; equal parts luck and misfortune beat this Evil Overlord thing into him.

This is the style I expected when Terry Pratchett was recommended to me. Less over the top and more humor fused into a realistic story.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Michael McClung shows why he won the inaugural Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (or SPFBO). The man can spin a yarn like he's making sweaters, and super comfy, hilarious sweaters at that.

Have you ever wondered what drove a character to be the bad guy? Not whiny bad guy like prequel Anakin, but dominating bad guy like OT Vader. Well, here you go, front seat tickets to the, uh, Makening of an Evil Overlord. See what I did there...yeah, fine, whatever. You laughed, it worked, move along lol. And like this review, McClung's character development is not without a few (ok, a bunch of) laughs along the way. I don't know if Terry Pratchett ever did a backstory on Evil Overlords, but if he did then I'm sure it would read a lot like this novel.

[André · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Michael McClung’s Amra Thetys-series and then read a review about The Makeing that sounded like it was written for me. And it was completely up my alley with its dark humour.

I really enjoy stories that are written from the antagonist’s point of view (or at the very least include it) and show the motivation or reasoning behind their deeds. This book is no exception, even though it is somewhat different from what I am used to: It’s written exclusively from the antagonist’s (or rather Evil Overlords – definitely with an uppercase E and O) point of view and contains elements of a guide on how to become said Evil Overlord. These passages are usually somewhat contradicted by the following chapter describing the adventures of Gar, later known as ‘the Pitiless’. The whole concept of the book, but especially the writing is hilarious! I laughed a lot when reading this book, even though there are some dark and bloody parts. But Gar’s voice still makes it to something of a light and comfy read. If I’d had to compare it to other books the closest thing would be Christopher Moore’s books (think Fool or Lamb).

Very entertaining, very recommendable!

[S Keene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a challenge to finish

I really like the base ideas of this book and I really liked the demon character. The main character was incredibly irritating. I understand that as it's told in the style of the MC's memories the story is as misogynistic and irritating as the character is however it just felt like a stroppy teenager and was rather irritating and I had to skip sections where the interest was either boobs, poo or terrible humour. It could've been a grown up Grimdark epic, instead it feels like a bored teens daydream. It's not terrible, maybe more appealing to young adult straightforward plot readers.

[Kiro Selanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clearer title for this book would have been "Gar the Pitiless, the early years". Gar tells us his life story and the events that led him to become an Evil Overlord, but the story ends once Gar has settled on his chosen vocation. Gar's next steps on the professional ladder will presumably be told in the second and third books of this planned trilogy.

Gar was born to a poor farming family. He spent his teenage years in the Capital, splitting his time between the religious Scriptorium and getting a life education in the gambling halls and brothels of the city. After an unfortunate event he leaves the Capital and has adventures, finds some success and many setbacks, and finally decides that if there are slings and arrows to be had then he'd rather be the one holding the bow.

The plot moves along briskly and the tone is mostly light and humorous; this is similar to Michael McClung's Amra Thetys books that I love so much. But the need to cover Gar's life from childhood to young-adulthood in one short book means that the story flits quickly from one scene to the next without enough time to get serious about setting, characters and complications.

Gar isn't as interesting a character as Amra (yet?), and he doesn't have any significant relationships. His closest relationships in this story are with a demonic book and with his nemesis, a woman he nicknames Catapult, so he's not exactly making friends.

Each chapter begins with Gar musing about how to be an Evil Overlord: how to motivate henchmen; the importance of having a vision; etc. I found these intros the weakest part of the book. They're not very interesting because they aren't part of the plot, and although they're often witty they felt forced. I suspect that the reason these intros are in the book is because Gar doesn't do anything Evil Overlord-ish in this book (not on purpose anyway), and the author didn't want us to forget the overall theme of the trilogy.

[The Reading Ruru (Kerry) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael McClung is one of those authors whose series are so completely different from the last but impresses me everytime.
This coming of age fantasy novel starts like every other with the village boy leaving home and becoming the hero of the hour - McClung has inverted this trope wonderfully by having our protagonist starting his journey to become an Evil Overlord. A well paced novel and I love the main character (Gar the Pitiless) growing from a naive young man who learns from his mistakes (& helped along the way by a possessed book) and uses these to become the Overlord he is today. This book is only the beginning of Gars life and I for one will be excited when the sequels are written and released.

[Norine Luker · Rating 5 out of 5]

World Domination for Dummies

I had not started my day thinking I needed to learn how to be an Evil Overlord, but two pages in to this novel, there was nothing else more important. Best book I have read in a while, and I read a lot.

Gar is not terribly impressive to start with but he does have snark down to a fine art. As he blunders along, destiny takes a hand ,or maybe the demon, its hard to say, and his Overlord resume begins to be built.

Recommend highly if you like your fantasy with a lot of humor, dark but not too dark, and great storytelling.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short and didn’t go anywhere.

The first part of the book was good and felt like the lead up for a series of 6 or so books that were all much longer than this, but I think the author got bored half way through and just crammed the character through a half-@$$ trial so he could be done with the book.

[Sunday Okafor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this!!!!
I mean why isn't this book recommended often??
I want more of gar the pitiless and I'm pained there's no book 2 of this yet.
The book was dark, funny and flowed quite nicely, there was no bored moment. The only ish I have with this is it's too short , one thing I love more than a good story, is a long good story.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really dig McClung's way of writing, witty and he doesn't pull punches. Many of his characters are quite similar but when they are as funny as they are that's not a problem for me.

Who doesn't want to be an Evil Overlord after reading this? Can't wait for the next part of the series.

[Suzyq · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bleak. Not as much fun as MM’s books usually are. Perhaps he was reflecting the world attitude during the year of the pandemic, but I will look forward to his return to Amra Thetis or Tomb 2 and skip the next book in this series about the Evil Overlord.

[JT O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining

First person entertaining. No pov shifts. No harem stuff, so far. Really entertaining. Looking forward to 2 through ... please be a reasonable number. Really. Like 12 seems about the perfect inordinately long number in a series.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining read that’s almost a self-help book

McClung does a great job of bringing a world to life and presenting a very likable main character who is full of sage advice and just happens to be an evil overlord. I’m looking forward to more in this series.

[Shannon Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little over done, but fun

Enjoyed the fun and the insight provided by the story. I do wonder when "luck" will be be used in the next lesson plan. Thanks for the entertainment Mike, it was fun.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am undecided about this book. I liked it, but it had lots of boring bits. Funny definitely. 'Good' advise about being an Evil Overlord, yes. Riveting? Not till the end, did not see that end coming.

I'll probably give the rest of the series a try.

[Chthonic Mold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Зусім сярэдняе фэнтэзі з той розніцай, што пратаганіст - будучы злы лорд. У астатнім кніга не прыносіць нічога арыгінальнага. Персанажы, за выключэннем дэмана, не выклікаюць асаблівай зацікаўленасці. Чаканага гумара, які бы выцягнуў твор да сапраўднай пародыі, амаль няма.

[Alon Lankri · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF 41%

Like all of the books by this author except the first thief book, this started interesting with a great premise without getting anywhere in terms of character growth, plot, hard choices etc. The humor was fairly good but not enough to make up for the lack of the above.

[Mario Alba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun and enjoyable, just like McClung's Amra Thetys books. If you like those, definitely check this one out.

[gordon musgrave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book!!

The story was slow at the beginning but got better the more I read!! I would recommend this book to any one

[George Lusk · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a good book

Good book fast paced and gets to the point quickly. Solid main character and character arc should make a good series.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. Love Gar, hate everyone else. Extreme evil is the way forward

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Except for all the pain - sounds easy!

Love this character. Gar is perfect to live on in my brain while caring for the grandkids - no pity!! No quarter!!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and fun

Really love this book. Both amazing and fun in its honest way of telling how to be the best evil overlord. Looking forward to the next volume.

[Jesse B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book, funny and a quick read

It was a good book. It was funny and a very quick read. I would recommend it, loved the footnotes too

[Alan Bradshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

I really enjoyed this first book in the series and hope that it doesn't take long for the second book to come out.