How Not To Acquire A Castle

by Amy Laurens

Evil Overlord in training? Check.

Successfully hidden the true depths of her powers for four years so no one kills her? Check.

Graduating at the top of her class from the Evil Overlord Academy so she can acquire her castle? ...Uncertain. And Mercury loathes uncertainty.

If that smarmy git Deviran beats her for first place, Mercury needs to rethink her plans. Because the Tumul Tuos castle belongs to her. No matter what it takes to convince everyone else.

Comic fantasy for fans of Terry Pratchett that will leave you laughing, crying—and questioning everything you ever thought you knew about ferrets.

346 pages, Paperback

Published March 21, 2019

About the author

Amy Laurens is an Australian author of fantasy fiction for both adults and young adults. She has lived in the same city all her life, which other people think is boring; she prefers to think of it as stable. At present, Amy lives with husband, brand new baby, and two yellow Labradors who think they are lapdogs. Surprisingly, the dogs are the most jealous of the time Amy spends on the laptop.

After a university education involving many twists and turns, Amy is a high school English teacher at an all-girls school by day. By night, she is a story-writing goddess; at least, that’s what she tells herself to get the words done, and since it seems to work, let’s not disillusion her. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines such as Allegory, Tower of Light Fantasy, and AlienSkin, and in Tyche Publishing's Ride The Moon anthology.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun! Enjoyed the characters and the worldbuilding and I think the author handed different POVs well.
It ended a bit abruptly, I think maybe another page or so might have helped make it feel all wrapped up. 🎀

[Erin Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a FUN book - at the edge of parody, this book follows the 20-year old Mercury as she graduates from Evil Overlord Academy. She is neck-in-neck with Deviran for lead student. And her evil plan requires her to take first, but stupid Deviran is a little more competent than his dull expression indicates. Or so she thinks. She isn't 150% sure.

This book clearly goes into the sequel, not completing the romance. Other aspects of the story do tie up, so it isn't a cliffhanger.

The writer is Australian; Australian words abound.

Again fun, fun. Really a pick-me-up.

Disclaimer: Received for an honest review.

[Morgan Wilhelm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful fantasy world was built and the readers only get to see the superficial parts of it. The Hogwarts-like school is infinitely more interesting than the rest of the book. The magic system isn’t entirely explained - nor does it seem to affect anyone or anything other than the main characters - and the climax of the plot literally only takes a few pages to start and finish. It feels like a first draft that needs to be fleshed out. I like the characters, I like the magic system, but the ending didn’t leave me excited to read the rest of the books.