Book Review: How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Saga Press (September 30, 2025)

Length: 240 pages

Author Information: Website

If you’re new to LitRPGs, I think Andrew Rowe’s How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps will deliver a perfectly fresh, decent, and playful introduction. On the other hand, if like me you’ve just come off a heavier hitter like Dungeon Crawler Carl, then this unfortunately might feel a little like the genre on easy mode.

As you would expect, this novel provides a pretty good idea of what it might be like to live inside a video game, complete with skill trees, leveling notifications, and all that jazz. To pull it off, Rowe presents readers with a delightful, tongue-in-cheek adventure with a premise that doesn’t shy away from flaunting its RPG influences.

At the center of this tale is Yui, an ordinary girl living in a world where the cycle of heroes and big bad world bosses is as predictable as clockwork. Basically, every hundred years or so, a Demon King will rise, and following right behind will be the awakening of a prophesied Hero destined to defeat him. Only this cycle, there’s a problem. The Demon King came a bit early, and humanity cannot afford to simply wait around for the Hero’s return.

This is where Yui comes in. Armed with nothing but determination and an almost reckless sense of optimism, she decides to save the world herself, formulating a ten-step plan to take down the Demon King. She’ll need to grind levels. Figure out which skills to collect. Gather the best gear. Maybe recruit a few allies along the way. And of course, there will be plenty of dungeons to clear, bosses to defeat, and as many loopholes it’ll take to exploit to make up for the fact she’s no Chosen One. But details schmetails! It’s really not that hard, as long as you take a methodical approach to it.

It’s a fun concept, and Rowe clearly knows how to tell a game-inspired story. Yui’s progress is exactly structured to mirror RPG gameplay, complete with an in-game voice that chimes in every soften to announce experience gains and level ups. In order to ward off the tedium, the tone is kept breezy with plenty of humor in the form of clever satire. It’s also meant to as fan service to devotees of games like World of Warcraft or Legend of Zelda.

But in keeping things simple and fun, the story itself admittedly never really delves any deeper than surface level parody. The stakes are low. It’s gameplay on rails. Characters are RPG archetypes, and dialogue is so predictable that even the jokes land awkwardly. It’s a bit of a catch-22, in a way. While I was aware in the back of my mind that it’s all done intentionally and working by design, it’s hard to get emotionally invested when there are no surprises and every development feels pre-scripted and choreographed.

That said, Rowe’s knack for storytelling means he knows exactly how far to push this schtick without wearing out its welcome. The book doesn’t take itself too seriously, pacing stays quick, and the plot is careful not to get too hung up on the minutiae of gaming mechanics and min-maxing. The characters are also a riot, and Yui herself is a likable protagonist who is easy to root for because of her tenacious determination, but not so stubborn that she crosses the line into “too stupid to live” territory.

It’s this balance that keeps How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps from collapsing from under the weight of its own ambitious concept. It’s light and snappy, the sort of book that’s best enjoyed when you’re in the mood for something that’s not too mentally demanding. Andrew Rowe never pretends it’s anything more than a quick romp through a familiar fantasy gaming landscape, which, honestly, is part of its charm.