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Dragonlance: Villains #1
Before the Mask
Spare the Rod
In the bleak Khalkist Mountains, on a stormy winter night, a child is born amid hard words, ill will, and the ominous prophecy of a druidess. Young Verminaard grows up unlovely and unloved, trading friends and family for a dark romance with an evil, mysterious voice and the sinister weapon it comes to inhabit.
Michael and Teri Williams, long known for their poems, novels, and stories in the continuing DRAGONLANCE saga, reveal the origins of the evil cleric Verminaard.
The Villians Series explores the corrupted origins of the malevolent minions of Takhisis, Queen of Darkness.
In the bleak Khalkist Mountains, on a stormy winter night, a child is born amid hard words, ill will, and the ominous prophecy of a druidess. Young Verminaard grows up unlovely and unloved, trading friends and family for a dark romance with an evil, mysterious voice and the sinister weapon it comes to inhabit.
Michael and Teri Williams, long known for their poems, novels, and stories in the continuing DRAGONLANCE saga, reveal the origins of the evil cleric Verminaard.
The Villians Series explores the corrupted origins of the malevolent minions of Takhisis, Queen of Darkness.
312 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
3 people are currently reading
1320 people want to read
About the author
Michael Williams
40 books76 followersMichael Williams was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and through good luck and a roundabout journey through New England, New York, Wisconsin, Britain and Ireland, has ended up less than thirty miles from where he began. Over the past 20 years, he has written a number of strange novels, from the early WEASEL'S LUCK and GALEN BEKNIGHTED in the best-selling DRAGONLANCE series to the more recent lyrical and experimental ARCADY, singled out for praise by Locus and Asimov’s magazines. TRAJAN'S ARCH (to be re-released in 2019) and VINE (2018)(Blackwyrm, 2010 and 2012), two recent novels, have been revised and re-issued by Seventh Star Press as part of the new City Quartet. DOMINIC'S GHOSTS (2018) and TATTERED MEN (to be released in 2019) will complete this large and multi-faceted work.
Williams has a Ph.D. in Humanities, and teaches at the University of Louisville, where he focuses on European Romanticism and the 19th century, the Modern Fantastic, and 20th century film. He is married, and has two grown sons.
Of TRAJAN'S ARCH, he says:
“This is a story that kept entering other stories, like rooms opening into rooms in some big, unwieldy gothic mansion, both hard and necessary to tell. It takes a press with venture and backbone to bring it forth, and I believe I’ve found that press in BlackWyrm.”
VINE, a combination of Greek tragedy and contemporary urban legend, was released this summer by BlackWyrm. In this new novel, Greek Tragedy meets urban legend, as a local dramatic production in a small city goes humorously, then horrifically, awry.
Williams has a Ph.D. in Humanities, and teaches at the University of Louisville, where he focuses on European Romanticism and the 19th century, the Modern Fantastic, and 20th century film. He is married, and has two grown sons.
Of TRAJAN'S ARCH, he says:
“This is a story that kept entering other stories, like rooms opening into rooms in some big, unwieldy gothic mansion, both hard and necessary to tell. It takes a press with venture and backbone to bring it forth, and I believe I’ve found that press in BlackWyrm.”
VINE, a combination of Greek tragedy and contemporary urban legend, was released this summer by BlackWyrm. In this new novel, Greek Tragedy meets urban legend, as a local dramatic production in a small city goes humorously, then horrifically, awry.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 4, 2015
I absolutely love this book. Ever since first reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight I'd been a fan of Lord Verminaard--so much so that as a child I really wanted a mace like Nightbringer...So for me this tale was a blessing. It gave us a chance to take a deeper look into a fascinating character that originally didn't get much chance to shine. I found myself drawn into the tale as we bore witness to Verminaard's seduction by evil and the futile attempts by others to draw him from his dark destiny. Of all the villains novels put out for the Dragonlance franchise I rank this and Lord Toede as my two personal favorites and I recommend them both though for completely different reasons. Lord Toede for it's pure humor (and hidden message) and Before the mask for the dark and compelling tale of a man born to embrace evil.
June 30, 2015
A book that is part of the Dragonlance world. This one tells the story of Verminaard who was a minor character in the original trilogy. You do not need to read the original trilogy for this novel. This is your basic enticement of evil path book and the character's slow descent down this path.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I have read this author's other contributions to this universe and I am not a fan. But this one was different. The time setting had a feeling of King Arthur and was enjoyable. I liked the slow pace of the character's downfall and how he becomes the man we see in the original trilogy. The author gives the reader different reasons for this downfall and it's up to the reader to decide if it was because of his own volition or other factors. The author did a wonderful job of making me care about a character that I have not thought about since I read the original trilogy many years ago.
This book is a nice addition to this world. If you are looking for a fantasy novel that reminds the reader of earlier times, this book accomplishes that aspect. There are a couple of battles to move the pace but ultimately this novel is about one's choice in life.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I have read this author's other contributions to this universe and I am not a fan. But this one was different. The time setting had a feeling of King Arthur and was enjoyable. I liked the slow pace of the character's downfall and how he becomes the man we see in the original trilogy. The author gives the reader different reasons for this downfall and it's up to the reader to decide if it was because of his own volition or other factors. The author did a wonderful job of making me care about a character that I have not thought about since I read the original trilogy many years ago.
This book is a nice addition to this world. If you are looking for a fantasy novel that reminds the reader of earlier times, this book accomplishes that aspect. There are a couple of battles to move the pace but ultimately this novel is about one's choice in life.
October 3, 2011
Villian tales for so much fun. This book is nice and dark. A pure delight. =-)
July 26, 2014
First in a series of tales about the origins of the villains from the Dragonlance Chronicles. Pretty good storyline with fair writing but not real absorbing. Would not be a good first novel for someone not familiar with the Dragonlance setting.
April 15, 2008
the life and times of the dragon highlord Verminaard
May 22, 2014
My favorite book in the villains series. Dark story with an evil character.
June 15, 2015
Fun & easy read. I really enjoyed reading such an easy story after some of the heavy narrative I've been going through.
September 6, 2017
A captivating story of one of the most malevolent villains of War of the Lance, Verminaard - his misery, loneliness, passion and finally, fall into hands of Darkness.
April 19, 2020
The writing is almost perfect.
September 24, 2022
Wonderful exciting read filled with lots of adventures. Awesome.
January 9, 2025
This ending is a good PSA about the dangers of doing drugs
April 21, 2015
I would say, do not read the back cover of the book. It makes for much more interesting read.
Most of the story is a dramatic struggle for the souls of two brothers, Verminaard and Aglaca, who are the main heroes of the book. Because of ancient prophecy, evil powers want to sway one of the brothers to their cause, while the other brother would die. A lot of the book is spent in the struggle, which one of them is it going to be? Or is it even possible that one might redeem the other?
I didn't read the back cover of the book before reading it, and had no idea about the characters present in the book, so it made a quite interesting psychological drama. If you want to enjoy the reading more and don't know anything about the subject, I suggest you don't read the back cover or anything related to the book and just read the story itself.
For Dragonlance fans, it probably is interesting if they want to know some background for some characters. However, generally I think the book is not very well written and you can probably read an article on some Wikipedia which would tell you as much without having to spend unnecessary time with it.
There are a couple of awful clichés (female druidesses serving only as love interests being rescued from distress and whatnot, even though of course they are "strong" females who could save themselves as well, but somehow the "strong" part isn't shown in the story at all), but I must say it's better than it could be. Still, it is no jewel of literature. Of course you are expecting only so much from this kind of book, but even for such a thing it is, well, mediocre at best. A bit more originality here or there wouldn't go amiss.
So once again, the thing I enjoyed about the most was actually the drama. It would have been the best part of the book, had not too much of it been foreshadowed on the back cover. There are a couple of nice minor characters, but otherwise not really too interesting read altogether.
Most of the story is a dramatic struggle for the souls of two brothers, Verminaard and Aglaca, who are the main heroes of the book. Because of ancient prophecy, evil powers want to sway one of the brothers to their cause, while the other brother would die. A lot of the book is spent in the struggle, which one of them is it going to be? Or is it even possible that one might redeem the other?
I didn't read the back cover of the book before reading it, and had no idea about the characters present in the book, so it made a quite interesting psychological drama. If you want to enjoy the reading more and don't know anything about the subject, I suggest you don't read the back cover or anything related to the book and just read the story itself.
For Dragonlance fans, it probably is interesting if they want to know some background for some characters. However, generally I think the book is not very well written and you can probably read an article on some Wikipedia which would tell you as much without having to spend unnecessary time with it.
There are a couple of awful clichés (female druidesses serving only as love interests being rescued from distress and whatnot, even though of course they are "strong" females who could save themselves as well, but somehow the "strong" part isn't shown in the story at all), but I must say it's better than it could be. Still, it is no jewel of literature. Of course you are expecting only so much from this kind of book, but even for such a thing it is, well, mediocre at best. A bit more originality here or there wouldn't go amiss.
So once again, the thing I enjoyed about the most was actually the drama. It would have been the best part of the book, had not too much of it been foreshadowed on the back cover. There are a couple of nice minor characters, but otherwise not really too interesting read altogether.
June 20, 2007
Before the Mask is the first book in the Villains series set in the Dragonlance setting. The series focuses on the villains highlighted in the Chronicles trilogy by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis.This book focuses on the Dragon Highlord Verminaard and his ascent from an innocent child to one of the Dark Queen’s most famous dragon highlords. The book starts off with the birth of Verminaard and picks up several years later when her is a child. After this the author skips up a few years to when he 20 years old. At this point the author starts to bring in elements that eventually cause the rescue of a woman from capitivity and Verminaards discovery of the mace “Nightbringer”. After the retrieval of Nightbringer, Verminaard begins his descent into evil by a committing host of nefarious acts. The book ends with meeting his dragon mount Ember and pledging his loyalty to the Queen of Darkness, Takhisis.
Check out the full review below.
[http://www.thefantasyreview.com/2007/...]
Check out the full review below.
[http://www.thefantasyreview.com/2007/...]
December 20, 2008
This is the story of Verminaard, unloved bastard son of Solamnic Knights, and his road to evil. My husband adores the Dragonlance series and insisted I read this. He'd finished it in a weekend, so surely I, the voracious reader, would speed through as well. He was wrong. Though far from being a bad book, it just didn't draw me in. Verminaard's evilness seems to be inborne rather than reactionary, to the point that the supposed contributing factors - the unloving father, the loss of the beloved brother - seem more like asides and much less sympathetic. Likewise with his half-brother Aglaca, who is unfailingly upbeat and loyal for no apparent reason. I understand the story the Williamses were trying to tell, and it took a while to put my finger on what was wrong. Then I realized it was missing a vital element of all great drama: levity. The human experience is not serious all the time. Even in the grimmest tales there is laughter. The unrelenting depression of this book left me frankly unmoved.
April 16, 2015
This afternoon I desperately needed a Fantasy novel. This one filled the gap, although it didn't drive me wild. Oh well.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews