Teri McLaren

this had little to nothing to do with mtg lore, which is an interesting choice this early in the history of mtg story? but it also felt like less of a chore to get through than the 4 novels that preceded it, so i guess that's nice?

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 show more 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. show less

This book almost had the dubious honor of being the first book that I stopped reading it before I finished it. There seemed to be two main types of writing in this novel, rambling and environment descriptions. If the author was rambling on and on he was describing something in the book. I finished the whole novel and I still wasn’t sure what was going on. At some points the god Sargonnas was trying to stop Takhisis, next thing I know there is a brush fire destroying half of the Istarian show more army, and then after that there is a druid trying to prevent Takhisis from entering the world through opals. I didn’t even know that there were druids in Dragonlance. I tried to think of something good to say of this book but I couldn’t think of one thing. Maybe if Takhisis is actually in the book for a long portion of time but she wasn’t except for when she possesses sand and rocks.

Check out the full review by clicking on the link.
http://www.thefantasyreview.com/2007/07/13/the-dark-queen-dragonlance-review/ show less

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 show more 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 entire review at my website.
http://www.thefantasyreview.com/2007/06/09/before-the-mask-review/ show less