Miro

So, by now you all know that Miro is the Big Bad Villain, the top of the villainistic food chain.  But is he all there is?  The only bad guy around?  Of course not.

In the first book of Maldene we only see a couple of scenes involving Miro; behind the scenes stuff with some of his underlings.  Nothing big from him yet, and that’s because with any good villain (and Miro is the best!) you need to build him up a bit first.  That is accomplished here, in part, by first going through some of his various underlings, flunkies, and apprentices.  Now mine you, when I say “flunky” the term is entirely relative.  Any one of the people working under Miro would be a major villain in their own right in any other story, but compared to Miro they’re all wet behind the ears kids.

One such ‘associate’ of Miro’s is a guy known as “The Dragon Lord”.  What exactly is his association with Miro?  Well, that would be part of the story.  For now say that he earns his name and becomes a major thorn in the side of Sabu and crowd for the next couple of books.

Then there’s a necromancer named ‘Krey’.  With armies of undead to his personal call he’s the Big Bad for the first novel’s climatic sequence, and would do well in other fantasy settings.  But here?  Without giving away any real spoilers, it is revealed in a later book that he was trained why one of Miro’s apprentices.  Keep that in mind when you see him in action.

Then there are the people that ride the line between being villains, heroes, or major annoyances.  Po-Adar is one such annoyance.  A powerful wizard that’s as crazy as they come, with a lust for personal vengeance that is of questionable origins.  It is often debated whether it is worse if old Po likes or hates you, for either friend or enemy will suffer the torturous twists of his moods.

In the novels to come we run into a plethora of villains, all leading up to a more personal encounter with Miro himself somewhere around Book VI.  A long wait, perhaps, but well worth it.  Master of the game, the one that planned for the ensuing events of the first five books and accounted for every single action and reaction centuries in advance, when you finally see him cut loose you will know why it is said that even the gods fear him.

Until then, revel in the unfolding story…