From the Bookshelf of Project Realms Reads…

Azure Bonds (Forgotten Realms: Finder's Stone, #1)

Kate Novak,

Jeff Grubb

Start date: March 5, 2021

Finish date: March 25, 2021

Discussion: Forgotten Realms Reading

Why we're reading this: Published October 1988

Schedule:

March 5th - March 11th Chapters 1 - 11
March 12th - March 18th Chapters 12…more
[close] Published October 1988

Schedule:

March 5th - March 11th Chapters 1 - 11
March 12th - March 18th Chapters 12 - 21
March 19th - March 25 Chapters 22 - End

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What Members Thought

Apr 13, 2021 Don Brown rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: forgotten-realms, z-2021, fantasy, digital, owned

I read the 2012 Kindle version of Azure Bonds of this 1988 work originally published by TSR. This book has a potentially interesting story to tell. Sadly, the idea is executed poorly and has too many flaws to be a noteworthy book. It is not Ed Greenwood bad, as Grubb and Novak present their own bevy of problems in this novel. Azure Bonds is a predictable sword-and-sorcery tale tied directly to D&D. It also harbors overwrought an mystery trying to be a story of personal discovery. Despite this hi I read the 2012 Kindle version of Azure Bonds of this 1988 work originally published by TSR. This book has a potentially interesting story to tell. Sadly, the idea is executed poorly and has too many flaws to be a noteworthy book. It is not Ed Greenwood bad, as Grubb and Novak present their own bevy of problems in this novel. Azure Bonds is a predictable sword-and-sorcery tale tied directly to D&D. It also harbors overwrought an mystery trying to be a story of personal discovery. Despite this high aspiration the book fails on many fronts.

It has flashes of good writing, but ultimately it feels more like an extended blog of someone's personal gaming group. The voice and tone of the characters sounded uninspired and very little creativity was given to the conversations and dialogue of the characters. When they do speak or think, the language is in modern terms and it never allows the reader to get into the story. It is too jarring. The worst offender is when the main characters says, "Read, me!" as if she's speaking over a radio. I did not not hear characters in a medieval fantasy novel talking. I heard nerds around a table trying to be clever with their tired quips.

The point of view changed way too much, sometimes from sentence to sentence. It was maddening to experience the jump from character to character. This issue is my least favorite part of the book. It is far from smooth and makes reading the book bumpy and interrupts prosody.

The story is predictable and vapid. Characters mow their way through challenges without much reason for the reader to care. Insufficient reason is provided to care about who Alias is and and a poor job is done showing us why we should invest in her. As a main character I found her uninteresting, shallow and one-dimensional - which was the total opposite of what the novel wants to accomplish. So much time is wasted on too many antagonists that it left little room to develop Alias and Akabar. Thankfully, the character issues are saved with Dragonbait's treatment and the formula used to develop him is better: not great, but his story is more compelling. Olive Rustkettle is so badly written I despise her as a character; not as a concept, but how she is written.

Azure Bonds finds high points in Dragonbait as noted above. It also provides good glimpses into eastern Cormyr and the Dalelands as the characters travel the region. While the Moander arc is borderline stupid (a garbage heap as a god, really?), the potential in Cassana and Zrie Prakis as foils is understated by too much other sloppy and over-long story minutia.

I giveAzure Bonds two stars. It is perfect for the RPG-Lit crowd. Serious fantasy readers should avoid it. Poor writing, too much interweaving of too many plot points, and an uncompelling cast of characters make for a below average read. ...more

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Mar 21, 2021 Raechel rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, rpg, forgotten-realms

This is a solid 3.5 stars that I've rounded up to 4.

The novel concerns Alias, a swordswoman with a fuzzy memory and a set of mysterious tattoos. She forms an adventuring party with Dragonbait (a sword-weilding lizardman), Akabar (a merchant and mage), and Olive (a sticky-fingered bard), in order to figure out what's happened to her.

While the plot of this book is a bit predictable, it's a solid adventure with some great characters, Dragonbait being my favorite. He's a bit mysterious at first but ...more

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Nov 08, 2020 Liam rated it it was amazing

The oldest Forgotten Realms novel I have read is The Crystal Shard, and it was rough. Azure Bonds came out a little later, and I kept my expectations low. Suffice it to say I was pleasantly surprised; this was an extremely fun and unique adventure to read through. No surprise they made it into an adventure and video game. Novak and Grubb write better than Salvatore, change my mind.

I loved the dynamic and mystery of the characters, it was fun to explore the Heartlands through this fun tale. I'm i ...more

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