Tethtoril's Bookshelf

Azure Bonds
The Finder's Stone Trilogy - Book 1

TSR Code:

 8414 8414.jpg (29204 bytes)
Product Type: Novel
ISBN Number: 0-88038-612-6
Author: Kate Novak & Jeff Grubb
Cover Artist: Clyde Caldwell
Release Date: 1988
Format: Paperback book (380 pages).
Description:
The text below is taken from a description by TSR on the reverse of the actual product:

'Her name is Alias, and she is in big trouble.   She is a sell-sword, a warrior-for-hire, and an adventuress.  She awoke with a series of twisting, magical blue sigils inscribed on her arms and no memory of where she got them.
Determined to learn the nature of the mysterious tattoos, Alias joins forces with an unlikely group of companions: the halfling bard, Ruskettle, the southern mage, Akbar, and the oddly silent lizard-man, Dragonbait.  With their help, she discovers that the symbols hold the key to her very existence.
But those responsible for the sigils aren't keen on Alias's continued good health.   And if the five evil masters find her first, she may discover all to soon their hideous secret'.

Other titles in the Finder's Stone Trilogy:

Reviews:
By: Brett Franklin Date: 12-July-1999
Rating: GoodGoodGood Good
Another great novel that helped set the whole Forgotten Realms scene. It also had the perfect mix of action, adventure, and mystery; and was well written by Grubb and Novak.

Although it does start out a little slow (around Tilverton) it is easily a book you can reread over and over again ( I have!). It was also the first Forgotten Realms novel to visit places featured in another FR book and also meet their characters - the point of a shared fantasy world and one of the main reasons I like the Forgotten Realms. It had good maps too!

A great aspect of this novel was that soon into it , a clear objective (or quest) was given - to remove the Bonds by killing each master and also knowing how much further Alias had to go by the number of Bonds remaining. (It also made for easy conversion to a computer game.)

Alias worked well as the strong heroine, while the Saurial paladin Dragonbait was both interesting and original. Akabar was just your average mage and Olive was a standard halfling - thieving abilities with lots of greed.

Cover - This was another great cover! Alias and Dragonbait were drawn perfectly - EXACTLY to description , and looking great!. The Tower of White Exile in the bakground also gave it depth.
Reviews:
By: Mike G Jordan Date: 06-August-2000
Rating: GoodGoodGood Good

Azure Bonds is the story of Alias, a sell-sword who awakens only to find a series of sigils tatooed on her arm. Written by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb it is a very refreshing story, the plot moves along quickly, it has plenty of humor, the characters are interesting, and the battle scene's well described.

It does go on for a bit too many pages, and towards the end it seems too final for the book to go on, and you kind of wish they had ended it there. The end isn't that great, but it's not bad. I definately suggest this to all FR lovers.

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