Azure Bonds
Encyclopedia
Azure Bonds is a fantasy novel written by Kate Novak
and Jeff Grubb
and was originally published in 1988. It is the opening novel of the Finder’s Stone Trilogy which is set within the world of the Forgotten Realms
. It served as the basis for the computer game, Curse of the Azure Bonds
. The novel was awarded 3 stars in a review by OtherRealms.
One of the co-authors, Jeff Grubb, stated that Azure Bonds is one of his favourite novels that he has written.
"I laid out the novel one night to my wife, Kate Novak, while we were driving from Lake Geneva [Wisconsin] to Milwaukee. By the time we got there, I had a co-writer."
The story begins with the main character, an adventuress named Alias, awakening in a disoriented and amnesic state. She soon discovers that she has a newly acquired azure colored tattoo imprinted on the inside of her sword arm in the space between her wrist and elbow. At first she attributes her memory loss to inebriation and the tattoo as a drunken prank by companions. She soon finds that the tattoo is magical in origin, resists attempts to remove it and most worryingly, exerts a power to compel her actions.
Before long, Alias becomes the nucleus of a disparate party of adventurers namely; a mysterious lizard-creature named Dragonbait, a southern mage
called Akabar Bel Akash, and a halfling
"bard
" named Olive Ruskettle. The novel's plot follows the actions of the party which are combinations of the group’s investigations and interruptions caused by the compulsions of the tattoo.
It is later revealed that Alias herself is in fact a complicated, magically created, artificial being intended by her creators to be their proxy in various nefarious purposes. The tattoo was to be a means of control as well as a branding of ownership by each of the collaborating parties involved in her creation. Her long term memories were actually granted to her by her sole benign (but misled) creator and her short term memory loss is due in part to the gap between the end of her artificial memories and her premature awakening.
Alias eventually wins the freedom to control her actions and is able to embark on a life of her own. Events towards the end of the novel result in Giogioni Wyvernspur (a recurring supporting character), inadvertently acquiring the finder’s stone forming the back-story of the next novel in the trilogy, The Wyvern's Spur
.
and Vangerdahast, Elminster, Moander
, and The Nameless Bard (Finder Wyvernspur
).
Alias
Dragonbait
Akabar Bel Akash
Olive Ruskettle
, OtherRealms
, stated that Azure Bonds was written to have a broader appeal to those not familiar with the AD&D game. The reviewer also noted that although it has good characterization, several key scenes felt glossed over.
Brett Franklin from Candlekeep.com gave a positive review, praising the characterization and the fixed linear storyline whilst another reviewer from Candlekeep.com stated the ending was not as succinct as he would have liked. On RPGNet it was ranked 391 out of 461 compared to other Gaming Fiction with a rating of 6.51.
has also been released in April 1989 under Forgotten Realms Module FRC2. The module was written by Jeff Grubb
and George MacDonald. The adventure module ties in with the Azure Bonds novel. The module follows the main character Alias in the story where the characters awaken with mysterious blue sigils.
In 1989, SSI published a computer game titled “Curse of the Azure Bonds
”. The game’s plot follows a similar premise to the novel but is set sometime after the events of the novel instead of being a direct adaptation. The game had a favourable reception achieving a score of 90% from Amiga Magazine Rack. The reviewer Paul Rigby describes it an improvement over its predecessor Pool of Radiance and it has "a good storyline and excellent graphics. CAB is recommended whatever version you have."
Kate Novak
Kate Novak grew up in Pittsburgh, where she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Chemistry. She is a fantasy author primarily published in the Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft shared worlds....
and Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
and was originally published in 1988. It is the opening novel of the Finder’s Stone Trilogy which is set within the world of the Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
. It served as the basis for the computer game, Curse of the Azure Bonds
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Curse of the Azure Bonds is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box adventure computer games, continuing the events after the first part, Pool of Radiance.An...
. The novel was awarded 3 stars in a review by OtherRealms.
One of the co-authors, Jeff Grubb, stated that Azure Bonds is one of his favourite novels that he has written.
Development
In 1984, while Jeff Grubb was managing the Forgotten Realms setting, "I had a concept for a novel that mixed sword-and-sorcery with mystery and personal discovery - the tale of a woman who wakes up one morning with no knowledge of her immediate past and a set of strange tattoos on her arms."I laid out the novel one night to my wife, Kate Novak, while we were driving from Lake Geneva [Wisconsin] to Milwaukee. By the time we got there, I had a co-writer."
Plot
The trilogy’s titular “finder’s stone” plays a relatively limited role and has an essentially introductory presence in the novel.The story begins with the main character, an adventuress named Alias, awakening in a disoriented and amnesic state. She soon discovers that she has a newly acquired azure colored tattoo imprinted on the inside of her sword arm in the space between her wrist and elbow. At first she attributes her memory loss to inebriation and the tattoo as a drunken prank by companions. She soon finds that the tattoo is magical in origin, resists attempts to remove it and most worryingly, exerts a power to compel her actions.
Before long, Alias becomes the nucleus of a disparate party of adventurers namely; a mysterious lizard-creature named Dragonbait, a southern mage
Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.-Creative origins:...
called Akabar Bel Akash, and a halfling
Halfling (Dungeons & Dragons)
The halfling is a fictional race found in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Halflings are similar to humans except about half the size...
"bard
Bard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The bard is a standard playable character class in many editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The bard class is versatile, capable of combat and of magic . Bards use their artistic talents to induce magical effects...
" named Olive Ruskettle. The novel's plot follows the actions of the party which are combinations of the group’s investigations and interruptions caused by the compulsions of the tattoo.
It is later revealed that Alias herself is in fact a complicated, magically created, artificial being intended by her creators to be their proxy in various nefarious purposes. The tattoo was to be a means of control as well as a branding of ownership by each of the collaborating parties involved in her creation. Her long term memories were actually granted to her by her sole benign (but misled) creator and her short term memory loss is due in part to the gap between the end of her artificial memories and her premature awakening.
Alias eventually wins the freedom to control her actions and is able to embark on a life of her own. Events towards the end of the novel result in Giogioni Wyvernspur (a recurring supporting character), inadvertently acquiring the finder’s stone forming the back-story of the next novel in the trilogy, The Wyvern's Spur
The Wyvern's Spur
The Wyvern's Spur is a fantasy novel by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb that was originally published in 1990. It is the second novel in the Finder’s Stone Trilogy which is set within the world of the Forgotten Realms. This novel received 4 stars from OtherRealms.The novel focuses on a clumsy but...
.
Characters
The novel marks the initial appearances of an ensemble of enduring characters, the foremost amongst which being Alias and Dragonbait. During the course of the story, several prominent characters of the larger fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms are featured. These include Azoun IVCormyr
Cormyr is a fictional country in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting published first by TSR, Inc. and subsequently by Wizards of the Coast for the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy Role Playing Game...
and Vangerdahast, Elminster, Moander
Moander
Moander is the god of rot and corruption in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.-Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition :...
, and The Nameless Bard (Finder Wyvernspur
Finder Wyvernspur
In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Finder Wyvernspur is a relatively new power raised to divinity by acquiring the divine spark of the deceased god Moander....
).
Alias
- A female warrior and the protagonist of the novel. At the onset of the story she is portrayed as an archetypal adventuress, being a seasoned traveler and veteran hired guard. She is depicted on the cover artwork in ceremonial armour.
Dragonbait
- Dragonbait is the first of the companions encountered by Alias. He has the most unusual appearance of the party and physically resembles a greenish, lizardman-like creature. Incapable of normal speech, his early behavior is often clownish and servile but obedient. It is eventually learned that he is in fact a highly accomplished member of his race that are known as saurials. His name is actually an acquired nickname courtesy of Alias.
Akabar Bel Akash
- A native from the southern lands of Turmish — a region of the Forgotten Realms roughly comparable in style and culture to the medieval middle-east. Initially, Akabar is conducting his affairs as a merchant but he also has training as a mageWizard (Dungeons & Dragons)The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.-Creative origins:...
and inwardly yearns to prove himself as an adventurer.
Olive Ruskettle
- Olive is a female halflingHalfling (Dungeons & Dragons)The halfling is a fictional race found in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Halflings are similar to humans except about half the size...
and the final member of the party to be encountered. She is a self-styled bardBard (Dungeons & Dragons)The bard is a standard playable character class in many editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The bard class is versatile, capable of combat and of magic . Bards use their artistic talents to induce magical effects...
but displays the duplicity and skill at thievery and pilfering characteristically associated with halflings; in the course of the book, it is revealed that she has won the identity of a true bard, one Olav Ruskettle, and feminized his given name for her purposes.
Reception
The winner of the 1989 Hugo for Best FanzineHugo Award for Best Fanzine
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, OtherRealms
, stated that Azure Bonds was written to have a broader appeal to those not familiar with the AD&D game. The reviewer also noted that although it has good characterization, several key scenes felt glossed over.
Brett Franklin from Candlekeep.com gave a positive review, praising the characterization and the fixed linear storyline whilst another reviewer from Candlekeep.com stated the ending was not as succinct as he would have liked. On RPGNet it was ranked 391 out of 461 compared to other Gaming Fiction with a rating of 6.51.
Game module
A game module Curse of the Azure BondsCurse of the Azure Bonds (module)
Curse of the Azure Bonds is an adventure module published in 1989 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
has also been released in April 1989 under Forgotten Realms Module FRC2. The module was written by Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
and George MacDonald. The adventure module ties in with the Azure Bonds novel. The module follows the main character Alias in the story where the characters awaken with mysterious blue sigils.
Computer game
- Main article: Curse of the Azure BondsCurse of the Azure BondsCurse of the Azure Bonds is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box adventure computer games, continuing the events after the first part, Pool of Radiance.An...
In 1989, SSI published a computer game titled “Curse of the Azure Bonds
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Curse of the Azure Bonds is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box adventure computer games, continuing the events after the first part, Pool of Radiance.An...
”. The game’s plot follows a similar premise to the novel but is set sometime after the events of the novel instead of being a direct adaptation. The game had a favourable reception achieving a score of 90% from Amiga Magazine Rack. The reviewer Paul Rigby describes it an improvement over its predecessor Pool of Radiance and it has "a good storyline and excellent graphics. CAB is recommended whatever version you have."
See also
- The Wyvern's SpurThe Wyvern's SpurThe Wyvern's Spur is a fantasy novel by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb that was originally published in 1990. It is the second novel in the Finder’s Stone Trilogy which is set within the world of the Forgotten Realms. This novel received 4 stars from OtherRealms.The novel focuses on a clumsy but...
- 2nd Book in Finders Stone Trilogy - Song of the SaurialsSong of the SaurialsSong of the Saurials is a fantasy novel by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb set in the Forgotten Realms.-Plot:This novel is the final book of the Finders Stone Trilogy.-Characters:* Alias* Olive Ruskettle* Akabar bel Akash* Dragonbait...
- 3rd Book in Finders Stone Trilogy