D&D General Just Read: Azure Bonds. A Faerun novel from '88

[DarkCrisis]

I've read a fair amount of D&D novels. Of course, Ive read most of the Drizzt books. I skipped all the 4th ed run stuff and havent read the latest one.

Anyways, you may recall a previous post I made about one of the original novels that Elminster co-stared in and how awful it was.

Well Azure Bonds was GREAT. All of the characters are fantastic. I really can't recommend it enough. The ending was like storybook perfect.

Alias the female Human fighter who is missing a large part of her memories
Dragonbait the Saurial Paladin with a funny sense of humor
Olive the Halfling Thief,,, er Bard?
Akabar the Human Wizard who is all book learned with no adventuring experience

They fight a god! And a demon! And a Cult!

Oh and Mist the Red Dragon! She was so fun. Who knew Red Dragons could have a sense of Honor for old pacts?

There was an old video game based on it. Gold Box stuff. I've started the "sequel" though it stars a minor character introduced in the first book. And Olive returns as well!

As for the cover art... yes this armor shows up at the end. Yes, it's explained. It even mentions how a sword strike to the chest could kill her. It's worthless armor she's forced to wear.

 

[humble minion]

Yep, that is a GREAT book. So much fun. I reckon it would have been a great story to adapt to film, except for the whole bit about how

Spoiler: spoiler

Dragonbait communicates using smell, which just wouldn't work on-screen at all...

 

[DarkCrisis]

Yep, that is a GREAT book. So much fun. I reckon it would have been a great story to adapt to film, except for the whole bit about how

Spoiler: spoiler

Dragonbait communicates using smell, which just wouldn't work on-screen at all...

Sure it would. His friends didn’t understand him either.

 

[humble minion]

Sure it would. His friends didn’t understand him either.

Yeah, but the viewer wouldn't even know it's happening at all unless you made a point of referring to it in the dialogue, which would be very clunky.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Yeah, but the viewer wouldn't even know it's happening at all unless you made a point of referring to it in the dialogue, which would be very clunky.

Same way as in the book. The Dragon explained it all near the end.

I hear in the third book he had a permanent Tongues spell cast on him so he speaks normally.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I remember buying this book for the dinosaur man and the dinosaur man being the part I disliked.

 

[Mad_Jack]

Honestly, the one thing that always annoyed me the most about Dragonbait is the ridiculous depiction of his sword in the artwork...

 

[Zardnaar]

Honestly, the one thing that always annoyed me the most about Dragonbait is the ridiculous depiction of his sword in the artwork...

It was the 80's.

Haven't read this book for years I enjoyed it in the 90's.

 

[Andvari]

Read it last year and also liked it. I plan to run the Curse of the Azure Bonds module for my group next year, when they should be done with Ruins of Adventure.

Mist was my favourite character.

 

[DMZ2112]

I just read it a month or two ago for the first time and really enjoyed it as well! It really struck me how much like a D&D adventure it was, while still being an enjoyable novel. You often have to pick one or the other, in D&D fiction. It's a winner!

 

[Demetrios1453]

The second book in the trilogy is pretty good, but the third is right up there with the first.

And, far from being useless armor, Alias finds out later it's actually enchanted so the bare area is actually just as well protected as everywhere else. So she keeps using it despite how it looks.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Well Azure Bonds was GREAT. All of the characters are fantastic. I really can't recommend it enough.

Yup, one of the rare genuinely good FR novels.

I really liked the second one as a kid, too, don't know how would hold up as an adult.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Absolutely love this trilogy

Yep, that is a GREAT book. So much fun. I reckon it would have been a great story to adapt to film,

THIS! And the Matzica trilogy I can see as movie adaptations.

 

[James Gasik]

The second book in the trilogy is pretty good, but the third is right up there with the first.

And, far from being useless armor, Alias finds out later it's actually enchanted so the bare area is actually just as well protected as everywhere else. So she keeps using it despite how it looks.

I remember a joke about that from the DC Forgotten Realms comics. Alias shows up after her and Dragonbait have been hired by Elminster to assist in recovering the Hand of Vaprak. The Halfling Thief takes a look at her armor and goes "don't you find that a bit drafty?".

Alias: "It's enchanted."

Thief (amused): "Sure it is!"

 

[jgsugden]

Yep, that is a GREAT book. So much fun. I reckon it would have been a great story to adapt to film, except for the whole bit about how

Spoiler: spoiler

Dragonbait communicates using smell, which just wouldn't work on-screen at all...

Pshaw. I can do the same thing. For example,

Spoiler

Just last Tuesday night I told me family to clear the room using the same technique after a couple burritos, a milkshake, and broccoli.

 

[DarkCrisis]

The second book in the trilogy is pretty good, but the third is right up there with the first.

And, far from being useless armor, Alias finds out later it's actually enchanted so the bare area is actually just as well protected as everywhere else. So she keeps using it despite how it looks.

Which is a paper thin excuse to keep her wearing it/cover art . Apparently it’s a chain shirt +2 and if I was DMing it the front would ONLY have an AC of 2 (or 8 in AD&D terms).

Not to mention her normal armor of a Breastplate would still be better protection than a chain shirt +2.

 

[James Gasik]

I suppose an argument could be made that if the exposed area has a "bracers of defense" style enchantment, there could be a tactical advantage- trained opponents would always target that area, thinking she's unprotected, and she could adjust her fighting style to take advantage of that fact. I'm reminded of why Batman's chest insignia was brightly colored, to lure enemies into attacking him there.

It's worth noting that the armor was likely made by Cassana, an extraordinarily vain spellcaster, so the armor could be nothing more than a costume. It could be the "equivalent" of chain mail +2 (in effect, variant bracers of defense AC 3).

 

[DarkCrisis]

Ima tad bit into the 2nd book and she has

Spoiler

SISTERS!

Spoiler

How weird to have exact identical twins but different personalities. And even weirder (i read up on their biographies) that some of them marry her friends! And they are exact copies physically. That's so weird IMO.

Hi Ackbar my old friend, I see you married my exact body double. That's not weird at all. Oh and you to Giogi, the man I tried to murder once. Married my exact copy. Not weird at all.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Ima tad bit into the 2nd book and she has

Spoiler

SISTERS!

Spoiler

How weird to have exact identical twins but different personalities. And even weirder (i read up on their biographies) that some of them marry her friends! And they are exact copies physically. That's so weird IMO.

Hi Ackbar my old friend, I see you married my exact body double. That's not weird at all. Oh and you to Giogi, the man I tried to murder once. Married my exact copy. Not weird at all.

Orphan Black

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Azure Bonds holds up better than a lot of old D&D fiction. There's a lot going on with the book, but it mostly manages to thread the needle and tie it all together.