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, but concluded by giving the book a rating of 3 stars. 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. Reviewer Merric Blackman called the book "an unqualified success... a book that manages to combine a compelling plot with memorable and engaging characters, while not skimping on the world-building". He concluded: "If you want to see how to write good D&D fiction, go no further than Azure Bonds. It’s more than good gaming fiction – it’s damn good storytelling, full stop". Reviewer Dan Ruffolo thought the story arc of the book resembled a role-playing adventure, but didn't think that was a bad thing, given the book's audience of role-players. He noted the presence of a strong female hero, unusual for the time, pointing out that "it is an early instance of fantasy that has a strong female protagonist who solves her own problems and don’t take no crap from no one". He concluded that the book was "an excellent story". On RPGNet, this book was ranked 391 out of 461 compared to other Gaming Fiction with a rating of 6.51. In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, Rob Bricken commented that "Azure Bonds rolls an 8 on its 1d20, making it more than twice as good as The Crystal Shard, but still with a lot of room for improvement". Reviews Review by Steve Jones (1989) in Critical Wave, #12 Other media Game module A game module Curse of the Azure Bonds 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. Computer game 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 favorable reception achieving a score of 90%