In Bound by Iron, Edward Bolme has written some unique characters in a plot with a surprising ending for this stand alone novel. In a story reminiscent of a John Grisham thriller, Bound by Iron begins with a murder and leads the heroes into a web of lies, deceit, and greed. Bound by Iron is the first novel in Eberron’s Inquisitives series.

Bolme explores the themes of justice, honor and righteousness in this novel. Cimozjen is a paladin, a warrior of the Sovereign Host whose sense of right and wrong is strong. Minrah the journalist, on the other hand, is what is often called a “chaotic good” character. She does not do evil things, but will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, especially in pursuit of a story, even to the point of putting her companions in harm’s way. Four, the warforged, provides a tabula rasa that the other two characters are trying to imprint with their own values. Each character walks away from the story being changed, for better or worse by their contact with each other.

I liked this Eberron novel. Some readers may find the dialogue a little contrived, but I didn’t. The mystery aspect of it was simple, so fans looking for fantasy noir won’t like this novel. It does give a soldier’s eye view of some of the major events of the Last War on the Eberron world. Cimozjen and Torval’s comradeship was a well-written aspect of the story, and in a way reminded me of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front in the way it delved into the mind of the front-line soldier, if in a more simplified way. Even with the philosophical aspect, it was still a good adventure story with lots of sword action. Bound by Iron is a fun reading diversion. Its unique characters, unusual ending, and detailed fight scenes gave hours of reading enjoyment.

Full Review at Grasping for the Wind ( )

Bound by Iron by Edward Bolme is the first in a series of stand alone novel set in the Eberron world titled The Inquisitives. This series appears to be in the same vein as various other Wizards of the Coast stand alone series such as The Dungeons, The Wizards, The Fighters etc, the only difference is the setting, and of course content. The next installment of this series will be titled Night of Long Shadows by Paul Crilley and is scheduled for release in May, 2007.
The plot of this book, at first, seems rather linear and one dimensional. That of an old soldier looking for vengeance for a murdered friend. The other main character is a story teller of sorts that attaches to the hero to be able to tell his story in full. Even though this story, of seeking revenge for a deceased friend has been told countless times, in countless ways, the way that Mr. Bolme tells this tale distinguishes it from the others in terms of the overall story and what the character goes through as he tries to get his revenge as well as the twists both subtle and not so subtle.

Mr. Bolme's writing style lends itself to a fast paced book that most readers should find easy to dive into. He is clearly a wordsmith in that his ability to `show' and not `tell' the reader makes this book a clear standout in the Eberron world. Another compliment I have for this book is that even though this book is set in the Eberron world, Mr. Bolme does not pull out all the stops to force feed the reader on the technology of the world. There have been a few books in this setting where it almost seems as though the author is making the technology the story instead of the story using some of the technology. This is not the case with this book. In fact, other than Warforged there is not much technology in this book at all; and that actually allowed me to enjoy the book more if anything.

The two main characters in this book are two very different characters. One, Cimozjen, is the veteran soldier seeking revenge for his friend whom has obviously been murdered. He has a very strict code and value system that plays an integral part of this book. The other character, Minrah, is a storyteller who attaches herself to Cimozjen in order to have a story to sell to others. Along the way they come across a Warforged who they `adopt'. Thiese three characters create an interesting mix and some interesting dialog as well. Even though the story centers on Cimozjen, the Warforged character has a way of stealing a scene or two with some priceless comments and actions. As I was reading these characters I often felt that they were fresh and seemed as though they were not rehashed characters that I have read countless times before. It was a pleasant surprise to also see how much character development Mr. Bolme was able to squeeze into these pages. This novel has a very good mix of plot movement and character development. Most books I have read lately have one or the other.

My one criticism with this book centers on the character Minrah. While I enjoyed this character and what she adds to the novel. I also disliked a few times she was present and had `ah ha' moments where she seems to figure out plot points on a whim. To me this reminded me of the old clichéd character in many fantasy novels of the old person who has all the answers to every problem the hero faces. She seemed to cycle between doing things that made sense, and then doing things that made little sense but advanced the plot a great deal. I'm not sure this was intentional; it's merely my reaction to her character.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel a great deal. It was a nice easy read with a very good pace. I also think this is a very good book for those who are interested in `test driving' an Eberron novel. I am fairly certain most fantasy fans will enjoy this book as it does a good job of combining many elements into its overall story. If this novel is any indication of what is to come in the Eberron setting then I have no doubt that there are great things in store for this world. ( )