Customer Reviews

The Binding Stone (The Dragon Below, Book 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the fourth Eberron book I have read and in all honesty I am really trying to give the world a chance to captivate me. Yet every novel I have read to this point seems pretty bland to me, and doesn't really offer up anything brand new that one would expect for a new world, with new creatures and magic.

When trying to decide what to rate this book I was torn between 2 and 3 stars. If I rated it bases solely on the characters it would have been a 2 for sure. The characters did nothing for me in terms of wanting me to keep reading. They are 2-D cut[out characters of what you can expect to find in countless other novels. Their dialog is sub-par for a Bassingthwaite book. In the Forgotten Realms book titled Yellow Silk, Bassingthwaite usued dialog very effectively. Yet, in this book it seemed strained and forced at times. Also, there is a 'new' language that he uses and it detracts from the book. They are kind enough to include a 'dictionary' of sorts in the back, but it's too much of a hassle to keep looking back there to understand what they are saying. It's a decent concept of adding a new language, but it's been done better and more effectively in other novels.

However, if I rated it based on the story line and plot I would have rated it higher. The actual story is a good one. There is a great deal of promise behind it. But, what truly drives a story is the characters and how they interact with the environment and quite honestly the characters killed this story.

The ending, as can be expected in the first book of a trilogy, left many things unsolved while closing off a few sub-plots.

I will probably continue to read this trilogy if nothing else to see how the story progresses and what will happen to a certain character. This is one of the few books that I have ever read that I could care less about all the characters in the book.

As far as recommendations go, I would really like to recommend this book as I think the world of eberron is very interesting and detailed, yet it may not lend itself very well to novels. If you are a fan of the first few Eberron books that have been released go ahead and get this one as you know what to expect, if you have not read any Eberron books I suggest you start with the Crimson Talisman by Adrian Cole or the City of Towers by Keith Baker before you jump into this one.

I am very reluctant to buy books based on RPG worlds, movies and the like since the books themselves have a sort of mass produced cookie cutter feel, with bland characters who are nothing more than representations of their character class and/or if you know the rules of the game, you spend the whole book trying to figure out what spell is being used, what class skill let's them do that? Not so with this book.

I picked up on a lark as I'd been out of D & D for years, right when Forgetten Realms started, due to lack of interest. Eberron's setting was interesting to me so I gave this book a shot. First, the author's writing style is praiseworthy. The descriptives are good, his vocabulary excellent and sentence style varied. I mention this to show the writer isn't some mass production hack. Second, the book involves three characters whose backgrounds are all Eberron specific, so you get a flavor for how these races and classes work in this universe. Third, the book does an excellent job giving a sense of tension as the heroes are chased relentlessly and are forced to escape rather than win every battle. Fourth, the heroes screw up and don't perform every task with perfection. Fifth, the villain(s) are well written, complex and you actually dislike them rather than being ambivalent about the outcome.

My only quibble is that two of the characters in the party hate each other from an event that happened years before during a war that shaped the current Eberron setting. I think they become allies a tad too easily, in spite of the circumstances, to really seem proper. If you've had a 7 year desire to exact revenge, I think it would be hard to put it aside so easily. I'd have liked a little more conflict between the characters from that standpoint.

Other than that, I think this book is well worth the read.

Well I would not listen to the first review here, as this has been the best Eberron novel to be released so far.

When I say that, I am not knocking the previous novels, as I loved Matt Forbeck's 'Marked for Death', and I thought that Keith Bakers novel 'City of Towers' was an okay novel (especially for a first time novelist).

But here we have been given something different, something a little edgier, something a little darker.

It may not be noir (on which the Eberron setting was sold to us by Wizards of the Coast upon its launch) but it is definitely good solid fantasy, and that is what Don Bassingthwaite excels at.

Don has crafted a book that is very character driven. When I say that I mean that he doesn't just give you a bunch of adventurers and run with a story. He builds each one up carefully, so that you learn to care about each ones fate. Don does not reveal the full details of each character, but also trickles the information out over the course of the story, and even by the end we are left wanting to know more.

Don also knows how to pack a punch with his action scenes, and he will make you keep turning those pages. He is also a master at pacing out his novels, and by the time you get to the end of the novel you will find you are flipping those pages like crazy.

Unlike the other reviewer, I will tell you to avoid The Crimson Talisman, as that is the worst novel in the series. Do read the others however have they have been fun to read, but for a fine tale in the Eberron setting, you will not find anything better (yet) than this!

I would also recommend that you check out some of the other Don Bassingthwaite novels, in particular the ones set in Forgotten Realms (The Yellow Silk (Fantastic), Mistress of the Night(Excellent)).

Can't wait for the next one in the series.

Well to tell you the truth I heard great things about this book but I was a bit disapointed.
The characters were made well enough, they were there, but, you really did not get to know their inner selves at all. the book had no thoughts, simply actions, whichn rreally left you clueless to exactly what kind of people they were.
as for the rest of the book....I couldnt finish it. I got to page 77, and let me say there was a fightscene that had extended almost the entire way there. it was still going when I stopped reading, so I cant tell you exactly how long it was... but wow...it was just to long.
I suggest you steer clear of this book, but hey, it might just be your type anyway.

Just finished The Binding Stone and let me tell you, this is one great book. I like adventure stories like this one and it didn't let me down. The action is great and the characters are ones you want to root for. Great Job!!

If you like this book, might I suggest another I've recently come arcoss. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly reccomend it.

...by far. If you must read one Eberron book or series, read this one. If you intend to read them all, read these last, or you won't enjoy the other series as much, as they pale in comparison.

I want more!

I just finished reading The Binding Stone, the first of Don Bassingthwaithe's books I have read. Wow, it was really good.

This story had you hooked from the very beginning and by the end you just couldn't walk away from it ... everything stopped until I finished the book ! You can't say better than that !

The only thing I was disappointed with was the character Adolan who was so likeable was killed off so early - I was gutted ! However, the other character's were so well defined and different from each other and the plot so exciting one was forced to move on ! Author Bassingthwaite does a great job not letting out too much information, just drip feeding it through so even by the end the characters still have their mysteries. Plus the villians are so convincing.

I am looking forward to reading the next in the series ...

I just finished The Binding Stone and have to say I really enjoyed this story. Great characters, interesting twists, excellent job on both villains and heroes alike. The novel felt fresh and exciting.

All in all, this is one of the best WotC novels I have read in the last few years. I really felt invested in the characters and loved the way the story unfolded - it kept me hooked with suprise and suspense throughout.

The Binding Stone is an excellent read, out of all of Don's novel I've read this is the best one I've read by him and those novels were very good. The Binding stone is a real page turner and It's the best Eberron novel to come out so far and I'm sure it will still be one of the best novels of Eberron when the Eberron novel line has about 100 books to it's name.Go and check it out now Tremaine