''Bound by Iron'' is a fantasy novel by Edward Bolme, set in the world of

Eberron Eberron is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') role-playing game. The game is set primarily on the continent of Khorvaire following a vast destructive war. Eberron is designed to accommodate traditional ''D&D'' elements an ...

, and based on the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' role-playing game. It is the first novel in "The Inquisitives" series. It was published in paperback in April 2007.

Plot summary

''Bound by Iron'' is a novel in which the

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

priest Cimozjen,

elf An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

Minrah Penwright, and an emancipated

warforged The warforged are one of the playable fictional races of creatures in the ''Eberron'' campaign setting of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Publication history The warforged first appeared in third edition for the Eberron s ...

seek to find out who is behind a deadly plot.

Reception

Pat Ferrara of mania.com comments: "Despite the low grade I gave ''Bound by Iron'', there's no doubt that Edward Bolme can write. His pacing builds a tremendous amount of momentum near the end of the novel and his subtle details really help flesh out a land trying to recover from the aftershocks of a horrific war. Interposed with the main plot are also flashbacks of Cimozjen's days in the Iron Band, where an otherwise inanimate Torval really comes to life and establishes the deep friendship which really motivates the entire investigation. All these things work together to tell a compelling story, yet there are some snags that I had trouble moving beyond."

References

{{D&D topics 2007 American novels Eberron novels