The Fire Rose (The Elemental Masters Fairy Tales) [Mass Market Paperback]

Mercedes Lackey (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Elemental Masters Fairy Tales | Publication Date: November 1, 1996

San Francisco, 1905: Rosalind, a medieval scholar, is hired by Jason, a powerful sorcerer. Jason's enemy offers to restore Rosalind's family fortune if she will betray Jason. And then the earthquake strikes. . . .

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lackey's story of a young turn of the century female who is brought to the wilds of San Francisco to read books for a reclusive alchemist recreates the fable of the monster who wins the heart of a young woman yet forbids her to view him. For the monster here is a magician caught in a werewolf spell, and the young girl is a destitute young woman with no other choices. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Baen; Reprint edition (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067187750X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671877507
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #279,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( L ) > Lackey, Mercedes

More About the Author

Mercedes Lackey is the acclaimed author of over fifty novels and many works of short fiction. In her "spare" time she is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. Mercedes lives in Oklahoma with her husband and frequent collaborator, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never, Ever Judge a Book By It's Cover..., February 10, 2003

By 

Brittney Hinson "garnet17" (Ashford, Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fire Rose (The Elemental Masters Fairy Tales) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read so many retellings of Beauty and the Beast. It takes a lot to impress me anymore. I was not impressed by this one either...I was astounded and overjoyed. It is so fresh and unique, no matter what the cover looks like.

Here is a slice of plot for you. Rose Hawkins' world is turned upside down by the sudden death of her father. Her world spins out of control when she finds out that her father has left her penniless. So, with very few respectable options, Rose journeys from her home in Chicago to mysterious San Fransisco to become a governess in a wealthy household. She arrives to find that she has been deceived, there are no children, only a wealthy invalid who longs for someone to help with his research. Rose stays and is content...for awhile. Rose is far too intelligent not to notice that things are not exactly as they seem. Where are the servants? Why can't she see her employer's face? And what are the strange manuscripts she must read to him? I don't want to spoil it, so I'll stop right there.

This is a great book. The love story is romantic, but never sappy. Best of all, you feel like they really get to know and understand each other. There is some mystery, adventure, and magic thrown in too. And a rather unusual, but just right, happily ever after.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Magickal' modern version of 'Beauty and the Beast', August 19, 2001

By 

Joy Fleisig (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fire Rose (The Elemental Masters Fairy Tales) (Mass Market Paperback)

In what is Mercedes Lackey's best novel to date, 'Beauty and the Beast' is updated to 1905, where fabulously wealthy rail baron and Fire Master Jason Cameron has transformed himself into a wolfman and he needs the help of an tame scholar (female so that she is no threat) to help translate the Magickal texts that will give him clues to breaking the spell. Instead of the mouse he expects, he gets a lioness, Rosalind ('Rose') Hawkins, a classicalist and medievalist whom he has brought from Chicago to his San Francisco estate under false pretenses, supposedly to be a governess to his non-existent children. Penniless, she is more than willing change the terms of the initial agreement to do interesting work in luxurious surroundings, even with someone who may be a madman. She eventually learns the truth about Jason and begins to grow as a Magician herself. But Jason has enemies who do not want him to return to human form and full power, or wish to exploit his power for themselves. And then terror strikes, both from Magickal and natural sources....

Lackey has done considerable research into this historical period and does a very good job of bringing early 20th century Chicago and San Francisco to life. She also makes the Cameron mansion, and indeed, all the other locales, into very real places with her rich descriptions - I have noticed that she is particularly good at describing food, clothing and furniture. More importantly for a fantasy novel, she makes the supernatural as real as the commonplace. Her magic systems (Western and Eastern) are extremely well thought out, even 'scientific', and undoubtedly based on 'real' magic systems. There is a nice parallel here to the magic of Valdemar, which is measurable and follows mathematical laws. The story moves at a crisp pace, full of dramatic situations, culminating in the horror of the San Francisco earthquake, and Lackey's style makes the book nearly impossible to put down.

What has always been Lackey's greatest strength is her ability to create characters who one can immediately like and identify with, even in her earliest novels where the technical prowess of her writing was limited. I cared about what happened to Rose from the very beginning. She is a strong, smart, intellectual, adaptable, no-nonsense person, perhaps a bit TOO forward and opinionated, and yes, a little greedy. True, I share her interest in medieval studies, and the fact that she's an opera lover certainly doesn't lower my estimation of her, but I don't think readers who aren't interested in these topics to the extent that I am will also empathize with her. Jason too is a fascinating character - despite his hubris, selfishness, and ruthlessness, he has many moments of sympathy and is Rose's intellectual equal. The repartee between them and their growing affection is believable from the beginning. Yes, I suppose it's 'predictable' that they fall in love - but it doesn't stop one from wanting to see the way it happens. Also many of the 'minor characters', from Professor Cathcart to Earth Master Pao to Snyder to the townhouse maid to the boorish salesman who molests Rose, are vividly drawn, as are the Salamander and Sylph who serve Jason and Rose. And, oh yes, what would a Lackey novel be without a VERY special horse?

I admit, though, that I'm not entirely unsympathetic to the reviewers who complain that Lackey's villains are a little too 'black'. Although Paul Du Mond is a well developed character despite his viciousness, we know that Jason is no saint, so it might have added a bit more depth if Simon Beltaire had a really legitimate reason to dislike him. While unlike other reviewers I didn't have a problem with the climax (an interesting spin on Cocteau), I did feel that Lackey glosses over a MAJOR accomplishment Rose achieves in the epilogue (I'm not referring to romantic matters). I also thought the character names were a bit too 'romance-novelish', but that's picky. To be even more picky, I noticed a few things that apparently escaped the proofreader - at one point Jason calls Rose 'Miss Cameron' instead of 'Miss Hawkins'!

I think Lackey has created a wonderful universe here and I would like to see her write many more novels set in it. Although I enjoyed 'The Serpent's Shadow', I want to see more of Rose and Jason - perhaps Lackey eventually plans for them to team up with Maya and Peter? I am already imagining the adventures they can have. If nothing else, considering how much Rose loves Caruso, I really hope that she and Jason live to see Jussi Bjorling's San Francisco debut in 1949!

Perhaps this book is not 'great literature', as some of the other reviewers seemed to expect, but it doesn't have to be. Even if it doesn't have the philosophical and emotional depth of GREAT SF/Fantasy, it has the sense of wonder and imagination of very GOOD SF/Fantasy. Maybe 'The Fire Rose' is 'mind candy', but it's extraordinarily delicious, and I've sampled it over and over again.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Beauty & Beast tale? Before you cry "NO"!......., February 1, 2005

By 

Madame "Librarian" (Eastern US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fire Rose (The Elemental Masters Fairy Tales) (Mass Market Paperback)

OK...another B&B story...what can one expect? At first I wanted to scream "NO...not another one" but I quickly changed my tune.....
This book is more than I expected. A well developed, and well written story with remarkable characters & a different twist to the original form of the B&B tale...This book gives us an unexpected Beauty & the Beast story that will remain well with you....even after the last page is read and the book put away. I actually have this book in my Phantom of the Opera library collection...it sorta reminded me of Erik.....and this book has actually found its way into my "Phantom library" under the genre of "other" books that remind me of Erik.

If you enjoyed this book, you may want to try these books:

Phantom by Susan Kay
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli
East by Edith Pattou
Through the Tempests Dark and Wild by Sharon Darrow
The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West by Mary Stanton