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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'Magickal' modern version of 'Beauty and the Beast', August 19, 2001
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.
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by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
