Friday, February 15, 2008

The Fire Rose

Book 1/25

Mercedes Lackey's The Fire Rose

This review is a good month late in the posting, but at least it's finally being finished. *-* Nothing like the guilt of picking up another book in a collection to make one rush to do the first review.

This is the first of Ms. Lackey's Elemental Masters books (though Amazon and Barnes and Noble both list another - The Serpent's Shadow - as being first), and the first of that collection that I've read. I had skimmed the Elemental books, of course, but I was usually working on another set, and so they went back on the shelf. Due to my other current readings, though, the chance to dip into some reworked fairy tales was hard to resist.

The Fire Rose is the only Masters book (thus far) that takes place in the United States, dating to just before the San Francisco earthquake/fire in the early 1900s. Ms. Lackey's command of history was an absolute delight. Even if I had no earthly idea what she was referring to regarding clothing and furniture, the picture that was painted felt true to history. Rosalind, herself, is a true Lackey heroine, in that she has attempted to reach beyond the bounds set for her, engaging in a college education and literature that would have scandalized the stuffiest matron of the era. Her plight coincided with a financial/occupational rift of my own, and Ms. Lackey captured, perfectly, the state of mind and thoughts of someone in Rosalind's situation. It was a far more elegant "confinement" than is seen in the original "Beauty and the Beast."

Jason departs only slightly from the original fairy tale, in that his monstrous transformation was at his own hands, but he still has the same fierce barbarism that is attributed to the original creature; the same division between man and beast. However, Ms. Lackey gives his perspective on his own changes, providing an insight into the Beast that isn't found in the fairy tales. And, while I will always cherish Disney's transformed servants, the salamanders were a treat; they were given an intelligence and personality not usually accredited to familiars in other elemental pieces I've read. At the same time, it was nice to see a blending of Chinese elemenatlism with the Western world - and dragons being the source of the earthquake is the best description I've yet seen. Ms. Lackey transformed disasters in our own history into something beyond our control, yet not as difficult to understand/accept as the true cause of the Chicago fire or San Francisco's destruction.

The ending felt a little abrupt, to me, moving from a high action climax to an idyllic scene; there was no solid explanation given to the transitional period. As to Rosalind's reaction to Jason, I felt it a little difficult to accept her position as easily as she did - though perhaps that was due to my being influenced by the cover image, rather than the actual descriptions in the book (though I thought the two matched quite well). Unfortunately, I've found that Ms. Lackey's reinventions of fairy tales and such usually do wind to a short stop, with only a cursory look at the result of her characters' lives. While you expect a happy ending, it feels that it's granted without really being deserved - even when you know the trials the characters have gone through. Considering how well she detailed Rosalind's mind, it felt like a cheat to be robbed of that final process from employee to partner.

Overall, though, the book has me hooked on the Elemental Masters. Her history and the development of the elements and their habits is a treat to read.
Posted by Andria :: 1:38 PM :: 0 comments

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