Lackey's world-building is one of the novel's greatest strengths - she takes time (albeit perhaps occasionally tending towards pedanatry ) exploring the mechanics of this alternate history, grounding her magic in plausible, elemental connections.
Masters are individuals whose internal "balance" leans sharply toward one of the four elements, and when that preference is identified they are then apprenticed with an eye toward becoming adepts in their chosen field, able to communicate with the spirits of their element (salamanders for fire, sylphs for air, etc.) and exert control in their sphere of power. In Lackey's alternate early twentieth-century history, "magick" is real, ruled by masters of the four elements - earth, wind, air, and fire. Beauty and the Beast is one of my all-time favorites, and as such I was thrilled to stumble upon The Fire Rose, Lackey's take on the love story as old as time. It's no secret that I adore fairy tales, and therefore I'm always on the lookout for new-to-me retellings that will put a fresh spin on a classic tale.
But Jason's enemies will do anything to prevent him from finding a cure, and in allying herself to the enigmatic Fire Master, Rosalind finds herself facing dangers that threaten to rob her of the life she's come to love and the future she's dared to hope for with Jason. And Jason, an adept in "magick" and a Master of the Element of Fire, imprisoned in his home by an experiment gone awry, begin to cherish the hope for a future outside his study walls thanks to Rosalind's friendship. Though she's never set eyes on her employer, Rosalind grows to embrace the purpose and opportunities afforded to her by her new life. Surrounded by riches beyond her wildest dreams, Rosalind is asked to agree to a most unorthodox arrangement - reading ancient and obscure texts to Cameron every evening via a speaking tube. Cameron's immaculate home appears to employ only one servant - the wily Paul du Mond - and there are no children. Grasping this thin hope of salvation, Rosalind heads west, only to discover that where Jason Cameron is concerned, nothing is as it seems. But hope arrives in the form of a most unusual query - Jason Cameron, a wealthy railroad baron in San Francisco seeks governess well-versed in the classics to tutor his children. But shortly before his death her father gambled away the family fortune, leaving Rosalind penniless and unable to pursue her graduate work in medieval studies, her future a frightening and uncertain void. Rosalind Hawkins enjoyed a privileged life in turn-of-the-century Chicago as the daughter of a respected, well-to-do academic with the luxury and acumen to pursue advanced academic study. But when a rival alchemist offers Rosalind the chance to restore her family's fortune in exchange for Jason's secret, who will she side with? And then the earthquake strikes. Stuck in wolf form, over the years he had slowly been losing his humanity. An Adept and Alchemist, Master of the Element of Fire, he had attempted the old French werewolf transformation - and bungled it. As for Jason Cameron, through his contact with Rosalind, he, too, is renewed. For her job in the household is to read to him: Latin, French, Greek, German - and she feels herself coming alive once more. Oddest of all is the master of the house: Rosalind never sees him, but communicates only through a speaking tube, and only at night. Despite there being but one servant, the huge house is immaculate and food is prepared and served in the most elegant manner. Penniless, Rosalind stays despite her misgivings.
But when she arrives at Jason Cameron's mansion on a hill overlooking the Pacific, she discovers that there are no children, not even a wife, in residence: just the gentleman himself and his enigmatic manservant. A boom town in the 1850s, in 1905 San Francisco is the center of culture in the new West, and perhaps there she will rediscover a reason for living. Desolate with grief, forced to cut her education short, she agrees to go West to take a job as a governess to a wealthy man in San Francisco. Unfortunately, her professor father has speculated away the family money and died, leaving young Rosalind with no fortune and no future. R osalind Hawkins is a medieval scholar from a fine family in Chicago.
0 kommentar(er)
