Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, Excellent, Excellent
Review: When I looked at the cover I didn't think much of th book, but after I started it, I couldn't put it down! I loved how Lackey portrays some of her characters with the qualities that reminde me of the movie. Ther is of course Jason/Beast, Rose/Belle, but then there are more vauge similarities in du Mond as Gaston and the salamanders who roughly remind me of Lumiere.
As for those who say it is not "historically accurate" well thats's not what fantasy is, if you want something "historically accurate" then read Gone With the Wind. All together this was a fantastic book!
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable read
Review: From what I've read in a few other reviews, if you're really big on historical accuracy, you might not want to read this book. Although I don't personally think this book has all that many glaring historical inaccuracies (not as many as, say, The Serpent's Shadow), I also don't know very much about the history of this time period. As far as the rest goes (characters, plot, etc.), I thought this book was pretty good. I enjoyed reading about Rose and Jason, and the magical system that the author created for this book fascinated me. The Fire Elementals we interesting creatures, and I wish something more had been done with the Sylphs. Mostly, I think the author did a nice job with the "Beauty and the Beast" idea, and I count this book as one of my more favorite retellings of that story. Something that did bother me about this book, although not enough to disturb my enjoyment of the book very much, was the ending. Although this book is based on a fairy tale, that doesn't mean all the problems that developed during the book can be easily resolved with a happily everafter. However, that is precisely what the author did. Somehow, I don't think "the natives...in the Far East" would react as calmly to seeing a half man, half wolf person in their streets as Rose seems to think they will, and I don't think the possibility of Jason becoming a bloodthirsty monster was resolved very well. In spite of my problems with the ending, I really like this book. It's definitely the best of the Elemental Magic books, and it's good enough that I've reread it a few times.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Lackey's better ones -- lately
Review: Okay, so this book DID have a lot of problems. Face it -- Mercedes Lackey is simply not that discriminating in her research -- or her logical plotting. She has two modes of storytelling is seems: 1) beat the reader over the head with childish good vs evil/moral lessons or 2) tell a good story that can be gleaned from the ashes of her inaccuracies. Notice that the two don't intersect. This is one of the good stories. Based on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, we have Rose -- a scholarly type who decides it would be a good thing to work for a mysterious man out west. With Lackey's typical rough hand at SHOVING the characters into the places that she wants/needs them to be we have her staying in a deserted mansion with a faceless master and a man that spooks her. Any sane woman would have left, and we are given no explanation as to WHY she stays, but if you suspend your disbelief of the rocky start, Fire Rose soon becomes very interesting. We have here an alternate earth where Elemental Magick works. We meet the Elementals themselves, and explore the rituals associated with the magick. Rose, it seems, is actually an Elemental Magician like Jason is -- though of air, not fire. The salamanders are great in this story, though we don't get to meet the sylphs very much. (too bad!) Yes, there are more slips in logic with ritual details (the robe, etc) and the huge "how did Jason get away with MURDER, literally?" but the need to see Rose and Jason together sort of lets you gloss over that. ... Fire Rose was a nice romance. This book, though there are many errors and annoyances, is a fun read if you can ignore all of that. This is probably one of the few later Misty Lackey books that is worth reading for the story. For any other book I would have given it a two -- but a good two. For Misty, this is a really good book. If you're dying to read a good book try her very first (actually good!) books, the Last Herald Mage trilogy, or the Arrows trilogy. Past that, pick her titles with caution.
Rating: 
Summary: Did I read the same book as everyone else??
Review: ... I had great hope for it, but instead found a book that was sometimes silly, sometimes annoying, occasionally historically inaccurate, morally lacking, and in painful, desperate need of an editor. 1. Silly: I refuse to love any heroine who cheerfully sees suicide as an alternative to dealing with the next day. I realize that Rose later corrects herself, but it gave me distaste for her almost immediately. 2. Annoying: The endless descriptions for...well, everything. When she actually fails to provide a description of how Master Pao's letter to Jason is folded, I found myself imagining it first folded in half, or perhaps tri-folded, and ended on the amusing image of an origami swan. 3. Historically inaccurate: Rose's description of a woman's role in her time is basically the old English practice of "feme covert." When the book was set in 1905, however, the women's movement in America had already been active for over fifty years, and had several wins in many states. New laws provided property rights to women, both married and single, and for those in business; a woman was no longer her husband's property. Lackey also mentions Hull House in Chicago, but fails to mention Florence Kelley's work in the 1890's to help all those poor factory workers those Rose keeps pitying. It's an annoying omission. 4. Morally lacking: I don't mind "immoral" characters, plots, or books, but for a novel that prides itself so much on its sense of right and wrong, the book is embarrassing. As to du Mond's "disgusting" activities, Jason readily admits that it is no worse than any of the other Magician's pre-maturity problems. I also find it a bit idiotic that a man who is rich enough to afford his own track and railroad engine cannot think of a better dinner solution than stealing his dinner nightly. Finally, last time I checked, murder was still illegal in 1905. 5. For the editor: I read the 1996 version, so perhaps this problem has been fixed in subsequent editions, but there are two glaring issues in the novel. First is Rose's visit to Master Pao. He hands her four packages, spends two pages describing how the white package will open Rose's third eye, and then on the NEXT page, the medicine for Jason is in the third, white package, the red package is gone, and the two page exposition is NEVER mentioned again. I wanted to scream. Second, Rose's silk robe for the summoning is, last time I checked, an animal product. If one wants to argue that is the bloodless product of silk worms, the same argument could be made for sheep, and wool was dismissed in the paragraph. I found the start of the novel rocky, and by the middle I was close to forgiving Lackey for earlier missteps, but then I hit the little cheese puff of an ending. It fails to resolve many of the issues raised in the novel, such as Jason's killing nature. Perhaps people in the Far East like being eaten? I spent most of today angry that I had wasted my time on this book. [T]his book had great potential, but it did not delve as deep as it might, and would have benefited excellently from a sharper use of logic. I couldn't help but feel this was some novel she had written over a weekend and forgot to hone into an effective piece.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting
Review: A dash of Magick, a pinch of Gothic Romance, A great writer, place in a paper bag shake well and out comes this book...A nice escape written by someone that truely understands magick.
Rating:
Summary: Totally SpellBinding
Review: This Book was a real page turner for me... I couldn't put it down! I loved the heroine and hero in this book, even if he had to stay in his half wolf form. I can't wait for the other 2 books to come out (Phoenix and Ashes and The Gates of Sleep). ML has a way of taking you into the books she has written, feeling everything that the characters feel, and no sappy endings! I would recommend this book highly! I think if you like this book, you should most definatly check out Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King!
Rating:
Summary: 'Magickal' modern version of 'Beauty and the Beast'
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great Until The End
Review: I loved most of this book. The heroine, Rosalind Hawkins, is strong and has an intriguing personality. However, at the end, the "Beast" wasn't able to return to human form. This was a huge disappointment for me! It also meant that he would have to drug himself to keep the beast part of him from taking over and ripping someone's throat out. I had read Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley (disappointing in the same way) and had hoped that Lackey would go with the traditional ending but no, she had to be "unique" or whatever else she calls this poppycock. If it weren't for the revolting ending, this book would be my favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling.
Rating:
Summary: Magick--understated, yet powerful
Review: I'm Wiccan and I often use this book as reference because Ms. Lackey has been very accurate in writing the magickal aspects of this book. There's a calmness to the text, yet the underlying power and intensity of her words, of the magic, and even of love, is felt. This is a story of a Fire lord, a witch, who transformed himself into a fox and is having trouble turning back. He hires Rose, an orphan, to help him translate his scripts and find a way to return him to his normal form. Eventually she is allowed to see his true appearance and he takes her in as an apprentice. There is affection between the two--something you can't quite ignore. This is truly an amazing book, so wonderfully written. It draws you in instead of startling you. You find in Ms. Lackey's words a kind of magic that keeps you coming back for more.
Rating:
Summary: excellent reading
Review: If you enjoyed Fire Rose, you will also enjoy Serpent's Shadow. In my opinion they are both set in the same universe. The Fire Rose is set in old time San Franscico with a heroine reading literature and other ancient works to a GentlemanBeast. Discovering that she has magic and learns about the four elements of magic: air, earth, water and fire. The Serpent's Shadow is set in old time London with an Indian heroine becoming a physician, hiding from an evil person. She also learns about magic- and the four elements of magic- air, earth, water, and fire. Both are excellent reading, full of magic and romance.
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