Rating: 
Summary: Great historical fantasy
Review: "The Fire Rose" is an excellent historical fantasy, full of period detail and rich characterizations. This was Mercedes Lackey's first book about Elemental magic, and in my opinion, her best of the three (so far).Rose is a scholar in a bad bind; her father's just died, her money is gone, the creditors are howling at the door, and she has few options and almost no hope. Enter Jason Cameron. He's a man with a bad problem of his own; because of extreme hubris, he attempted a spell to turn him into a werewolf. It didn't totally work, but the partial working has left him tired, ill, injured and feeling almost without hope himself. Cameron needs a scholar who can translate old manuscripts, because only those manuscripts have the potential to help them, and because of his disability, he can no longer read them himself. Rose is a scholar who can read almost anything (she talks of reading Ovid, Sappho's poems, the Decameron, etc.) in just about any language, which is why he wants her help. The two of them link up, and find a most unusual love. Other than that, I don't want to give away the plot; they obviously face trials and tribulations on the road to a fuller realization of their love, but if I talk about them, I'll definitely spoil this unusual and unique story. So all I'll say is, "Read this book for yourself!" Five stars. Recommended. Barb Caffrey Oh, and if you've tried "Gates of Sleep" and didn't like it (I didn't, although I enjoyed "Serpent's Shadow" well enough), you might like this. I did.
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