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The Fire Rose

(Elemental Masters #0)

Mercedes Lackey

3.97 · Rating details · 10,014 ratings · 477 reviews

Beauty Meets Beast in San Francisco

Accepting employment as a governess after hard times hit her family, medieval scholar Rosalind Hawkins is surprised when she learns that her mysterious employer has no children, no wife, and she is not to meet with him face to face. Instead, her duties are to read to him, through a speaking tube, from ancient manuscripts in obscure, nearl ...more

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Paperback, 433 pages

Published November 1st 1996 by Baen (first published January 1st 1995)

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· 10,014 ratings · 477 reviews

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May 04, 2008 Mir rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

This adaptation of Beauty and the Beast cuts out the merchant father and sisters mourning their sudden impoverishment. Instead of a formerly-wealthy beauty, our heroine is the recently-orphaned daughter of a professor. Highly educated herself, but lacking family or funds, she perforce accepts a position as a governess in far-away California. But it turns out there are no children, only a Beast who needs someone to translate some dead languages...

This was a fun book. It would be better if Lackey ...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Kathleen rated it did not like it

Shelves: ya, fairy-tale, fantastical-romance, beauty-beast, series-opener

Hadn't read Lackey before, but she's prolific, and some reviews are very positive, so I was looking forward to her take on Beauty and the Beast in historic San Francisco. What a disappointment! For those who want romance, there is not so much as a kiss despite the HEA wedding -- no great loss, since I dislike the hero, Jason Cameron.

I had more respect for the heroine, Rosalind (Rose) Hawkins. But not much. Blame it on Lackey's introduction of this young bespectacled historian.

Some spoilers ahe ...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Mariel rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: the bangles

Recommended to Mariel by: an untrustworthy (it is clear to me now) amazon reviewer

You know the old cliche of something being so bad it is good? Some cliches and stereotypes got started in the first place for a good reason. They say that to indicate the bad stuff you enjoy that gives you indigestion afterwards. Well, The Fire Rose is almost so bad it's good and then so bad it's back to being plain old bad again. Throwing up your hands in frustrated disgust bad. (I feel like those chicks from the yoghurt ads. "Good... Unbutton your pants and cut up your credit cards GOOD!") It' You know the old cliche of something being so bad it is good? Some cliches and stereotypes got started in the first place for a good reason. They say that to indicate the bad stuff you enjoy that gives you indigestion afterwards. Well, The Fire Rose is almost so bad it's good and then so bad it's back to being plain old bad again. Throwing up your hands in frustrated disgust bad. (I feel like those chicks from the yoghurt ads. "Good... Unbutton your pants and cut up your credit cards GOOD!") It's disgusting. I'm disgusted. ("You don't look disgusted, Mariel. You look like you like it!") I've complained about this book to my twin to the point it has taken on epic proportions between us. She hasn't even read it and can quote entire passages (which never fails to crack me up). The baddie who breaks in trafficked hookers as a hobby (he learns Spanish and Chinese just to torment the religious girls about their impurities. Couldn't he just heckle bad comedians? I personally like to heckle athletes at the park. I even did it in Spanish once. "¡Malo!"), the lover who stays the beast in the end (she prefers him that way! Those Egyptian sphinx heads were oddly attractive). There is much bad goodness here. It's an embarrassment of riches, that's what it is. Yet it is still so, so bad. It is a wonder I didn't throw it at the wall, or in the trash (my twin has thrown books of mine in the trash out of fits of dramatic disgust- before I've had the chance to read them. "That was mine!" "I'm doing you a favor!" I prefer to switch out what she is reading and replace it with The Fire Rose).

What was with the constant use of italics? Living in a college town I've had the misfortune to buy many used books that are highlighted out the ass. The italics here are about as intrusive as that. It can be fun to read the notes written in the margins. Kinda like reading a book with someone else, even if sometimes you'll start writing a school paper on it too. I wanna read for fun, damnit! In that case, it was Lackey's own fault that I criticized her book harshly. She put me in mind of school papers. And her use of italics was like those kids who highlighted the unimportant stuff and wrote margins that massively missed the point.

The magical theory was pretty good. I liked the competitive master/student relationships, and the mad science gone horribly wrong quality. The student who conned her into doing his homework was probably too realistic though (he should've written in his own margins!). Coughs not that I've ever let anyone copy off me. (I hate heroines who speak infinity languages when my Spanish is pathetic.) (Then again, I never had a good enough reason like torturing prostitutes I've broken in to motivate me. What is Spanish for you suck in bed?)
Lackey shouldn't have tried for a Beauty and the Beast tale. The point was that the Beast gets a better personality. He's still beastly AND still an animal. (And I did so want to enjoy a bestility romance...)

I've not read anything else by Ms. Lackey. Every bookshop in town has at least two shelves dedicated to her (none other than R.A. Salvatore receive that royal treatment). Where to start? Perhaps the gay robot book and I could make it a theme weekend and pair it up with Tanith Lee's Silver Metal Lover. Anyone wanna do it with me? I'd doodle gay robots in the margins of my books (don't wanna miss the point, after all).

...more

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Jan 18, 2019 Jane rated it really liked it

I was wonderfully surprised by this book. I thought it might a retailing of the Beauty and the Beast story, but I was very surprised by the ending.
It is the story of Rose Hawkins and Jason Cameron. Jason had invoked, through pride, a powerful spell that transformed him into part wolf. Rose is hired to help him translate ancient text, for he is looking to reverse his mistake.
I loved the fire salamanders character's. Also the Chinese mages.
Rose character is a strong intelligent woman, in a time ...more

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Apr 12, 2010 Leeanna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-own

The Fire Rose, by Mercedes Lackey

Do NOT judge this book by its cover!

"The Fire Rose" is a gem, a masterful retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story.

The Beauty is Rose Hawkins, a booksmart Chicago native working toward a doctorate at university. The Beast is Jason Cameron, a San Francisco rail baron, and a man trapped by hubris in the body of a wolf.

Left penniless when her father dies, Rose has few options for survival. She could work as a governess or a teacher, but pursuing her cherished d The Fire Rose, by Mercedes Lackey

Do NOT judge this book by its cover!

"The Fire Rose" is a gem, a masterful retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story.

The Beauty is Rose Hawkins, a booksmart Chicago native working toward a doctorate at university. The Beast is Jason Cameron, a San Francisco rail baron, and a man trapped by hubris in the body of a wolf.

Left penniless when her father dies, Rose has few options for survival. She could work as a governess or a teacher, but pursuing her cherished degree is certainly out of the way. Disheartened by her situation, Rose accepts an employment offer from Jason Cameron: she will travel to San Francisco to be a governess to his children. Only when she arrives, Rose finds that Jason was lying to her: there are no children and instead she is to translate ancient alchemical books for him.

Far from being upset at the unusual situation, Rose is happy with her new life. She lives in luxury, and considers herself a research colleague rather than an employee. She is also unaware that the works she is reading to Jason are actually Magickal in content, and that Jason Cameron is a Firemaster. And Rose...she herself may have potential to do Magick.

"The Fire Rose," is to me, an almost flawless book. I've read my copy so many times the binding is worn out, and it would be a book I'd take to a desert island. Rose and Jason are two of my favorite characters of all time. I feel like they are old friends, and I dearly wish that Lackey had continued their story. "The Fire Rose" is a one book story, and has a good ending; it's just my personal (and greedy) wish for more of them.

Lackey creates a plausible magic system, and explains it over the course of the book. Because Rose reads Jason many texts, it gives the author a great way to explain how the system works. The author also pays plenty of attention to detail. "The Fire Rose" fits in perfectly with the time it is set, as all comparisons are made to period events or people. The descriptions of clothing and furnishings are sumptuous, and helped me immerse myself in the book.

There's a little of something for everybody in "The Fire Rose," and I'm always sad when I read the last page.

5/5. ...more

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Feb 23, 2017 G. rated it it was ok

She might be stepping off into the unknown, but it was not with a sense of adventure.

No shit.

And yes, that's all I'm gonna say, because The Fire Rose was so utterly meh that I have nothing to add. ...more

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Mar 11, 2008 Jojo rated it it was ok

Shelves: romance, fantasy, romantic-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Hmm.

An all right read, but definitely not lacking in problems. I can't even really say what I did like about it, besides the fact that I was entertained. The problems though...

1. The cover. I know, I know, don't judge a book by its cover. This one is seriously fug though.

2. Villains are never interesting when they are just pure evil. The villainy in this book was of the ridiculously mwahahaaa-so-evil variety. Ugh.

3. Okay, so this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. In which you would think tha ...more

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May 04, 2008 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-timefavorites, fairytales

I love this book. It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in San Francisco just prior to the Great Earthquake of 1906. As always, her characters are so real that I felt like they were friends immediately: smiling with them, nodding when they talked. . . . You just get drawn right into this time and these people. ...more

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May 02, 2010 Michelle rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Should I even get into the one dimensional Paul du Mond? The entire book, I was waiting for him to tie Rosalind to Cameron's railroad tracks, and then twist his mustache while laughing mockingly: "MWAH-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!" It's the only cliche the author missed including.

I loved Mercedes Lackey in college but sometime in my 30s I became tired of her simplistic characters, and especially of the chip she has on her shoulder regarding organized religion. If I had to read one more time that non-orthodox Should I even get into the one dimensional Paul du Mond? The entire book, I was waiting for him to tie Rosalind to Cameron's railroad tracks, and then twist his mustache while laughing mockingly: "MWAH-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!" It's the only cliche the author missed including.

I loved Mercedes Lackey in college but sometime in my 30s I became tired of her simplistic characters, and especially of the chip she has on her shoulder regarding organized religion. If I had to read one more time that non-orthodox spirituality is "good" and orthodox religious structures (to wit: Christianity) are "bad" I believed I would vomit. It makes reading the rest of what she writes a trial.

Even in this book, a novel not at all concerned with religion in any way or form, Lackey just has to spend a page or two talking about how Christians are stupid. It has nothing to do with the book or the plot or the main characters, but let's throw it in there that Christians are stupid to use the lamb symbolism, shall we? Lackey of course shows NO knowledge of the origins of that symbol, or why it was chosen in early Christian texts. You don't have to be a religious studies scholar, but if you're going to criticize, do some basic research, or leave it out.

I also have a giant problem with books set in historical eras featuring modern characters who basically just wear old fashioned clothes. I am a huge historical fiction fan, and there was more differing women in those eras from modern women than just wearing corsets. People in earlier times had different thoughts, different attitudes, and different beliefs about life.

But here is little Rose Hawkins who, by virtue of her being smart and well read, is apparently mostly outside the cultural structures of her society. All of her attitudes and beliefs are those of modern women. Except of course, she does not care to wear bloomers and be a Suffragette. Ok then.

Not to mention, she is a Medieval scholar, oh but she is reading the classics in the original Greek and Latin, and hey happens to know lots about Egyptology as well? I think not.

The one good part about this book, and the one strength Lackey has as a writer, is the great descriptions of Magick, and other fantasy-related themes. It was the only interesting part of the whole book.

Lackey needs to stick to creating fantasy worlds, because her abilities in describing characters who live in THIS world are sadly lacking.

The one good thing about this book is, it didn't require me to think too hard. When one is in finals for grad school and just wants some brainless entertainment, Mercedes Lackey is where you head.

...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Sarah rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sff, fantasy, fairytales

I was excited as hell when I saw that Lackey had done a fairy tale retelling, as I tend to like her work, and I love fairy tale retellings.

However, I found this book rather a disappointment. Robin McKinley is 100 times more talented at the retelling, and honestly, I don't think Lackey put her best effort into this.

A decent read, but not really worth the effort. ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-star, historical, format-print, acquired-bought-used, read-2009

This book is set in the early 20th century. Rose Hawkins is a young scholar in Chicago who finds herself having to make some tough decisions after her father dies and creditors take nearly everything she has left. With no other options left to her, she accepts a position as a governess for the children of Jason Cameron, a wealthy rail baron in San Francisco. When she arrives at her new home and workplace, she discovers that Cameron wasn't entirely truthful. While he doesn't actually have childre This book is set in the early 20th century. Rose Hawkins is a young scholar in Chicago who finds herself having to make some tough decisions after her father dies and creditors take nearly everything she has left. With no other options left to her, she accepts a position as a governess for the children of Jason Cameron, a wealthy rail baron in San Francisco. When she arrives at her new home and workplace, she discovers that Cameron wasn't entirely truthful. While he doesn't actually have children, he does need her scholarly expertise. A recent accident has made it impossible to read the books he needs to read in order to conduct his research. Rose agrees to work for him under these changed conditions, but the strange books he has her reading make her begin to wonder about the secrets Cameron is hiding.

And wonder she should - Cameron is no ordinary man, and his accident was definitely not a normal one. Cameron is an Elemental Master whose specialty is Fire. Confident in his abilities, Cameron attempted a spell that he thought would allow him to assume the form of a wolf at will. However, something went wrong, and he was left in a painful half-man, half-wolf body. He's determined to find a way to undo what he's done, but he needs help for that, which is where Rose comes in. Of course, Rose is neither stupid nor incurious, and Jason eventually finds it necessary to prove the existence of Elemental Magic to her. Rose stays by Jason, even when she discovers what his accident has done to his appearance. With an old enemy looking for any exploitable weakness, Jason needs all the friends he can get.

I have to admit, I wouldn't have minded it if Lackey had only written this one Elemental Masters book. This is by far the best in the series, with interesting and usually enjoyable characters and an almost believable romance (I'll get to that later). The "Beauty and the Beast" aspect doesn't feel at all forced, mainly because Lackey doesn't require that the book use all the details from the story (actually, she doesn't use hardly any).

The magical system was fascinating. I suppose I can see why she felt the need to write more books - this one only scratched the surface of one or two elements, leaving much more that could be explored. This book teaches readers about Elemental Magic through Rose, who becomes Jason's apprentice - it's a nice way to give readers a lot of information while keeping things from getting boring. I loved reading about the Salamanders, and I only wish Lackey had spent more time writing about the Sylphs.

The setting was also fun to read about. I can't personally say whether Lackey got all the details right, but nothing struck me as being jarringly wrong. I wasn't always a fan of Rose and Jason's many popular culture references (or what would have been popular culture back then - musicals, opera, books, etc.) - those felt a little overdone, like Lackey was trying a little too hard. I did, however, like the "life in 1905/1906" details that came up occasionally, like the tidbits about Rose's clothing, etc. Rose's trip to Chinatown was also a lot of fun.

I also enjoyed the romance in this book, although this is one of those romantic storylines that is most enjoyable if you don't think about it too much. The friendship and, eventually, love between Rose and Jason develops smoothly and naturally enough. I think what bothers me is thinking about how the mechanics of their relationship will work. Unlike "Beauty and the Beast," which ends with the Beast becoming a man again, Jason doesn't become like he once was. At one point, Jason finds himself wondering how a relationship between him and Rose could possibly work, since kissing him would be like "kissing an Alsatian," even though he's pretty much human from nipples to mid-thigh. Rose is, at first, startled and upset by Jason's appearance, but she gradually grows used to him and even finds him a little attractive, kind of like one of the Egyptian gods. This, I'm guessing, is supposed to reassure readers that she won't mind doing more than hand-holding with Jason, but I'm not buying it. Apparently, either Lackey thought a sex scene, or even kissing, would turn readers off, or maybe even she couldn't picture how things would work out, because Rose and Jason are never described as doing more than holding hands.

Some readers may also be turned off by Lackey's one-dimensional villains. Paul, Jason's apprentice and secretary, has absolutely no redeeming characteristics. Actually, the fact that Jason knew about his apprentice's horrific entertainments and did nothing is a black mark against him - if Rose ever finds out, Jason's going to be in the dog house, no pun intended. Simon, Jason's enemy, is even more one-dimensional. He's there to be both bad and (somewhat) clever, while Paul is merely bad. If you like your villains to be more than just cardboard, this is not the book for you.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and it held up nicely to a re-read, after a few years of sitting in my bookshelves collecting dust. I think I'll just pretend that the other books in the series never happened...

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ...more

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Jun 17, 2008 Jennie rated it it was ok

I did not enjoy this book. The author took a beautiful fairy tale and tried to make it "grown-up"... which defeats the whole purpose. It was good to read, but I will never read it again. I read it in response to claims that is was "better than Beauty" by Robin Mckinley, which is SOOOO GOOOD!!! Well, I didn't like it. 3/4 of the way through it I was just reading to finish it, not because I was enthralled or wanted to know what happened. My biggest... dislikes were: 1) the beast never changed. I k ...more

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Jan 04, 2012 ✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) rated it it was ok

Shelves: bookcrossing, fantasy

This was an entertaining read although I did feel things did drag on a bit on the second half of the book, with nothing much happening.

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Apr 02, 2019 Giselle Bradley rated it did not like it

Shelves: z-1-1-fairytales, currently-reading-series, on-tbr-longest, z-beauty-and-the-beast, tbr-all-as-of-2018

20% DNF wow I hate this.

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Jul 18, 2020 Eden rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020-review-of-the-year, sf-fantasy

2020 bk 239. The pre-story to the Elementals. An excellent take off on the Beauty and The Beast and as an introduction to the elementals stories. The writing was clear, no muddy details, a delight to read.

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Jan 20, 2015 Rachmi rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, romance, retelling-and-or-inspired-by

3.5 stars

This Beauty and the Beast retelling reminds me of Jane Eyre, in a way. Rose, the heroine, is like Jane Eyre, is so determine to have the same position with Jason Cameron, the hero, even when he is her employer. She's highly educated, smart and witty and a bookworm too. I cannot help not to love her. Jason is also easy to love, though I have to admit that I don't like the way he’s keeping an eye on her. It isn't a good thing to do, if you ask me.

These lovable main characters make me enjo ...more

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Oct 24, 2015 Matthew rated it liked it

This book felt rather like it was written by a teenaged girl as Beauty and the Beast fanfiction without an editor. The villain was totally one dimensional and stupid. There were glaring gaps in continuity and so many plots that were started but not properly followed up upon. The worst example was a Chinese herbalist who gives Rose four packets of four different colors and then she uses the wrong colored packet in the next scene and the other three packets are never mentioned again.

But despite al ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Heather rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

So each time I reread this book, I think I like it a little less. For one thing, random quotation marks are everywhere and random quotation marks drive me INSANE. Rose was too smart to be a "proper" "lady" and the "good" "Christians" objected to her "modern" ideas. Arg! Death to random quotation marks! For another thing, ML has certain canned rants about religion and the oppression of women that get old, especially because they're not particularly sophisticated canned rants. I've started skippin ...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Carien rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

This book in the The Elemental Masters series is often overlooked as it is published by Baen and not by DAW as the rest is and I think that's a shame as I think this one is the best!

Now I must confess that Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairytales so that might be why I love this book as it uses that fairytale as a basis for this story.

The story is set in 1905 and Lackey sure did her research to create a believable setting and her characters are all well thought out and vary from li ...more

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Nov 11, 2012 M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairy-tales, modern-fantasy, fantasy, author-mercedes-lackey

While not the best version of Beauty and the Beast that I ever read, this book is a good read in its own right. This book is technically part of the Elemental Masters series, even if it's not actually stated as so. Rose is a delightful character, a rare woman in Victorian society who wants more but is constrained to the rules set for her gender.

Her interaction with the Beast was appropriate given the circumstances, and this book was overall a good read with the action and dialogue. Please don't ...more

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Jun 29, 2015 Graylark rated it really liked it

Shelves: 3-5-stars, fantasy, fairy-tale

Retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Was a good read, but last chapter felt like a letdown after all the buildup. Ended with a fizzle rather than a bang.

Also, I don't know what the blurb writer was smoking, but "Jason's enemy offers to restore Rosalind's family fortune if she will betray Jason" was not in the book. ...more

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May 25, 2017 Darnell rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-fantasy

I had some issues with how this book was constructed, but Lackey's writing is good enough that I still enjoyed it anyway. Considering this is a precursor to the real series, I'm definitely interested in reading more. ...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Anna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: chicago-ties, fables-myths-legends-otherworldy

One of the reasons I love this book - the core story is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast

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Jun 25, 2018 Aphelia rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale, my-collection

This is a light read that drags a bit around the middle and doesn't finish as strongly as it could have, which was a little disappointing.

The Fire Rose is a loose retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, set in Victorian San Francisco. It is part of Lackey's long running Elemental Masters series but can be read as a standalone. Indeed, I'm not sure why this novel is classified so oddly; it seems to be the 1st in the Elemental Masters series, but when it's listed with that series, it's u ...more

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Jun 27, 2020 Claudia rated it really liked it

Shelves: y2020, books-by-lackey

Based off the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, this is the first of Lackey's series of the Elemental Masters. It is even said to be #0 for those that follow it.

But it is still definitely part of that series. Upon her father's death and financial ruin, Rose Hawkins must leave Chicago so she takes a job as a governess for two children in ancient languages - namely Greek and Latin - and travels to turn-of-the-20th-century San Francisco to the home of railroad baron, Jason Cameron. Only it's a li ...more

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Jun 30, 2019 MargaretDH rated it really liked it

Shelves: fluffy, alternative-reality, this-world-fantasy, chips-and-chocolate-bars, fairy-tale, retelling, romance

I've always thought that if I had to relive a fairy-tale, I'd like it to be Beauty and the Beast. I love books, so the big library appeals to me, and I'm pretty good at solitude, so that part wouldn't freak me out too much. Plus, who wants to do dishes and laundry for seven dudes? Or sleep so long everyone you know is dead? And I do love swimming, so having a tail would be cool, but I'm less into the part where I lose my voice and walk on knives.

Anyway, I'm not much for straight up romance, but ...more

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Sep 10, 2020 Kathleen rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, reread, 2020, mind-candy, romance, fantasy, fairy-tales

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, the Fire Rose was the first one I read, and remains my favorite of the series, despite being only a loose prequel to the rest of the Elemental Masters. For one thing, magic works slightly differently, although it's pretty clearly the same world, and some worldbuilding blocks, like Firemasters being unable to be in the same city as one another and the Council of Firemasters, are ignored or outright contradicted in future books. However, the characters are beli ...more

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Jan 11, 2019 Sarah Baker added it · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf-2019, not-for-me, couldn-t-finish

I tried to give this one a go, I really did. But I just could not get into the story. And while I know that we're supposed to find duMond repulsive, I really didn't need to know what he did with his free time. So I'm giving up at 34.18%. Maybe I bailed too early, but I've got other books to read. ...more

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Jul 11, 2017 Darrell Hoberer rated it it was amazing

One of my favorite books. Loved it on audio.

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Jun 10, 2019 Sasha Russell rated it really liked it

I thought this book was awesome. Not perfect, but the story really drew me in. It wasn't too romance novel-ish and it was set in a semi-realistic setting. ...more

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What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Fantasy book about about a man who turns himself into a beast via alchemy. [s]	4	25	Jan 17, 2020 10:55AM
Madison Mega-Mara...: The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey	1	3	Jan 16, 2014 07:56AM

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About Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey

7,487 followers

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & M Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.

"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.

"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.

"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:

"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."

Also writes as Misty Lackey

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Other books in the series

Elemental Masters (1 - 10 of 15 books)

Books by Mercedes Lackey

Arrows of the Queen (Heralds of Valdemar, #1)

Arrow's Flight (Heralds of Valdemar, #2)

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“Mister Cameron - I have read the unexpurgated Ovid, the love poems of Sappho, the Decameron in the original, and a great many texts in Greek and Latin histories that were not though fit for proper gentlemen to read, much less proper ladies. I know in precise detail what Caligula did to, and with, his sisters, and I can quote it to you in Latin or in my own translation if you wish. I am interested in historical truth, and truth in history is often unpleasant and distasteful to those of fine sensibility. I frankly doubt that you will produce anything to shock me. ” — 59 likes

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