Firebird

Content Warning: This section of the guide references rape, graphic violence, and death.

Juliette Cross’s Firebird is a historical fantasy romance that draws deeply and deliberately from ancient Roman history, geography, and mythology, much as Rick Riordan draws on Greek mythology for The Lightning Thief. Though the world of Firebird includes dragons, empathic tethers, and magical priestesses, its foundation is firmly rooted in the structures, customs, and legends of the Roman Empire. Cross does not merely borrow names; she reconstructs a fantasy world that echoes Rome’s politics, belief systems, violence, and even gender dynamics, crafting a story that feels otherworldly and historically familiar.

A key example of this historical adaptation is the reimagining of the myth of Romulus and Remus, depicted in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. In Roman legend, a she-wolf raises the abandoned twins who go on to found the city of Rome, with Romulus ultimately killing Remus. Firebird transforms this myth by replacing the wolf with a dragon who raises the boys, giving them the power to shift between human, half-skin, and dragon forms. This twist infuses the founding myth with supernatural energy and provides a mythical explanation for the dragon-shifting bloodlines that dominate the novel’s political structure.