Elemental Masters is a fantasy series by American writer Mercedes Lackey, taking place on an alternate Earth where magic exists.
The series largely focuses on Elemental Masters, people who have magical control over air, water, fire, or earth.
DAW Books published the remaining titles, inaugurating the "Elemental Masters" moniker and numeration.
The main and perhaps sole difference between this world and our reality is that magic exists, controlled by those who have mastery over the four classical elements (fire, air, water, earth).
The majority of the tales take place in England, with The Fire Rose taking place in North America and focusing on the San Francisco area, while Blood Red and From a High Tower are set in Germany, with a focus on the Black Forest.
While history does tend to follow the real-life time line, historic calamities such as the Great Chicago Fire and the earthquake in San Francisco are attributed to the elemental mages that serve as the series namesakes.
As seen in The Wizard of London, the power of ice is seen as a perversion and innately destructive, as it calls for a basic twisting of a master's nature as well as the world around them.
Much of this fierce fighting takes place in astral form, when the original fairy tale female was completely passive in deep sleep or coma.