Rose

Before she was Gran’ma Ben — the tough-as-nails, cow-racing matriarch of the Bone saga — she was Princess Rose, a headstrong young woman with the power to magically dream. And before the Lord of the Locusts was defeated, he possessed a dragon queen named Mim and plunged the Northern Valley into fire and terror.

Jeff Smith and Charles Vess — two legends of fantasy comics — joined forces for Rose, a mythic prequel to the Bone saga that stands beautifully on its own as a tale of sisterhood, betrayal, and sacrifice.

The Story

Two sisters. Rose is beloved, brave, and gifted with the “dreaming” magic that runs in the Harvestar royal line. Briar is brilliant, ambitious, and darkly resentful of the attention lavished on her younger sister. When they are called to the dangerous mountains of the Northern Valley for their final tests — a rite of passage to control their magic — they collide with an ancient evil.

The dragon Mim, once a glorious and benevolent queen of dragons, has been driven mad by the possession of the Lord of the Locusts — a cosmic entity who cannot enter the physical world except through another being. Rose must slay the bloodthirsty beast, but the cost may be higher than she imagines. And Briar … Briar makes a choice that will echo through generations.

The Collaboration

This book represents a rare and perfect pairing. Smith’s tart, witty writing — that blend of humor and high stakes that made Bone a classic — weaves a tight, emotional story. Vess’s lush, painterly illustrations bring the world of Rose to vivid life with a mythic grandeur that earned him an Eisner Award nomination for Best Painter. Every page glows with the kind of intricate detail that rewards lingering, from the patterns on Rose’s gown to the scales on Mim’s terrible wings.

Publication History

Originally published as a three-issue miniseries by Cartoon Books between 2000 and 2002, Rose was collected in trade paperback by Scholastic Graphix in 2009. The book works as a standalone entry into the Bone world for new readers, while rewarding longtime fans with deeper context on Gran’ma Ben’s mysterious past.

Perfect for fans of Bone, Charles Vess’s Stardust, illustrated fairy tales, and epic fantasy in the tradition of Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown.