Heroes adrift - apt title
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Heroes Adrift suffers from some fairly slack plotting and pacing. Characters are introduced and dropped off without any satisfactory explanation. It's almost as if the author got bored and couldn't be bothered to conclude their stories. The narrator (Dunleavy) is stubborn, whinging and just possibly one of the most annoying heroines I've ever suffered. Fine! Not every character experiences redemption, but this was unremittingly dull after a while. The humour that made this enjoyable in the previous novels is sadly missing. Curiously, there are events that aren't even followed through and I just wonder if Ms Moore was trying to evolve the story beyond its earlier genre of light fantasy. I can see the potential but I think she failed to truly develop the groundwork needed and also failed in developing from the two previous novels.
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wild goose chase story
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I liked the previous books and that was the only reason I bought this one. There is wry humour in the telling of the story that is why this book did not get a one star rating with me. However the story is nothing but a wild goose chase (wgc) which is why it did not rate a five star at all. I like a book with a bit more substance than a story about a WGC adventure. This book has a feel like the entire book is a middle chapter of a bigger book. Whereas I like a beginning and an end. I do not think I would be buying anymore of MJMoore's offerings. If ever I would be reading anything written by her again, I would most likely borrow it from the library than waste my money buying it.
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A thoughtful entry in the series
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Other reviewers have criticised this book for the fact that it does more character exploration than the previous two. I think that's a plus though as it makes the characters much more rounded and believable. In the earlier books the main protagonists were presented as the stereotypes of the narrator (Lee)'s perception but as her views develop, so do the readers'. Don't be put off by the negative comments here - I was pleasantly surprised!
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Third in the delightful "Hero" series
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In which Lee and Shintaro are forced to join a circus on a tropical South Sea island ...
This third book follows on from "Resenting the Hero" and "The Hero Strikes Back." Despite the nautical title and the beautiful cover painting showing heroine and narrator Dunleavy (Lee) Mallorough on a sailing ship, most of this story is not set at sea, but in a travelling circus troupe.
I was surprised and and disappointed to see that the first three reviewers were concentrating on the negative: no book pleases everyone but I certainly enjoyed this more than the first three reviewers did. And I think most readers who enjoyed the previous two books will also like this one, although anyone looking for a carbon copy of the previous ones may be disappointed. Lee and Shintaro face very different challenges and their relationship also moves on to new territory.
Moira Moore's "Hero" series of books are set on a far future human colony world. In the northern hemisphere where most of the habitable land in the planet is to be found, and where most of the population lives, they can only be protected against frequent natural disasters by the special talents of two groups of people - "Sources" and "Shields".
Sources can "channel" natural forces and dispel coming disasters: Shields protect the Sources and stop them dying or going insane while they do so. Both groups are taken from their families at an early age and intensively trained to use their special talents.
In principle any source can work with any shield, but in practice most sources form an involuntary and spontaneous natural bond with one particular shield. The resulting special partnership is known as a "Pair." Neither partner has any choice about who they bond with, and once the link comes into being it lasts for the rest of the life of both partners. The bond is so strong that the death of either source or shield within a "pair" causes the demise of the other.
Most pairs form a friendly and professional relationship, some ignore the advice of their training college by becoming lovers, and others find themselves tied for life to someone they can't stand.
Shintaro Karish (Taro), who renounced the title of Duke of Westsea in the first book, and resisted family pressure to reclaim it in the second, is a Source. He is heroic, brave, virile, talented, charming, exciting, disgustingly handsome by the prevailing standards of most of the planet, and apart from being something of a rake, far too good to be true. Every young shield, expecially the female ones, hoped to bond with him, except for Lee, the narrator of all three books, who is a practical merchant's daughter and Shield. She wanted to work with someone calm, steady, and reliable. So guess who she got stuck with.
A large part of the first book followed Lee's horrified response to being yoked for life to someone she initially percieved as a brilliant but pampered and arrogant aristocrat. However, by the start of the second book Lee and Taro had established a strong working relationship and become close friends. By the end of "The Hero Strikes Back" it was obvious to the reader and to most characters other than Lee herself that she and Shintaro are deeply in love with each other.
At the start of this third book, Lee is enjoying the fact that life has been getting back to normal after the disruption and plots in the second book. Still in deep denial about her feelings for Shintaro, she is courting a nice young man and indulging her passions for bench dancing and art.
However, she suddenly finds herself summoned with Shintaro to attend the Empress. The ruler needs someone incorruptible and resourceful for a very sensitive task. Unfortunately, by twice refusing a Dukedom, Taro has demonstrated that he cannot be bribed by offers of wealth and power: and by foiling two nefarious plots Shintaro and Lee have unwittingly convinced the Empress, probably wrongly, that they they have the skills for a difficult and sensitive assignment on a tropical island in the southern hemisphere.
Pulled away from the job they understand and are trained for, our heroes find themselves in a part of the world where laws, customs and tastes are completely different, where their skills as Source and Shield are neither understood or appreciated and they have no obvious means of support.
Quite apart from fulfilling their mission from the Empress, simply earning the money to obtain food and shelter will present difficult and embarrassing challenges for two people for whom such things have always been simply provided - but no longer. And there are other challenges beyond this ...
There are three groups of readers who might not like this book. Those who prefer their sci/fi or fantasy to be highly serious may not appreciate it. Even more than the first two books, some readers may feel there is not enough action and too much interest in relationships. For example, if you're the sort of male reader who didn't like Sarah Zettel's books or those of Linnea Sinclair, because you think that sort of book is for women, you may not like Moira Moore's books either. However, if you are the sort of male or female reader with broader tastes there is no reason why you should not enjoy these books.
Those who enjoyed the first two "Hero" books and are expecting an encore may also be disappointed - this story goes in a slightly different direction. It is not better or worse, just different.
The three books can each stand on their own, but I think you will get slightly more out of them if you read them in sequence. Personally I greatly enjoyed all three and strongly recommend them.
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Story adrift?
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This is the third in Moira J Moore's brilliant series about the Source and Shield Pairs Lord Shintaro Karish and Dunleavy Mallorough. The first book, "Resenting The Hero", was a real delight, introducing two great leading characters as well as a fascinating setting. Taro and Lee's job, as a bonded Pair, is to work together to deal with natural disasters through the special channeling skills they have together. Unfortunately for the rather plain Lee, Taro is a hugely attractive man and is constantly fighting off attention. The second story, "The Hero Strikes Back", involved Lee and Taro in some strange events which culminated in the kidnapping of Taro and the discovery of some additional talents.
I was eagerly awaiting the third story in the series, "Heroes Adrift", and I certainly enjoyed reading it and returning to the world of Taro and Lee. Unfortunately it didn't measure up to the previous two books, feeling rather more aimless and indistinct. In this story Lee and Taro are sent by the Empress to the Southern Islands, far away from their usual stomping grounds, to see if there are any relatives of the Empress still living there. However they find that the world of the Southern Islands is so different from their normal experience that they struggle to settle in and get on. They have to earn their wages and cope with a different climate, completely different customs and a most unexpected reversal in personal popularity. Dunleavy, the rather plain and dull Shield was always previously in the shadow of the impossibly handsome Shintaro Karish; in this story the Southern Islanders find Lee's hair fascinating, identifying her as a real beauty and Taro as plain. Taro finds the going quite hard without his usual charm to help smooth their way.
There were some interesting parts to this story, particularly when they join the circus to try to earn some money. However the search for the Royal Relative takes a back seat and then seems over very quickly. The focus of the story was far more on character building and learning about the new culture they were thrust into but I wasn't always sure I knew what the characters were actually thinking. Those who have looked for a romantic element to this series will find more in this story although still very low-key and rather unresolved. The author's writing skill was as evident as ever but somehow this book felt like a transitional tale that functioned more as an introduction to the next story or perhaps to a new heroine who may be the main character in a future book. Moira Moore is to be praised for keeping these books fresh and coming up with new ideas for each one rather than retelling the same kind of story but somehow this one didn't quite hit the mark.
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