Customer Reviews

Heroes Adrift

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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."

PS (added May 2010) - there is now a fourth book which follows this one, called "Heroes at Risk", and number five, "Heroes Return" is due out later this year.

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.

Most readers who enjoyed the previous two books will also like this one, but anyone looking for a carbon copy of the previous novels in the series 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. Neither partner has any choice about who they bond with to form a "Pair" and once formed 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 four 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 the response of the practical merchant's daughter 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 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 are neither understood or appreciated and they have no apparent 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 reader with broader tastes there is no reason why you should not enjoy these books - I certainly did.

And 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 four 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 four, am looking forward to reading "The Heroes Return" when it comes out later this year, and can strongly recommend this series.

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.

Shintaro and Dunleavy are source and shield, a kind of psychic team used by the empress to control natural disasters. When they are sent to a mysterious island to look for a missing heir, Shintaro and Dunleavy find themselves in the odd position of actually having to find work. (Sources and Shields do not have to pay for services up North). In an interesting roll reversal, Dunleavy finds herself the center of attention, and Taro finds himself considered 'plain' by the islanders.This was a rather cute plot device although the explanation as to why Taro was considered plain felt a little flat to me.

This is the third book in the source/shield trilogy, and while its not a five star read, it was just what I was in the mood for.... Light amusing romantic fantasy. I particularly like the character of Taro and felt bad for him when he was scorned by the islanders. At times I found the child thief character annoying in a 'scrappy do' third wheel manner.

Overall a cute book. I'll look for more from this author.

I found this third installment in the series to be an oddity. The fantasy elements (the roles of Sources and Shields and their interaction with natural events) are almost entirely absent in this novel. The focus of the book was tracking down the Empress' heir and that gets lost amidst Lee's continued self-examination regarding her changing relationship with her Source Shintaro. To me, this book felt like half a novel because when I reflected on what I'd just read, I realized not much happened to move the whole backstory along. In fact, I think one could skip this novel and await the next without losing any aspect of the underlying story.

As a standalone romance, it's not much (vague references to intimacy) and as a fantasy novel, it disappoints. Hopefully, Moore and/or her editors can make up their minds as to whether they are trying to market this series to fantasy readers (more Source & Shield action please!) or to romance readers (hence the ridiculous covers). I suggest you get this from your library as it's not likely a keeper.

I didn't want to put this book down, even to sleep. I devoured it in one happy gulp, and found Ms. Moore's writing to be engaging as always. I enjoyed the new setting, and I'm interested to see where this story arc is headed.

I adore Taro and Lee. In this book, their relationship finally evolves to the next level, but Lee thinks his interest in her is fleeting. I'm slightly astonished that Lee doesn't realize how much Taro loves her, even though he's never said so, but I think it's consistent with her character. She 'notices' things in the world, like physical details, but she's rather divorced from her own emotions. I knew she was in love with him in the first book, even when she pretended not to like him. To me, it's plain as day that Taro looks on Lee as his center and his anchor. He spent his childhood in utter isolation and neglect; he learned his charming persona as a means of coping with a world that bewildered him. For all his beauty, he needs someone who knows him and -still- loves him. Acceptance and belonging is what he craves above all else, and Lee offers that. No matter what she thinks, he isn't going to walk away from that casually.

Taro is one of my favorite fantasy heroes of all time. By turns charming, petulant, passionate and tender, he delights me. Lee makes a fabulous foil for him, and I truly enjoyed the interesting juxtaposition during this book. I thought Taro steadied up quite a lot whereas Lee became more emotional. I can't wait to see how this shift affects them once they get back to 'normal' life, since they aren't a 'normal' pair anymore. I'm also tremendously intrigued by the new abilities they're manifesting, and I'm eager to see what exactly they can do (and what the world will make of their talents).

Sidenote -- I do think Aryne will have some important role to play in future books.

This series just keeps getting better. For those of you who are new to this author, this is the third book in the "Hero" series. The writing is light with a dry/wry sense of humor. I laughed out loud at certain parts. For me, the core of this series is the relationship between Lee and Karish. The plot line of having them be on an Island where Lee is considered beautiful and Karish plain, was a great opportunity to explore their relationship in a new way.There was less fantasy/magical elements and no clear villain. But this did not detract in anyway from the pleasure of this wonderful book. Again, Lee and Karish' relationship is the heart of this, IMHO. I look forward to another book from this author. However from the authors website, the draft of the 4th book is not due to the publisher till Dec 2008. So we will likely have to wait till mid 2009 to read the next installment. I wish we could get it sooner!

Strange, meandering, and ultimately not very interesting follow up to two much better books. I've enjoyed this series and was quite put off by this entry - it doesn't seem to belong to the same narrative arc.

Aside from that, which others have covered in their reviews, I found myself quite annoyed with the persistent idiocy of narrator, Lee, which felt like a contrivance on the part of an insecure author. It is simply not credible that Lee could spend most of her waking hours with Taro, grow to care deeply for him, and yet remain obdurately convinced that he is a shallow, dissipated womanizer when it is clear that he is nothing of the sort. In this book, far more than the previous two, I felt as though the author was forcing her character to act (or more accurately, think) like an idiot because allowing her to grow naturally would interfere with some master plan on the author's part. Very strange, really. Lee's almost Asperger-like affect has always been a bit hard to believe, but in this book it's simply bizarre.

I'll read the next one, and keep my fingers crossed for a better book that doesn't drop the most interesting element (the sword-shield partnership) and that allows its characters more believable emotional development.

I was so excited about the release of the third volume of the "Heroes" series. I LOVED the first two, and I hoped that there would be more development in Lee and Taro's relationship. There was, but it was just touched on, and I really enjoyed that part, but then it seemed glossed over, so their relationship again seemed vague and uncertain, making me miss the playful banter Taro and Lee always had. Also, this new storyline doesn't follow the other two: don't expect it to concentrate on Sources and Shields. Instead, it focuses on looking for the Empress's long-lost heir, but even that seemed to take a back seat until the later part of the book. Lee's characteristics also seemed to have changed- she wears her emotions more on her sleeves now, and a lot angrier, which is good, but it seemed a bit too sudden for me. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I was a little lost as to where the author was heading because I was in unfamiliar territory with the setting and the new relationship developments. As the other reviewers say, I hope that this is just a transition into another book, and I'm looking forward to the fourth!

Sequel to Resenting the Hero and The Hero Strikes Back. The series may not inspire passion, but it's a fun diversion.

Here we have the further fabulous adventures of Lee and Taro, this time in a traveling circus in Skimpy Clothes Land! You think I make this up? Oh, no. (The cover really, REALLY makes no sense. Lee doesn't play pirate wench ever.) This book continues the pattern of Lee being insecure in their relationship and denying her true feelings for Taro, who's still a nice, pretty, apparently incorruptible guy. Because Taro's so dang stable and trustworthy, the pair is charged with heading off to a tropical island to find out what happened to a missing heir of the Empire. And once they get there, there's some funny culture shock so they join a traveling circus because they need the money/support (as essentially government workers, Pairs have always gotten room, board, food, clothing, and stuff free on the mainland, but the islands don't believe in such things) and Lee is a pretty spiffy bar dancer. (Not those bars.) Taro is actually considered unattractive by the islanders which amuses Lee to no end. The poor boy never does get a break from being misunderstood. Oh, and they gain a child. But that's a long story so you should read the book for it. Once again fun; once again fluffy. I am curious to see how the changes that happened here in existing relationships will pan out in any future books.

I enjoy the characters and the world Moira Moore has created in this series. I especially like the writing for Lee - she's written with a lot of warmth and humor - and this book was no exception.

That being said, this story seemed very contrived and predictable. I put together the puzzle before the main characters did and it frustrated me that they were missing the obvious.

I also thought the romantic tension between Lee and Taro was really lacking in this book. While it's never been the primary focus of the series, the romantic relationship between them barely got any attention and frankly didn't make my pulse race any faster when it did.

Still, I enjoyed reading about the characters and finding out what happened. I'm going to go check out the 4th book and see if it's any better.