"Resenting the Hero" and "The Hero Strikes Back" by Moira J. Moore

[meganbmoore]

This fantasy duology (through I'm assuming there will be more in time) is set in a world loosely based on 18^th century England and Europe where people called Sources have the ability to stave off natural disasters(and, as we learn in the books, are starting to be able to control and affect nature in other ways, too).  Since they tend to have the forces of nature ripping through their bodies when they do that, they require Shields to protect them so they won't die.  Sources and Shields both are usually detected at an early age and are noticeable by their speech patterns and emotional states-Sources tend to have random speech patterns that almost sound like madness as children, whereas Shields tend to have blunt, monotone speech patterns and suppressed emotions. 

 

Any Shield can guard any Source, but the best matches are Paired Sources and Shields, people who have an instant bond when they meet.  Once bonded, you're bonded for life and when one dies, so does the other.  Most Pairs  have amiable, friendly relationships and live their own lives, some outright despise each other and occasionally Pairs develop a more than "working" relationship.  So that their talents won't be monopolized for the rich, all the Sources and Shields fall under the care of the government...it's law that any Source or Shield must be provided with any food, clothing, shelter or anything else they require for no cost, while Sources and Shields are required to work without pay and thus are unable to own any property.  As a result, Sources and Shields are essentially slaves that appear to be mooches because they seem to be given everything they could want, but really, they don't have anything of their own.

The heroine of the story, Shield Dunleavy "Lee" Mallorough is the daughter of merchants and wants nothing more but to be Paired with a nice, sensible Source and live a quiet life.  Instead she gets Shintaro "Taro" Karish, a supposedly hedonistic aristocrat known as the Stallion of the Triple S(Source and Shield Service) who has a tendency to make everyone he meets fall in love with him.  They get assigned to High Scape, a city with so many natural disasters that it requires seven Pairs, on rotation, to keep things under control while other cities, if they even require a Pair, only have one, two at the most.  Throughout the books they battle fangirls (and boys), assassins, psychotic Sources, bitter Shields, cults who think ritual sacrifice of aristocrats is the way to go, and their mothers.

The books and characters are very fun and interesting, and all the flaws can pretty much be attributed to "first book" syndrome (I'd love to see what the author does with this world after getting a few more books under her belt)  The only frustrating bit is Lee's persistence in believing the worst about Taro's sex life, even after she's come to care about him.  Less than a hundred pages into the first book, it's obvious that, while no monk, he doesn't exactly deserve his reputation, yet between the first and second book(and about a year for them in between, I believe) her opinion only changes from "shameless hedonist" to "slut," no matter how many reasons Taro gives her to believe otherwise.  I honestly can't help but think most of their communication problems would be solved if Taro were to just grab a sack of provisions, toss Lee over his shoulder and lock the two of them in a bedroom for a week.