Coming Attractions: Heroes Return

Moira J Moore's Heroes Return is the latest in the story of Lee and Taro on a planet far far away.  The planet has subsided from science fiction into fantasy since its colonization, and now various forms of magic form much of Lee's research interests.  This is the fifth book in their story, and my enthusiasm dwindled a lot in the second and third.  I saw this book on the New Shelf at the library and picked it up on a whim; it was slightly improved but not enough for me to seek out the next books.

At the books core is the relationship between the heroes; Lee is emotionally naive and clings to rationality while Taro is all flighty and pretty and falsely shallow, but somehow they have found love.  In this book some Bad People try to pry them apart by making Taro jealous, but nothing really comes of it.  Lee experiments a bit with spells, but we don't learn anything.  Taro's mother continues to make trouble, but nothing comes of it. The Emporer has some nefarious plot against them, but nothing comes of it.  The book feels like a launching pad for the next bit of the series, but it doesn't have enough substance to stand on its own.  C