Relationships that rock in sf

Science fiction couples this time:

Theodora and Ran in Doris Egan's Ivory trilogy. She's an anthropology student stranded on his planet; he's the heir to a powerful noble house who wants her to read his fortune. Cultural hijinks ensue. I particularly loved the long wedding period, which required certain rituals to take place at specific intervals, something made difficult whilst the two are off having unexpected adventures.


Cordelia and Aral in Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. Two remarkably capable people on opposing sides open each other's eyes: she discovers that under his horrifying reputation is a man of honor, while he comes to admire her competence and compassion.


Kerk and Jalci in "Blood" by Sharon Shinn (find it in her Quatrain). He's calm, she's confrontational; they live in nearly separate cultures, and yet his search for family and her stalwart defense of her people cause their paths to intersect. I loved how Shinn brought them inevitably closer and closer despite their differences.

Sadly, this was a harder list to compile, mostly because I've read less science fiction than fantasy. I must work on that.

___