Review: Forever: the Final Book of the Fins Trilogy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 14, 2012
Loyal readers admire a well-crafted trilogy. Themes and storylines are enduring. Protagonists are tested, time and again, and interesting new characters and sometimes villains keep showing up. A trilogy is the sign of a serious reader, one with commitment to follow an author's cause.Such is the case of Ashley Knight'sForever, which is Book III of her Fins Trilogy.This reader started with herFins - Book I of the Fins Trilogy, and as noted in my review of that debut novel, it was not my normal genre of choice. The overall topic of mermaids and merpeople was personally fascinating from a mythological perspective with a personal beginning with the roots of the early folklore. But there had been something compelling about the author's story of Morgan and Thayde, which had begun on Central Florida's Treasure Coast in the first book of the trilogy. And in that fast paced young adult novel for fantasy readers, it was the author's well-crafted word and sentences that were so captivating.Ms. Knight's subsequentFathom, or Book II of the Fins Trilogy, began with the unlikely setting of New York City, as Morgan and Thayde started their life together as students at Columbia University. Book II had a darker feel in the beginning, with Morgan's powers seeming to be taking a murky turn, and with Thayde seeming to surrender to an illness. But as in the first book, there were surprises where one would least expected them, where Ms. Knight would burst out with a sentence or a paragraph that would jolt the reader with how well she writes from the heart when in familiar territory.As far as trilogies go, the third time is not necessarily a charm. As a highly prominent example of this, we can switch to film and look to the 1997 movie "Home Alone 3," where a good theme was overworked and made so poorly that it was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst Remake or Sequel."Fortunately for us, Ashley Knight'sForeverdoesn't fall into that category. Book III opens with Morgan reading from a new entry in her diary as she embarks on the journey of her marriage to Thayde. They are spending their honeymoon in the Polynesian paradise of Moorea, where ostensibly nothing can go wrong. Both Morgan and Thayde are more mature than in the previous books, as we see adult passions expressed more realistically, yet artfully presented here. But things as seemingly simple as a tattoo and a past oath become the catalysts for a number of events that involve new characters and old one from the previous books.Soon we are back in Florida's Vero Beach, at the location where Morgan's relationship with Thayde began, but it's a somber setting, with Morgan finding her young half-sister in a bad state. And despite Morgan being The Link, she may not be able to cure the problem. Ruthless forces are gathering within the seas, and life for the merpeople may never be as it once was.There are complexities in this book that put it a few steps above the previous books in this trilogy, and we find the relationship between Thayde and Morgan being strained. Then we find a new disruptive element that had not been added before: vampires.Throughout the ever-changing backdrop of this novel, we find Ms. Knight's descriptive words adding to the dimension to this tale. There are parts where her expressive eloquence takes over and adds to the realism of the story line.  Then we find her sometimes-dark wit peeking through in ways that will make one stop and read the paragraph again, knowing that it was based on first-hand experiences. This is one of those examples:"A wonderful thing about Floridian nights is the warmth that embraces you when you step outside. The irritating thing for those with sweet blood is that they are instantly bombarded by savage mosquitos set on draining their victims dry. But those fortunate enough to steer clear of the needle wielding parasites are left free of performing a one hit jig made popular back in the 1920's to get away from them."It's impossible to look atForeverwithout considering it to be an essential part of this Trilogy, and for those looking at this book, it would be strongly suggested that the reader start from Book I to be able to fully understand all of the nuances in this one, which in this reader's opinion is the best of the Trilogy. And I'll be the first to admit that I might have been lost without having read the earlier books.A comparison to this would be in William Faulkner's celebratedSnopes Trilogy, with its three novels published over a thirty year span (The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion). Start with the last book and it would be impossible to fully appreciate a chronicle that stands as perhaps the greatest feat of this celebrated author's incomparable imagination and one of the greatest trilogies of the 20th century.As a contrast, there is currently another trilogy, the bestselling Fifty Shades series, in which the female protagonist is a vapid, boring individual, so wrapped up in herself and going on about her "inner goddess," with repetitive exclamations of "holy crap!" and "Oh, my!" throughout the trilogy. One is reminded of some bad ninth-grade level Twilight fanfiction, which is where it had its literary origins... with a record number of product placements added.A small side note regarding the Kindle editions of this trilogy: all three of these have been formatted beautifully, and are a pleasure to read on this device. The only criticism that I have as a reader is that I would like to see a real hyperlinked table of contents in them, and hope that in future editions this would be added by the publisher.As a reader, I'm thankful that Ashley Knight knows how to express herself better than many of her peers, has a vocabulary, and obviously know how to use it. There are some flat spots in each of the volumes within this Fins Trilogy, but each book has been better and had more depth than the previous one.Foreveris the best of the series, but for new readers, it's highly advised that one starts with the first book of the Fins Trilogy... you won't be disappointed.8/14/2012