Sunday, December 29, 2013

Far Shore - Love is Salvation - Book Three by Traci L. Slatton

Far Shore: Love is Salvation – Book Three.  Traci L. Slatton. Parvati Press. October 2013. 252 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780989023276.

“Non-existent scrims of vibration” are the key to the mists now threatening the extinction of mankind anew in this final book of “The After Series” trilogy.  Before they can be eliminated, however, there are human obstacles to overcome.  Ironically, the mists will be part of the solutions to each indomitable force obstructing success.  Each person in this story is developing new powers from the mists’ presence and has to learn to use them for the best of the community. 

Initially, however, Emma, our heroine, makes a very difficult decision, a choice that will affect her entire future and that of the family she has come to love. For now Emma has a singular mission, to heal two friends, one of whom is completely broken by another human. At the same time, the mists are acting strangely, actually surrounding crowds of travelers in the shape of a lasso and many who are touched by the mists are losing their minds.  Emma’s healing powers will evolve in a totally new way, for better or worse yet to tell.

When Emma and Arthur again meet, he shows ambivalent feelings toward Emma for a totally logical reason as well as the suffering he has endured which has left him a very angry man. They share some very feisty dialogue indeed. Alexei, their enemy, as well undergoes a transformation that the reader must decide is credible or not as the plot thickens and Emma’s reactions to him as well are startling.

Emma is quite an anti-clique person, something the reader should note as the plot progresses.  Once she has been part of a rescue or healing event, she remains totally devoted to those who have entered her world.  The unique quality of this final novel is how love plays out in very, very unexpected ways that are notably profound not only for the characters but for those who are forming new Safe Zone communities. Their ability to unite these qualities is the key to the ultimate quest which is, after all is said and done, to conquer the mists!

Far Shore… is a well-crafted finale to a notable sci-fi story.  Traci Slatton doesn’t reduce the story to a simple good guy-bad guy scenario and leaves the reader again with questions about evolving relationships, powers of the mind and spirit, and what it takes to live with each person’s virtues and vices and all the foibles in between.  Science and humans are dynamic, emerging phenomena with whom the reader will engage in intelligent, engaging steps throughout this highly recommended novel!


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