Title: Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone
Have you ever traveled to a foreign country? If so,
do you remember how different it felt, and some of the local customs felt
strange? Imagine visiting a foreign planet. In Lynne’s Murray’s novel Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone,
which is a science-fiction comedy with just the right amount of erotica,
Val-Sybilla (better known as Sybil) finds herself in that very situation.
While making a trip to transport a shipment of “Gravitas,”
a powerful aphrodisiac within the Ritual Jewelry that the powerful women of the
planet Valkyries wear, she and her companions stop at a market, where, to her
horror, she finds her first (and favorite) husband Josu, chained and being offered
for sale. Determined to find out the truth about what happened to Josu, she enters
a ritualistic meditation state to conjure up the three (very interesting and
diverse) “demons” who live in her head. When her meditation is interrupted by
Gelbraves, a loutish delegate from a rival planet, they both, along with Josu,
fall into a portal that makes them crash-land in the Forbidden Zone (known to
us as “Earth.”).
One of my favorite parts of this novel is the witty
dialogue. Although Sybil’s clueless culture shock is endearing, she turns out
to be confident and resourceful as she attempts to figure out a way to return
to Valkyries before the load of Gravitas that she is still carrying overwhelms
her to the point that she can’t focus. I will have to add that the effect of the
Gravitas on Sybil’s mental state is a tad underplayed, but readers will get
that it is slowly having a debilitating effect on her and especially her “demons,”
who are still trapped in her mind.
Valkyries is a matriarchal society. Women hold the positions
of power. The women of Valkyries are polyandrous; they are not only encouraged
but expected to have multiple husbands (even though Sybil briefly hints that
she would prefer a monogamous marriage with Josu).Although Gravitas does have a feminist theme, this theme is presented very
matter-of-factly so it’s not “in-your-face” and doesn’t appear to have a hidden
agenda.
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy/Comedy
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