Gravitas
Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone
By
Lynne Murray
Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone is a quick reading science fiction/fantasy novelette that
is terrifically entertaining. Lynne Murray has managed to weave a fine story line that includes
sex, and pheromone-based sex appeal, female-v-male dominance, male disrespect/abuse of
women, and the social pressure on modern women to adhere to an unrealistic physical image
prescribed by modern culture.
Val-Sybilla is the sworn Protector of the Mother Clan and Personal Security Officer to the
Valkyrian delegation to an interplanetary conference to negotiate slavery issues. On the planet
Valkyrie, females are dominant as are the Valkyries of Norse mythology. Val-Sybilla is also the
carrier of the Valkyrian Ritual Jewelry in which is stored a powerfully intoxicating Valkyrian
female sex pheromone known as Gravitas. When Val-Sybilla runs afoul of an abusive
Roggarian delegate who accidentally becomes sexually intoxicated with her Gravitas, a chain of
events is inadvertently put in motion centered around the sale, management and safe-keeping of
the Gravitas contained in the Ritual Jewelry. The story is complicated by issues involving ex-
husbands, infatuated male-dominant Roggarians, interplanetary warfare and armed robbery…all
carried out in the Forbidden Zone…the planet Earth.
All of the Valkyrian characters are likeable. The Roggarian diplomat, Gelbrave, is not very
likeable but he is a product of his culture and eventually begins a transformation into a more
likeable character. One is never sure whether to trust Feeney, and it is never revealed just what
Feeney is doing on Earth.
The text is fairly free of editing errors, although I did note three or four minor issues. On the
whole, Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone is an entertaining quick paced read for science
fiction/fantasy fans; one that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
5-STARS, Clabe Polk
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