Review by Munkey824 -- Zona: The Forbidden Land

[Munkey824]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Zona: The Forbidden Land" by Fred G. Baker.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Zona: The forbidden Land by Fred G. baker is a Sci-fi novel that follows American geologist, Grant Taylor, on his journey to uncover the truth about his uncle’s disappearance during an expedition in Siberia. After his uncle Randall is declared dead, Grant inherits his estate in St. Petersburg, Russia. While working on settling his uncle’s estate with the assistance of Irina Ustinov, the niece of Boris Ustinov, Grant discovers there is more to Randall’s disappearance than originally reported. In the search for the truth, he is drawn into a recovery expedition with untrustworthy companions to the unknown lands of Zona in the northernmost part of Siberia. While on his journey to find his uncle, Grant will be confronted with dangerous animals, unbelievable phenomena, make unlikely friends and find romance.

The Book has a lot of great aspects such as being well- written and edited with good character development. There were no noticeable spelling or grammar errors and the overall flow of the novel was good. The beginning really built up the mystery and adventure of the story and the action was enthralling as the story progressed. Coming from an anthropology background, the subtly added Russian and cultural facts and perspectives were a pleasant surprise and well-incorporated. The Zona lands were well-developed and enticing due to the authors detailed and descriptive writing style. He has created a place that truly entices the imagination and draws the reader in.

While there were numerous aspects that I enjoyed about this book there were a few aspects I found lacking. The beginning of the novel really builds up a grand adventurous mystery full of thrill that I feel was never fully realized. Being told to trust no one, secret agents, redacted files, government cover-ups and hidden keys all implied a greater mystery than just unknown lands. All the build-up almost felt pointless by the end. As the story progresses, Grant loses motivation and drive which led to the pace of the story slowing down. I found myself losing interest as grant lost motivation. At times, Grant’s responses seem naive and a bit dull for his implied intelligence.

Overall, I would rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. The conclusion was underwhelming, but overall the book was entertaining and well-written. I hope that if there is a second installment for this series that the author follows up on a lot of the loose ends that the build up in the beginning created. In general, I think this book is a good read for anyone that enjoys adventures and exploring unknown territories. The action scenes are great, the characters are interesting, and the world he creates is vivid.

This book is definitely not for anyone who cannot handle violence or mild eroticism. The action scenes are very descriptive with some being very gruesome. There are no graphic erotic scenes but there is a lot of sexual exploration. I would advise anyone who is not comfortable with non-heterosexual relationships to also be weary. The author does explore other types of sexuality, such as bisexual and lesbian relations. Though there is graphic violence and mild eroticism throughout the book the author does not utilize any vulgar language.

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Zona: The Forbidden Land
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[Bigwig1973]

Your opening paragraph provides a really nice summary of the book!