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I think the consumption of alcohol was the cause of all the fighting. With the consumption of alcohol they did not always make the right decisions combating the other obstacles.

Alcohol abuse. Though human weaknesses are innate, we as humans have the power to control them. Since alcohol impairs judgement, it made them unable to control themselves and thus failed to uphold themselves to the standard of discipline and restraint needed for the mission.

I agree with you. I feel alcohol consumption was the primary reason which made their journey harder. I haven't thought about it that way though before coming across this forum

I think there were several issues that impeded the expedition: alcohol, trust issues, poor planning, jealousy, and competitives.

I don't think alcohol, by itself, was the problem. The problem is the version of them that comes out when they drink and that using alcohol was just a way of escaping or releasing such versions. Also, as someone else mentioned before I am a bit conflicted is this was just made to perpetuate a stereotype.

I also believe that alcohol may have been the main obstacle in their expedition. Lack of trust and selfishness we're brought out by the fact that they were not willing to share.

I think wild animals were one of the major obstacles, while the ego of some of them was another big obstacle.

It's strange. I had a friend as a child whose dad could drink beer, I think pretty much all day, and not get violent or aggressive. But, if he drank whiskey, any kind of whiskey I was told or it was implied, he would get aggressive. I don't think other hard liquor had the same effect on him. I'm assuming, because most in his family had a few drinks on the weekend and because they also likely mixed drinks from the same bottle, that he was the only one affected in this manner. I wondered if something similar was going on in this book, except with vodka. It seems that the writer didn't necessarily rule it out as a possibility. As to it being the largest obstacle, what about fear? If they hadn't been so afraid of the wolves, then things might have turned out better (or not). I think the cold also would be a tremendous factor - when you're cold you have to keep active - that might cause people to be in a mood more conducive to violent behavior.

The_Vivian wrote: ↑01 Jul 2020, 16:17 Alcohol may have been one of their obstacles, but in my opinion, I think the largest of all was the lack of trust amongst them. If they had trusted each other, the alcohol would have been a minor obstacle.

Agreed totally.
The alcohol was an obstacle alright. If they had not been drinking though, they would have shown their lack of trust with something else, as this, was their main issue.

I didn't have a problem with the novel having alcohol in it, but I do think it caused a lot of problems. Or it at least amplified them, along with Zona already amplifying emotions, drinking alcohol must've multiplied the amplification further, if that makes sense. It was almost a vicious circle, where the area's effect on their emotions really pushed them towards stealing the alcohol, and that in turn made their emotions even worse.

Lack of open communication, people who thought they knew better and did whatever the hell they wanted, basically human stupidity as demonstrated by Igor and his group.

I just finished reading the book and I am about to write my review. I believe that the mixture of the Zona pheromones and the alcohol was the biggest impediment to the travelers. As we all know, doctors often advise against consuming alcohol while taking medications and the same could be applied here. Had they stopped drinking, they would have been better able to defend themselves and there would have been no mutiny, etc.

I agree with you on that. Even though they had doubts about each other, the alcohol only worsened it.

Alcohol was the biggest obstacle in the expedition. Initially I thought the biggest obstacle would be the strangely large wild animals.

I think the whole alcohol situation was a crucial part of the plot.