Anyone read any of these? Thoughts? Opinions? Recommendations?
John Norman's Gor Series
- Thread starter JeffinOakland
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I read about a half dozen of them in the early 70s when I was 10-12 years old. My parents used to buy them for me, assuming that all SF and Fantasy was kid stuff. 
I remember a couple of interesting ideas, like a swimming pool that was actually a living organism, but other than that (and, of course, the kinky stuff that was pretty new to a kid), there wasn't much to recommend them.
I remember a couple of interesting ideas, like a swimming pool that was actually a living organism, but other than that (and, of course, the kinky stuff that was pretty new to a kid), there wasn't much to recommend them.
Wow. There really is something for everybody.
Should probably note the page might not be "safe for work" for some people, mild as it is.
I bought the first one back around 1976 or '77, thought it was kind of neat, and took my Christmas card gift money (I was 13 or 14) and bought the next seven or eight books. The weird sex and politics stuff completely pushes out the SF elements after a few books. I actually bought a couple more but struggled to get through them. The books may have been obsessed with sex, but it was a pretty unfun-seeming kind of sex, and anyway the books were full of people speechifying endlessly about sex roles and submission and slavery and whatnot rather than actually doing anything, as I recall. Fortunately the big fantasy and SF boom hit in 1977 and there was a lot of other stuff to read.
I read them as a child too. I really enjoyed the first five of them but I was disappointed at the turn 6 took. Book 7 was from the perspective of a new character so I enjoyed that one but I think it was book 8 that crossed the line for me when an amazon was raped and promptly fell in love with her rapist. So I never read books 8-10.
The main problem with them is that women are either bitches or slaves and by bitches I mean total bitches who would be happier human beings if only some hunk would come along and make them a slave. Books 3-5 were my favourites and I think if they'd stuck with Cabot and Cardwell as a double act I would have stuck with it.
Some of the sci fi elements are still quite fun though.
The main problem with them is that women are either bitches or slaves and by bitches I mean total bitches who would be happier human beings if only some hunk would come along and make them a slave. Books 3-5 were my favourites and I think if they'd stuck with Cabot and Cardwell as a double act I would have stuck with it.
Some of the sci fi elements are still quite fun though.
My grandmother(!) bought me #4, thinking it was something similar to the Tarzan novels (I'm guessing the cover art is what led to that mistake). Since I prefer to read series in order, I waited until I had #1-3... fortunately that meant I was older when I started reading the series. She was mortified when my grandfather got hold of one of them and hit the roof and she realized what kind of books she'd brought into the house.
I've read most of them. And honestly, the repetitious "sermons" are easily ignored, since they don't advance the story. At one point I started counting the semicolons, just to see how long a sentence the author could string out. The longest one I found was somewhere in the vicinity of a page and a half.
I actually know somebody named "Tarl." He was a guy from the science fiction club I belonged to in college, and he said he was always embarrassed when people realized where his name came from, as his parents were Gor fans.
Yeah, that pool was creepy. One of the more interesting ideas was that the Priest Kings were really sentient insects with advanced technology, something that wasn't mentioned much after the fifth book.I read about a half dozen of them in the early 70s when I was 10-12 years old. My parents used to buy them for me, assuming that all SF and Fantasy was kid stuff.
I remember a couple of interesting ideas, like a swimming pool that was actually a living organism, but other than that (and, of course, the kinky stuff that was pretty new to a kid), there wasn't much to recommend them.
Elizabeth Cardwell also appears in #8, #10, and #12.
I seem to remember the Priest-Kings being mysterious figures of unknown origin. Did he actually reveal what they were all about and I'm forgetting? Or maybe I missed that book. At this point, I don't remember which ones I read.
It was in the third book, when Tarl Cabot goes to the Sardar Mountains. If I remember correctly, his original purpose is to confront the Priest Kings about their having sent him home, then brought him back to find his Companion gone and the people of Ko-ro-ba scattered. He subsequently discovers the true nature of the Priest Kings and gets involved in their civil war. The story arc continues throughout books #4 and #5. After that the series veers off in a new direction.
Just for the sake of curiosity i read the Wikipedia page about Gor
What the..?
Edit: I read the page about the author too: this guy is really convinced that if women were slaves of men the world would be a better place.
What the..?
Edit: I read the page about the author too: this guy is really convinced that if women were slaves of men the world would be a better place.
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Figures Norman is a philosophy professor in real life. There have been a lot of news stories about academic philosophy departments having serious sexism problems over the last few years.
Aside from the misogynist stuff, it's quite a fun sci-fi/fantasy world to explore.
I'll never let my daughter read my copies though, and I'll especially never let my son read them.
I'll never let my daughter read my copies though, and I'll especially never let my son read them.
I found this book excerpt in this excellent article about Gor and the Gorean lifestyle:
Chain gang
Fans of John Norman's novels about the planet Gor create virtual and real-life worlds in which women are slaves.
Chain gang
Fans of John Norman's novels about the planet Gor create virtual and real-life worlds in which women are slaves.
^You don't have the one with the tarn races in that stack above (they were in Assassin of Gor).
I remember seeing them on paperback book racks all the time as a teenager.. somehow I'd gotten it into my head they were trash. Probably from some commentary in SF and F magazine. It certainly wasn't the covers as I was happily immersed in ERB's Barsoom at the time.
Well, nobody will ever be able to claim with a straight face that they're anything remotely approaching what you'd call good or even mediocre literature, though they are part of a particular niche in SF/F.
Yeah, I don't remember any of that. I have no idea which volumes I read at this point. Or much else about the series. I remember the creepy pool and something about each clan or caravan having a special home stone or something. And, speaking of slaves, I seem to remember Cabot being made a slave and having to change his name.
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