Rating: Summary: Chasing a Lead Review: I read the Gor books when I was in high school (a million years ago), and when I picked up an old copy for a re-read, I noticed that although the author on the cover was John Norman, the copyright inside said the author was John Lange. So, using my Amazon "search" button, I went in search of the mysterious Mr. Lange - only to find that "John Lange" was an early pen name for none other than Michael Criton. Any Gor fans care to comment? Is the man who brought us "ER" and "Jurassic Park" secretly a bondage-dominance women-are-beasts fetishist??? Won't you join me in believing that this is a relatively juicy possibility?
Rating: Summary: Fantastic Review: This book was the first Gor novel that I read. It was very intriguing and I couldn't put it down. The way Norman describes Tarl Cabot and his progression from Earth man to Gorean Warrior was amazing. Many of the readers are correct in saying that the first several books of the series are based more on action, I enjoyed all of the books, especially Mauraders of Gor. Most of the earlier books focus on one group of people on Gor that are based on Earth cultures. This makes for interesting reading as the customs of Gor are well thought out and impeccably written. Tarnsman of Gor is a great starting place for the fantastic adventures of Gor.
Rating: Summary: The best books i have ever read! Review: It all started with my friend telling me about the Gor books. I started the first one and then i read it the rest of the day during school. To make a LONG story short, the Gor books are by far the best books i have ever read! Everything is described in such rich detail that you will not be able to put the book down! I hope you will ignore most of these other stupid entries because the Gor books are the best series! You will be emersed in a world of fighting clans and wonderfully described battles and raids on helpless towns and peasants! I am serious, buy one and read them becasue Gor is the best book i have ever read! The series only gets better in my opinion, and when i want your opinion, ill give it to you! you: "they are the best books ever!"
Rating: Summary: awesome beginning to a great series Review: This book, the first of the series is simply engrossing.True norman has a obvious bias which put off a lot of feminists but he is just trying to show how the people of gor think because their civilization cannot advance beyond a certain point because of the control of the priest kings. And in this pimitive seting where brute strength rules, it is pretty obvious that women will be treated as inferior and that is what norman does.For those people who wonder why the character of tarl cabot changes to become a torally different man after the first few books it is simply because he is influenced by the society he lives in and john norman does a great job of showing the transformation of tarl cabot.
Rating: Summary: The one reasonably good book John Norman ever wrote. Review: I *liked* Tarnsman of Gor, which led me to read the rest of the series. However, it was ruined for me by John Norman's obvious prejudices-- primarily his apparently completely sincere belief that women are inherently inferior to men. Tarnsman, however, was set before Tarl Cabot started adopting Norman's beliefs. :) My advice to readers is to read Tarnsman and *forget* the rest of the series.
Rating: Summary: Passable Review: Very good... as escapist fiction goes. However, I don't understand the obsessiveness with which the fans of the series behave. An interesting read, but should come with the caveat "Don't try this at home," considering the author's obvious biases on certain issues.
Rating: Summary: Good, Not Great Review: I was somewhat disappointed in the first book of the series. I first stumbled upon Gor in a used bookstore several years ago while browsing. I picked up Nomads of Gor and thought what the heck, I'll give it a try. I couldn't put it down! It was simply the most exciting, best book I had ever read. Since then I have reread it several times and even though I think Assassin is the best book of the series, Nomads is my favorite. I ended up reading 5 or 6 of the other books before I finally found the first 3 through Amazon. Starting with Raiders, the series dramatically begins to slide downhill. Its almost as if Tarl Cabot is a totally different man after the first 5 books. Character development is always good, but Norman went about it much too quickly. You are suddenly thrown from a hero who is honorable and just and has hope to someone gloomy and spiteful who has none and who rambles on and on about how he wishes he was like he once was for pages and pages at a time. And enough already of the men/women roles of Gor. Nomads and Assassin had enough to make it interesting, but there's no sense filling up a hundred pages of a book about it when the readers have known the situation for the last 10 or 15 books. The high content of BDSM has ruined the series for me. I admit that that was one of the things that intrigued me and made the series enjoyable at first. It was a great change from all the politically correct BS these days, but enough is enough! All the later books don't suck. Marauders, Explorers, and Tribesmen are good, but in no way compare to the first 5, expecially 4 and 5. Norman doesn't even include the Tarl Cabot saga in some of the later books. They are all about an earth woman or man coming to Gor and being thrust into the social differences of Gor and Earth and include pages of rambling that we learned in-THE FIRST 5 BOOKS! I finally got to read Tarnsman after I had become disallusioned with the series and couldn't wait! Here was the old Tarl Cabot again, the one that had made me love Gor with his adventures. It was good, but not as good as I had expected. I think I had simply hyped it up too much with myself. I understand it was the first book in the series, so of course the books should grow from there, but it wasn't as realistic as it could have been. For one thing it was too short. In some of the novels Norman will build up a big scene or the ending with flourish. In Tarnsman it seemed like everything just happened too fast. It should have went deeper into Tarl's training with weapons for afterall, he was to become one of the greatest swordsmen on Gor. His relatonship with Talena proceeded too quickly also. She went from hating him to loving him just like that, it seemed, in a very short time. And what was up with the talking spider? That was just plain corny, I thought. Overall, a descent story. It could have been much better. If you've never read any of the other novels you may enjoy this a great deal. It's a good start to some great stories. Do read this though, and all the books in the series if you can. It's still a great series, even though toward the end you may get disgusted with it like I have. Tarnsman, Outlaw, Priest-Kings, Nomads, and Assassin are great books, at times simply awesome. I've heard rumors that Norman is coming out with a new book entitled Witness of Gor. Hopefully it will continue the adventures of Tarl Cabot. I'd like to see the Others finally vanquished or at least some conclusion reached. Neverthess, John Norman remains one of my favorite authors, if not THE favorite, simply for his great writing in the early novels.
Rating: Summary: This is A terrific book! Review: I enjoyed this Book very much. It was soo good that it had me reading it for 5 hours strait at one time. John Norman really know how to right Sci-Fi books. To that guy that said that the way the Gor series has been adopted by BDSM and how it's degenerating, I don't think that he know what he is talking about because I role play in those place. All it is having fun using your imagination. Everything we do is based on the Books. Some things have had to change obviosly becuase it's on the Internet. But for the most part it's the same except there are real people saying the stuff. Anyways, I recommend this book to anyone...even if you don't like Sci-Fi...it has Romance, suspence and something for everyone.
Rating: Summary: Nice first book in a long series Review: The beginning had me intrigued, after all I myself am a kajira of Gor and serve in a tavern , so this was my way of learning ceratain facts for myself....quiet slow in places..and sometimes a little complicated..would like to have seen more kajira..but on the whole a nice begginning.
Rating: Summary: I wish I were on GOR. Review: This first one is kind of like a cartoon, but the following books become darker and darker as the series goes on.
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