Rating: 
Summary: Early books are the best in Gor Series
Review: I read the Gor series as a boy in the 70's and early 80's. IMHO the series is most appealing to teenage boys. I recently pulled "Assassins of Gor" off the shelf one night while bored, and re-read it. I was shocked that there was no real sex, and only a handful of pages of philosophy and psychology that I had to skip over. The book was really excellent, although in a straight forward, uncomplicated sort of way. These are escapist novels, richly detailed, which immerse you in an exotic world, not real thinkers. My enduring memories were of the later books in the series, which were almost unreadable because whole chapters were devoted to philosophy and psychology.I am not offended by the idea that it is natural and enjoyable for women to be submissive to men. Although I recognize it as wish fulfillment fantasy, still I consider it harmless, especially in such an obviously fictitious setting. I even found it mildly interesting the first time it was mentioned. It is the umpteenth repetition that I find boring. I just turn those pages, skipping ahead to the next action sequence. Speaking of wish fulfillment, I wish someone would edit the series, and re-publish it without these parts. Maybe Eric Flint could do it? He likes to edit, according to his afterword to "1633" and he's good at it. Of course, if you take the sex out of Gor you get Barsoom, and that story has already been written. I looked on Amazon to see if there was anything new going on with the series, and there was. It is being reprinted, starting at the beginning, and at least 2 new books seem to be published, or at least in the works. I was disappointed though that Amazon didn't have the whole series listed under one easy to find heading. I guess there are, after all, millions of books and only so many Amazon employees. So I'm listing the series, in order, along with some brief info. Some of these books I haven't read, as noted. 1.) Tarnsman of Gor - 1966. Earthman, Tarl Cabot, goes to another planet, hidden on the opposite side of our sun, and becomes a master swordsman and Warrior. This is the book that is most like "Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which I highly recommend. Note - in my copy, a 1975 reprint, the 1966 copyright is held by John Lange. Makes me wonder if Norman isn't a pen name. 2.) Outlaw... - 1967. Tarl Cabot returns to Gor, to find he's been outlawed. 3.) Priest-Kings... - 1968. Tarl Cabot goes to lair of Priest-Kings to clear his name. 4.) Nomads... - 1969. Tarl Cabot goes to Southern Plains, and meets Mongol type nomads. 5.) Assassin... - 1970. Tarl Cabot returns to Ar, greatest city-state on Gor. Note - this is the first copy I have by Del Rey books, and it has cover art by Boris. I may not like reading about the Gorean philosophy on sexual roles for men and women, but I can't get enough of Boris' artwork depicting it. 6.) Raiders... - 1971. Tarl Cabot goes to Port Kar, pirate capitol of scum and villainy, and learns the meaning of shame. More Boris art on the cover of the Del Rey edition. 7.) Captive... - 1972. A new character, Elinor Brinton, is captured on Earth and becomes a slave girl on Gor. The first time this is done, it may be slightly creative and a little interesting, but it is a radical departure from the earlier books and I consider it to be the beginning of the end. At least Tarl Cabot has a few pages at the end, which sort of tie this book into the rest of the series. This is also the last book published by Ballantine books, which I think is significant in the content and direction of the rest of the series. 8.) Hunters... - 1974. Tarl Cabot goes to the Northern Forest and meets amazon type women. This seems to be the first time there was a break in John Norman's writing, undoubtedly related to his switch to Daw books as a publisher. 9.) Marauders... - 1975. Tarl Cabot goes to the land of the Norsemen and meets Viking type Marauders. 10.) Tribesmen... - 1976. Tarl Cabot goes to the Tahari desert. 11.) Slave Girl... - 1977. Earth girl Judy Thornton enslaved on Gor. Again. No Tarl Cabot at all. 12.) Beasts... - 1978. Tarl Cabot goes to the Arctic ice pack and meets Eskimo type people. 13.) Explorers... - 1979. Tarl Cabot goes to the equatorial rain forests. 14.) Fighting Slave... - 1980. Earthman John Marshall is enslaved and forced to fight in a pit on Gor. 15.) Rogue... - 1981. John Marshall wanders free on Gor. 16.) Guardsman... - 1981. John Marshall earns a homeland. 17.) Savages... - 1982. Tarl Cabot goes to the great plains and meets American Indian type savages. Note - If you like this, John Norman also wrote "Ghost Dance" in 1970, a similar type story about real American Indians. I'm impressed that he kept the writing schedule he did on the Gor novels, and still wrote other books on the side. He also wrote "Time Slave" in 1975. 18.) Blood Brothers... - unread. Savages and Blood Brothers are a two-part set. I read Savages and was bored when it just petered out at the end with no dramatic climax. So I didn't buy Blood Brothers. Now I hear that this book has all that and more, oh well. 19.) Kajira... - unread. Another Slave girl story. 20.) Players... - 1984. Tarl Cabot joins the Carnival. 21.) Mercenaries... - 1985. Tarl Cabot returns to Ar again. 22.) Dancer... - unread. Another Slave Girl novel? This is where I stopped even looking in the bookstore. 23.) Vagabonds... - unread. 24.) Magicians... - 1988, unread. 25.) Witness... - 2002, unread. I read on amazon that this is a story about Marlenus (or possibly Tarl?) with amnesia, told by a slave girl. 26.) Prize... - unread. It seems that this is not yet published, but forthcoming.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad, Just Not Great
Review: Tarl Cabot is an Englishman who has recently moved to America to teach British History at a small US University. When he goes camping one weekend, he has no idea that his adventure is going to be more than he could ever imagine. It all starts with an unusual envelope that magically appears at Tarl's campfire. When Tarl opens it, he finds a letter from his father, whom he never knew, asking him to bring a handful of earth with him when he comes. Tarl is not sure what is going on, but he knows that he wants no part of it. He tries to run away, but soon finds himself back at his campsite where he started. Resigned to the inevitable, he boards the ship that comes for him and awakens on a hard table in some kind of tower. His father tells him tha he is on Gor, a counter-Earth that is ruled by the mysterious Priest-Kings who bring Earthlings to their planet from time to time. Tarl is quickly thrown into training to become a tarnsman, one of the world's warriors who ride the tarns - great winged birds who can be deadly to anyone, even their own riders. After several weeks of intense training, his father informs him that his mission is to travel to the city of Ar, the enemy of his father's city, and steal the home stone, or symbol of the city so that the citizens of Ar will overthrown Marlenus, the ruler of Ar. Tarl manages to do so, though in an unusual way and accidentally kidnaps one of Marlenus' daughters, Talena, who is a real shrew. Tarl manages to lose his tarn and all he has is his wits and Talena, who won't leave him. It is here that Tarl's adventure really begins as he is forced to fight his fellow men, find a way to rescue Talena, recapture his tarn who has gone feral, try to keep Marlenus from killing him, and keep the deaths down to as small a number as possible... As a rule, I usually enjoy books where someone from earth is transported to an alternate dimension where they are called upon to accomplish some great feat or quest, but this one seemed pretty lackluster to me. I know that it is important for the reader to have some background into Gor, but I felt that that author threw it all at the reader in the first couple of chapters and then the action started. I also found the idea that women are happiest when they are slaves to a strong man to be really distasteful and cannot imagine a woman as proud and as strong willed as Talena buying into the philosophy either. Still, it was an okay read, but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it to others.
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