Tribesmen of Gor

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 - the 1966 copyright is held by John Lange, the author's real 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, to 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 Jason Marshall is enslaved and forced to fight in a pit on Gor.

15.) Rogue... - 1981. Jason Marshall wanders free on Gor.

16.) Guardsman... - 1981. Jason 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... - 1982. Savages and Blood Brothers are a two-part set. Just recently read this conclusion to Savages. Brings closure to Ubar of the Skies.

19.) Kajira... - unread. Another Slave girl story.

20.) Players... - 1984. Tarl Cabot joins the Carnival. Cos goes to war with Ar.

21.) Mercenaries... - 1985. Tarl Cabot returns to Ar again to try to save it.

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 with amnesia, told by a slave girl.

26.) Prize... - unread. This is not yet published.

Rating:
Summary: Marching Orders
Review: If unregenerat male chauvinism is your dish this fare has a soupcon of militarism plus a dash of puerile fascism, so dig right in
and keep the rollaids handy
Norman is obviously so concerned with the philosophy an practice of mastering women that the story gets short shrift
no great loss sinc our "hero", Tarl Cabot runs his own "Mein Kampf out only until he gets to sit above the salt
Steak it aint, more mutton than mignon you have been warned

Rating:
Summary: Tarl Cabot takes to the Gorean Desert in a "Nomads" rehash
Review: When John Norman began his Chronicles of Counter-Earth with "Tarnsman of Gor," it was clearly modeled on Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series and "A Princess of Mars" (I am talking only in terms of the bare essence of the plot and not the cultural details). Norman then went his own way, with Tarl Cabot's quest to learn the secret of the Priest-Kings and the development of what is now called the Gorean philosophy. But by the time we get to "Tribesman of Gor" the similarity to Burroughs has resurfaced, only this time with regards to the Tarzan novels. By the time Burroughs was into double figures with his series he had the Lord of the Jungle discovering lost civilizations of Crusaders and whatnot, secreted away in the interior of Africa. Now we see that Tarl Cabot, having traveled north to have an adventure with the descendants of transplanted Vikings in "Marauders of Gor," turns this time to the desert of Gor to deal with the descendants of transplanted Bedouins in "Tribesman of Gor."

The Priest-Kings have received a message from the Others to surrender Gor (with the fate of Earth in the balance as well). Tarl Cabot leaves Port Kar to travel to the great desert of the Tahari, where he encounters fierce warrior tribes, slavers, salt mines, and such. There he will encounter as well as woman warlord, whom he will bend to his will, and a bandit chief, whom he will befriend. The only problem is that Tarl Cabot has already been there and done that before, several times, with regards to both of those achievements. Furthermore, we have seen both done better. At its best "Tribesman of Gor" is an attempt to duplicate the success of Norman's most popular Gor novel (from a storytelling standpoint anyway) "Nomads of Gor." When I look back over the second ten books in the series it seems evident now that Norman was losing interest in the series, no doubt plagued by the fact that a new Gor novel had to come out every year when he switched publishers ("The New 1976 Gor Novel!").

Rating:
Summary: Tarl Cabot takes to the Gorean Desert in a "Nomads" rehash
Review: When John Norman began his Chronicles of Counter-Earth with "Tarnsman of Gor," it was clearly modeled on Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series and "A Princess of Mars" (I am talking only in terms of the bare essence of the plot and not the cultural details). Norman then went his own way, with Tarl Cabot's quest to learn the secret of the Priest-Kings and the development of what is now called the Gorean philosophy. But by the time we get to "Tribesman of Gor" the similarity to Burroughs has resurfaced, only this time with regards to the Tarzan novels. By the time Burroughs was into double figures with his series he had the Lord of the Jungle discovering lost civilizations of Crusaders and whatnot, secreted away in the interior of Africa. Now we see that Tarl Cabot, having traveled north to have an adventure with the descendants of transplanted Vikings in "Marauders of Gor," turns this time to the desert of Gor to deal with the descendants of transplanted Bedouins in "Tribesman of Gor."

The Priest-Kings have received a message from the Others to surrender Gor (with the fate of Earth in the balance as well). Tarl Cabot leaves Port Kar to travel to the great desert of the Tahari, where he encounters fierce warrior tribes, slavers, salt mines, and such. There he will encounter as well as woman warlord, whom he will bend to his will, and a bandit chief, whom he will befriend. The only problem is that Tarl Cabot has already been there and done that before, several times, with regards to both of those achievements. Furthermore, we have seen both done better. At its best "Tribesman of Gor" is an attempt to duplicate the success of Norman's most popular Gor novel (from a storytelling standpoint anyway) "Nomads of Gor." When I look back over the second ten books in the series it seems evident now that Norman was losing interest in the series, no doubt plagued by the fact that a new Gor novel had to come out every year when he switched publishers ("The New 1976 Gor Novel!").