Hunters 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 ..., 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... out of Gor you get Barsoom, and that story has already been written.

Rating:
Summary: Tarl Cabot tracks down the three key women in his life
Review: The good news is that Tarl Cabot returns to the forefront in "Hunters of Gor," the 8th volume in the Chronicles of Counter-Earth. However, the bad news is that instead of returning to the issue of the coming war between the Priest-Kings and the Others, author John Norman continues to explore his Gorean philosophy. It occurs to me that this means "Hunters of Gor" is a fitting follow up to "Captives of Gor," but I was never impressed by that volume in the first place. The arguments about the natural state of relations between men and women, on Gor at least, is developed within the context of Tarl Cabot's relationships with three women: Talena, the daughter of Marlenus of Ar, and who Cabot had abducted as a tarnsman in his first adventure on Gor; Vella of Gor, nee Elizabeth Cardwell, who had been a major player in Cabot's two greatest adventures in "Nomads of Gor" and "Assassin of Gor"; and Verna, the chieftess of the untamed panther women who roam the Northern forests. If you stop and think about it Norman has developed three distinct female types that he then explores in this story: Talena was raised as a Free Woman of Gor, Vella is a modern Earth woman turned into a Gorean pleasure slave, and Verna has never been tamed. Of course Tarl Cabot is the common denominator since he is the strong master who tamed all three women. In "Hunters of Gor" we follow Tarl Cabot's adventures in the north as he learns what has happened to these three women. But it seems to be that this is more a journey of self-discovery for our hero and that there are subtle distinctions to the repetitive scenes acted out with these three women. The only problem is that I visit Gor for the action and adventure rather than to have a pleasure slave chained to my bed. "Hunters of Gor" is a slight improvement over the previous volume, but still a disappointment compared to the great adventure story Norman had developed over the first half-dozen volumes.

Rating:
Summary: Tarl Cabot tracks down the three key women in his life
Review: The good news is that Tarl Cabot returns to the forefront in "Hunters of Gor," the 8th volume in the Chronicles of Counter-Earth. However, the bad news is that instead of returning to the issue of the coming war between the Priest-Kings and the Others, author John Norman continues to explore his Gorean philosophy. It occurs to me that this means "Hunters of Gor" is a fitting follow up to "Captives of Gor," but I was never impressed by that volume in the first place. The arguments about the natural state of relations between men and women, on Gor at least, is developed within the context of Tarl Cabot's relationships with three women: Talena, the daughter of Marlenus of Ar, and who Cabot had abducted as a tarnsman in his first adventure on Gor; Vella of Gor, nee Elizabeth Cardwell, who had been a major player in Cabot's two greatest adventures in "Nomads of Gor" and "Assassin of Gor"; and Verna, the chieftess of the untamed panther women who roam the Northern forests. If you stop and think about it Norman has developed three distinct female types that he then explores in this story: Talena was raised as a Free Woman of Gor, Vella is a modern Earth woman turned into a Gorean pleasure slave, and Verna has never been tamed. Of course Tarl Cabot is the common denominator since he is the strong master who tamed all three women. In "Hunters of Gor" we follow Tarl Cabot's adventures in the north as he learns what has happened to these three women. But it seems to be that this is more a journey of self-discovery for our hero and that there are subtle distinctions to the repetitive scenes acted out with these three women. The only problem is that I visit Gor for the action and adventure rather than to have a pleasure slave chained to my bed. "Hunters of Gor" is a slight improvement over the previous volume, but still a disappointment compared to the great adventure story Norman had developed over the first half-dozen volumes.

Rating:
Summary: An Inferior Outing
Review: This is Volume 8 in the Gor series and Volume 7 of the Tarl Cabot saga since the protagonist in the previous volume was someone else. After the disappointment of Captives of Gor I was hoping that Norman would get back on track with this story but, alas, it was not to be. The book is 370 pages long and has a flimsy plot that would normally support a book about half that length. The rest of it is taken up by Norman's obsession with female enslavement. Every time Cabot binds a slave (which is frequently) it is described in excruciating detail with loving description of the devices used and types of knots employed. This may be fine for the bondage crowd but for the rest of us it's just plain booorrriiinnnggg! Also, the level of violence against women and outright sadism seems to have escalated compared to the first 6 volumes. Another flaw in the book is the outrageousness of some of the scenes. I've complained about this with Assassin of Gor but none of them in that book can compare to this one: Cabot knowingly walks into the stockade of his enemy Sarus of Tyros where he is quickly locked in and surrounded by 55 Tyrosians and 22 panther girls all of whom have good reason to kill him on sight. He demands that they give up their prisoners immediately or he will kill everyone there. A melee ensues. Guess who wins. Oh, puh-leeze. One final complaint: In the past Norman's thoughts on bondage had been presented as part of the plot. You could always maintain the fiction that Norman didn't really believe the things he was saying, that they were there for the sake of the story, the Gorean ambiance if you will. In the final chapter of this book, however, for the first time Norman seem to step out of the shadows to lecture the reader on how Gorean philosophy can be justified by Darwinian principles. The arguments are easy enough to refute but this is not the place for it.

Rating:
Summary: The most despair of any in the series
Review: This was always one of my favorites of the Gor books because of the constant misfortune befalling Tarl Cabot. Usually he is the master of the situations in which he finds himself, but that is not the case here. It makes for a welcome change, and sets up his rediscovery of his true self in the following book.

Rating:
Summary: HUNTERS OF GOR
Review: Three lovely women were keys to the Tarl Cabot's career on Gor, Earth's orbital counterpart. They were: Talena, daughter of Gor's greatest ruler and once Tarl's queen; Elizabeth Cardwell, who had been Tarl's comrade in two of his greatest exploits; and Verna, haughty chief of the untamed panther women of the northwestern forests. 'Hunters of Gor' finally reveals the fate of these three--as Tarl Cabot ventures into the wilderness to pit his skill and his life against the brutal cunning of Gorean outlaws and enemy warriors.