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Title: Nomads of Gor (Gor) by John Norman ISBN: 1-56333-527-1 Publisher: Masquerade Books Inc Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.56 (9 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Early books are the best in Gor Series
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Far and away the most popular of John Norman's Gor novels
Comment: I have always considered "Assassins of Gor" to be John Norman's magnum opus in his Counter-Earth series, but there is no more enjoyable novel than the novel that comes before it "Nomads of Gor." After bonding with the Priest-King Misk, Tarl Cabot is sent from the Sardar Mountains to find the last egg of the Priest-Kings, which has been hidden among the Wagon People. Unfortunately, the Wagon People are probably the most xenophobic on Gor and will not take kindly to Cabot just walking up and joining them.
"Nomads of Gor" has two great strengths, both of which are rather unique to the series. First, Norman does a masterful job of creating the civilization of the Wagon People, which consists of four tribes. I suppose he might be basing his research on some nomadic tribes of Earth, but I did not sense any strong parallels as I did, for example, with the "Viking" like "Marauders of Gor." We get a sense of the culture of the Tuchuks, one of the four tribes that Cabot stays with as he searches for the egg, which goes well beyond what we have seen up to this point in the series. The customs, especially the competitive games the Wagon Peoples play, are much more detailed than what we had seen in the towered cities of Ar and Ko-ro-ba.
Second, this is the funniest of the Gor books, with the humor coming mostly from conversations that involve the character of Harold the Tuchuk, although Kamchak, also of the Tuchucks, has his moments as well. It is not far fetched to say that these are two best-developed supporting characters in the Gor series, and I would contend that this is due in large measure to their sense of humor. But the humor is clearly Norman's, who has this style of using short sentences to develop his droll wit. This is character driven humor, where who says what in which situation makes all the difference; none of the lines that tickle your funny bone would ever evoke a laugh by themselves, because context is everything in Norman's humor.
I always wondered why Norman did not return to the Tuchuks later in the series, but maybe he did not think he could pull off a return visit that equaled the success of this effort. This is also the novel that introduces Vella, the former Elizabeth Caldwell of Earth, who becomes one of the key continuing characters in the Tarl Cabot novels. Of course, this opens up the giant can of worm regarding Norman's Gorean philosophy that "slavery" is the natural state of women, who can only be truly "free" when they totally submit to a master. I have to admit that I never took this idea beyond the fictional level and that as the series progressed I flipped through the long philosophical discussions between masters and slaves in later novels (Norman is the pseudonym of philosopher Professor John Lange). I also know that there are people who take the Gorean lifestyle very seriously. I could quote Abraham Lincoln in response to this topic, but I would probably be closer to the mark if I just said different strokes for different folks and went my own merry way.
The bottom line for me is that I enjoyed Norman's early Gor novels in the seventies the same way I had enjoyed reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars novels in the sixties (when I discovered them). The first six novels of the Gor series standup well against the Burroughs novels that obviously inspired Norman in part (there are strong parallels between the first work in each series). If you find the philosophical aspects of these books offensive, then do not read them.
Rating: 3
Summary: Love those Tuchuks!
Comment: I feel this book was the best book of the series, the plot line was wonderful, a small mixture of mystery involved in the task Tarl had to complete.
However- yet again we see how very Weak our Hero is when faced with women. He strives so very hard to be a good "Gorean" male- and always seems to fail in some small respect.
This book spurred the creation of a LARP group- the TUCHUX's which sometimes come out to SCA events. a very good read, and ties in nicely with books much loater in the series.
If you read only One Gor Book- this sould be it!
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Title: Assassin of Gor by John Norman ISBN: 1563335387 Publisher: Masquerade Books Inc Pub. Date: 01 June, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Raiders of Gor by John Norman ISBN: 1563335581 Publisher: Masquerade Books Inc Pub. Date: 01 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Captive of Gor (The Chronicles of Counter-Earth, Vol 7) by J. Norman ISBN: 0345341996 Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1989 List Price(USD): $10.75 |
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Title: Hunters of Gor (Tarl Cabot Saga Book, No 8) by John Norman ISBN: 0886772052 Publisher: New Amer Library (Mm) Pub. Date: 01 March, 1987 List Price(USD): $14.50 |
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Title: Marauders of Gor (Marauders of Gor) by John Norman ISBN: 0886770254 Publisher: New Amer Library (Mm) Pub. Date: 01 March, 1985 List Price(USD): $3.50 |
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