Customer Reviews

Nomads of Gor

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Jumping right into action, the reader may be a little confused for the first page or two, but this is short-lived, as John Norman supplies abundant descriptions and footnotes to edify the reader. The book follows a great story plot of the Wagon People of the great prairies of southern Gor.

Tarl Cabot, main character in most of the series, visits the Wagon People, who bear some historical paralells to the Mongol tribes under Ghengis Khan in the early 1200's, questing for an item for the mysterious Priest-Kings. In the course of this search he helps the Thuchuk tribes in a war forced upon them by their neighbors.

Of all the books of the Gor series, this is the one that probably has the greatest fan following. I have personal knowledge that at least two groups, with around 300+ members between them, have existed since the 1970's as fans of this book only, ignoring to some degree the rest of the series.

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 read a lot. And the Gor series stands out. Great, great, great.

If you like fantasy, it is obligatory to read the first five. Nomads and Assassins are the best. You can get reading copy sets off Ebay of these five for $25. I cannot imagine $25 better spent. If you have not done so, go for it, you'll not be disappointed.

Raiders(6) is also good and has scenes that'll be with you for a long time, skip Captive (7) unless you really dig the slaving/SM side, Hunters (8) is a bit weak but has a couple of memorable moments, and Marauders (9) is also acceptable and has great action scenes. Tribesmen (10) is acceptable, you can skip Slave Girl (11), and Beasts (12) is very very good. Go for this set after you've done the first 5; your call, the first 5 I guarantee!!!

After that, you'll probably be hooked.

"Honor is important to Goreans, in a way that those of Earth might find it hard to understand; for example, those of Earth find it natural that men should go to war over matters of gold and riches, but not honor; the Gorean, contrariwise, is more willing to submit matters of honor to the adjudication of steel than he is matters of riches and gold; there is a simple explanation for this; honor is more important to him."

I read a number of the Gor novels when I was in my teens and early twenties. I think I made it to number 12 before I decided the best of the series had already been written. I picked up the first one, Tarnsman of Gor, because I was a new convert to science fiction and voraciously reading everything I could get my hands on. I truly enjoyed the first 6 novels, both as entertaining science fiction, and as mild erotica. (being female, I found the whole "women are natural slaves to strong and sexy men" aspect of the books intriguing in a strictly playful sense)

"Nomads" is my favorite of the series because the characters are so enjoyable and the humor is a strong component of the story. I have read that others thought the series didn't really take off until later. Personally, I found that after the 8th book or so, the author seemed to get bogged down with the psychological, sexual, and philosophic ideas portrayed in the novels, and it just wasn't fun anymore.

I have the first 10 books with the old cover art. I just noticed that the new covers have lost any hint of "this is science fiction" and only portray an actual photograph of a naked woman in chains. Hmmmmm, I think this says where the series actually went in the end. Quite frankly, I am amazed it made it to 26 books.

This has got to be the *BEST* of the 25 novels of the GOR series. Tarl Cabot and his adventures with the Tuchuks Kamchak and Harold, the little barbarian Elizabeth Cardwell and the beautiful Aphris of Turia not only kept me entertained by laughing constantly. Kamchak, by far, is the best character in any GOR book I have seen.. even moreso than Tarl Cabot, himself. If you read any of the GOR Novels, read this one. On a scale of 1-10, its a 20!

I was so surprised at how good Priest-Kings of Gor, my first Gor book, was that I decided to try another one, Nomads of Gor, the next in the series in which Tarl Cabot attempts to carry out his mission for the Priest-Kings. The strong point of Priest-Kings was the depiction of a truly alien culture. The culture in this one is not quite so alien...the lifestyle of the Wagon Peoples is based on that of the Mongol hordes of the 13th C. In all other respects this book is even better than the first. I'd even go so far as to say that it has all one could ask for in an action-adventure story: plenty of action, delightful characters (especially Kamchak and Harold), a richly detailed society, humor, intrigue, surprises (but I did guess most of them before they were revealed), and even one of the most bizarre monsters I've ever read about. Particularly delightful was the sequence where Tarl Cabot and Harold go to the walled city of Turia on their separate missions. Fast-paced and humorous, it reads like something out of the Arabian Nights. There is one other aspect of the book that needs to be addressed: the issue of slavery and abusive behavior towards women. It's much more prominent in this book than in Priest-Kings. There is no doubt in my mind that the kind of actions depicted here happened in the real world of the Mongols but I don't think he has quite gotten the psychology of the situation right, at least for most people. There are three women in this book who come to be dominated: Aphris of Turia, Hereena of the First Wagon, and Elizabeth Cardwell of New York (yes, New York!). The first two are haughty, even arrogant, and despise the men who come to dominate them, the third is simply terrified of the situation she finds herself in. Yet, when given the opportunity to escape slavery and go back to their former lives of power and luxury, they choose not to because they have become so fulfilled by the domination of their Masters. Nonsense! Well, there are submissive personalities out there (male and female) and if that is what they want for their lifestyles who am I to say no, but that certainly does not fit the profile of Aphris or Hereena. Norman seems to be saying that slavery is the "natural" lifestyle for all women and that is just wrong. So here is my dilemma: John Norman is obviously a master storyteller but if the reviews of his other books on this website are any indication, he hasn't even hit his stride yet on the slavery theme. I feel conflicted. There are lots of Gor books out there that I would probably enjoy immensely if it weren't for the gender issues but then they wouldn't really be Gor books without the gender issues, now, would they? I like what I've read so far but don't like where I think this series is headed. What to do, what to do?

I want to make it clear that I am reviewing the older version of this book, since it's clear that John Norman changed a lot when he revised his novels. I found Nomads of Gor to be a fun read, with lots of exciting adventure in the vein of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his Mars series. There is more sex in Gor, including sexual slavery, but in the early Norman novels like this one that sort of thing is kept in the background. The hero, Tarl Cabot, repeatedly saves Gor from insidious, hostile aliens, and does so with daring swordplay, witty lines, and stalwart friends like Harold and Elizabeth. It's all good fun and quite frankly the early novels like this one and Assassin of Gor are far more titillating than the later, more explicit ones.