Savages of Gor

Gor #17

by John Norman

"Long ago in their intraspecific conflicts a violent, technologically sophisticated life form, the Kurii, destroyed their native world. They now seek another. Between Earth and Gor, or the Counterearth, and the power of the imperialistic, predatory Kurii, now ensconced in the "Steel Worlds," a number of satellite colonies concealed amongst the debris of the asteroid belt, stands only the defensive might of the Priest-Kings of Gor. Tarl Cabot, once of Bristol, England, laboring in behalf of the Priest-Kings, once managed to foil a Kur attempt to set the stage for an invasion of Gor. In that venture he encountered a worthy foe, the redoubtable Half-Ear, or Zarendargar, now fallen from favor in the Steel Worlds. The Kurii, unforgiving and relentless, have sent a death squad to Gor seeking Zarendargar. They seek the assistance of Cabot in this enterprise, but he declines to be of service. A decorated piece of hide, bearing strange symbols, tells a story, which may or may not be true. It suggests that Half-Ear, or Zarendargar, whom Cabot believed dead, may yet live. The death squad will seek Zarendargar, but, so, too, will Cabot, to warn him, for once, long ago, and faraway, in the polar north of Gor, each with the other had shared drink, a gesture of warriors, a cup lifted amongst foes. But to pursue this mission Cabot must enter and traverse the Barrens, the vast Eastern prairies of the primary Gorean continent, lands contested by tribes of warring savages, lands forbidden to strangers. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the first book of the Gorean Saga, TARNSMAN OF GOR, E-Reads is proud to release the very first complete publication of all Gor books by John Norman, in both print andebook editions, including the long-awaited 26th novel in the saga, WITNESS OF GOR. Many of the original Gor books have been out of print for years, but their popularity has endured. Each book of this release has been specially edited by the author and is a definitive text.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Erotica, Ebooks, Adult

365 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

John Norman, real name John Lange, was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1931. His best known works, the Gor series, currently span 36 books written 1966 (Tarnsman of Gor) to 2021 (Avengers of Gor). Three installments of the Telnarian Histories, plus three other fiction works and a non-fiction paperback. Mr. Norman is married and has three children.

Reviews

[Alan Standsalone Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading 17 books within this series, John Norman's endless pages regarding female slavery gets old and repetitious. I love his characters and plots to the story but the woman's thoughts regarding her submissive slavery and inner feeling and thoughts page after page gets tiresome.

[Darryl Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

SAVAGES OF GOR, followed by BLOOD BROTHERS, serves as part one of a single work comprising Tarl Cabot's last major adventure. Taken as one this long yarn this is among author John Norman's better mid-stage Counter-Earth novels (books 11-21). The others are BEASTS and PLAYERS, however SAVAGES serves as merely a character introduction and the story doesn't really get started till part two. SAVAGES and BLOOD BROTHERS are not quite as good as the powerhouses of the Gorean saga: PRIEST-KINGS, NOMADS, ASSASSIN, HUNTERS, MARAUDERS, TRIBESMEN. If one only wanted to read the best of the Gor novels I'd recommend all of the above. Norman demonstrates his mastery of plotting, character creation and world-building throughout the ten volumes; everything this writer does well can be found here. If one wanted to read the top twelve, I'd add RENEGADES and MAGICIANS to the list. These are all Tarl Cabot POV adventures by the way.

In the Daw edition SAVAGES ends with no indication it is a continued story to be concluded in BLOOD BROTHERS. Combined, this is an 800-page tale, almost 300,000 words originally (with over 20,000 more added years later in newer editions). This is the last time Norman transports a culture from Earth to Gor until the Pani wander along a quarter of a century later. This epic adventure in an arid land among warring native American tribes even has familiar names from the past cropping up, like Kamchak and Ivar Forkbeard. Norman obviously researched American Indians extensively to bring authenticity to this story. SAVAGES and BLOOD BROTHERS aren't his only works on the subject, one of his non-Gor books GHOST DANCE deals with the culture as well. It also deals with a captive woman. In a John Norman book, that's no coincidence.

[David Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this volume we return to the adventures of Tarl Cabot, after a 3 book hiatus. Like I have said before, if one is to get through these books, one has to filter out the redundant, interminable conversations on a certain Gorean institution that will remain unnamed. To me the interest in these books is the world of Gor itself, and, as is typical, this volume explores a new region hitherto unknown to the reader. This is an area called the Barrens, in the northeast of the Gorean continent, a region of prairie inhabited by what are to Gorean equivalent to Native Americans. Encountering these "red savages" (don't expect any political correctness in these books) along with vague intrigues regarding the alien Kur forms the loose plot of the book, which will presumably be resolved in the next volume(s?).

Gor is counter-Earth, and "John Norman" uses the setting as a heavy-handed critique of what he feels are the flaws of how civilization developed on Earth. Surprisingly, there is some satire of religion in this volume, in the form of the emasculated Waniyampi who wear dresses and following "the Teaching." This was actually the most entertaining part of the book.

The Gor books keep getting longer and more slow moving, and really more and more distasteful, but that hasn't stopped me before, so after some cleansing of the palate, I will probably dig in again for the next volume at some point.

[Kay Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

while I mainly read these now as a guilty pleasure and find them more comical than their intention, I will say this books 2nd half surprised me. Yeah tons of sex and play for the first half, nothing new. It was half way through when we get a couple of insightful concepts and it even leaves off on a cliffhanger, something new for the books.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago. Worked my way through all the books in series. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Science fantasy meets sex fantasy.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#17 in the Gor saga, with the return of Tarl Cabot. Great example of world building although the B&D elements get a little tedious.

[AmbushPredator · Rating 4 out of 5]

We pick right back up with Tarl Cabot's storyline (and I don't think we ever hear from Jason again?) as the next two books concern Cabot's Wild West adventures in the Barrens, land of the 'red savages', ostensibly on the track of Zarendargar, the Kur general. Much to Samos' consternation, though, not to kill him, but to warn him that a faction of the Kurii are on his tail.

As the book ends, ol' Tarl is once more a slave - of sorts!

[Christopher Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this whole series in a marathon session, while stationed in England. The depth and volume of the stories is humbling for any writer and I consider this series very influential in my own approach to writing and world building in general; generic post for all the books in this series as I am finally getting around to recording my reading list in Goodreads.

[Steve]

GOR

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first of a two book series within the greater Gor series featuring counter-earth Indians. Showed some promise but too much of the slavery stuff dragged it down.