Marauders of Gor

Gor #9

by John Norman

Former earthman Tarl Cabot has been struggling to free himself from the cruel control of the Priest-Kings of Gor to no avail. As he pits his strength against such a formidable enemy, a terrible beast appears from the mysterious northern lands, bearing a token of the demise of Tarl's once-beloved woman Talena. The missive is a sign of defiance and disrespect from his enemies, meant to humiliate him and force him to challenge them in response. To gird his weapons and set out on a mission of vengeance against those who sent the beasts means Tarl must jeopardize his fortune and position as a wealthy slave merchant. But he is no longer practical and calm as he was on earth. He must conform to the social codes of Gor, where the only way one can avenge wounded manhood is to respond with all one's might! 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 and ebook 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, Erotica, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

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

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

DAW Collectors #141

Cover Artist: Kelly Freas

Name: Lange, John Frederick, Jr., Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA, 03 June 1931.

John Norman is the pseudonym of John Frederick Lange, Jr., a New York-based science fantasy writer and philosophy professor.

In "Marauders of Gor" Former Earthman Tarl Cabot is now a powerful Tarnsman of the brutal and caste-bound planet of Gor, also known as Counter Earth. He embarks on an adventure in the dangerous and mysterious wilderness of Gor, pitting his warrior’s skills against treacherous outlaws, bandits, and fighters. Three different women are working to bring change to Tarl’s far-from-peaceful life on Gor: Talena, his onetime queen and first love; Elizabeth, his brave fighting partner; and the Amazonian Verna, chief of the fierce and wild panther women. As Tarl journeys through the wilderness, the fates of these three remarkable women will finally be decided.

The Gorean Saga:

1. Tarnsman of Gor (1966)
2. Outlaw of Gor (1967)
3. Priest-Kings of Gor (1968)
4. Nomads of Gor (1969)
5. Assassin of Gor (1970)
6. Raiders of Gor (1971)
7. Captive of Gor (1972)
8. Hunters of Gor (1974)
9. Marauders of Gor (1975)
10. Tribesmen of Gor (1976)
11. Slave Girl of Gor (1977)
12. Beasts of Gor (1978)
13. Explorers of Gor (1979)
14. Fighting Slave of Gor (1980)
15. Rogue of Gor (1981)
16. Guardsman of Gor (1981)
17. Savages of Gor (1982)
18. Blood Brothers of Gor (1982)
19. Kajira Of Gor (1983)
20. Players of Gor (1984)
21. Mercenaries of Gor (1985)
22. Dancer of Gor (1985)
23. Renegades of Gor (1986)
24. Vagabonds of Gor (1987)
25. Magicians of Gor (1988)
26. Witness of Gor (2007)
27. Prize of Gor (2008)
28. Kur of Gor (2009)
29. Swordsmen of Gor (2010)
30. Mariners of Gor (2011)
31. Conspirators of Gor (2012)
32. Smugglers of Gor (2012)
33. Rebels of Gor (2013)
34. Plunder of Gor (2016)
35. Quarry of Gor (2019)

[Matt Sears · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Tarl Cabot's efforts to free himself from the directive of the mysterious priest-kings of Earth's orbital counterpart were confronted by frightening reality when horror from the northland finally struck directly at him.

Somewhere in the harsh lands of transplanted Norsemen was the first foothold of alien Others. Somewhere up there was one such who waited for Tarl. Somewhere up there was Tarl's confrontation with his real destiny- was he to remain a rich merchant-slaver of Port Kar or become again a defender of two worlds against cosmic enslavement.

Marauders of Gor is one of the truly great adventures of the Gorean saga. It brings in barbaric peoples, vivid adventure, fierce aliens, and the clash of male-female emotions stripped of civilized pretension that has made John Norman the bestselling writer of high fantasy adventure.” –The Back Cover

A Daw paperback, $1.50 cover price.

Gor is a planet in our solar system on the direct opposite side of the Sun from Earth. It is populated by a pantheon of alien species that have been abducted by the insectoid Priest-Kings, who act as bored conservationists and only interfere with Gor when one of the sentient races starts inventing stuff that could industrialize the planet. The Kurii are space bears that ruined their own planet through warfare and now have designs on Gor and Earth. The Kurii like to eat people, especially slave girls, which they consider a delicacy.

This all sounded pretty cut and dry before I mentioned slave girls, didnt it? Let's go down the rabbit hole into Marauders of Gor, although I hope you aren't an Earthwoman, as you might be collared and raped a few minutes into our journey. But don't fret! According to John Norman, you will enjoy being a sex slave.


Let's play 'spot the woman soon to be abducted'
I remember reading Tarnsman of Gor as an adolescent, and I distinctly remember the protagonist being disgusted by the rampant slavery on Gor, but I may be wrong and will have to do a re-read soon. Tarl Cabot has apparently had a change of heart in the last few books, because in Marauders of Gor, the ninth in the series, he is very 'into slavery'.

In the previous entry of the Gorean Saga, Tarl was poisoned in battle, paralyzing left side of his body, which is pretty frustrating when you’ve built a life out of being a great swordfighter. For thirty or so pages, Tarl is angrily sitting in his chair, reminiscing about the events of the last few books and bringing any non-perverts up to speed. Tarl finds out his old love was probably devoured by a space bear and, through sheer force of will, overcomes his paralysis, vowing to go to the north and avenge her. Oh yeah, I don't want to gloss over the part where he celebrates by enslaving his accountant and having her 'sent to his couches'. Yeah man.

So, Tarl sets out for the North, and on the way gains the trust of a group of Viking raiders with acts of heroism and one-liners. The Vikings from Torvaldsland ransack a temple of the Priest-Kings and take quite a bit of gold along with the choice women of the surrounding town. This is where the story gets really kinky for about 60 pages straight, during which Tarl takes a break from his quest to and enjoys a little erotic vacation in Torvaldsland, while we get to learn firsthand about breaking in slave girls.


Yep.
Initially, I found Ivar the Forkbeard, Jarl of the Viking rogues, to be a pretty interesting character, up until he began whipping women and repeating mantras like “A brand improves a woman!” while laughing continuously. Then I felt like he was a psychopath, and not a 'funny ha ha' psychopath as you often see in pulp novels. Only a few days of indoctrination wholly transforms the slave girls into giddy sex maniacs, completely dedicated to the service of their master and any other free man around who has consent to bang them. Tarl takes quite a few girls “to the furs,” since there don't seem to be any couches around in the north. The slave girls end up thanking their captors for freeing them sexually (through rape), if you can imagine that. John Norman's intense attention to detail was a bit too much in this third of Marauders of Gor, and it ended up not being sexy whatsoever, just vile and ludicrous.

The party is broken up by an invasion of Kurii, which leads to an action-packed and actually enjoyable final third of the book. Many a limb and head ire severed by the berserkers of the north, and a fight to the death on a mountain peak between Tarl, Ivar and two Kurs is especially thrilling. Norman does visceral action really well, which made me wish he stuck to the sci-fi and fantasy elements throughout this book and focused less on the BDSM angle. (No offense meant to the BDSM community, as you at least involve willing adults and not slave girls that have been whisked away from their families.) The finale was fittingly epic and got my blood pumping, but failed to wash away my distaste for the middle.

Synopsis: While Marauders of Gor features a really fun, Beowulf-style action story, it unfortunately gets buried in the quagmire of kink and pages-long descriptions of Gorean culture. Essentially, there are two conflicting books inside Marauders of Gor, one of which a good editor should have whittled down a bit. I bought five of these damn novels expecting a laugh, and now I am pretty much a feminist. Thanks John Norman, you have killed my manhood.

'How marvelously beautiful is a naked, collared woman' (p.89)

from pulpaweek.blogspot.com

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

This book didn't convince me to abandon this series after the last few terrible volumes, but it also didn't restore my confidence in the Gor books.

There are a few glaring problems here. If you took out all of the instances of Norman going on and on about life on Gor, you would have little more than a short story. It's also very repetitive (the funeral scene comes to mind) and it really felt like Norman was doing anything and everything to push that word count up (instead of just taking an arrow, a character "touches the arrow, then takes the arrow". Why not just say he took it and move on?).

Also, is there a bit of retconning going on here? The Priest Kings used to love nothing more than disintegrating people that sneezed the wrong way, but now they are against meddling in people's affairs and don't want to show off their technology.

Near the end, the action ramps up and it becomes a really good sword and planet story. In fact, if the rest of the book had been more like the last quarter of the story, it might have been one of the best Gor books yet.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when I thought Norman had lost it, he came back with "Marauders," which is pretty much tied with "Raiders" as my second favorite of the series. At times it outranks "Raiders." In this one Tarl runs into counter-Earth Vikings and there are some great fight scenes, including one large scale one in particular that I thought was just about the best I'd ever read. I loved the characters here and the tie-in with the Beowulf legend. Norman was back on top.

Not sexist, at least not much.

[John Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tarl Cabot's all butthurt and pouty because of reasons... until one of the Others, the bestial alien foes of the Priest Kings, kidnaps one of his honeys for... other reasons. So now he journeys to the icy north, and its not even remotely veiled Norse allegory, on a mission of bloody vengeance. Snugglebunnies ensue. Oh, and rape and sexual torture. Lots and lots of rape and sexual torture also ensue.

The Others are these giant, toothy meatgrinders with wings, so it's a good thing during one of the more exciting battle/chase sequences that they forget they can fly. Otherwise, things would have turned out badly for the heroes. In fact, after their initial introduction, the Others fail to use their wings throughout the book, much to their detriment. Maybe it's one of those organs they don't really think about, like our appendix. (Or maybe it's bad writing.)

After the US election of 2016, and the rise of Alt-Right and white nationalist nonsense, the "meninist" dogma this book regurgitates seems a lot less fun. It's clear that even today I'd bet this book delivers serious stroke material for a LOT of people. Disappointing.

[Christian West · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tarl (who has had many names, but is again called Tarl) travels to the Viking north to avenge his woman (well one of them). Along the way we get a lesson in being a Gorean Viking and many many lessons in how you should just rape your women until they start enjoying it.

At least a third of this book appears to just be about women aching to be slaves, but that could have just been my perception as I glossed over some of the rambling in the book. Other reviews seem to indicate that at least the fight scenes were good towards the end, but I disagree. Too much waffle.

Oh, and my perception of Tarl being a bastard in the last book was wrong... he's now an uber bastard. And the part where he makes his slightly attractive former slave cum accountant into a slave because he's horny... just no.

[Aaron Bolin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dumber for having read this


These books get progressively worse. There is actually a lighthearted adventure story mixed in with all the slave nonsense. But the insistence on humiliating every self-directed woman ruins the action. The book is nearly unreadable...and yet, here I am on my ninth installment of Gor.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two thirds of this is pretty awful, with the increasingly and objectionably pervy Lange indulging his nasty adolescent fantasies. The final act is great though, colourful, action-packed and exciting.

[Alice Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now THIS was a Gor book! Pirates taking whatever they like, slave girls captured, broken, bought and sold, war and blood!

[J.L. Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read the entire series, there simply isn't anything else like it; they are decadent and addictive, completely and wholly something everyone should have on their MUST READ list.

Edgar Rice Burroughs BARSOOM series would be a faint comparison, I suppose; but Norman carries his characters to a depth of depravity that is reminiscent of a D/s or BDSM fetish fanatics dream. At the same time, they are not written in a way as to be entirely sexual, he merely casts about components and subtle subtext that one familiar with the lifestyle would of course pick up on, while a "vanilla" person could read right over without ever noticing or being offended.

The worst part of this series is it's highly addictive quality. Not long after I read my first book, I found myself at a Second Hand BookStore in Dallas purchasing a paperbag FULL of the entire series. 20 years later and I still have them! And, I always WILL!

[E.D. Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, these just keep getting worse and worse. I think I skimmed at least half this book because I don't care about the description, or the philosophy.

Don't read this; it's a complete rip-off of Beowulf (he even makes a reference at the end to Grendel).

I did find it amusing, however, that once again Tarl is betrayed by some girl. Is it that everyone he loves is weak, or is it that he himself is the one with the flaws that makes him incapable of a relationship?

[Butterflykatana · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found this volume to be a rather fun and refreshing Gor adventure. People tend to get all critical of the slave girl and the roles of women in it, but its a story of another culture with different views from our own and we all know this.
So I enjoyed the book and the battles that take place with in where written very well.

[Rick]

I remember liking the Gor series well enough in junior high and high school when I read them but I don't think I would enjoy them as much 25+ years later so I will recuse myself from rating any in the series.

[Allen Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first of the series I read. I read it for an english project and loved it, I then purchased the previous 8 books and within a month I was all caught up. Tarl Cabot is a great character, frightened, brave, flawed humble and proud all at once. His actions in Marauders got me hooked.

[Brandi Hinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too bad he did not write anymore about the North.

[Dahlia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, this is my favorite of the Chronicles of Gor. Something about the setting of Torvarlsland just click all the right buttons.

[George David Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The return of Tarl

good addition to the saga of Tarl Cabot. a man battles hardship and his own demons and finds strength again. on to the next chapter

[Groot · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book of the series, with one of the best denouements in the history of fiction. What mastery of suspense.

[DKC · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard to rate this book, as it fell flat for me in some aspects, and surpassed in others.

We left Tarl, or Bosk, or whatever, in his semi-crippled state at the end of the last book. I can't tell if Norman intends his hero to actually learn anything from the humiliating defeats he encounters on Gor, or if they're just meant to make him more vulnerable a character. It certainly doesn't seem like Tarl is very good at learning life lessons from either being made a slave, or being an invalid. Empathy? Pah! Humility? Nah!

In that I find, as I progress in the series, that it makes me care less about the "hero" of the story. I actually begin to like side characters better.
True, it boggles the mind how to keep a central character going through all the books Norman has written, so I get that not every one is a winner, or even terribly interesting.

This was a very Nordic saga. I didn't mind that, and in fact, quite liked it. But often times, I felt like Tarl was just around for the ride, and not really moving anything forward.

There are some interesting and fun adventurous parts - the climb up the mountain being one, and the "fury of Odin" being another. But I'm getting the sense of repetition here. Sure, we see that the goings on between Gor and Earth would've lent quite a bit of credence to sharing some of the same myths, names, etc. In this book, it really felt a bit...derivative.

Also, the ladies are given less to do. There have been so many interesting, strong female characters in the previous books, and I felt the loss of that really affected the story, and my ability to care.

All in all, I got through it, but will admit to skipping pages. The Kurii are a bit confusing to me -- maybe because of descriptive inconsistencies -- just had a far harder time with them than with the concept of the Priest-Kings.

At least he's calling himself "Tarl" again. I guess he sort of remembered himself a bit at the last book, and more here, but I don't think he's a better sort of guy.

[Katrina Courtright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarl Cabot Becomes a Viking

This book was quite boring until the fighting started half way through. Tarl chases after a former girlfriend who he believes has been taken by the Kurii. He travels north and meets the Viking equivalent on Gor. He becomes fast friends with an outlaw who trains him in the ways of the Viking. Women are treated worse than ever. The idea that women are perpetually turned on is ludicrous, yet he drones on about how a woman can’t be a woman unless she allows herself to always be aroused. I skipped a lot of pages where the author just repeated himself over and over about this stupid theory. Ignoring that is difficult with this book because women are front and center and poorly used. This is the worst yet. I am not a prude. I don’t care care about explicit content. I’m just against this stupidity about the nature of women. Anyway, Tarl and the Vikings fight the large hairy beasts who demand that the men of the north yield to them. A great battle is fought. Tarl becomes free of 2 former girlfriends. One of them gets what she deserves. I don’t like the new Tarl Cabot, I hope he regains his sense of humor and humanity.

[Brandee Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a little bit of a rough time getting into this, but after a while, it got better. I love the story and the extreme patriarchy and the feasting and the fighting and the dry humor and lots of other individual facets of this and other Gor books, of which there are a number not exceeding the number of oarsmen in the typical long ship of the men of the north, which, incidentally, often have sails made of the skins of the northsouthwestern sleen, but the ungodly longwindedness and the mile long, confusing, much commad run on sentences are beginning to make me question my interest in furthering my travels with Bosk of Port Kar, he who climbed the Torvaldsberg, once known as Tarl Cabot, who, incidentally became the first ever southern Jarl of Torvaldsland, once proud owner of Talena, she who wore the collar of the south with its ring placed 3/4 of an inch to the right of center, thus allowing for the coffle rope to slip through it at the proper angle, great swordsman, wealthy merchant, great captain and ya, you get the idea.

[Squire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bosk of Port Kar (Tarl Cabot) journeys to the northern Torvaldsland in pursuit of the Kur who murdered Telima, his currrent freed slave love interest.

Still enjoying this series as satire (especially Norman's razor-sharp sense of humor), though he does repeat himself and he has an annoying tendency to use the same phrase/sentence repeatedly--descpriptive and in dialog.

Norman (real name Lange) was a philosophy professor at CUNY and he does tend to lecture, so if you don't like listening to a college prof, the Gorean saga is not for you. I don't mind beng lectured to since Norman doesn't talk down to me.

Two long scenes of feasts/orgies almost derail Marauders early on (imagine READING about the orgy in Conan the Barbarian (1981)--twice); but it recovers nicely and returns to it's epic storyline.

This was was a 3-star effort for me until I read chapter 17. It contains some of Norman's strongest writing and was so enjoyable that I bumped up it up a star.

[CharlieRoth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a rip off of Beowulf, yes. Is it awesome, yes. Does it contain Viking Berserkers wearing horned helmets, yes. Does it talk about how every woman wants to be a slave, yes... Again if you are reading these books thinking that it is misogynistic - I would categorize it more as zealously masculine, but let me not digress to what all other poor reviewers are talking about.

Struck with covid recently, I blasted through this book in a day and a half. It has some great action moments and brings to light more information on the Others.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kinda feel like I need to take a shower whenever I finish a book by John Norman. While the Gor series is a remarkable exercise in world-building the submissive role of women is overdone. Nevertheless, in this entry Tarl Cabot takes to see with the Gorean version of Earth’s Vikings for what is in my view the best book in the series I’ve read.

[Bruce Richardson · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the main threads of this book is that the hero and his Viking friends meet a princess who objects to a beauty contest. So they kidnap her and rape her on a daily basis until she sees sense.
The writing is also terrible, but that's just the most repellent story I've ever read.

[Deborah Countryman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pages 795. Marauders has Bosk A.K.A. Tarl Cabot traveling to North. His old companion Telima has been taken by the Beast from the other worlds and enemy of the Priest -Kings, the Kur. He is under the disguise of Tarl Red Hair.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of several Gor novels that I read back in the 70s

[PETER D · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun read

Enjoyed the book Norman does a great job of world building. Tarl Cabot is now back and I’m excited to read the next book.

[Peter Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Norman does a fantastic job at world building. I really enjoyed the book. I’m looking forward to reading the next in this epic series.

[David Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some respects the real hero of the Gor series is the world of Gor itself. Many of the books so far (this is the 9th in the long series) explore the many cultures of the world through the contrivance of having the hero, Tarl Cabot of Earth, join up with a band of folks from a part of Gor we haven't really explored yet, and then in the course of the adventure we along with him uncover the mysteries of this up to now terra incognito. Tarl must be an awfully likeable guy since he seems to get along well with whomever he falls in with. This time it is a group of ruffians from Torvaldsland, a region to the north of Gor inhabited by descendents of ancient Norsemen from Earth. These new "best buddies" have just performed a horrific massacre in a temple, but Tarl apparently has no difficulty winning over the group's leader, Ivar Forkbeard, simply by stating that he wishes to improve his game of Kaissa (Gorean chess) by playing against him.

Along with the now firmly established theme of the series glorifying female slavery, this entry has an interesting plot and science fiction elements as it offers us new revelations about the aliens who fight over Gor. We learn a lot about the mysterious "Others" who fly their steel ships and battle against the Priest-Kings, the alien species who "run" the planet in a very hands-off manner. Unfortunately some of the more exciting scenes are marred by the author's tendency to wander off into exposition about some Gorean custom in the middle of the action. Needless to say there is also the endless repetition about how the only happy woman is an enslaved woman. Gor is the counter-Earth not only cosmologically, but also socially, and "John Norman" frequently compares the effete men of Earth with the alpha males of Gor. To be fair, he does make a statement in this book that, whereas Earth goes too far in a milque-toasty direction, perhaps Gor also goes too far in the opposite direction. Indeed, this particular volume is perhaps the bloodiest and "goriest" of the Gor books so far. This along with the alien elements in the story make this one of the more interesting books in the series.