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Gor #17
Savages of Gor
Barbarian warriors, sexy slaves, and swordplay on a Counter-Earth in the series that’s “a legend in speculative fantasy” (Boing Boing).
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 Counter-Earth, 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 on behalf of the Priest-Kings, once managed to foil a Kur attempt to set the stage for an invasion of Gor. 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.
Rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire.
Savages of Gor is the 17th book in the Gorean Saga, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
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 Counter-Earth, 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 on behalf of the Priest-Kings, once managed to foil a Kur attempt to set the stage for an invasion of Gor. 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.
Rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire.
Savages of Gor is the 17th book in the Gorean Saga, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
About the author
John Norman
125 books344 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 24, 2019
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.
August 24, 2017
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.
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.
May 15, 2026
3.5 stars
Continuation of the Tarl Cabot storyline as if the Jason Marshall trilogy of Gor 14-16 never happened. This time Cabot learns that Half-Ear the Kur may be alive in the Barrens on the eastern edge of know Gor and he is off to find the beast he "once shared paga with." Exciting story bogged down with the usual BDSM nonsense. Enjoyable for what it is.
At this point, I know what to expect from the typical John Normam Gor novel. Most will begin with a longer-than-necessay opening chapter that sets up the action of the novel but gets bogged down in Norman's telling the reader how certain things are rather than showing the reader. Second, there will be an even longer chapter on Tarl Cabot's introduction of a young woman into her enbondment. Once these are dispensed with, his stories are exciting and quite pulpy. He'll stop to explain things every now and then, but he mostly maintains focus on the story.
Every once in a while, though, he puts forth a thought that, while silly, makes me pause. In Savages he expresses the idea that on Earth virginity is something to be treasured while on Gor it is something to be overcome. Again, silly but it puts Gorean social norms in perspective.
Norman also slips in a scene which was unexpected in its humor and relevance to today: Cabot encounters the Waniyapni, a group of savages in the Barrens who follow "The Teaching." It is a doctrine that preaches "sameness" amongst its followers, male and female. And since all the Waniyapni have been raised and indoctrinated in The Teaching, no one questions it. But instead of enslaving the Lady Mira, Cabot hands her over to the Waniyapni who welcome her and name her Turnip.
And I realized something in this 17th outing on Gor: Norman doesn't use contractions. He doesn't in narration nor in dialog. And his characters speak mostly in complete sentences (as do I). This makes me comfortable when reading Norman's novels.
On to Gor 18.
Continuation of the Tarl Cabot storyline as if the Jason Marshall trilogy of Gor 14-16 never happened. This time Cabot learns that Half-Ear the Kur may be alive in the Barrens on the eastern edge of know Gor and he is off to find the beast he "once shared paga with." Exciting story bogged down with the usual BDSM nonsense. Enjoyable for what it is.
At this point, I know what to expect from the typical John Normam Gor novel. Most will begin with a longer-than-necessay opening chapter that sets up the action of the novel but gets bogged down in Norman's telling the reader how certain things are rather than showing the reader. Second, there will be an even longer chapter on Tarl Cabot's introduction of a young woman into her enbondment. Once these are dispensed with, his stories are exciting and quite pulpy. He'll stop to explain things every now and then, but he mostly maintains focus on the story.
Every once in a while, though, he puts forth a thought that, while silly, makes me pause. In Savages he expresses the idea that on Earth virginity is something to be treasured while on Gor it is something to be overcome. Again, silly but it puts Gorean social norms in perspective.
Norman also slips in a scene which was unexpected in its humor and relevance to today: Cabot encounters the Waniyapni, a group of savages in the Barrens who follow "The Teaching." It is a doctrine that preaches "sameness" amongst its followers, male and female. And since all the Waniyapni have been raised and indoctrinated in The Teaching, no one questions it. But instead of enslaving the Lady Mira, Cabot hands her over to the Waniyapni who welcome her and name her Turnip.
And I realized something in this 17th outing on Gor: Norman doesn't use contractions. He doesn't in narration nor in dialog. And his characters speak mostly in complete sentences (as do I). This makes me comfortable when reading Norman's novels.
On to Gor 18.
May 21, 2023
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.
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.
June 17, 2023
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.
June 28, 2019
I read this years ago. Worked my way through all the books in series. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Science fantasy meets sex fantasy.
September 24, 2023
#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.
March 16, 2014
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!
As the book ends, ol' Tarl is once more a slave - of sorts!
September 3, 2011
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.
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January 17, 2016GOR
May 8, 2009
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.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews