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Gor #7
Captive of Gor
Captive of John Captive of Ballantine FIRST First Edition, 7th Printing (August 1976). Not price-clipped. Published by Ballantine Books, 1972. Octavo. Paperback. Book is very good. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.Seller 355525 Pulp Paperbacks We Buy Books! Collections - Libraries - Estates - Individual Titles. Message us if you have books to sell!
370 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1972
99 people are currently reading
894 people want to read
About the author
John Norman
99 books337 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 - 30 of 74 reviews
September 22, 2011
If you are into domination/submission, then this is a book for you. If not, it will bore you out of your brain, despite the rather well crafted science-fantasy world the story inhabits. There is page after page of stuff like this (I parody): Naked and in chains, humiliated, Spoilt-Rich-B**** lifts her head and rages, "I am not a slave! I am not a slave!" Bar Barian H-unk roars, and strikes her across the face, and then kicks her in the guts. "Say you are a slave, wench!" Sobbing, humiliated, Spoilt-Rich-B**** hangs her head and says "I am a slave! I am a slave!". ...I kid you not: that is the book, and I've just saved you a lot of time.
March 17, 2015
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...
Recap thus far: I’ve been reading this really trashy pulp series about a dude who ends up on another planet where there’s no modern weaponry and most of the women are contented sex slaves. Think a kinky version of Barsoom. I’ve enjoyed the series thus far with the caveat that it necessitates a suspension of morality in addition to a suspension of disbelief in order to avoid being filled with outrage at the series’ treatment of women.
Based on reviews I’ve read, there’s a point where the series starts to go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay downhill. I’ve definitely reached that point. Generally I write spoiler-free reviews, but this one will include some spoilers to spare you the pain of having to read the book for yourself.
Captive of Gor is one of the worst books that I’ve ever read. I got through it only because I feel that after having read the six previous books, I’m invested enough in the series that I’m determined to persevere. Depending on how the next couple books are, that might change, because this book was really really bad.
It also represents a major departure from the series thus far, because instead of focusing on Tarl Cabot, the hero of all of the previous books, it instead chooses to use an Earth woman as the protagonist. Elinor Brinton is a rich bitch New York City socialite who hates men. That’s her defining personality trait. Her only personality trait, even. One night, Elinor is captured and taken to Gor, where it’s pretty obvious what happens to her. She quickly learns that women on Gor have no social status, and changes hands between a variety of different men.
I couldn’t sympathize with Elinor, because despite the fact that terrible things were happening to her throughout the entire book, she was entirely unlikeable and had no redeeming personality traits. This is likely because John Norman cannot write convincingly from a female perspective.
Up until this point, the female characters in the series, while submissive, have possessed character traits that complement the hero in some way. That didn’t happen here. Elinor was a horrible person. Instead of hoping that she would find a way to escape and return to Earth, I hoped that Elinor would be eaten by a sleen. It would put both her and readers out of their misery.
The plot is repetitive and unnecessary. It can be summed up as follows:
Elinor: I’m not a slave! I’m rich! I have lots of money on Earth.
Random Gorean Man: You are slave! (and I am Gorean and don’t use the word “a”)
*insert display of dominance*
Elinor: Okay fine, I am slave.
Elinor’s internal monologue: Why am I weirdly turned on by this?
Rinse and repeat, and that’s the entire plot of the book. You could have cut out three quarters of it and miss nothing whatsoever, until Elinor finally meets the man who is right for her, at which point her former personality is erased by his dick. It’s about to be happily ever after, at which point John Norman realizes that nothing that’s happened in the book so far has any relevance to anything else in the series. In order to remedy it, Elinor’s master decides for no reason whatsoever that his feelings for her are a sign of his own weakness, so he sells her. She ends up finally meeting Tarl Cabot (although he’s still in his emo phase, so he’s calling himself “Bosk,” which I can’t think of without picturing a certain Trandoshian Bounty Hunter), and in telling him her story, she reveals to him that she’s met Talena in passing. Talena is Tarl Cabot’s Free Companion, aka wife, and has been missing in action since the end of the first book. Now that this piece of crucial information has been revealed, Elinor is again irrelevant and can go back to whatever it was she was doing before. Elinor’s former master realizes that he can’t live with out her and quite literally swoops down from the sky to bring her back to him. It felt like Elinor’s only relevance to the main storyline was an afterthought.
The pulpy SF/F that I most enjoy follows a very specific formula. Basically, a half-naked male protagonist in a low-tech world fights monsters and performs feats of strength to save the world from certain doom and/or rescue the scantily clad female lead. This formula is tried and true, and it makes me happy. It’s why I’ve enjoyed the Gor series up until this point. Captive of Gor doesn’t work for me at all, and instead is redundant, poorly written, and misogynistic.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...
Recap thus far: I’ve been reading this really trashy pulp series about a dude who ends up on another planet where there’s no modern weaponry and most of the women are contented sex slaves. Think a kinky version of Barsoom. I’ve enjoyed the series thus far with the caveat that it necessitates a suspension of morality in addition to a suspension of disbelief in order to avoid being filled with outrage at the series’ treatment of women.
Based on reviews I’ve read, there’s a point where the series starts to go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay downhill. I’ve definitely reached that point. Generally I write spoiler-free reviews, but this one will include some spoilers to spare you the pain of having to read the book for yourself.
Captive of Gor is one of the worst books that I’ve ever read. I got through it only because I feel that after having read the six previous books, I’m invested enough in the series that I’m determined to persevere. Depending on how the next couple books are, that might change, because this book was really really bad.
It also represents a major departure from the series thus far, because instead of focusing on Tarl Cabot, the hero of all of the previous books, it instead chooses to use an Earth woman as the protagonist. Elinor Brinton is a rich bitch New York City socialite who hates men. That’s her defining personality trait. Her only personality trait, even. One night, Elinor is captured and taken to Gor, where it’s pretty obvious what happens to her. She quickly learns that women on Gor have no social status, and changes hands between a variety of different men.
I couldn’t sympathize with Elinor, because despite the fact that terrible things were happening to her throughout the entire book, she was entirely unlikeable and had no redeeming personality traits. This is likely because John Norman cannot write convincingly from a female perspective.
Up until this point, the female characters in the series, while submissive, have possessed character traits that complement the hero in some way. That didn’t happen here. Elinor was a horrible person. Instead of hoping that she would find a way to escape and return to Earth, I hoped that Elinor would be eaten by a sleen. It would put both her and readers out of their misery.
The plot is repetitive and unnecessary. It can be summed up as follows:
Elinor: I’m not a slave! I’m rich! I have lots of money on Earth.
Random Gorean Man: You are slave! (and I am Gorean and don’t use the word “a”)
*insert display of dominance*
Elinor: Okay fine, I am slave.
Elinor’s internal monologue: Why am I weirdly turned on by this?
Rinse and repeat, and that’s the entire plot of the book. You could have cut out three quarters of it and miss nothing whatsoever, until Elinor finally meets the man who is right for her, at which point her former personality is erased by his dick. It’s about to be happily ever after, at which point John Norman realizes that nothing that’s happened in the book so far has any relevance to anything else in the series. In order to remedy it, Elinor’s master decides for no reason whatsoever that his feelings for her are a sign of his own weakness, so he sells her. She ends up finally meeting Tarl Cabot (although he’s still in his emo phase, so he’s calling himself “Bosk,” which I can’t think of without picturing a certain Trandoshian Bounty Hunter), and in telling him her story, she reveals to him that she’s met Talena in passing. Talena is Tarl Cabot’s Free Companion, aka wife, and has been missing in action since the end of the first book. Now that this piece of crucial information has been revealed, Elinor is again irrelevant and can go back to whatever it was she was doing before. Elinor’s former master realizes that he can’t live with out her and quite literally swoops down from the sky to bring her back to him. It felt like Elinor’s only relevance to the main storyline was an afterthought.
The pulpy SF/F that I most enjoy follows a very specific formula. Basically, a half-naked male protagonist in a low-tech world fights monsters and performs feats of strength to save the world from certain doom and/or rescue the scantily clad female lead. This formula is tried and true, and it makes me happy. It’s why I’ve enjoyed the Gor series up until this point. Captive of Gor doesn’t work for me at all, and instead is redundant, poorly written, and misogynistic.
June 2, 2014
This book is not just bad, it is appallingly so. I'm not even put off by the BDSM theme. Really, to each his own, and if Norman wants to imagine a world where women are only truly fulfilled by total submission to loutish men, he is welcome to do so. What he is not welcome to do, in my view, is to beat me half to death with incessant repetition of his theme. Norman makes Ayn Rand seem like a master (well, mistress) of subtlety and nuance. He yammers away continuously from beginning to end about what he calls the 'biotruth' of male gender ascendancy until you just want to grab him by the throat and feed him to one of his fanciful creatures. It wouldn't be so bad if repetition weren't the only tool in his box, but that seems to be the limit of his skillset. He can't even stay consistent with the logic of his own premise, as the long suffering reader will find when he/she finally washes up on the rocky shores of Norman's denouement. I would call this a spoiler alert, but should you read this travesty in spite of my review, by the time you get here Norman will have already spoiled it himself. It seems that after 400 some pages of beating, abusing, confining, and humiliating his female protagonist into accepting slavery as not only her due but her highest, most rewarding existence, Norman allows her to become the beloved companion of her master - a position we begin to suspect in the closing pages is actually preferable to slavery in spite of having been told otherwise over and over and over and over again throughout the rest of the book. Really? Do yourself a favor, and give this one a miss.
October 22, 2021
This is the first book in this series that does not feature Tarl Cabot as the protagonist. Instead this is the tale of Elinor, who is kidnapped from Earth and taken to Gor as a slave. Tarl does make an appearance at the very end, but in a very minor.
I don't know if it was Norman's intention, but the main character was such an annoying, horrible self centered person that I didn't feel bad for her being chained up all the time. Keeping her gagged would have been an improvement.
There is not much to the story and endless boring repetition really got on my nerves. Hopefully this will be the last we see of Elinor and the next book will get back to the Barsoom like adventuring of the first six books.
I don't know if it was Norman's intention, but the main character was such an annoying, horrible self centered person that I didn't feel bad for her being chained up all the time. Keeping her gagged would have been an improvement.
There is not much to the story and endless boring repetition really got on my nerves. Hopefully this will be the last we see of Elinor and the next book will get back to the Barsoom like adventuring of the first six books.
February 20, 2011
Well, my dog tore the book apart when he was home alone and I still wanted to finish it, I guess that's a pro.
Firstly, I notice a lot of reviews say the main character is unlikeable. I agree 100%, but I also think it's intentional, particularly because of the BDSM theme. The character's a bitch, so it's a little more pleasurable to see her punished for being that way. It's harder to get behind her and cheer for her. Instead you just want to see her suffer over and over (which we do see and expect). So, I think the story works in that sense.
The writing sort of drove me crazy. The author repeats himself a lot. A lot! Seriously, he repeats himself a lot. Kind of like that. It reminds me of how I word-pad when I'm doing National Novel Writing Month. It really comes across as an unedited copy of the novel. I'm pretty sure the author could have cut out about half of the novel, and it wouldn't have changed it at all. There was also a lot of unnecessary description (in my opinion). In short, I ended up skimming a lot when I started to get bored.
The character development worked and didn't work simultaneously. It worked because there was a very obvious shift in her attitude by the end of the book. It didn't work because she fluctuated between the two extremes (complete defiance and total submission) constantly, until the last couple of chapters. There was no in between. That made her frustrating to read (though I did already say she was unlikeable).
I haven't read any of the other books in the series. (This works as a stand-alone.) I probably won't either. I was given this one to read because I told someone I was into bondage (most of my own novels involve slavery of some kind), but hadn't actually read much of it. The book definitely appealed to the part of me who is into that, though. Probably most of the reason I ended up finishing it.
Also, the author repeats himself. A lot.
Firstly, I notice a lot of reviews say the main character is unlikeable. I agree 100%, but I also think it's intentional, particularly because of the BDSM theme. The character's a bitch, so it's a little more pleasurable to see her punished for being that way. It's harder to get behind her and cheer for her. Instead you just want to see her suffer over and over (which we do see and expect). So, I think the story works in that sense.
The writing sort of drove me crazy. The author repeats himself a lot. A lot! Seriously, he repeats himself a lot. Kind of like that. It reminds me of how I word-pad when I'm doing National Novel Writing Month. It really comes across as an unedited copy of the novel. I'm pretty sure the author could have cut out about half of the novel, and it wouldn't have changed it at all. There was also a lot of unnecessary description (in my opinion). In short, I ended up skimming a lot when I started to get bored.
The character development worked and didn't work simultaneously. It worked because there was a very obvious shift in her attitude by the end of the book. It didn't work because she fluctuated between the two extremes (complete defiance and total submission) constantly, until the last couple of chapters. There was no in between. That made her frustrating to read (though I did already say she was unlikeable).
I haven't read any of the other books in the series. (This works as a stand-alone.) I probably won't either. I was given this one to read because I told someone I was into bondage (most of my own novels involve slavery of some kind), but hadn't actually read much of it. The book definitely appealed to the part of me who is into that, though. Probably most of the reason I ended up finishing it.
Also, the author repeats himself. A lot.
September 24, 2014
The first book in the series which isn't from the perspective of Tarl Cabot. Instead this book is the story of Elinor, a girl kidnapped from New York and made a slave on Gor.
This is not a great book. The beginning of the book where Elinor is hunted on earth is very well done. The end of the book is also quite well done (even if she feel in love for no apparent reason that I could see apart from a man having sex with her). But the middle 2/3 of the book is dreadful.
The basic plotline is:
I am Elinor and I hate all men and will never be a slave. But oh I desire men. But no I won't be a slave. But did I mention I desire men? Slavery is for the lesser women but not me. But it's terrible that I desire men, even though I'm a virgin. Oh, now I hate women because they are so weak. Ooh... men, I desire men.
Repeat for a few hundred pages.
This book is so very very very very very repetitive. Very very very. Very very. And the unlikeable main character just grates after a while. Also, why on earth does the writer need to write out every single incident of her stealing berries. I swear he just copied and paste the same paragraph about berries in each time.
And I'm not even going to start on how unbelievable Elinor is as a character. "Oh I'm a big strong women who just needs a good rodgering to turn me into a sex slave. Did I mention I hate everyone but still desire men?"
This is only getting two stars because I liked the start.
This is not a great book. The beginning of the book where Elinor is hunted on earth is very well done. The end of the book is also quite well done (even if she feel in love for no apparent reason that I could see apart from a man having sex with her). But the middle 2/3 of the book is dreadful.
The basic plotline is:
I am Elinor and I hate all men and will never be a slave. But oh I desire men. But no I won't be a slave. But did I mention I desire men? Slavery is for the lesser women but not me. But it's terrible that I desire men, even though I'm a virgin. Oh, now I hate women because they are so weak. Ooh... men, I desire men.
Repeat for a few hundred pages.
This book is so very very very very very repetitive. Very very very. Very very. And the unlikeable main character just grates after a while. Also, why on earth does the writer need to write out every single incident of her stealing berries. I swear he just copied and paste the same paragraph about berries in each time.
And I'm not even going to start on how unbelievable Elinor is as a character. "Oh I'm a big strong women who just needs a good rodgering to turn me into a sex slave. Did I mention I hate everyone but still desire men?"
This is only getting two stars because I liked the start.
June 6, 2018
Everyone said that this book marks the point that the Gor novels start going down hill. As a big fan of the novels, I didn't want to believe it. Well, let me tell you, this novel is awful.
Here is the plot (in a scene which is repeated over and over and over):
Girl: "I am not a slave"
Man: "You ARE a slave!"
Girl: "Ok, I am a slave, and it feels so right!"
The End
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not offended by anything that I read in any book, including the Gor novels. If John Norman wants to write trashy action/adventure novels with a big dose of misogyny and slavery, then more power to him. I am a big boy and can differentiate between fantasy and reality. If his plot is basically the same scene over and over and over and he completely changes the type of story he is telling after 6 other novels, however, then there is a problem.
For people like me who are fans of this series, I HIGHLY recommend skipping this book. There is only one thing in it that has to do with anything in the series thus far, and that is: .
Here is the plot (in a scene which is repeated over and over and over):
Girl: "I am not a slave"
Man: "You ARE a slave!"
Girl: "Ok, I am a slave, and it feels so right!"
The End
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not offended by anything that I read in any book, including the Gor novels. If John Norman wants to write trashy action/adventure novels with a big dose of misogyny and slavery, then more power to him. I am a big boy and can differentiate between fantasy and reality. If his plot is basically the same scene over and over and over and he completely changes the type of story he is telling after 6 other novels, however, then there is a problem.
For people like me who are fans of this series, I HIGHLY recommend skipping this book. There is only one thing in it that has to do with anything in the series thus far, and that is: .
September 10, 2021
How does one write a review of ANY Gor book? A rip-off of Burroughs' Barsoom series (and maybe the Conan books) these books were written in the 1970's as a response to rising feminism. Gor is a world where men are warriors (with big "hands") and women are . . . sex slaves. And, of course, they love it. It is geared towards teenage boys and their masturbatory fantasies. Generally poorly written and repetitive. Reading these books as an adult is a guilty pleasure. I'm actually in the middle of "Creation" by Gore Vidal, a much heavier read and needed a break from all the Greek and Persian names.
This particular entry in the series (#7) boils the story down to its Gorean basics. Gone are the politics, conflicts, and economics of Gor. Here we have an Earth-girl, rich and spoiled, learning the pleasures of being a sex-slave. Kidnapped from Earth, she wakes up abandoned on Gor. Plenty of BDSM and soft-core action. "Take me master!" "I have been well used!" That's about it plot-wise.
For straight guys only. Definitely a guilty pleasure. Don't let anyone see the cover, perfect as an e-book.
This particular entry in the series (#7) boils the story down to its Gorean basics. Gone are the politics, conflicts, and economics of Gor. Here we have an Earth-girl, rich and spoiled, learning the pleasures of being a sex-slave. Kidnapped from Earth, she wakes up abandoned on Gor. Plenty of BDSM and soft-core action. "Take me master!" "I have been well used!" That's about it plot-wise.
For straight guys only. Definitely a guilty pleasure. Don't let anyone see the cover, perfect as an e-book.
April 12, 2015
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!
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!
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.
February 18, 2012
I have to agree with other reviewers that, unless you're into bondage and dominance/submission, you probably won't like this book. If you *are* into BDSM, you might like it. Maybe. You don't really need to read any of the previous Gor books to be able to read this one, but you'll probably understand more of the references if you at least have some passing familiarity with what happened in the first few books.
In Captive of Gor, the main character is an unlikeable and passive-aggressive woman named Elinor (or El-in-or, as everyone on Gor calls her) who snubs and backstabs at every opportunity, and who switches between the mindsets of "I am free and a woman of Earth and I will never ever be a slave!" to "I'm a slave, let me be your slave!" with an almost unhealthy regularity. I think I know what Norman's trying to do--show that she isn't sure what she thinks of her lot in life, and that her self-view changes over the course of her being a slave, and so on--but it didn't work for me. And then you have the constant reminders of who people are. Inge, you will learn, is of the Scribes. Every time Inge, who is of the Scribes, is mentioned, you will be reminded that, hey, Inge is of the Scribes. This is done constantly. For every character. Constantly. The writing itself is also pretty bad, but it's an easy read, and it requires zero brainpower to get through. So that's a plus.
In the story, Elinor manages to be so unlikeable that she makes it hard for you to root for her, and to symapthize with her when she gets punished, because you end up feeling like she really did deserve it.
It's not a terrible book, all in all, but it's not anything remarkable. Go ahead and read it if you're so inclined, but I'd strongly suggest skipping the series entirely if you don't like dominance/submission, or if you intend to read it with a feminist outlook. Because, I assure you, there is NOTHING feminist about this series.
In Captive of Gor, the main character is an unlikeable and passive-aggressive woman named Elinor (or El-in-or, as everyone on Gor calls her) who snubs and backstabs at every opportunity, and who switches between the mindsets of "I am free and a woman of Earth and I will never ever be a slave!" to "I'm a slave, let me be your slave!" with an almost unhealthy regularity. I think I know what Norman's trying to do--show that she isn't sure what she thinks of her lot in life, and that her self-view changes over the course of her being a slave, and so on--but it didn't work for me. And then you have the constant reminders of who people are. Inge, you will learn, is of the Scribes. Every time Inge, who is of the Scribes, is mentioned, you will be reminded that, hey, Inge is of the Scribes. This is done constantly. For every character. Constantly. The writing itself is also pretty bad, but it's an easy read, and it requires zero brainpower to get through. So that's a plus.
In the story, Elinor manages to be so unlikeable that she makes it hard for you to root for her, and to symapthize with her when she gets punished, because you end up feeling like she really did deserve it.
It's not a terrible book, all in all, but it's not anything remarkable. Go ahead and read it if you're so inclined, but I'd strongly suggest skipping the series entirely if you don't like dominance/submission, or if you intend to read it with a feminist outlook. Because, I assure you, there is NOTHING feminist about this series.
August 1, 2015
This one very nearly got 5 stars this time, but for the fact that it did get a little repetative, and if I'm honest, a little tedious at about the 30-40% mark. Fortunately the tedium passed and it picked up nicely and swiftly developed into a really nice love story.
Tarl Cabot, or Bosk as he has come to be known nowdays, doesn't make much of an appearance here except right at the end but I found I didn't miss him too much. There's not too much of plot as such either, just one woman's memories of her capture and subsequent life as a slave. The is done quite nicely I thought, although it was never going to be a surprise. John Norman has used this exact same little storyline before in pretty much the exact same way, so I'd like to see something a little bit different from now on.
Critisisms if any, well I've already mentioned that parts do tend to get a little laborious at times and I found myself speed-reading through almost 100 pages before it picked up and then held my attention very well right up to the end. Then there's that almost obligatory .
A good read if you skim parts of it, but not the best so far. Still quite enjoyable though and definitely not deserving of a lot of the critisisms I've read in a good many reviews.
It's really not all that bad...
Tarl Cabot, or Bosk as he has come to be known nowdays, doesn't make much of an appearance here except right at the end but I found I didn't miss him too much. There's not too much of plot as such either, just one woman's memories of her capture and subsequent life as a slave. The is done quite nicely I thought, although it was never going to be a surprise. John Norman has used this exact same little storyline before in pretty much the exact same way, so I'd like to see something a little bit different from now on.
Critisisms if any, well I've already mentioned that parts do tend to get a little laborious at times and I found myself speed-reading through almost 100 pages before it picked up and then held my attention very well right up to the end. Then there's that almost obligatory .
A good read if you skim parts of it, but not the best so far. Still quite enjoyable though and definitely not deserving of a lot of the critisisms I've read in a good many reviews.
It's really not all that bad...
October 2, 2025
My God this guy is horny. Terribly, painfully horny. And does he hate women? I think so? He's certainly horny, and women-hating enough to craft a whole world built--again, quite hornily--on their subjugation.
The writing is also not great--the world-building sporadic, and crammed into chapters as if it was an afterthought. The most dulling affect of his writing is the wanton repetition of a phrases--"But Elinor Brinton was from New York City", "Oh how she hated women/men!", "I was furious!", "Did X angrily."--repeated dozens if not hundreds of times throughout the book.
And my God. My God. The "female" perspective/protagonist. Sweet Jesus John, I don't know what made you want to do that--but my God was it an utter failure, verging on comedy.
And perhaps that's why this book earns two-stars? The pulp-y nature of the book is far to self-serious, and unintentional to earn the accolade of camp--but it accidentally veers in that direction. The book is a time capsule of a certain era and tone of magazine SciFi, and perhaps worth dipping a single toe in (if you can stomach the writing, the repetition, the misogyny).
I don't know what "philosophy" is really present in the book, I think to say that any exists is to have to grapple with the book seriously--and doing so makes it only detestable. In an old interview with the author, he once said "I think, pretty clearly, the three major influences on my work are Homer, Freud, and Nietzsche. Interestingly, however obvious this influence might be, few, if any, critics, commentators, or such, have called attention to it."...brother....maybe there's a reason no one sees any of that--and I think it's because your wild horniness is all anyone can pick up on.
I paired this book with The Dispossessed (which I started long after and finished long before), and it felt like a breath of fresh air. I felt obliged to eventually finish it, but in so...I got my fill...don't think I could bear reading any more in this series.
The writing is also not great--the world-building sporadic, and crammed into chapters as if it was an afterthought. The most dulling affect of his writing is the wanton repetition of a phrases--"But Elinor Brinton was from New York City", "Oh how she hated women/men!", "I was furious!", "Did X angrily."--repeated dozens if not hundreds of times throughout the book.
And my God. My God. The "female" perspective/protagonist. Sweet Jesus John, I don't know what made you want to do that--but my God was it an utter failure, verging on comedy.
And perhaps that's why this book earns two-stars? The pulp-y nature of the book is far to self-serious, and unintentional to earn the accolade of camp--but it accidentally veers in that direction. The book is a time capsule of a certain era and tone of magazine SciFi, and perhaps worth dipping a single toe in (if you can stomach the writing, the repetition, the misogyny).
I don't know what "philosophy" is really present in the book, I think to say that any exists is to have to grapple with the book seriously--and doing so makes it only detestable. In an old interview with the author, he once said "I think, pretty clearly, the three major influences on my work are Homer, Freud, and Nietzsche. Interestingly, however obvious this influence might be, few, if any, critics, commentators, or such, have called attention to it."...brother....maybe there's a reason no one sees any of that--and I think it's because your wild horniness is all anyone can pick up on.
I paired this book with The Dispossessed (which I started long after and finished long before), and it felt like a breath of fresh air. I felt obliged to eventually finish it, but in so...I got my fill...don't think I could bear reading any more in this series.
July 30, 2021
NO THIS MADE ME SO MAD. LIKE, it was a great read but Elinor was so frustrating. essentially her denying she isn't a slave but then her submitting and then her denying, it was such an on and off battle. what the hell was this? and it ONLY started to get spicy in the last 10 pages. her slave journey was quite interesting and you get a sense of the world but OH MY GOD!!! i must read another raunchy, sex slave one where it didn't frustrate me. and why did *SPOILER* the warrior Terve guy take her back after? like what??? gosh, give me the typewriter, i can rewrite this and make it better and fangirl-y worthy.
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December 25, 2024Probably not the most representative book of the gorean fetish subculture. Also just really poorly written so it's way more trouble than it's worth. You really don't much depiction of protocol. It shows subspace neither accurately nor artfully, and you at least gotta have one in order for a book about it to be interesting.
It's extremely repetitive, it desperately needs editing. I stg she drinks river water three separate times in the span of 2 pages. We didn't need that. The entire book is like that.
It's extremely repetitive, it desperately needs editing. I stg she drinks river water three separate times in the span of 2 pages. We didn't need that. The entire book is like that.
August 11, 2014
This book made my eyes bleed. Indirectly perhaps, in so far as I was clawing my eyes out in a bid to un-see what I had just read. This was without a doubt the most loathsome book I have ever read, (of which there have been several thousand). I did not dislike this book because of the disagreeable protagonist, the petulant, spiteful, and self-aggrandizing Miss Elinor Brinton; who, without being hyperbolic in the slightest, said on nearly every page how much better she was than other women, or how much she hated anyone and everyone, sometimes up to eighteen times on a single page (yes I counted) with nothing else mentioned. Her tirades last several pages, each of which invariably says the same exact thing for 370 pages. Nor did I dislike the book for the rather overt use of BDSM as a predominant theme (which given when the book was written was likely to be very edgy for a literary piece, but if compared to modern works is really quite mild). Or even because of John Norman's rather heavy-handed attempt at promulgating hierarchical axioms; as he sees them. After all, this is the seventh book in his series disseminating exactly those apothegms. What really irked me was the repetition. The book could have been twenty pages long, and said exactly the same thing. The journey itself was pointless.
Upon completing the book I felt empty, knowing I had just wasted every second I had spent reading this drivel. It frustrated me that the only literary device John Norman bothered to employ was repetition. As if by sheer repetition he could, using a sledgehammer for all the subtlety of it, hit you in the face enough times that it left a lasting impression. Outside of being a criticism of modern and historical hierarchical axioms this book served but one purpose in the overarching plot-line. Which was quickly summed up in the subsequent book within a few paragraphs, rendering this book entirely pointless.
Adding insult to injury, the prospective with which the book was written completely fell short of the mark. Miss Elinor Brinton was created only as a foil (upon first glance) of John Norman's views of women on Gor, in her own mind. By that I mean she is exactly as the author has claimed women of earth, and even of Gor, to be exactly, yet in denial to herself. It was written from the prospective of a woman. Yet everything she said and did appeared to be a masculine interpretation of female actions when viewed from the author's own prospective. She seemed to be a man playing the part of a woman as he sees women in an attempt to provide evidence for the very themes upon which the series has been written. I would have desired even a modicum of a more deft touch when this book was conceptualized. Particularly as the story written as if penned by a sophisticated, and well educated woman trained on Gor as a pleasure slave to bring to the fore her femininity and refinement of motion and speech. Instead she writes like a brute with little thought afforded for anything beyond what promulgates the themes of the book at the expense of the depth and breadth of the character. She is utterly un-relatable, a cookie-cutter mold of what the series has described human women to be; with no thoughts running deeper than superficial appearances and value.
As it stands you would be better suited to skipping this book altogether. It adds nothing to the storyline and is unpleasant in the extreme. I normally complete a book of this size in a few hours, unable to put it down. Yet I could not for the life of me bring myself to read this in one sitting, or even two, or three. More than a week and a half after starting I have finally managed to complete the infernal thing. I was six the last time it took me that long to read something. To sum up, this was the worst book I have ever read in my life.
Upon completing the book I felt empty, knowing I had just wasted every second I had spent reading this drivel. It frustrated me that the only literary device John Norman bothered to employ was repetition. As if by sheer repetition he could, using a sledgehammer for all the subtlety of it, hit you in the face enough times that it left a lasting impression. Outside of being a criticism of modern and historical hierarchical axioms this book served but one purpose in the overarching plot-line. Which was quickly summed up in the subsequent book within a few paragraphs, rendering this book entirely pointless.
Adding insult to injury, the prospective with which the book was written completely fell short of the mark. Miss Elinor Brinton was created only as a foil (upon first glance) of John Norman's views of women on Gor, in her own mind. By that I mean she is exactly as the author has claimed women of earth, and even of Gor, to be exactly, yet in denial to herself. It was written from the prospective of a woman. Yet everything she said and did appeared to be a masculine interpretation of female actions when viewed from the author's own prospective. She seemed to be a man playing the part of a woman as he sees women in an attempt to provide evidence for the very themes upon which the series has been written. I would have desired even a modicum of a more deft touch when this book was conceptualized. Particularly as the story written as if penned by a sophisticated, and well educated woman trained on Gor as a pleasure slave to bring to the fore her femininity and refinement of motion and speech. Instead she writes like a brute with little thought afforded for anything beyond what promulgates the themes of the book at the expense of the depth and breadth of the character. She is utterly un-relatable, a cookie-cutter mold of what the series has described human women to be; with no thoughts running deeper than superficial appearances and value.
As it stands you would be better suited to skipping this book altogether. It adds nothing to the storyline and is unpleasant in the extreme. I normally complete a book of this size in a few hours, unable to put it down. Yet I could not for the life of me bring myself to read this in one sitting, or even two, or three. More than a week and a half after starting I have finally managed to complete the infernal thing. I was six the last time it took me that long to read something. To sum up, this was the worst book I have ever read in my life.
December 7, 2012
I saw a brief reference to the Gor series the other day and I was curious enough to look into it, and after reading a bit about it, I chose to try this book. Now... I am no shrinking violet when it comes to bondage and sub/dom and similar genres, but this book genuinely feels like an outlet for a man who has serious gender-superiority issues and needs an "acceptable" outlet for his feelings, and I suspect the rest of the series is rather similar. I was especially tickled by the implied notion that a woman just needs some penis to fully change her ways. That good old "she just needs some dick" mentality thrives, in this book.
Throughout the book I felt rather conflicted. The main character, Elinor, ends up sort of being an anti-heroine; as she's the main protagonist I couldn't help but root for her, but given that she's genuinely a despicable person, I simultaneously despised her, and so couldn't fully invest myself in the story.
I also felt like it couldn't make its mind up whether or not it's an erotica book. As far as any sex scenes go, it either it goes too far or doesn't go far enough. There was a lot of build up to the event, but the actual "scene" was underwhelming. "Scene" in quotes because the scene itself didn't happen. One minute the main character is being thrown down on a pile of furs (lol) and the next it skips to something completely different with only a general reference in her recollections to the night before. In the previous scene, she had been horrified and terrified about what was about to transpire, but then in her recollections, suddenly she apparently enjoyed herself to a mind blowing degree. I fail to find the transition from one to the other believable.
Additionally, it was made even MORE disappointing by the intricacy with which the fantasy world seems to be built. Great fantasy world, really disappointing storyline.
Overall, it's not awful. It's not good. It just is. "Meh," is about as clearly as I can sum it up. I have no interest in reading any additional books in the series.
Throughout the book I felt rather conflicted. The main character, Elinor, ends up sort of being an anti-heroine; as she's the main protagonist I couldn't help but root for her, but given that she's genuinely a despicable person, I simultaneously despised her, and so couldn't fully invest myself in the story.
I also felt like it couldn't make its mind up whether or not it's an erotica book. As far as any sex scenes go, it either it goes too far or doesn't go far enough. There was a lot of build up to the event, but the actual "scene" was underwhelming. "Scene" in quotes because the scene itself didn't happen. One minute the main character is being thrown down on a pile of furs (lol) and the next it skips to something completely different with only a general reference in her recollections to the night before. In the previous scene, she had been horrified and terrified about what was about to transpire, but then in her recollections, suddenly she apparently enjoyed herself to a mind blowing degree. I fail to find the transition from one to the other believable.
Additionally, it was made even MORE disappointing by the intricacy with which the fantasy world seems to be built. Great fantasy world, really disappointing storyline.
Overall, it's not awful. It's not good. It just is. "Meh," is about as clearly as I can sum it up. I have no interest in reading any additional books in the series.
May 2, 2025
Wie kann man eine Feministende zur Weißglut treiben? Indem man ihr einen John Norman - Roman vorliest.
Norman hat in seiner sehr lang laufenden und sehr erfolgreichen Fantasy - Reihe seine Obsession breitgetreten: die glücksbringende Unterwerfung der submissiven Frau unter den starken, kühnen, dominanten Mann. Wie ich las, kommen seine Bücher in der entsprechenden Fetisch-Szene besonders gut an.
Dieser Roman hat nicht die übliche Hauptperson John Talbot, sondern Elinor, eine reiche, sehr schöne, sehr arrogante Dame von der Erde, die einfach mal eben entführt und auf den Planeten Gor verschleppt wird, um als Sklavin zu dienen. Zuerst ist sie natürlich empört und verzweifelt, doch nach gar nicht so langer Zeit stellt sie fest, dass sie es zu genießen beginnt. Und das, obwohl sie als weibliche Sklavin auf Gor nicht als Mensch sondern als Tier gilt und bei der kleinsten Verfehlung geschlagen wird.
Gerade in der heutigen Zeit, wo ständig die Überlegenheit des Weiblichen postuliert wird, sind solche Sachen natürlich enorm provokativ.
Das provokative Element fand ich eine Weile ganz amüsant, außerdem ist das Fantasy-Worldbuilding unaufdringlich aber gut gelungen. Leider wird dieses Sklavenmotiv unfassbar breitgetreten. Es wird alles 1000x wiederholt, was mich erst zum Querlesen und dann zur Aufgabe brachte.
Was mich gleich am Anfang geärgert hat, ist die Verstümmelung des Romans durch die deutsche Übersetzung von Heyne. Gleich vom ersten Satz an wird gekürzt, gekürzt, gekürzt. Zwar ist das Buch wie gesagt viel zu breit getreten, aber so eine Verstümmelung geht einfach gar nicht.
Norman hat in seiner sehr lang laufenden und sehr erfolgreichen Fantasy - Reihe seine Obsession breitgetreten: die glücksbringende Unterwerfung der submissiven Frau unter den starken, kühnen, dominanten Mann. Wie ich las, kommen seine Bücher in der entsprechenden Fetisch-Szene besonders gut an.
Dieser Roman hat nicht die übliche Hauptperson John Talbot, sondern Elinor, eine reiche, sehr schöne, sehr arrogante Dame von der Erde, die einfach mal eben entführt und auf den Planeten Gor verschleppt wird, um als Sklavin zu dienen. Zuerst ist sie natürlich empört und verzweifelt, doch nach gar nicht so langer Zeit stellt sie fest, dass sie es zu genießen beginnt. Und das, obwohl sie als weibliche Sklavin auf Gor nicht als Mensch sondern als Tier gilt und bei der kleinsten Verfehlung geschlagen wird.
Gerade in der heutigen Zeit, wo ständig die Überlegenheit des Weiblichen postuliert wird, sind solche Sachen natürlich enorm provokativ.
Das provokative Element fand ich eine Weile ganz amüsant, außerdem ist das Fantasy-Worldbuilding unaufdringlich aber gut gelungen. Leider wird dieses Sklavenmotiv unfassbar breitgetreten. Es wird alles 1000x wiederholt, was mich erst zum Querlesen und dann zur Aufgabe brachte.
Was mich gleich am Anfang geärgert hat, ist die Verstümmelung des Romans durch die deutsche Übersetzung von Heyne. Gleich vom ersten Satz an wird gekürzt, gekürzt, gekürzt. Zwar ist das Buch wie gesagt viel zu breit getreten, aber so eine Verstümmelung geht einfach gar nicht.
October 18, 2010
This was more long winded and repetitive than it needed to be.
It also had TONNES of continuity errors that - in terms of the narrator explaining complicated Gorean customs, or the mechanical workings of items - she really had no business knowing...
But that is the kind of voice these stories get told with, and I still see this as a positive sum experience.
I like the tongue in cheek mild misogyny, in the spirit of dominance and submissive interests between men and women. Maybe it is the Gorean male in me - or the Scorpio...
I like the bondage, and it doesnt even bother me that this series always stops short of anything sexually explicit - even though if there was explicit sex it might free up the pages that end up being dedicated to ramming the "she was a slave, no better than an animal or piece of meat" theme home. Seriously there must have been cumulatively 40-50 pages of the hopeless slave plight in this installment of the Gorean Chronicles.
This was the first volume in the series that wasnt exclusively in Tarl Cabot's first-person voice, though in terms of meter, and descriptiveness, it was the same voice as the previous installments. That bothered me more at the start of this, by the end I was resigned to it just being Norman's style and something I would have to embrace or ignore.
All in all I thought it was pretty good.
It also had TONNES of continuity errors that - in terms of the narrator explaining complicated Gorean customs, or the mechanical workings of items - she really had no business knowing...
But that is the kind of voice these stories get told with, and I still see this as a positive sum experience.
I like the tongue in cheek mild misogyny, in the spirit of dominance and submissive interests between men and women. Maybe it is the Gorean male in me - or the Scorpio...
I like the bondage, and it doesnt even bother me that this series always stops short of anything sexually explicit - even though if there was explicit sex it might free up the pages that end up being dedicated to ramming the "she was a slave, no better than an animal or piece of meat" theme home. Seriously there must have been cumulatively 40-50 pages of the hopeless slave plight in this installment of the Gorean Chronicles.
This was the first volume in the series that wasnt exclusively in Tarl Cabot's first-person voice, though in terms of meter, and descriptiveness, it was the same voice as the previous installments. That bothered me more at the start of this, by the end I was resigned to it just being Norman's style and something I would have to embrace or ignore.
All in all I thought it was pretty good.
December 14, 2015
Spoiled hot chick is kidnapped from Earth and sent to Gor as a sex slave. Human rights violations ensue.
This was a very dark book. Previous installments were from the mens' perspective, and so there was some allowance for eye-winking in terms of the womens' willingness towards the whole slavery thing. Not so in this one. Written solely from the woman's POV, we're along for the ride as she endures every form of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse as the Gorians "train" her on how to be a proper slave. Yeah, in no way is she down with it. This is a world where a woman's value is determined solely by her ability to sexually service men. What an awful waste.
It is also a rape culture fantasy of once she gets the "big D", all her complaining is over. Plus there's a healthy helping of "fuck her till she loves you" going on.
Norman made the lead character, Elinor, a real vomit of a human being. She's cowardly, spoiled, arrogant, duplicitous, and selfish. Perhaps he did this in a cynical effort to make us feel like she deserves her mistreatment.
This was a very dark book. Previous installments were from the mens' perspective, and so there was some allowance for eye-winking in terms of the womens' willingness towards the whole slavery thing. Not so in this one. Written solely from the woman's POV, we're along for the ride as she endures every form of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse as the Gorians "train" her on how to be a proper slave. Yeah, in no way is she down with it. This is a world where a woman's value is determined solely by her ability to sexually service men. What an awful waste.
It is also a rape culture fantasy of once she gets the "big D", all her complaining is over. Plus there's a healthy helping of "fuck her till she loves you" going on.
Norman made the lead character, Elinor, a real vomit of a human being. She's cowardly, spoiled, arrogant, duplicitous, and selfish. Perhaps he did this in a cynical effort to make us feel like she deserves her mistreatment.
February 23, 2017
A friend lent me this book when I was 14, which looking back was probably inappropriate, considering the nature of the content. Bratty young man taken by a mighty warrior, forced to submit, they fall in love. Had my father known I was reading this, I may never have been allowed outside again!
The world of Gor is drawn extremely well by the author; sometimes with excruciating detail. As with most Gorean fiction, women are treated as objects one minute, then lovable pets the next. The author, John Norman, does well to create his own set of rules and laws to govern a strange world which is far different than Earth.
For a woman who is drawn to ritualistic BDSM sex and obeying as strong Master, the books I read from the Gor series are pure gold, and this book was no exception. By living vicariously through Elinor's experiences, I am allowed to live in a world where there is no possibility of freeing myself; where I must submit.
I only wish all of the details of the story worked together.
The world of Gor is drawn extremely well by the author; sometimes with excruciating detail. As with most Gorean fiction, women are treated as objects one minute, then lovable pets the next. The author, John Norman, does well to create his own set of rules and laws to govern a strange world which is far different than Earth.
For a woman who is drawn to ritualistic BDSM sex and obeying as strong Master, the books I read from the Gor series are pure gold, and this book was no exception. By living vicariously through Elinor's experiences, I am allowed to live in a world where there is no possibility of freeing myself; where I must submit.
I only wish all of the details of the story worked together.
May 8, 2008
I read this book because I had started roleplaying gor in second life. Honestly John Norman is not a good writer. But he had a good idea. If you are part of gorean roleplay, or lifestyle you should read these books. Ohterwise I really wouldn't bother.
April 15, 2018
Such a change in this book as it’s written from the view point of a slave girl. Interestingly enough I enjoyed it.
May 15, 2018
Several books ago in the series, I was misled by a flyleaf description into thinking I was going to read a Gor book entirely without the hero of the series being involved. That wasn't that book. This was.
I always get a little nervous, when reading a book written by someone as though thinking as the opposite sex. Men authors, women authors -- doesn't matter, I get nervous. More so when the Gorean attitudes about women are so strongly established in stone, and the person being thrown into the mix is a sort of uber-rich-b**** from Earth.
This is where Norman's strength as an adventure writer lets him down. He kind of gets there, with the female sense of self and personal boundaries, but I don't know if it was so much a female's perspective, as much as an Earth woman's perspective. Culture shock, on a grand scale.
At any rate, Elinor isn't about to develop a character if she can help it here. I felt slightly manipulated into hating her at several points in the story, especially after In the end, it isn't until after that I started to feel she was expanding a little as a person.
The thing I take issue with (as opposed to the over-done cries of "sexist!") is one which is over-arcing among the books. Namely that on Gor, someone who is a slave, or has been a slave, upon finding another person being enslaved, regardless of whether that person was kind to them or not, or simply indifferent, would turn and inflict upon them the same humiliations that they had endured. Yes, human nature is depraved, and there is a lot of shallow vindictiveness residing in all of our souls. But, consider the history of slavery, internment, and imprisonment on a global scale, and we see instances of people acting nobly, too. People who refused to engage in the mindlessness of cruelty, instead of which, they reached out to others, choosing to give them kindness and dignity, which they themselves had been denied. Not an inordinate amount of people, certainly, but enough to stem some of the tide of depravity that was being inflicted upon themselves and others, by elevating the human condition, and not giving in to that inner darkness.
Thus my consternation with this book in particular, and the standard reactions of the slaves which is pervasive in the other books as well.
On only two occasions has Norman indicated otherwise, thus far in the series.
Anyway, dare I say that in the end, it is a "love story" of sorts? And it was a nice little diversion from Tarl, who at this point in the series, I, as a reader, am none too pleased with. This was a good break from watching him have his head up his butt.
I always get a little nervous, when reading a book written by someone as though thinking as the opposite sex. Men authors, women authors -- doesn't matter, I get nervous. More so when the Gorean attitudes about women are so strongly established in stone, and the person being thrown into the mix is a sort of uber-rich-b**** from Earth.
This is where Norman's strength as an adventure writer lets him down. He kind of gets there, with the female sense of self and personal boundaries, but I don't know if it was so much a female's perspective, as much as an Earth woman's perspective. Culture shock, on a grand scale.
At any rate, Elinor isn't about to develop a character if she can help it here. I felt slightly manipulated into hating her at several points in the story, especially after In the end, it isn't until after that I started to feel she was expanding a little as a person.
The thing I take issue with (as opposed to the over-done cries of "sexist!") is one which is over-arcing among the books. Namely that on Gor, someone who is a slave, or has been a slave, upon finding another person being enslaved, regardless of whether that person was kind to them or not, or simply indifferent, would turn and inflict upon them the same humiliations that they had endured. Yes, human nature is depraved, and there is a lot of shallow vindictiveness residing in all of our souls. But, consider the history of slavery, internment, and imprisonment on a global scale, and we see instances of people acting nobly, too. People who refused to engage in the mindlessness of cruelty, instead of which, they reached out to others, choosing to give them kindness and dignity, which they themselves had been denied. Not an inordinate amount of people, certainly, but enough to stem some of the tide of depravity that was being inflicted upon themselves and others, by elevating the human condition, and not giving in to that inner darkness.
Thus my consternation with this book in particular, and the standard reactions of the slaves which is pervasive in the other books as well.
On only two occasions has Norman indicated otherwise, thus far in the series.
Anyway, dare I say that in the end, it is a "love story" of sorts? And it was a nice little diversion from Tarl, who at this point in the series, I, as a reader, am none too pleased with. This was a good break from watching him have his head up his butt.
October 10, 2022
This was a weird read for me.
I mentioned in an earlier Gor review that I was reading this series as satire. Satire on some of the extreme views of feminism.
I don't have a problem with reading gratuitous literature designed to give feminists caustic conniptions. But 400 pages was a little much, I think. Reading this book was like reading the Marquis deSade (a great satirist, by the way): Norman (like the good Marquis) makes his point, succinctly; then he makes his point again, and again, and again. Enough already! Though he never really repeats himself scenario-wise, it does border on overwhelming. Not to mention boring.
It doesn't help that his heroine is quite unlikeable for most of the book. But that's the point--Elinor doesn't become a likeable, self-actualized person until she has become a true slave in mind and body. And he is a serial-abuser of punctuation, particularly the comma--which he doesn't use incorrectly, but his use does cause the reader to stumble over some of his sentences.
But there are a few story points that were introduced in this book that made me glad I went along for the entire ride: some new characters and the reintroduction of a storyline that had been dropped since Tarnsman.
This is where it gets weird for me. There are authors who seem clueless and cause me to lose temporary IQ pts while reading them (no names, they might be reading this--nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) And there are authors who talk down to me as I read their stuff (Ahem! Peter Straub Who said that? Did YOU say that?) But I never felt that Norman was doing either to me. I felt that he was talking to me as an intellectual equal. His ideas may be loony, but he was shooting straight with me.
In the end, I enjoyed this mostly from knowing that certain personages would be going psycho-crazy just thinking about this stuff. But Norman can only sustain an epic adventure storyline for about 350 pages. Anything above that count makes me leery about what that book's story holds.
At least the narrative fades to black when it comes to any actual sexual act. He respects my imagination in that respect.
I mentioned in an earlier Gor review that I was reading this series as satire. Satire on some of the extreme views of feminism.
I don't have a problem with reading gratuitous literature designed to give feminists caustic conniptions. But 400 pages was a little much, I think. Reading this book was like reading the Marquis deSade (a great satirist, by the way): Norman (like the good Marquis) makes his point, succinctly; then he makes his point again, and again, and again. Enough already! Though he never really repeats himself scenario-wise, it does border on overwhelming. Not to mention boring.
It doesn't help that his heroine is quite unlikeable for most of the book. But that's the point--Elinor doesn't become a likeable, self-actualized person until she has become a true slave in mind and body. And he is a serial-abuser of punctuation, particularly the comma--which he doesn't use incorrectly, but his use does cause the reader to stumble over some of his sentences.
But there are a few story points that were introduced in this book that made me glad I went along for the entire ride: some new characters and the reintroduction of a storyline that had been dropped since Tarnsman.
This is where it gets weird for me. There are authors who seem clueless and cause me to lose temporary IQ pts while reading them (no names, they might be reading this--nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) And there are authors who talk down to me as I read their stuff (Ahem! Peter Straub Who said that? Did YOU say that?) But I never felt that Norman was doing either to me. I felt that he was talking to me as an intellectual equal. His ideas may be loony, but he was shooting straight with me.
In the end, I enjoyed this mostly from knowing that certain personages would be going psycho-crazy just thinking about this stuff. But Norman can only sustain an epic adventure storyline for about 350 pages. Anything above that count makes me leery about what that book's story holds.
At least the narrative fades to black when it comes to any actual sexual act. He respects my imagination in that respect.
January 15, 2025
WARNING: THIS BOOK IS NOT PORNOGRAPHY (It's not even soft core)
Captive of Gor was the first naughty book I ever read. I was 12 years old, entering junior high school, hitting maturity. I had encountered sexual references and scenes in books before (mostly in my female cousin's leftover Harlequin novels). At 11 I was intrigued. At 12 I was ready for smut - so I filched this from my MALE cousin's abandoned collection of pulp fiction. He had every Gor book ever published, from #1 to #86: The High Priests' Constitutional Convention of Gor. I chose this one for obvious reasons: it looked like pornographic trash. I also thought the blond main character had great hair and impressive breasts.
I read this forbidden manuscript with panting breath. I think you can summarize from the other reviews for this entry what happened. I got a lot of plot. Women arguing. Women bickering. Women getting humiliated. Women feeling horny. I did not even make it to Elinor's escape. I skipped to the end. FYI for this and every other Gor book: there are NO SEX SCENES. Every depiction of sexual intercourse fades to black, and you will left there clutching John Norman's gender essentialist ideology. Ignore the graphic cover illustrations: Gor is not soft core porn in fantasy trappings; it's fantasy with porn trappings. It is not porn with plot - it is plot and more plot and still more plot. The only thing coming is more exposition.
Apparently after the first six books the series it ceases to be a rip roaring Conanesque adventure tale and becomes an endless series of diatribes re: evolutionary psychology and heterosexual relationships. I should ignored my youthful disdain for red-haired men and started with #1 (prejudice is its own punishment).
P.S. Let the sad deterioration of the Gor books be a lesson to all inspiring writers: show, don't tell - your ideas, your values, your filthy desires.
Remember boys and I guess a few girls, next time you're exasperated by 'woke' writers who are more interested in propagating their ideology and self-importance than crafting engrossing tales, it can happen to anyone.
Also: bring back hand painted book covers!
Captive of Gor was the first naughty book I ever read. I was 12 years old, entering junior high school, hitting maturity. I had encountered sexual references and scenes in books before (mostly in my female cousin's leftover Harlequin novels). At 11 I was intrigued. At 12 I was ready for smut - so I filched this from my MALE cousin's abandoned collection of pulp fiction. He had every Gor book ever published, from #1 to #86: The High Priests' Constitutional Convention of Gor. I chose this one for obvious reasons: it looked like pornographic trash. I also thought the blond main character had great hair and impressive breasts.
I read this forbidden manuscript with panting breath. I think you can summarize from the other reviews for this entry what happened. I got a lot of plot. Women arguing. Women bickering. Women getting humiliated. Women feeling horny. I did not even make it to Elinor's escape. I skipped to the end. FYI for this and every other Gor book: there are NO SEX SCENES. Every depiction of sexual intercourse fades to black, and you will left there clutching John Norman's gender essentialist ideology. Ignore the graphic cover illustrations: Gor is not soft core porn in fantasy trappings; it's fantasy with porn trappings. It is not porn with plot - it is plot and more plot and still more plot. The only thing coming is more exposition.
Apparently after the first six books the series it ceases to be a rip roaring Conanesque adventure tale and becomes an endless series of diatribes re: evolutionary psychology and heterosexual relationships. I should ignored my youthful disdain for red-haired men and started with #1 (prejudice is its own punishment).
P.S. Let the sad deterioration of the Gor books be a lesson to all inspiring writers: show, don't tell - your ideas, your values, your filthy desires.
Remember boys and I guess a few girls, next time you're exasperated by 'woke' writers who are more interested in propagating their ideology and self-importance than crafting engrossing tales, it can happen to anyone.
Also: bring back hand painted book covers!
November 13, 2018
These books don't really get better as you advance through the series. And yet somehow, they are a compelling read -- in spite of gaping holes in the plot and ridiculous and repetitive dialogue.
The mindless fantasy must appeal to the 8-year-old boy inside me at a subconscious level.
This book goes well-beyond the Conan-the-Barbarian-styled fantasy, though. It is much, much darker than the previous six in the series. Norman goes all-in on his philosophy of slave psychology. There are sections of the book that are a little demented. He rambles on-and-on about how slaves learn to love their collars.
Not recommended, but if you have read this far in the series (like me) then you will probably continue (like I probably will).
The mindless fantasy must appeal to the 8-year-old boy inside me at a subconscious level.
This book goes well-beyond the Conan-the-Barbarian-styled fantasy, though. It is much, much darker than the previous six in the series. Norman goes all-in on his philosophy of slave psychology. There are sections of the book that are a little demented. He rambles on-and-on about how slaves learn to love their collars.
Not recommended, but if you have read this far in the series (like me) then you will probably continue (like I probably will).
June 29, 2021
1022 pages Captive of GOR Narrative by Earth girl from New York an spoiled rich girl, Elinor Brinton. The book has about 400 pages of repeating itself. The last two hundred pages renew the emotions of love of a master and slave. Elinor Brinton slave of Rask of Treve. Treve is known for Tarnsmen to raid, other cities, camps, this is the way of Treve, by raids all that is needed is acquired. Food, Jewels, clothing and even slaves.
July 17, 2025
So I have to ask. Has John Norman ever met a woman before? Outside of a 1-900 line? Maybe a mother, sister, or heaven forbid, lover? Because I know of no women that act like that, at least not on this planet. In fact, they usually act quite similar to men, you know, human.
Wikipedia states that he, "married Bernice L. Green on January 14, 1956 while he was still a student at USC. The couple have three children: John, David, and Jennifer." Insane.
Wikipedia states that he, "married Bernice L. Green on January 14, 1956 while he was still a student at USC. The couple have three children: John, David, and Jennifer." Insane.
September 1, 2018
I'm not a big fan of this series, however, I must say that so far it was one of the most interesting books. Though I didn't like the main character and the story was very repetitive I did enjoy what I have learnt from the history.
As I'm not a native speaker, I don't consider my opinion on the book's language to be worth anything, however, I'd say that the language is very poor.
As I'm not a native speaker, I don't consider my opinion on the book's language to be worth anything, however, I'd say that the language is very poor.
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