What do you think?
Rate this book
Gor #17
Savages of Gor
The Kur came to Port Kar! Two of the terrible space beasts came to make Tarl Cabot an offer. They, a death-squad, sought the renegade Kur commander, the great Half-Ear, whom Tarl had once battled in the Far North.
But Tarl refused their offer, for Half-Ear was more valuable to the Priest-Kings alive than to the Kur dead. And now he knew it was imperative for him to save that monster from the doom that would fast overtake him.
This meant venturing the forbidden Barrens of Gor--a vast land of plains and prairies whose cruel Masters were tribes of savage red riders and where civilized men were always prey and their women mere trophies of the hunt!
Tarl Cabot returns in one of his greatest adventures.
But Tarl refused their offer, for Half-Ear was more valuable to the Priest-Kings alive than to the Kur dead. And now he knew it was imperative for him to save that monster from the doom that would fast overtake him.
This meant venturing the forbidden Barrens of Gor--a vast land of plains and prairies whose cruel Masters were tribes of savage red riders and where civilized men were always prey and their women mere trophies of the hunt!
Tarl Cabot returns in one of his greatest adventures.
335 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
32 people are currently reading
566 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 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 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.
Read
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 - 10 of 10 reviews