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Gor #15
Rogue of Gor
Learning a valuable lesson in gender roles, Jason Marshall, an Earthman enslaved by the Goreans, must prove himself on the planet Gor. Determined to find the beautiful Earthwoman who was kidnapped with him, Jason is caught in the middle of a devastating war between Ar and the Salerians. Jason must prove himself a real man and survive the war in hopes of finally finding the girl of his dreams. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the first book of the Gorean Saga, TARNSMAN OF GOR, E-Reads is proud to release the very first complete publication of all Gor books by John Norman, in both print and ebook editions, including the long-awaited 26th novel in the saga, WITNESS OF GOR. Many of the original Gor books have been out of print for years, but their popularity has endured. Each book of this release has been specially edited by the author and is a definitive text.
318 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
34 people are currently reading
597 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 27, 2008
This book goes through bad and comes out the other side into INSANELY AWESOME. And then keeps going and ends up at...really, really bad. A convoluted political plot set in an alternate world some Earth people can access is the frame on which the author hangs chapter after chapter of disquisitions on his favorite subject: the natural inferiority of women and their secret desires to be enslaved and raped by strong, strong he-men. There's actually an odd, cockeyed appeal to the scenes in which the hero, Jason--an Earth man who can't quite accept that it's his destiny to enslave pretty heroine Beverly--is basically chased around the room by a panting Beverly demanding he enslave her, enslave her and rape her now!
I found this book in a bin somewhere when I was in high school and read it in gaping astonishment. It's still pretty damn amazing. All in all, it reeks of an author who spent a lot of time alone, muttering vile imprecations on the stuck-up hussies who didn't seem to enjoy his manly charms.
I found this book in a bin somewhere when I was in high school and read it in gaping astonishment. It's still pretty damn amazing. All in all, it reeks of an author who spent a lot of time alone, muttering vile imprecations on the stuck-up hussies who didn't seem to enjoy his manly charms.
October 10, 2024
2.5 stars
By far, the silliest of the Gor novels up to this point. Not only does Norman take every opportunity to philosophize on the nature of Gorean gender roles, but he also has his hero assert his maculinity on every female he encounters except one--Beverly Henderson, the Earth girl he got himself kidnapped and enslaved with. For some reason, the fact that he knew Beverly on Earth before coming to Gor won't let him act as a master to her. When he finds her in the slave markets of Gor, he buys her and sets her free, for which she belittles him and even has him arrested.
Too stupid to be offensive, this outing is good for a hearty chuckle, especially in Chapter 24 when Jason Marshall finally overcomes his inability to see Miss Hendersom as a slave and Chapter 30 where it is revealed that men are interrogated and tortured by being given a case of blue balls (when displeasing women are simply fed to sleen and tharlarion--two species of savage beasts).
You can't make this stuff up. Well, John Norman can. And did.
I was getting a tad bored with Gor; but, now, I'm eager to continue. Could it be that what started out as satire (for me) is going to take a comedic left turn at Alboi-quoi-que?
By far, the silliest of the Gor novels up to this point. Not only does Norman take every opportunity to philosophize on the nature of Gorean gender roles, but he also has his hero assert his maculinity on every female he encounters except one--Beverly Henderson, the Earth girl he got himself kidnapped and enslaved with. For some reason, the fact that he knew Beverly on Earth before coming to Gor won't let him act as a master to her. When he finds her in the slave markets of Gor, he buys her and sets her free, for which she belittles him and even has him arrested.
Too stupid to be offensive, this outing is good for a hearty chuckle, especially in Chapter 24 when Jason Marshall finally overcomes his inability to see Miss Hendersom as a slave and Chapter 30 where it is revealed that men are interrogated and tortured by being given a case of blue balls (when displeasing women are simply fed to sleen and tharlarion--two species of savage beasts).
You can't make this stuff up. Well, John Norman can. And did.
I was getting a tad bored with Gor; but, now, I'm eager to continue. Could it be that what started out as satire (for me) is going to take a comedic left turn at Alboi-quoi-que?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2016
I'm quite possibly the only person on the planet who didn't get in to the Gor series because of an interest in female slavery. I got in to the Gor series because those early books were incredible, exciting, action-packed adventures above and beyond anything I'd ever read in my life. As you can imagine, I was less than thrilled when the whole plot went down the toilet in book 6. The series hasn't regained its magic since then and I doubt if it ever will.
As far as the later books go though, this was better than a lot of them. There was still a ton of awkward, mechanical, boring slave babble. But there was something of a story in there and one or two moments were pretty good.
Booooo! I miss Tarl of Koroba... he who was of the warriors. I don't even remember what the heck he's calling himself these days. If you're reading the Gor series, this book, which is book #2 of the Jason Marshall trilogy, is not one to skip. It's not that it's particularly important to the overall story (is there still an overall story?). But, as bad as it is, it's better than the other later books.
As far as the later books go though, this was better than a lot of them. There was still a ton of awkward, mechanical, boring slave babble. But there was something of a story in there and one or two moments were pretty good.
Booooo! I miss Tarl of Koroba... he who was of the warriors. I don't even remember what the heck he's calling himself these days. If you're reading the Gor series, this book, which is book #2 of the Jason Marshall trilogy, is not one to skip. It's not that it's particularly important to the overall story (is there still an overall story?). But, as bad as it is, it's better than the other later books.
February 21, 2019
That's unfortunate.
If you want to write an essay regarding your roles on gender roles in nature and how they may be expressed or denied by society do that.
If you wish to write a story about a man on a planet of barbarians and slave women having roguish adventures do that.
What was done here is a sort of mash-up of the two. Jolting from scene to scene the main character has unrealistic sex (seriously Stud horses think it's too much) while going on these long narrative tangents about BDSM philosophy. There are interesting ideas a plenty here and some arousing scenes but in terms of structure the novel is a mess.
It is even worse on audible since the narrator didn't make minor changes to how he read the book. The dialogue is all "he said, she said, he said, she said" to the point where it's actually hard to follow what was said. This is especially unfortunate as the narrator did a really good job at differentiating the voices making the dialogue tags unnecessary.
It's a naughty thrill of a read that has gained added spice as the philosophies espoused are so deliciously taboo in the modern day (indeed it seems to predict that state of affairs) but it's an obtuse read to say the least. Something best left for late night reading bursts before bed, not a long trip.
If you want to write an essay regarding your roles on gender roles in nature and how they may be expressed or denied by society do that.
If you wish to write a story about a man on a planet of barbarians and slave women having roguish adventures do that.
What was done here is a sort of mash-up of the two. Jolting from scene to scene the main character has unrealistic sex (seriously Stud horses think it's too much) while going on these long narrative tangents about BDSM philosophy. There are interesting ideas a plenty here and some arousing scenes but in terms of structure the novel is a mess.
It is even worse on audible since the narrator didn't make minor changes to how he read the book. The dialogue is all "he said, she said, he said, she said" to the point where it's actually hard to follow what was said. This is especially unfortunate as the narrator did a really good job at differentiating the voices making the dialogue tags unnecessary.
It's a naughty thrill of a read that has gained added spice as the philosophies espoused are so deliciously taboo in the modern day (indeed it seems to predict that state of affairs) but it's an obtuse read to say the least. Something best left for late night reading bursts before bed, not a long trip.
July 3, 2022
OK I'll give this one 3 stars because the plot is interesting and pretty fast paced for a later Gor book, and for other qualities which I'll get to. Unfortunately as always there are meanderings into the author's favorite obsession, but these detours are not as overwhelming as in, say, the previous Gor books. This is the second of 3 books dealing with Jason of Earth, who by now has shed his origin as a Gorean slave and there actually is some growth in his character through the course of the book.
The book mostly takes place along the Vosk river, specifically the independent town of Victoria. While war is brewing between Ar and Cos, the major problem is two bands of pirates who plan to join forces and start marauding up and down the river. The book ends on a cliff-hanger, so I'm actually looking forward to Book 16.
I should note that the sex in the book is a little more explicit than in the prior books, though the author still completely avoids any obscenities and all of the sex is still by innuendo. I also suddenly realized while reading the book that there never seem to be any Gorean children around. How do Gorean parents explain to their little boys and girls all the slavery and lascivious behavior happening in broad daylight?
Although the author usually seems very serious about his beliefs in the biological nature of the sexes, he manages to slip in a funny set of scenes in which he is clearly satirizing married life. Jason and Beverly start bickering until he gets completely fed up after being henpecked to death. There isn't much humor in the Gor books, but it was definitely present in that part of the book.
The author also inserts a dig against the wokeness of universities, long before wokeness was a thing. He writes "examples of the ideologically obsessed mediocrities whose intent it was to turn a university into a personal political instrument, one promoting a specialized agenda designed to further particular interests, theirs, an agenda whose fruition would be to replace education with indoctrination, thought with rote reflexes, an indoctrination in which objectivity, logic and reason were to be sacrificed to a specialized, contrived orthodoxy, one alien to evidence, one foreign to nature, one relying on intimidation and falsehood, one predicated upon the utility of harm, pressure, control, censorship, and hatred."
So overall enough of interest to give this book 3 stars, but if you are familiar with this series or have read my other reviews of books in the series, you will realized that Gor is not many readers' cup of tea. If you can get past the author's bizarre fetishes, there are some good elements. Gor the planet is very well realized. Occasionally the plotting is good. On the minus side, the characters are stilted, everyone talks the same way, or as "John Norman" would put it: "Too, everyone talks the same way." The worst thing about the books though is the author can't decide whether he is writing fetish books or planetary romance.
The book mostly takes place along the Vosk river, specifically the independent town of Victoria. While war is brewing between Ar and Cos, the major problem is two bands of pirates who plan to join forces and start marauding up and down the river. The book ends on a cliff-hanger, so I'm actually looking forward to Book 16.
I should note that the sex in the book is a little more explicit than in the prior books, though the author still completely avoids any obscenities and all of the sex is still by innuendo. I also suddenly realized while reading the book that there never seem to be any Gorean children around. How do Gorean parents explain to their little boys and girls all the slavery and lascivious behavior happening in broad daylight?
Although the author usually seems very serious about his beliefs in the biological nature of the sexes, he manages to slip in a funny set of scenes in which he is clearly satirizing married life. Jason and Beverly start bickering until he gets completely fed up after being henpecked to death. There isn't much humor in the Gor books, but it was definitely present in that part of the book.
The author also inserts a dig against the wokeness of universities, long before wokeness was a thing. He writes "examples of the ideologically obsessed mediocrities whose intent it was to turn a university into a personal political instrument, one promoting a specialized agenda designed to further particular interests, theirs, an agenda whose fruition would be to replace education with indoctrination, thought with rote reflexes, an indoctrination in which objectivity, logic and reason were to be sacrificed to a specialized, contrived orthodoxy, one alien to evidence, one foreign to nature, one relying on intimidation and falsehood, one predicated upon the utility of harm, pressure, control, censorship, and hatred."
So overall enough of interest to give this book 3 stars, but if you are familiar with this series or have read my other reviews of books in the series, you will realized that Gor is not many readers' cup of tea. If you can get past the author's bizarre fetishes, there are some good elements. Gor the planet is very well realized. Occasionally the plotting is good. On the minus side, the characters are stilted, everyone talks the same way, or as "John Norman" would put it: "Too, everyone talks the same way." The worst thing about the books though is the author can't decide whether he is writing fetish books or planetary romance.
March 4, 2014
We continue Jason's story, and our newly-freed former slave takes to Gorean life very well, becoming a man about town in Victoria, indulging a hopeless passion for his former Earth acquaintance, and taking revenge upon a few of the former Mistresses from the first book.
As we leave this one, he is part of a stunning river battle, the equal of anything George R R Martin could conceive.
As we leave this one, he is part of a stunning river battle, the equal of anything George R R Martin could conceive.
January 6, 2018
I loved the first six books I read as a teenager, with their interesting, if not ground-breaking, mix of John Carter and Conan. I respect Norman's tenacity and singular (dubious) vision in continuing this series well into his eighties... I've been on a mission to read all of the books in order; I'm interested to read the most recent additions, and I refuse to read a series out of sequence. BUT... these grow more insufferable with each volume, I don't know if I can make it to number 34...
January 21, 2018
A poor part of an enthralling series, his justification for his "natural" might is right ethos is verging on the petulant. In the past the books have not lingered on the justifications of his form of inequality and has gone into a good mode of the fantasy/adventure novel, in this the author isn't that, but when he comes to important philosophical issues such as inequality naturalism leaves the is ought gap as a major factor, which he ignores.
June 27, 2021
I suppose the Gor series can be defended as a admirable example of world-building, a patriarchal society taken to extremes, but as the series progresses the author doubles-down on the sex slave angle. The series evolved into a remarkable anachronism that would be unpublishable in the current cultural climate.
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.
May 8, 2009
This is the second book in a mini-series within the Gor books featuring a new character named Jason Marshall, who is kidnapped from earth and enslaved on Gor. I thought this promised a bit of a revival of the action oriented Gor books in the original 10 but it trailed off pretty quickly.
Read
January 17, 2016GOR
August 3, 2014
Read a long time ago. Good story
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews