Guardsman of Gor

Gor #16

by John Norman

An Earth man and former slave rises through the ranks of the Gorean army.

Thrust into a life full of woeful twists and turns, Jason Marshall has contended with the prehistoric customs and immeasurable power of the Goreans. His struggles on Gor, a planet resembling Earth, included escaping imprisonment, enslavement, and redeeming lost land. Jason has fought to regain control of his life. Having ascended to a position of power in the Gorean army, Jason must prevail in a battle that seems destined to destroy Gor. Jason has a lot riding on his success as a war prestige, wealth, and an Earth girl of goddess-like beauty. Will Jason be able to win the war and avoid a fate worse than death?
 
Rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire.
 
Guardsman of Gor is the 16th book in the Gorean Saga, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Erotica, Ebooks, Adult, Adventure

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

John Norman, real name John Lange, was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1931. His best known works, the Gor series, currently span 36 books written 1966 (Tarnsman of Gor) to 2021 (Avengers of Gor). Three installments of the Telnarian Histories, plus three other fiction works and a non-fiction paperback. Mr. Norman is married and has three children.

Reviews

[Choko · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started sooooo promising! A story with some BDSM - great, I thought! Then it turned into 3/4ths of the book of "how to express the joy of female slavery in as many words as possible"! I got it! I am sold, but where is the story and how is it connected with Cabot, the Kuri and the Priest Kings? Do not tell me it was 3 books we could have totally skipped!

[Christopher Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[David Mann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, this one started out strong, after the cliff-hanger of the last book, and for about 15% of the book there is a terrific back and forth naval battle on the Vosk River, with no mention of the S-word. However after that is resolved, literally nothing else happens in the book, other than the usual prattle on female slavery that has polluted all the books since maybe the 3rd or 4th volume. To the surprise of no one, Miss Beverly Henderson, promising college student on Earth, is reduced to a simpering passive shell of her former self, and Jason Marshall has completed his evolution to become a typical sadistic Gorean "master" who inflicts more pain on the reader than on the various poor girls he has captured.

Apparently this is the end of the Jason Marshall sub-trilogy of the Gor books. The question is, can the books get any better now?

[Almustafa Couch · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were few redeeming qualities about this book, one thing that made me tolerate the outright sexism in this book was the authors turn of phrase with regard the combat scenes (which unfortunately were few and far between). This book did have two main plotlines one of which dealt with the combat scenes on the river, the other one dealt with female (sexual) slavery, this did overwhelm the naval combat and was disappointing, I would say that if anyone even thought of treating their partner in such a way as did the protagonist in this book they should (and hopefully do) remain single and isolated for the remainder of their life, it was not enjoyable in the slightest, this book is not recommended for anyone.

[Alan Standsalone Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out to be so promising on story but then at 50% the book just dropped to the same old repetitive slave women this and that. UGH!

[Cinnamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good end to Jason's story.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out strong before descending into the author’s usual BDSM misogyny.

[Squire · Rating 2 out of 5]

MORDEN BORDEN FJORDEN GORDEN!" which was Gorean for:
"YA-HOO!, RAVAGE, PILLAGE, PLUNDER,
MAIM AND PUT BIG HICKEYS ON ALL THEM FAIR DAMSELS!

Who knew Ray Stevens was a Gorean male?

Guardsman of Gor begins with a humdinger of a river battle as Jason Marshall, the first male slave form Earth, unites with persons from towns and outposts along the Vosk river to prevent pirates from gaining control of the trade routes that service most of Gor. The first 142 pages are exciting and flow really well (despite Norman's abuse of the comma). For the Gor series, it's some of Norman's best work. The slavery/BDSM aspect is limited to a humorous interlude that actually delivers some welcome levity into the proceedings.

Unfortunately, Norman has nowhere to go with this concluding tale of his "Jason Marshall" trilogy. He doesn't return to Marshall's narratives in his series (from what I can tell), so there's nothing to do but spend the next 240 pages on the planning, execution and aftermath of the big hickey party that follows the battle.

And that is the failing of this 16th instalment of the Gor series.

All of his other books have had the slavery element interspersed in the storyline of Gor. Here, the story is front-loaded and it causes an imbalance in the book. I wanted to stop reading after a while, but I continued because Norman has a habit of adding something in at the last minute that sets up his next book--but that didn't happen.

Here I'd like to mention an aspect of the Gor series I hadn't noticed before: Norman's abuse of the comma. His use of the comma, while not incorrect grammatically, hampers speed reading. I'm not a speed reader, but I found that I had to try in order to get through this book. The comma causes the reader to pause and register a new thought in a sentence--much like the slavery of women in this series, the comma enslaved my mind and prevented me from "skimming" the last 2/3 of the book. I managed to finally break through on the last 60 pages, but it gave me a headache.

Maybe this is the end of the Gor series for me. I still have the next 5 books on my shelf, so we'll see. I definitely need to take a break from Gor.

4 stars for the first 1/3
1 star for the second 1/3
1 star for the third 1/3

6 stars/3=2 stars

[Bill]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12669053

Gor has a very special place in my heart. As a SF writer, we often create story-verses when we start as opposed to stories when we start out. I created a magical world of multiple species at perpetual war and I named that word Gore.

My friend Jody Brown introduced me to Gor when she heard the name of my world and suggested that I change it. I changed it to Lore. Judy even bought and sent me some of the earlier books in the series, even though she was a poor college student at the time. The first four or five were excellent and exposed me to some early concepts of BDSM but then things got too dark... it was like a new writer took over.

Well, I came back to visit... and ICK. It's like FIFTY SHADES OF GOR. The dissertations make the ICK factor worse, because now they make it boring as well.

It river battle seas were rewarding, at least.

[AmbushPredator · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book of this short diversion from the main plot, and we find Jason where we left him, in the middle of a great river battle with the fleet of the various cities lead by Victoria, vs the pirate fleet. It's a rousing tale, though it's only half the book - the last half is dedicated to more normal Gorean pasttimes, of course!

And with the next book, we pick up on Tarl Cabot's story again, as the saga takes a very 'Western' turn. Cabot tries his hand at John Wayne, though tharlarion make for a rather slow & poor stagecoach ...

[Steve]

GOR

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

The third in the Jason Marshall trilogy within the Gor series. Better cover but much the same content.