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Gor #28
Kur of Gor
Some might suppose that the Kurii are monsters, but that is distinctly unfair. They are merely another life form. The Kur is often eight to ten feet in height, if it should straighten its body, and several hundred pounds in weight, and is clawed, fanged, long armed, agile, and swift, often moving on all fours when it wishes to move most rapidly, and that is far faster than a man can run. It does not apologize for its strength, its speed, its formidableness. Nor does it attempt to conceal them. Once, it seems, the Kur race had a planet of their own, but somehow, apparently by their own hands, it was rendered unviable, either destroyed or desolate. So they searched for a new home, and in our solar system found not one but two suitable planets, planets they set their minds to conquering. But these planets, Earth and it's sister planet Gor, the Counter-Earth, were not undefended. Four times have the Kur attempted their conquest, only to be beaten back by the mysterious Priest-Kings, rulers of Gor. As the Kurii lurk deep within an asteroid belt, awaiting the chance to seize their prize, their attention is drawn to a human, Tarl Cabot. Cabot was once an agent of Priest-Kings, but is now their prisoner, held captive in a secret prison facility. But what is their interest in Tarl Cabot? Whatever it may be, one thing soon becomes clear - that Tarl Cabot is a man to be taken seriously.
730 pages, Paperback
First published November 23, 2009
17 people are currently reading
508 people want to read
About the author
John Norman
99 books338 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 21, 2018
First the negative:
It has been a few decades since I read one of the Gor books by John Norman. My younger self enjoyed the series a lot. I now find his writing a bit more....irritating. He moves off in tangents inexplicably which adds nothing to the novel. Not to mention the amount of times he repeats himself has to be world record in a book. The book would have been better if it was much shorter. At least half the size. I have two to three more of his novels on my bookshelf and I am wondering if I even want to try to read them.
The good:
The Kur have always fascinated me in his novels so this digging into their culture was cool. Their steel worlds were well imagined and made the sci-fi fan of me take notice. The story in general is interesting and does keep you reading. He presents a culture and you cannot help but compare what is similar and different between us and the kur. Not to mention what is different between earthlings and goreans.
If you are looking for a first time read of Norman....this is not the book. It is definitely one for those already invested in reading about his gorean world.
It has been a few decades since I read one of the Gor books by John Norman. My younger self enjoyed the series a lot. I now find his writing a bit more....irritating. He moves off in tangents inexplicably which adds nothing to the novel. Not to mention the amount of times he repeats himself has to be world record in a book. The book would have been better if it was much shorter. At least half the size. I have two to three more of his novels on my bookshelf and I am wondering if I even want to try to read them.
The good:
The Kur have always fascinated me in his novels so this digging into their culture was cool. Their steel worlds were well imagined and made the sci-fi fan of me take notice. The story in general is interesting and does keep you reading. He presents a culture and you cannot help but compare what is similar and different between us and the kur. Not to mention what is different between earthlings and goreans.
If you are looking for a first time read of Norman....this is not the book. It is definitely one for those already invested in reading about his gorean world.
November 11, 2013
A welcome return to form for Norman, as the last couple of books have been rather a disappointment. This one even includes the brief flashes of humour that he does so well!
January 18, 2021
This is a Gor novel that had great potential, it is sad that, to a great extent, it wastes it.
One of the irritations of John Norman's writing style is his fondness for randomly jumping ahead with precious little explanation or clear reason. This book has a prime example. Prior to this novel, the protagonist Tarl Cabot had been active in conquered Ar. He and his companion Marcus of Ar's Station had engaged in various acts of derring do and improbable badassery. He had enslaved Talena the Ubara, he had inspired a revolutionary movvement and wrought bloody havoc on the forces of Cos and a couple of groups of Kurii. He had even arranged for the liberation of the Home Stone of Ar's Station.
This story opens with him imprisoned naked on the "Prison Moon" accompanied by two equally naked girls. This being a Gor book, little thought is needed as to what the expected fate of the girls is to be. Cabot's presence is a strange one. It is, alas, a curiosity that the author does not attempr to explain. Some might have found some information as to how long has passed since the acts listed above, perhaps even an action scene when the Agents of Priest Kings move against their once champion? None of these details are mentioned, indeed the episode exists solely to get Cabot to meet up with the two main female characters, and is essentially never referenced again. The most we get is a handwave statement by somebody saying "that has all been osrted out , it is chill now."
The core of the novel is Cabot's slightly improbable (that could be the epithet of the character) stay on the "Steel World" (space station) of his great enemy the bestial intelligence of the Kurii. This is explained as the big bad deciding that in spite of his many efforts to defeat many Kurii invasion plans and the fact, he had a lot of Kur blood on his hands, Cabot could be lulled by inflated and empty promises to join them after his imprisonment. The book serves as a mirror image of the 3rd book Priest Kings of Gor where Cabot spent time among thre Gods of Gor. In both books he fights in an revolt by dissident elements and gains improbable degrees of importance without doing all that much. The Kurii perspective could have been fascinating, and we do learn about their society and see the more visceral aspects of it along with some interesting politics that lead to the next great arc in this long running series.
Nonetheless a lot is wasted on hitting the Gor expected details concerning social Darwinism and the prevalence of Dominance/submission relationships/ female slavery. Nothing wrong with staying with what you have always gone with but it probably adds 200 pages to the book for an audience that know the author's beliefs inside out. It seems unnecessary and repetitive to me.
Perhaps the most heinous aspect is the character (or lack of) "Cecily" she is introduced as being Cabot's "natural slave handpicked by Priest Kings to be perfect for him.". That is explicitly stated in the novel. She starts out (we are told but not shown) as a superior brat before deciding that Caabot is indeed her true Master and becoming the expected kajira. This character arc is nothing special for Gor books (it forms the basis of every kajira novel) but here it seems particularly egregious. Nothig makes sense about it. Priest Kings are shown to be way above any interest in the affectioos or the psychology of humans. So why woould they provide the perfect slave? It cannot be as a reward, as Cabot had been declared an enemy of them in Book 20. The one Priest King who had shown the slightest interest in Cabot thought that Vella was his go to girl so again this makes no sense. Instead we have this bland cypher teleported in to the story and it is pure hand wave. She adds nothing to the story and lacks any defining let alone interesting characteristics.
An annoying wasted opportunity with some hints at what it could have been.
One of the irritations of John Norman's writing style is his fondness for randomly jumping ahead with precious little explanation or clear reason. This book has a prime example. Prior to this novel, the protagonist Tarl Cabot had been active in conquered Ar. He and his companion Marcus of Ar's Station had engaged in various acts of derring do and improbable badassery. He had enslaved Talena the Ubara, he had inspired a revolutionary movvement and wrought bloody havoc on the forces of Cos and a couple of groups of Kurii. He had even arranged for the liberation of the Home Stone of Ar's Station.
This story opens with him imprisoned naked on the "Prison Moon" accompanied by two equally naked girls. This being a Gor book, little thought is needed as to what the expected fate of the girls is to be. Cabot's presence is a strange one. It is, alas, a curiosity that the author does not attempr to explain. Some might have found some information as to how long has passed since the acts listed above, perhaps even an action scene when the Agents of Priest Kings move against their once champion? None of these details are mentioned, indeed the episode exists solely to get Cabot to meet up with the two main female characters, and is essentially never referenced again. The most we get is a handwave statement by somebody saying "that has all been osrted out , it is chill now."
The core of the novel is Cabot's slightly improbable (that could be the epithet of the character) stay on the "Steel World" (space station) of his great enemy the bestial intelligence of the Kurii. This is explained as the big bad deciding that in spite of his many efforts to defeat many Kurii invasion plans and the fact, he had a lot of Kur blood on his hands, Cabot could be lulled by inflated and empty promises to join them after his imprisonment. The book serves as a mirror image of the 3rd book Priest Kings of Gor where Cabot spent time among thre Gods of Gor. In both books he fights in an revolt by dissident elements and gains improbable degrees of importance without doing all that much. The Kurii perspective could have been fascinating, and we do learn about their society and see the more visceral aspects of it along with some interesting politics that lead to the next great arc in this long running series.
Nonetheless a lot is wasted on hitting the Gor expected details concerning social Darwinism and the prevalence of Dominance/submission relationships/ female slavery. Nothing wrong with staying with what you have always gone with but it probably adds 200 pages to the book for an audience that know the author's beliefs inside out. It seems unnecessary and repetitive to me.
Perhaps the most heinous aspect is the character (or lack of) "Cecily" she is introduced as being Cabot's "natural slave handpicked by Priest Kings to be perfect for him.". That is explicitly stated in the novel. She starts out (we are told but not shown) as a superior brat before deciding that Caabot is indeed her true Master and becoming the expected kajira. This character arc is nothing special for Gor books (it forms the basis of every kajira novel) but here it seems particularly egregious. Nothig makes sense about it. Priest Kings are shown to be way above any interest in the affectioos or the psychology of humans. So why woould they provide the perfect slave? It cannot be as a reward, as Cabot had been declared an enemy of them in Book 20. The one Priest King who had shown the slightest interest in Cabot thought that Vella was his go to girl so again this makes no sense. Instead we have this bland cypher teleported in to the story and it is pure hand wave. She adds nothing to the story and lacks any defining let alone interesting characteristics.
An annoying wasted opportunity with some hints at what it could have been.
November 17, 2025
How the mighty have fallen. Norman used to write interesting stories at the beginning of his writing career, with his Tarnsman of Gor being a fast paced novel that had strong world building for a fairly short novel. 6 of the first 7 books were really good, with the lone book being from an Earth woman turned slave on Gor being mostly drivel.
But as he switched publishers, the focus started to slip from the interesting world politics and dynamics, and became more about how women belong at the feet of men as slaves. I still read them for the world and individual character building. And then things got worse when he did the 3 book sub-series from a different PoV than that of Tarl Cabot, with the Jason the fighting slave turned free man nonsense. From that point on, the series was not very good, with the books getting more and more into "how can I waste at least 150 pages a book describing how women are natural slaves".
Then came the 25th book, where we finally runs into his lover from the very first book, having captured her as a slave. I was all built up to read the next book with Tarl Cabot. And books 26 & 27 are slave PoV books, so I skipped them. That brings us to book 28, and what a hot mess it is.
There were instances where a paragraph took more than 2 pages to complete. There was at least 400 pages of drivel about slaves. Very little plot actually happened. I ended up skimming most of the book because I simply didn't care about any of it. I just want Tarl to get back to Gor and see what happens. Which was initiated at the very end of the book.
I honestly think this whole slave aspect of the books went to Norman's head. The books weren't popular initially because of the slavery aspect, but because of the fantasy element. It's clear he's forgotten about it, which explains why his publishers dumped him.
Yeah, I'll skim the next book or two, since I bought them years ago and never got around to reading them. But I feel cheated by these first 3 books post publisher.
But as he switched publishers, the focus started to slip from the interesting world politics and dynamics, and became more about how women belong at the feet of men as slaves. I still read them for the world and individual character building. And then things got worse when he did the 3 book sub-series from a different PoV than that of Tarl Cabot, with the Jason the fighting slave turned free man nonsense. From that point on, the series was not very good, with the books getting more and more into "how can I waste at least 150 pages a book describing how women are natural slaves".
Then came the 25th book, where we finally runs into his lover from the very first book, having captured her as a slave. I was all built up to read the next book with Tarl Cabot. And books 26 & 27 are slave PoV books, so I skipped them. That brings us to book 28, and what a hot mess it is.
There were instances where a paragraph took more than 2 pages to complete. There was at least 400 pages of drivel about slaves. Very little plot actually happened. I ended up skimming most of the book because I simply didn't care about any of it. I just want Tarl to get back to Gor and see what happens. Which was initiated at the very end of the book.
I honestly think this whole slave aspect of the books went to Norman's head. The books weren't popular initially because of the slavery aspect, but because of the fantasy element. It's clear he's forgotten about it, which explains why his publishers dumped him.
Yeah, I'll skim the next book or two, since I bought them years ago and never got around to reading them. But I feel cheated by these first 3 books post publisher.
May 23, 2015
More to my liking than the previous two, a small return to the sword component of the fantasy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews