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John Norman's Gor series

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  • #1

    John Norman's Gor series

    Has anyone read the Gor books by John Norman?
    I talked to someone las night who claimed to live by the principles of Gor. I was like huh? A bit of googling led me to various web sites where people discuss the Gorean "philosophy" and way of life - esp. slavery: in short, women belong to men.
    made me wonder about the books. how can a bad SF series be so pwerful as to have people adopt the fictional world's way of life???
    so if anyone read the books...please tell me about them.
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  • #2
    er...

    I have read the books and with some dismay seen the sites www.worldofgor.com for one.

    The stories in the books are great action adventures to be sure but the author doesn't half go off on one about his established ideas on female slavery at almost every oppurtunity, which slows up the books' flow.

    He, (John "Lange" Norman) has actually nicked the whole writing style from Herodotus. At least Herodotus changed the record from time to time.

    And as for the Live role players? Its mostly americans who have taken it to the extreme...

    "Waiter? Yes, I'll have the can of worms, slightly opened, please..."

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    • #3
      mordenkainnen

      BTW have you ever read outrages from the mages? in dragon magazine a good fifteen or so years ago

      try Mordenkainnen's Instant Death and then Mordenkainnen's Instant Summonses!

      or better yet Feign Invisbility!

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      • #4
        When I was at university, one of the college porters was a huge fan of the Gor books, which we had in the student-run college fiction library. One of my female friends took out one of the books one week, saying she wanted to know what he thought was so good about them.

        I told her she wouldn't enjoy it, described vaguely what they involved. She looked puzzled. I took the book from her and opening it at random read a passage where some woman was bound in chains and knelt trembling in front of some warrior... (or something of that kind). My friend blushed, snatched the book back off me, and returned it to the library straight away!

        Gr.,
        Ant

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        • #5
          Gor books suck.
          \"...an ape reft of his tail, and grown rusty at climbing, who yet feels himself to be a symbol and the frail representative of Omnipotence in a place that is not home.\" James Branch Cabell

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          • #6
            Whip that slavegirl! Flex and oil those biceps! Grunt! Grr! :roll:

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            • #7
              Originally posted by AndroMan
              Whip that slavegirl! Flex and oil those biceps! Grunt! Grr! :roll:
              Oddly enough I have a distinct memory of my dad reading me part of a Gor book as a bedtime story when I was a kid. Thing is after 22 years I still remember one of the scenes he read me (and this was at the start of the book mind) involved the whipping of a slavegirl.... That's probably why he didn't read me the rest of the book.

              What bugs me is how fans of mainstream fantasy have to pretend this kind of crap is anything other than a boys version of barbara cartland / mills & boon romance novels. All pastiche and regurgitation.
              Batman: It's a low neighborhood, full of rumpots. They're used to curious sights, which they attribute to alcoholic delusions.

              Robin: Gosh, drink is sure a filthy thing, isn't it? I'd rather be dead than unable to trust my own eyes!

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              • #8
                I think I only read one Gor novel ever (Assassin of Gor) when I was going through my Brooks/Eddings phase as a teenager - after exhausting Mike's fantasy ouervre natch - and I don't really recall picking up on the sexual politics at the time (which probably says more about me than it does the book). One reviewer at the time, I think said that the first few Gor novels were reasonably decent fantasy potboilers with lots of S&S and a hint of S&M, but that as the series went on it degnerated into lots of S&M with a smattering of S&S. Of course, I never read any more so I don't know if it's true or not. :)

                Btw, - and at the risk of moving this entire thread over to the Movies board - did anyone ever see the Gor movie with Oliver Reed (iirc)? I presume it was just as bad as the source novels?
                _"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
                _For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
                _And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
                _He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."

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                • #9
                  I borrowed a Gor book from the local library once (can't even remember which one).

                  Originally posted by AndroMan
                  Whip that slavegirl! Flex and oil those biceps! Grunt! Grr! :roll:
                  That kind of sums up the first chapter. I never got to the end of the book as it just seemed to be more of the same.


                  Originally posted by demos99
                  did anyone ever see the Gor movie with Oliver Reed (iirc)?
                  They made a movie? 8O Oh dear...

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by spaced_moorcock
                    ... They made a movie? 8O Oh dear...
                    Yup! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095241/. Three stars... that many?

                    Originally posted by Ian Witham
                    An unwatchable film based on an unreadable book.
                    Cheers,
                    Ant

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by demos99
                      ... One reviewer at the time, I think said that the first few Gor novels were reasonably decent fantasy potboilers with lots of S&S and a hint of S&M, but that as the series went on it degnerated into lots of S&M with a smattering of S&S. Of course, I never read any more so I don't know if it's true or not. :)
                      John Clute, writing in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, echoes that very closely...

                      I just want to stress that my comments to my friend (above) were based on Clute's... I have never read any of them myself. 8)

                      Cheers,
                      Ant

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Ant
                        Originally posted by spaced_moorcock
                        ... They made a movie? 8O Oh dear...
                        Yup! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095241/. Three stars... that many?
                        [broken link]Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo![broken link]

                        They made a sequel!!!! 8O
                        http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098048/
                        Last edited by Rothgo; 04-24-2010, 06:57 AM.
                        _"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
                        _For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
                        _And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
                        _He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."

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                        • #13
                          Finally got me hands on one of the books, read five pages and gave up. I have no time for that crap.
                          Can't believe some people take it as a rulebook for their sex games :lol:

                          Originally posted by Mickey_C
                          Gor books suck.
                          Yeah. Badly.

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                          • #14
                            Did anyone notice that Arnold Vosloo (the Mummy, and most recently on the appalling '24') is in this, as a character called of all things.....

                            Norman.

                            Not a very barbarian name is it?
                            Batman: It's a low neighborhood, full of rumpots. They're used to curious sights, which they attribute to alcoholic delusions.

                            Robin: Gosh, drink is sure a filthy thing, isn't it? I'd rather be dead than unable to trust my own eyes!

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Originally posted by demos99
                              Originally posted by Ant
                              Originally posted by spaced_moorcock
                              ... They made a movie? 8O Oh dear...
                              Yup! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095241/. Three stars... that many?
                              [image moved]]Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo![image moved]

                              They made a sequel!!!! 8O
                              http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098048/
                              If it makes you feel better...great MST3K episode.

                              Comment

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