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2.95 AVERAGE
2.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
on the one hand this is a pretty mid yet honestly shockingly fun sword and planet/sword and sorcery novel with a legitimately out there alien world and mercifully little of the BDSM sketchiness that I am sure will come to dominate these books down the road!
Now on the other hand I can understand someone in 2024 who is not as steeped in genre fiction of this sort and its history looking back on this book and cringing due to its reputation that seems to have largely gotten thanks to the later sequels which at some point lose their dang minds and just become sketchy soft-core novels about how "women like being slaves to men!" or some other BS!
That being said there is very very little of that in this and its mostly just a fairly harmless adventure book to me at least!
Will I read the next book in this series? I honestly might if for nothing else then to see where and just how quickly the car crash this series is known for happens!
Now on the other hand I can understand someone in 2024 who is not as steeped in genre fiction of this sort and its history looking back on this book and cringing due to its reputation that seems to have largely gotten thanks to the later sequels which at some point lose their dang minds and just become sketchy soft-core novels about how "women like being slaves to men!" or some other BS!
That being said there is very very little of that in this and its mostly just a fairly harmless adventure book to me at least!
Will I read the next book in this series? I honestly might if for nothing else then to see where and just how quickly the car crash this series is known for happens!
I was glad to revisit this novel. It kept me entertained, to a point. I can easily how it would be called out by modern society, especially women, given the treatment of the gender in the book. .
Spoiler
The amount of plot armor Tarl Cabot has is ridiculous, and he never seems to be changed/injured by his experiences.Spoiler
We are told that men and women can work the same jobs as men but the only ones we shown are slaves and daughters of royalty
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Yes I read all of the Gor books as they came out, back when I was a teenager. My older brother and his friends who were in High School at the time passed them around and made a lot of Gor-related inside jokes among themselves. I really liked this first one, having already read quite a bit of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and found the plot similar. The first Gor books were pretty interesting for me, especially the political landscape that the author developed. Of course most people concentrate on the female bondage thing but that just didn't bother me much back then. I guess I just looked at it like another alien culture.
But later on, the series deteriorated significantly, the author choosing to devote more and more pages to his sexual philosophy and less to the action of the story and the world. I kept going though, hoping for a return to the better stuff, making it all the way through book 20 or so before giving up.
But later on, the series deteriorated significantly, the author choosing to devote more and more pages to his sexual philosophy and less to the action of the story and the world. I kept going though, hoping for a return to the better stuff, making it all the way through book 20 or so before giving up.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Both fun and providing of a clear and interesting theme.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Horrible writing
Given the reputation this series had, I kind of read it on a whim. It was like The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, nothing that awful should go unseen.
It was actually not as horribly awful as I had been led to believe. More or less typical "man's man" fantasy adventure sci-fi from the 60s. Entertaining in its way, but nothing special.
It was actually not as horribly awful as I had been led to believe. More or less typical "man's man" fantasy adventure sci-fi from the 60s. Entertaining in its way, but nothing special.
Well that escalated...not at all.
Suffice to say I came to this book with expectations. They were not at all met. I was pretty puzzled when I'd made it most of the way through the book without a single sex scene, and when I hit the 80% mark I resigned myself to it being merely an adventure story with occasional female nudity. As that, it was pretty entertaining. The hero is not at all compelling, but the world has aspects that are startlingly fresh, like the talking spiders who will harm no rational creature. It's clear that Norman had a much grander vision for Gor than he could cover in this one book (I'd be curious to find out the circumstances around which it was written - and perhaps more interestingly, published), and I'm tempted to pick up a few of the later books to see if he delivers on the promise he's set up in Tarnsman.
Suffice to say I came to this book with expectations. They were not at all met. I was pretty puzzled when I'd made it most of the way through the book without a single sex scene, and when I hit the 80% mark I resigned myself to it being merely an adventure story with occasional female nudity. As that, it was pretty entertaining. The hero is not at all compelling, but the world has aspects that are startlingly fresh, like the talking spiders who will harm no rational creature. It's clear that Norman had a much grander vision for Gor than he could cover in this one book (I'd be curious to find out the circumstances around which it was written - and perhaps more interestingly, published), and I'm tempted to pick up a few of the later books to see if he delivers on the promise he's set up in Tarnsman.