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2.95 AVERAGE
2.95 AVERAGE
Picked this up after I learned about it. Kinda funny to read just for the pop culture knowledge of its existence, but not a best seller on writing/story telling merit for sure
I expected more after reading all the controversy. Snooze.
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
https://osrascunhos.com/2017/06/25/tarsman-of-gor-john-norman/
Primeiro volume de uma saga fantástica, Tarnsman of Gor apresenta um planeta de características medievais onde uma classe religiosa detém o poder e a tecnologia e os restantes vivem numa sociedade hierarquizada. Tarl, um homem que segue a carreira de professor sem grande inclinação para tal, encontra, um dia, no meio da floresta, uma carta que lhe é dirigida. Nos próximos momentos é levado, inconsciente, para o planeta de Gor, onde conhece, pela primeira vez, o pai.
No planeta de Gor é treinado como um guerreiro na cidade de Ko-ro-ba. À semelhança das cidades estado gregas, estas cidades permanecem autónomas e rivais entre si, pelo que não é de estranhar que a primeira missão de Tarl tenha por objectivo minar outra cidade, roubando o objecto de maior poder. Nesta missão solitária acaba, também, por raptar a filha do líder, a quem se afeiçoa enquanto tenta escapar incólume pelos terrenos hostis.
Tarnsman of Gor é um livro de fantasia num cenário quase medieval, carregado de criaturas ferozes. Centrado numa única personagem, apresenta-nos um mundo onde as cidades batalham entre si e, consequentemente, existem escravos. Fora das cidades encontramos bestas enormes e aranhas tão inteligentes que comunicam, de forma perceptível, com os humanos.
Na mesma linha que histórias como John Carter, Tarnsman of Gor é um livro de aventuras cuja leitura escorre facilmente num mundo semelhante ao nosso, mas mais simples em termos de fauna e, até agora, na diversidade de culturas que possui.
Primeiro volume de uma saga fantástica, Tarnsman of Gor apresenta um planeta de características medievais onde uma classe religiosa detém o poder e a tecnologia e os restantes vivem numa sociedade hierarquizada. Tarl, um homem que segue a carreira de professor sem grande inclinação para tal, encontra, um dia, no meio da floresta, uma carta que lhe é dirigida. Nos próximos momentos é levado, inconsciente, para o planeta de Gor, onde conhece, pela primeira vez, o pai.
No planeta de Gor é treinado como um guerreiro na cidade de Ko-ro-ba. À semelhança das cidades estado gregas, estas cidades permanecem autónomas e rivais entre si, pelo que não é de estranhar que a primeira missão de Tarl tenha por objectivo minar outra cidade, roubando o objecto de maior poder. Nesta missão solitária acaba, também, por raptar a filha do líder, a quem se afeiçoa enquanto tenta escapar incólume pelos terrenos hostis.
Tarnsman of Gor é um livro de fantasia num cenário quase medieval, carregado de criaturas ferozes. Centrado numa única personagem, apresenta-nos um mundo onde as cidades batalham entre si e, consequentemente, existem escravos. Fora das cidades encontramos bestas enormes e aranhas tão inteligentes que comunicam, de forma perceptível, com os humanos.
Na mesma linha que histórias como John Carter, Tarnsman of Gor é um livro de aventuras cuja leitura escorre facilmente num mundo semelhante ao nosso, mas mais simples em termos de fauna e, até agora, na diversidade de culturas que possui.
I've wanted to read a Gor book for ages, based on their weird reputation and the fact we had a bunch of them in the Sutekh library way back when. It's famed for it's misogyny, taking the usual Fantasy/Sci-fi gender roles to extremes. Tarnsman of Gor is the first in the series, so it seemed like a good place to start.
At first glance, it's actually very John Carter of Mars-esque - young academic Tarl Cabot is mysteriously transported to another world. It's like our world in some ways, but it's trapped in some equivalent of out ancient world - battles are fought with swords, spears, and archers. But it's also different in various fantastical ways - the world is rules by mysterious priest-kings; warriors fly about on giant pterodactyl-ey creatures called Tarns (hence the title of the book, Tarnsman of Gor), there are giant talking spiders in the forests, etc. It's not too bad (or at least, not much worse than other similar portal-into-a-world-with-a-bunch-of-random-sci-fi-and-fantasy-devices-thrown-in novels). The misogyny and extreme gender roles are relatively mild in this one - dodgy in a few places, such as the submissive slave girl business, and the long-winded justification the author felt Tarl Cabot needed to go through in order to hug his father and be happy about seeing him); but not as ridiculously horrifying as the later novels in the series get (it's now up to 30 novels).
I'd recommend this only if you're super-keen on both Conan and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and have run out of anything like that to read.
At first glance, it's actually very John Carter of Mars-esque - young academic Tarl Cabot is mysteriously transported to another world. It's like our world in some ways, but it's trapped in some equivalent of out ancient world - battles are fought with swords, spears, and archers. But it's also different in various fantastical ways - the world is rules by mysterious priest-kings; warriors fly about on giant pterodactyl-ey creatures called Tarns (hence the title of the book, Tarnsman of Gor), there are giant talking spiders in the forests, etc. It's not too bad (or at least, not much worse than other similar portal-into-a-world-with-a-bunch-of-random-sci-fi-and-fantasy-devices-thrown-in novels). The misogyny and extreme gender roles are relatively mild in this one - dodgy in a few places, such as the submissive slave girl business, and the long-winded justification the author felt Tarl Cabot needed to go through in order to hug his father and be happy about seeing him); but not as ridiculously horrifying as the later novels in the series get (it's now up to 30 novels).
I'd recommend this only if you're super-keen on both Conan and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and have run out of anything like that to read.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
...I was curious, okay? Not my proudest moment, but honestly this was not as bad as I imagined it was going to be, based on everything I have heard.
A quick read, one that starts pretty well.
It has this Lovecraftian start with some British academic bookish guy who then gets plunged into unexplainable stuff. A group of people/aliens that can move a planet around the cosmos and can block/manipulate light and radio waves to prevent it from beeing seen.
Our character gets a message from his father dated hundreds of years ago and goes to this world apparently on a UFO.
The world is dominated by the Priest Kings, who also control how much technology is around and only allow people to arm themselves medieval style while giving life extension serums around as well.
Pretty awesome.
But then the story pretty much alternates good and bad moments.
First the MC, who starts interesting becomes a massive Gary Stu with a huge plot armor. His arms training was interesting, but when you realize as the story progresses that those few weeks/months actually turned him into the best fighter this world has ever seen, in a society defined by slavery, honor and warfare, it's a massive suspension of disbelief.
He then tames probably the biggest tarn (an eagle apparently bigger than a dragon) in the world, without ever being mentored how to do and the process, but he does so pretty effortlessly, to also the shock of his arms mentor, a war veteran who's also a tarn rider his whole life.
His plot armor makes him escape and survive impossible deaths multiple times, making it even worse.
During a war he is even analyzing and making massively better siege strategies over grizzed war veteran, without ever having done it before or mentored on such things. His strategy makes the other cities involved go home happy, avoids the razing of the capital and all with minimal losses too.
All this and we didn't even get to the supposed BDSM for what the series is famous for.
And to be fair, it didn't have anything explicit in this volume. But somehow it made it worse.
The MC is so pure of heart and perfect that he frees his slaves and also refuses to enslave the spoiled daughter of the biggest warchief of the world, even when she, believe it or not, begs him to do so.
He's so good this royal spoiled princess actually likes the whole thing and legit wants to be given the leash.
During points of the story you see it was all a ploy but by the end it's insanely clear it's legit how she feels.
If the MC had become someone who actually relished enslaving people, I'd actually find it much more believable than any of this.
The MC is so good that the warchief of the world, who lost his empire because of the MC, one he worked his entire life to build, with actual good reasons, who then also wanders the world as an outlaw, sees everyone trying to destroy his work, sees his daughter apparently enslaved, all this because of the MC (he tries to kill the MC multiple times and fail because of the plot armor)...
But by the end this warchief is happy and begging the MC to give him strong grandsons.
He becomes so insanely influential, liked and powerful that the immortal alien overlords, capable of moving planets around the universe, manipulating light, cosmic radiation and gravity, they all send him back to Earth probably because this Conan dressed sword wielding that doesn't like slavery and caste system is now supposedly a massive threat to their power on Gor!
I wondered if this was all some sort of parody, a joke to the power fantasy of the time Norman was writing but I really had the impression the whole thing was supposedly to be taken pretty seriously.
Maybe the MC falls to the dark side and becomes the overlord enslaving everyone later and maybe that's why the series ends up famous but this first volume is just bad with the amount of Gary Stu power and plot armor involved.
It has this Lovecraftian start with some British academic bookish guy who then gets plunged into unexplainable stuff. A group of people/aliens that can move a planet around the cosmos and can block/manipulate light and radio waves to prevent it from beeing seen.
Our character gets a message from his father dated hundreds of years ago and goes to this world apparently on a UFO.
The world is dominated by the Priest Kings, who also control how much technology is around and only allow people to arm themselves medieval style while giving life extension serums around as well.
Pretty awesome.
But then the story pretty much alternates good and bad moments.
First the MC, who starts interesting becomes a massive Gary Stu with a huge plot armor. His arms training was interesting, but when you realize as the story progresses that those few weeks/months actually turned him into the best fighter this world has ever seen, in a society defined by slavery, honor and warfare, it's a massive suspension of disbelief.
He then tames probably the biggest tarn (an eagle apparently bigger than a dragon) in the world, without ever being mentored how to do and the process, but he does so pretty effortlessly, to also the shock of his arms mentor, a war veteran who's also a tarn rider his whole life.
His plot armor makes him escape and survive impossible deaths multiple times, making it even worse.
During a war he is even analyzing and making massively better siege strategies over grizzed war veteran, without ever having done it before or mentored on such things. His strategy makes the other cities involved go home happy, avoids the razing of the capital and all with minimal losses too.
All this and we didn't even get to the supposed BDSM for what the series is famous for.
And to be fair, it didn't have anything explicit in this volume. But somehow it made it worse.
The MC is so pure of heart and perfect that he frees his slaves and also refuses to enslave the spoiled daughter of the biggest warchief of the world, even when she, believe it or not, begs him to do so.
He's so good this royal spoiled princess actually likes the whole thing and legit wants to be given the leash.
During points of the story you see it was all a ploy but by the end it's insanely clear it's legit how she feels.
If the MC had become someone who actually relished enslaving people, I'd actually find it much more believable than any of this.
The MC is so good that the warchief of the world, who lost his empire because of the MC, one he worked his entire life to build, with actual good reasons, who then also wanders the world as an outlaw, sees everyone trying to destroy his work, sees his daughter apparently enslaved, all this because of the MC (he tries to kill the MC multiple times and fail because of the plot armor)...
But by the end this warchief is happy and begging the MC to give him strong grandsons.
He becomes so insanely influential, liked and powerful that the immortal alien overlords, capable of moving planets around the universe, manipulating light, cosmic radiation and gravity, they all send him back to Earth probably because this Conan dressed sword wielding that doesn't like slavery and caste system is now supposedly a massive threat to their power on Gor!
I wondered if this was all some sort of parody, a joke to the power fantasy of the time Norman was writing but I really had the impression the whole thing was supposedly to be taken pretty seriously.
Maybe the MC falls to the dark side and becomes the overlord enslaving everyone later and maybe that's why the series ends up famous but this first volume is just bad with the amount of Gary Stu power and plot armor involved.