KRSReads

Boredom on the Amazon - um...Ua River.

Revisado: 08-23-21

This book has so much promise, I was actually excited to read it. An uncharted river through through the dark deep continent (re: the Amazon), a quest to get a ring, the exotic island of Schendi where the Black Slavers live, amazon women, pygymies - this book as it all, and provides a nice break from the dumb Kurii/beast vs Priest King/bugs who do nothing plot line.

Boy was I surprised it was the most boring book yet.

Norman uses a pretty consistent formula for these books. Hero (Tarl) goes to exotic area of Gor for (reason), meets a native of the area (Forkbeard/Hasan/Imnauk/etc) and become friends, meets haughty free women or freaked out earth women and enslaves them, finishes quest in swashbuckler fashion, returns home with new slaves.

The problem with Explorers is - the reason is dumb (retrieve a ring that makes you invisible, that is worn around the neck of a cartographer instead of making him invisible), and worse - the "sidekick" who plays off Tarl is Kisu - a flat, boring, native of the jungle who says little and whose only goal is to enslave the woman he was supposed to marry but she ended up being given to a bad guy. Kisu's dialogue is really boiled down to "Yes. River is wide this way. I want to save my people."

Never has a book offering lost cities, unusual animals (even by Gor standards), and cannibalism been so word by word dull. I think even Norman got bored because the action is grinding (lots of jungle battles here) and out of nowhere, the quest solved with one sentence then Kisu says "Yes she's my slave" and the boat from Schendi takes him back to Port Kar.

The saddest thing isn't that this book is glacially paced and ridiculously mundane, but that it didn't have to be that way. Instead of Tarl going into the "Heart of Darkness" we ge Tarl on his raft, stopping by Jungle Bell for a taco and coming back home still hungry.

Waster time, wasted plot.

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Finally! An Enjoyable Gor Book!

Revisado: 03-07-21

On a quest to read them all, I've slogged through the super long discussions of slave chains, enough details of Gorean ships to build one in my backyard, and the most b-o-r-i-n-g explanations of women + slavery = better women you'll ever encounter. Then after the worst book so far - the vomitously repetitive "Slave Girl of Gor" (I'm the prettiest girl from my women's college on earth and now I'm a slave!") - I finally found it - a Gor book I enjoy.

Beasts features one of my least favorite plot lines - the ridiculous Kurii vs Priest Kings (who know everything and do nothing) and it still managed to captivate my attention. Instead of a viking drinking tale, Tarl goes North not full of warrior bravado but as a student to the "Red Hunters" (ripped straight the Inuit of Alaska). A Tarl who is inquisitive not just "know-it-all" Tarl is rather delightful. Instead of 30 minute side quests to make a slave, Tarl gets caught up in the dating ritual of shy Imnak and the mouthy Paolu. It's hysterically funny (one of the only humorous sides in the whole saga), and endearing.

By the end of these books I usually don't care about the women (who are all the same) and think Tarl's a pig but I'm glad he saved the day. In Beasts, I cared about Imnak and the women he captured. I wanted to know what happened to villian "Half Ear" and I was completely enthralled with "the people" of the North. Even the snow sleen were more interesting.

GOR SAGA TIP: If a chapter title is just a woman's name - you can skip it. It's just a long "what does it mean to be a slave belonging to a "Strong Gorean Man" (registered trademark). Neither chapter in this with women's names advance the story.

So, the Kurii beast saga is still silly and the men are still manly but if you only read one of the mid-range books -- choose Beasts of Gor. The conversations between Imnak and "Tarl Who Hunts With Me" are worth everything.

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Worst Book in the Series

Revisado: 03-07-21

So here's a quiz. You're a college age woman, well-off, intelligent, and you wake up one day to find yourself chained naked to a rock. What's the first thing you do:
A. Scream.
B. Tell yourself it's all a dream and try to wake up.
C. Have an internal dialogue about air pollution on planet earth caused by male weakness and female role problems and decide you must be on another planet cause the air is clean. Then spend a lot of time remembering how beautiful you are and thinking your college rival is not as pretty as you.

If you picked C this book is for you.

It takes both repetitiveness and unrealistic reactions to a new level. Within 6 months the female narrator is fought for, collared, sexually used repeatedly - sometimes in gang situations, she goes through about 5 Masters, learns fluent Gorean in a few weeks, falls in love, has a shipwreck, delivers a message that is going to save/ruin the world. She makes it across most of Gor from Glorious Ar all the way to the Northern lands, then back to the south. What does she do doing the whirlwind? Talks a lot about how pretty she is, how her college rival is NOT as pretty, and other petty concerns. The book has the same pitfalls as the others - long passages about slave psychology, women need to be slaves, collars are important, - and a meandering journey disguised as a plot. But the character is unlikeable and such a stereotype she might was well be in a cartoon.

It is by far the most boring, repetitive book in the saga where Norman (Lange) attempts to write in in the female voice and shows all he thinks is in a woman's head is "1. Am I pretty 2. Am I prettier than that other girl 3. I hope he thinks I'm pretty." The narrator should get credit for leading this out loud. She was to say "I was the prettiest girl at my junior women's college and a poetess!" at least 30 times, usually in life threatening situations.

So quiz.
You have been in a shipwreck. A shark pulls you off a flotsam raft and drags you underwater to your near death. You can't breathe. The light is fading. A warrior dives in, stabs shark and saves you and throws you on the deck of the ship where you both vomit up sea water and gasp because you had technically drowned and need to breath deeply. At that moment do you:
A. Thank the Priest Kings you are still alive?
B. Try to breath deeply and savor the air you were denied?
C. Wonder if the man who save you thinks you're pretty?

If you pick C, this books is for you.

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Unlikeable, Unmovable, Bosk

Revisado: 09-10-20

When we start this book, Bosk is pouting and unsatisfied with life in Port Kar. He goes on a search for his long-lost first love Talena who is being held slave. After 14 hours of how a slave is chained, what specific gags are used for what thing, every garment every girl wears, and one group losing to another group who loses to a different group - we end this book at -- Bosk is pouting and unsatisfied with life on Port Kar. Not one thing in Gor, not one character, changes. The book moves nothing, adds nothing, does nothing.

I started reading the Gor books to learn about world-building. I wanted to know how he made a world so captivating people want to live in it and further it through the repetitive horrible writing, cliches, and non-sensical plot. What it has turned into is really a study on the "Unlikeable narrator." How do you sustain a series of works where the protagonist is a selfish, pouting pig that holds grudges like a 12 year old girl?

In this book Tarl continues to make no sense. He sees Elizabeth Cardwell who had risked everything for him more than once, and purposely leaves her in a living hell that he makes worse. Then at the end he frees a slave who tried to kill him, just because he liked her hair when he used her. He gets bitter at one Ubar who saves his life, but lets another warrior who nearly cripples him go free. Most annoyingly, he carries butthurt grudges like a middle school girl. One slave keeps a small fact (that he and the reader already knew) from him because she is terrified. For the rest of the book (at last 20 times) it's "she held something back from me, I'm going to sell her." She saves his like like 4 times. Still "But she held something back so I'm going to sell her." I spent half the book - saying "OMG, Get over it Tarl."

His internal monologue doesn't give you insight. It just makes you hate him.
Talena was my first love, and she's rich. She can make me powerful. Then Oh, she's not rich anymore. Well, nevermind. Enjoy slavery T.
Elizabeth Cardwell is brave and I loved her. I use her and remember her body. But, she has her own life. Enjoy slavery, girl.
Sheera helped, me saved me, fell in love with me. But, I let him steal her because - she's just a slave. Enjpy captivity girl.
Marlenus kept me from being raped, saved me, helped, me but he beat me in the game, so, Screw you, Mar. Enjoy your shame.

He's just a jerk. The only real loves in his life are his tarn, Misk's Antennas, and himself. Boring, poor entry in this saga.

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Worst Book of the Series and the Whole World

Revisado: 02-12-20

This isn't just the worst book of the series, but the worst book I've ever read, period. There's plenty of blame to go around.

The reader: Her narrator's voice sounds like she's a 16 year old kid, which might be on purpose because the entire book seems like the unhinged diary of a 12 year old girl. Everyone who is Gorean, male or female, is given a sort of "russian cartoon" accent, like Boris and Natasha looking for "Moose and Squirrel". She also drops her voice so weirdly low for male characters she sounds like psycho Elizabeth Holmes speaking in a fake voice to sound like Steve Jobs. It's just laughably bad.

Brilliance Audio: It's hard when you're working with a made up language, but for 6 books prior to this one LIster has pronounced words like Paga, pasangs, ahn, and voltai in a certainly away. Now in this book the narrator says them differently. Brilliance audio should have at least given her a pronunciation key or caught that major words are said differently. Also, they should have encouraged her to deal with the "Moose and Squrrel" accent problem.

John Norman: His books are already repetitive, but this one is the exact same progression in ever single chapter. Save yourself some trouble - read this 19 times and you're done with the book::
I AM ELINOR BRINTON,
I AM RICH AND I AM PRETTY
I HATE MEN
I AM NOT A SLAVE GIRL.
WAIT, I AM A SLAVE GIRL.
I AM THE PRETTIEST SLAVE GIRL
I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH I LOVE BEING A SLAVE GIRL
NO! i AM FROM PARK AVENUE. I HAD A MASERATI
I AM ELINOR BRINTON

Besides the constant cycling from rich witch to drooling slave, Elinor just isn't a likable character. She's petty, cruel, judgmental and self-centered. She's like the mean girl in high school who looks down on everyone while she's doing the same thing. You don't care if she's branded, whipped, fed to a sleen or goes back to earth. You just want her to shut up..

There's a constant POV shift. Most of the time it's I and me, then at points she abruptly starts speaking about herself in the third person. It's creepy. "I saw a slave bracelet on my ankle. Elinor Brinton has a slave bracelet. Elinor Brinton is s slave."

There's no actual story here. She goes from place to place, Master to Master. There's no villain, no hero, no plot. Just long speeches about how great slavery is for women. It's like a weird propaganda poster for female slavery. "Try slavery! You'll like it. Elinor Brinton likes it."

No story, no consistent characters, no redemption, no battles, just one long stream of ego until she's done. Do yourself a favor, hop on the nearest tarn and fly far far away from this book.

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Best and Worst of the Series in One Book

Revisado: 02-06-20

This book is wildly uneven but enjoyable at the same time. The Pirate motif fits well with Gor and the features some of the best writing since the character development of Nomads. However, it also delves deeper into the great flaws Norman has as a writer - poor logic, long passages of nothing, simplistic women.

Best:
Action - so much action. It's like watching an old pirate swashbuckler movie from the 40's.
World Building: Port Kar comes alive, but it's the "Rence Islands" that really builds Gor up. Fantastic creativity.
Character Interplay: Characters connect and provide story inside the tstory.

Wost:
Bad logic. For 5 books Tarl looks certain death in the eye and goes forward. A girl puts a sword to him and he's like "Please don't kill me I'll be slave. I have no honor. I am nothing." What??? This turn in his character is so shallow Norman might have just started by saying "I want Tarl to be someone different, so he is."
LONGGGGG passages of nothing. 30 minute descriptions of ships. 15 minute explanations of everyone at a feast even though only 2 characters matter. a 10 minute passage about what his new cloak and sword look like.
Simplistic Women. The relationships and development of male characters is natural. The women, like the books before, are a joke. A woman goes from Ubara (sort of a queen) to slave in 5 minutes. "You are now slave - she was singing in the kitchen." A woman goes from being completely humiliated by "Bosk" (tarl) to "I love you Bosk" in less than a chapter. Pretty much - women are thing creatures who magically do/say whatever they need to at the moment.

It's both a fun romp, and a dumb book. Welcome to Gor.

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When a Plan Comes Together

Revisado: 10-27-19

The previous book, Nomads, has the best character development and this book serves as well-plotted. You can see the plot lines and what is happening a mile away - not too many surprises, but still its' very clear every character throughout the long saga of story is like a chess piece - and will play an important role in the end game. it's well planned.

Nice touches in this one include Tarl getting in over his head and a return of a favorite animal and leader. At the same time - more of the tragedy of Norman's long-winded dialogues and repetitive scenes as well. Norman writes battle scenes well -- but thinks he writes slave scenes well (when it's all the same scene - -"I am smart and hate slavery, I want to be a slave. I love you Tarl Cabot. I am free but want to be a slave for you tarl cabot." ). Sadly he cuts a great scene (his first tarn tournament as Gladius by just saying "Gladius won that tournament" then goes into a 30 page description of stave training techniques.)

Too much of the wrong details. Seriously - when Vella said, "There are 104 ways for a stave to enter a room" I almost cried because I thought I was going to have to listen to them all. Fortunately, he only describes 3. So, good plotting (every character has a purpose) but repetitious and tedious description.

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The Best and Worst of the Gor Saga

Revisado: 09-16-19

If you only read 1 Gor book, Nomads of Gor should be the one. It shows the very best of John Norman's writing ability. The Wagon People are epic world building, and you will feel like you have been a part of them all of your life. You understand their honor, their customs, and their games. You hurt with them, and you cheer for the "wily Tuchuks." The action is intense and the stakes are high. It's very well written and shows how these books have created an entire subculture who, like Elizabeth Cardwell, want to live in Gor forever.

It also shows the beginning of the end - not the end of the series - there were 30+ more books -- but the end of the great writing. Chapter 25, aptly named, "I am Served Tea" (yep its that exciting) - is the longest chapter in the book and it takes 1 hour and 19 minutes of a 15 hour book. It is 1 conversation between Tarl and Elizabeth about whether or not she should/wants/is a slavgirl. Back and forth they talk, and talk, and talk. Tarl says idiotic things like 2 sentences after freeing her because slavery is wrong "I thought of raping her, but that would never do for a free woman." So - slavery is wrong, except that he spend ages telling Elizabeth that it makes women better (there's an intensely looonnggggg back and forth over what makes a woman a woman) so then it's right. As the books progress these long exchanges about Female Submission dominate the books and the very cool action and worlds take a back seat.

So - read Nomads and love every minute of it (except maybe Chapter 25) but cry when you finish, because you've reached the end of the greatness.

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Great teaching, Challenging Format

Revisado: 08-17-18

This is much better suited to be read as a book and kept on the top of your desk. The narrator has the best voice and inflection I've heard on an audiobook. The challenge is that the material is not a long-form book or series of essays - but an entire book of shorter quotes. Some quotes are so short it takes longer to say the author and title of the book it came from than the quote.

The wisdom and teachings are great and there are some notable quotes good to keep in the pocket. But it's best to read/listen to one or two a day, than to just turn this on during the commute or at home and think you are getting a consistent thought.

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Insight and Gentle Encouragement

Revisado: 07-31-18

As a Buddhist, I was interested to see all the parallels the different religions had, and encouraged to continue to pursue my own practice as a way of bringing good to the world.

I would have liked it better if a professional reader, as opposed to the author, had read the book. You can hear his interest and desire in the topic, but his voice is not fluid or easy to follow for the listening ear.

Nothing groundbreaking. I learned a lot, and felt motivated when it was over.

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