Download Nomads of Gor djvu

A few years ago I decided to revisit the Gorean Saga. I had read a handful of the early Gor books from the sixties and seventies when I was a teenager, starting with book one and reading them in order. After reading many of the reviews online I purchased ten of the Gorean Saga books. I didn’t read them all back to back so it took me a few years to read them all. I mixed them in with other books I wanted to read. I read a wide variety of stuff each year, everything from nonfiction to westerns. About half of what I read is sci-fi and fantasy, averaging 50-60 books a year.

These are the Gor books I read. After each book I’ve included how many stars I gave the story. Notice how the page count increases as the series goes on. This is not a good thing as I explain below.

Book 1 – Tarnsman of Gor (1966) p166 – 4 stars
Book 2 – Outlaw of Gor (1967) p220 – 2 stars
Book 3 – Priest-Kings of Gor (1968) p328 – 4 stars
Book 4 – Nomads of Gor (1969) p372 – 3 stars
Book 5 – Assassin of Gor (1971) p392 – 5 stars
Book 6 – Raiders of Gor (1971) p332 – 4 stars
I skipped Book 7 because the POV character changes from Tarl Cabot to Elinor Brinton.
Book 8 – Hunters of Gor (1974) p372 – 2 stars
Book 9 – Marauders of Gor (1975) p313 – 3 stars
Book 10 – Tribesman of Gor (1976) p449 – 1 stars
Book 33 – Rebels of Gor (2013) p654 – 2 stars

I found some of the stories good. But many of the books are bloated bores, lectures on the wonderments of female slavery instead of adventure stories. I read for adventure, not boring slave lectures. The stories I rated the highest are the ones with a high adventure to lecture ratio. Most of the books could be cut in half without losing any of the story. I’ll use Book 33, Rebels of Gor, as an example. It’s a 200-300 page adventure wrapped up in a long, repetitious, boring, slave lecture. The same information and dialogue are repeated over, and over, and over, and over, and . . . (Get the idea?)

If I revisit the Gorean Saga I’ll probably only read a few of the books that I found interesting this time around. In the meantime I’ll be spending more time with some of my favorite sci-fi and fantasy writers, Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Paolo Bacigalupi, Ray Bradbury, Orson Scott Card, Jack Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Earnest Cline, Suzanne Collins, Abe Evergreen, Diana Gabaldon, Joe Haldeman, Robert A. Heinlein, Hugh Howey, George Martin, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, George Orwell, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi, J.R.R. Tolkien and Andy Weir.

Starship Troopers (1959) (not like the movie) by Robert A. Heinlein is the book that got me started in sci-fi adventures, and has remained one of my top five favorite military science fiction adventure stories for decades. The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman, Armor (1984) by John Steakley, Ender’s Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card and Old Man’s War (2005) by John Scalzi, round out my top five military sci-fi adventure stories.

Before Twilight, before 50 Shades, there was Gor. These books have been around a long time. They are some of the earliest "Mommy Porn". Back when I was a much younger me, I read most of the Gor books. This one was one of my favorites. Besides being sexy (they are all sexy), this one was also very funny. Most people will agree that sex is psychological. You won't find the graphic details in these books, but as far as I am concerned "Hot" is a frame of mind, and this book is "HOT"! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please note: I would have given this 4 stars, but the writer is a bit long winded in places. A few skipped pages may be required.

Nomads of Gor is the fourth installment in John Norman's series about Tarl Cabot, the professor from Earth who is now a warrior on the planet Gor (the Counter-Earth). In the last book, Priest-Kings of Gor, Tarl was instructed by the Priest-Kings to find their egg -- the last hope of the insectoid Priest-King race. The egg is in the keeping of the wagon people, a fierce group of nomadic tribes. Tarl needs to find these people, infiltrate their society, get the egg, and escape.

Gor is an impressive world full of diverse and fascinating geographies, races, languages, cultures, and economic systems which John Norman describes in loving detail. This world-building is the best part of the Gorean Saga. But amongst all this diversity, one thing (surprisingly) remains the same wherever Tarl Cabot goes: every society he encounters captures pretty girls and uses them (branded, chained, and collared) as pleasure slaves.

John Norman's favorite trick is to turn a beautiful, independent, and feisty woman into a slave. At first she'll resist and scream "Never!", "I hate you!", etc. Then she is subdued by her master and made to learn her place. Soon she is happier than she's ever been in her life because she's learned to give in to her natural desire to be dominated by a man. (Yet, if she's so content, I'm not sure why she still has to wear a leash.)

This is my fourth (and last) Gor book and I've had an epiphany. All this time I've been wondering why these "spirited" women don't get together, rise up, and revolt. They walk around doing chores together, so it'd be easy to plan a night where every fiery female slave stabs or poisons her master. Now, I've finally realized what their problem is... they're all idiots.

This is how it goes:

Man: You are beautiful and feisty so I want you to be my slave, wench! I will have you!

Stupid Wench #1: No way! I am a free woman and my birthday is in a few days. Then I will get my inheritance and become the richest woman in the country. I will never be your slave! NEVER! NEVER! I hate you! NEVER!

Man: Stop kicking me and punching me with your tiny fists, feisty wench! You will be my slave!

Stupid Wench #1: No! Never! And just to show you how much I hate you, I will now ask this other warrior to challenge you in a duel and I will make myself the prize. You will never have me! NEVER!

Man: Actually, I changed my mind. You are not worth fighting for.

Stupid Wench #1: What? Am I not beautiful? Don't you want me?

Man: No, not really. I've got Stupid Wench #2 over there and she's way better than you.

Stupid Wench #1: What? She has fat ankles!

Man: Her ankles are sturdy. See how well she runs next to me when I'm riding on my horse.

Stupid Wench #1: I am better than her! Fight for me!

Stupid Wench #2: I am first girl, you stupid wench! We don't need any other stupid wenches around here. I can do all the washing, cooking, cleaning, animal grooming, poop scooping, kneeling, groveling, and man-pleasing all by myself. You will not outrank me! NEVER!

Stupid Wench #1: I am prettier than Stupid Wench #2! My ankles are not fat. Don't you think I'm pretty?

Man: You are not worth much.

Stupid Wench #1: Fight for me! Fight for me! Put your collar on me, Master!

So Man wins Stupid Wench #1 (who loses her inheritance since she's no longer free), outfits her in shiny new handcuffs, ankle rings, and collar, drags her by her hair, throws her across his saddle, and rides off. Stupid Wench #2 is trotting along at his side, sweating and resting her head on his thigh occasionally. Once Stupid Wench #1 is branded and settled in, she and Stupid Wench #2 jealously jostle for position -- taunting each other, sneering, calling names, and sometimes even kicking, biting, and pulling hair... And yet, according to the Gorean philosophy, they're now complete women because they have submitted to a man and are in their proper place...

This is just insulting. Not the part about women being willing to submit to men, but the fact that these women are valued only for their beauty and "spirit," are so easily beguiled by these men's transparent manipulations, and then are encouraged to jealously compete with each other for the man's affections. Norman wants us to believe his women are wonderful because they're fiery and spirited. But no, they're not. They're all just a bunch of idiots. I say they got what they deserve.