This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures.http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...In the fifth installment of John Norman’s Gor series, our favorite ginger, Tarl Cabot, appears to be dead. A mysterious and deadly assassin named Kuurus arises in his wake, traveling to the city of Ar to avenge him. Kuurus is, of course, Tarl Cabot in disguise, because this is classic pulpy sci-fi, and heroes don’t get stabbed in the back and die without a good fight.The Priest Kings tell Tarl and Vella (the heroine from the last book) about the Others, the Priest Kings’ rival race from outer space that spreads death, war, and destruction in its wake. The Priest Kings’ weakened powers have given the Others an opportunity to infiltrate certain factions on Gor, and Tarl Cabot decides to help save the day by spying on them. Vella goes undercover as a sex slave in the merchant Cernus’ house, where she is in a position to observe him closely. The Others’ technology has allowed Cernus to establish a network on both Gor and Earth, and he has discovered that Earth women are a lucrative investment. Cernus is dangerous and power-hungry, and will stop at nothing to become the Ubar of Ar.Tarl Cabot is completely out of his depth. It’s interesting to see our hero fall and get outsmarted before finally saving the day. We see that he isn’t perfect and can’t do everything, even though he does play a key role as events unfold. The entire novel resembles a giant game of chess, and Cabot himself is only a pawn in much larger schemes that are beyond his control.If you’ve made it this far in the series, then the sex slaves probably don’t bother you enough to make you stop reading. There’s a bit more description of the kajirae and their training than in the previous books, but the female characters are also badass and play key roles in saving the world. I’m not easily offended and can enjoy the aesthetic.Five books in, I’m starting to wonder whether Tarl Cabot will ever find Talena, his Free Companion (the Gorean equivalent of a wife), or whether she’s gone the way of a Bond girl. She’s been missing for a lot of books now, and Tarl Cabot seems to have no hesitation when it comes to fucking around with the sex slaves. Apparently this is what you do on Gor if you are a big muscular hero whose wife is missing, although I suspect Talena will kick his ass when she finds him.My favorite Gor books are still Tarnsman of Gor and Nomads of Gor, but this volume compares favorably with the others. After five volumes, I’m addicted, and I’ve passed the point of no return.This is the point where it dawns on me that there are 33 books in the Chronicles of Counter-Earth series. I’ve gone too far, and I think I’m in it for the long haul. From what I’ve read on Goodreads, most people who get invested in the series read up to book seven and stop. Where’s the fun in that? I’m challenging myself to read them all. I’m rather charmed by the Gorean world. I like the curious blend of high tech medicine with low tech war, which creates a society dominated by strength and merit. It’s not the kind of world I’d want to live in, but it’s nice to visit for bouts of escapism.
Uber-warrior Tarl and former slave turned free woman turned slave turned free woman turned slave Elizabeth join forces to find out who killed Tarl's lookalike. This is one of the better books in the series so far. Tarl doesn't do as much of the "earth women all want to be slave girls" justification in this book, even tho he is off having sex with random women at every turn. I think he's also finally realised that 5 books is too long to wait for his missing woman, and gets on with the mighty task of bonking anything with breasts and a collar.The plot focuses on the political intrigue in Ar and does a decent job of keeping the reader entertained by alternating between slave training and action. Slavery is so engrained in the story now that it isn't justified as much as in the previous books and actually just becomes part of the world. Also there are a number of semi-fleshed out female characters in this book and not all are simpering "we love men" types that the previous books had. Of course they all still love Tarl who is now a world class jockey in addition to being the mightiest warrior ever and a great lover.Come to think of it, Tarl is Superman, just without tights and the Lois Lane fixation.
What do You think about Assassin Of Gor (1971)?
I have read the entire series, there simply isn't anything else like it; they are decadent and addictive, completely and wholly something everyone should have on their MUST READ list. Edgar Rice Burroughs BARSOOM series would be a faint comparison, I suppose; but Norman carries his characters to a depth of depravity that is reminiscent of a D/s or BDSM fetish fanatics dream. At the same time, they are not written in a way as to be entirely sexual, he merely casts about components and subtle subtext that one familiar with the lifestyle would of course pick up on, while a "vanilla" person could read right over without ever noticing or being offended.The worst part of this series is it's highly addictive quality. Not long after I read my first book, I found myself at a Second Hand BookStore in Dallas purchasing a paperbag FULL of the entire series. 20 years later and I still have them! And, I always WILL!
—J.L. Day
Another great read from John Norman. This one has Tarl Cabot pretending to be an assasin. It's a swift page turner, the story being helped along a good deal with the usual vignettes of slave-girls being used and abused to varying degrees. He falls for yet another girl, Elizabeth Cardwell, who was abducted from Earth by 'The Others', a rival group to 'The Priest Kings' and whom he eventually frees(of course). His original love, Talena, gets but a passing mention at the very end along the lines of 'damn, I still didn't find her', which is no great surprise really when you consider he wasn't looking for her in the least. Still, at least he's got himself another little (ex)slave-girl in Elizabeth, or Vella as she's called on Gor.Very easy to read. Can't put them down once I've started, even though there's stuff mixed in there that should really be considered quite important but is simply glossed over or mentioned as an afterthought at the end(see above).Looking forward to #6 - Raiders of Gor now.
—Shane
It was pretty painful trudging through the first half of the book.But, I'm learning how to get past all of Normans bullshit.The last half was a lot more entertaining.You'd think I'd learn by now (after the first 4 books and a couple of the latter) that John Norman was the epitome of a chicken choking fan boy living out all his fantasies, delusions and obvious dysfunctions through his writing. But hey, what can I say? I'm a glutton for some of the cool crap that he does offer in the World of Gor.GOR!!!
—Kione
