Post by Jaqhama on Mar 20, 2009 14:04:50 GMT
You know I think about this a lot.
If John Norman (John Lange) had stuck with the sword and planet scenario then his Gor novels could probably have become the best sword and planet adventure series ever written.
Take out the endless 'kajira' scenes and Nomads and Assassins of Gor are superb stories.
Plenty of descriptive passages about native Gorean life and culture.
Plenty of humour.
Plenty of action and suspense.
The way Norman writes about Gor you'd swear it was a real place.
A few others in the series like Marauders/Tribesmen/Beasts of Gor...all great, well written and descriptive tales.
The Kurii are a great foe. The mountains are grey and stark, the desert scenes make you feel the unremitting heat, the artic scenes make you shiver from the cold...if only...if only...Norman had not gone down that 'kajira' path and his endless ravings about females in bondage.
It's a crying shame, it really is.
Because all that female slave stuff just mires down the entire series and brings undone the superb story telling that is what the books should really have been about in the first place.
I have re-read many of the Gor books many times...getting used to skipping twenty pages of 'bondage' rubbish at a time.
Norman's first person writing style is one of the most evocative you will read. A lot of people fail to realise that.
His first person past tense style is streets ahead of other first person authors.
There's a real fluid, lyrical flow to his writing.
His descriptive passages are a treat to read.
And his vision and descriptions of Gorean life/scenery/people/cities/clothing/accouterments/history and lifestyle is so meticulous.
Tarl Cabot was a great creation and so were many of the secondary characters. Like Kamchak and Harold. Pa Kur the Assassin. Ivor Forkbeard. Haroun. The Kur. The Priest Kings. Elisabeth was a great addition in Nomads. Lana of Trieve was also a wonderful, spirited character. And who can forget the Panther Women and Marlenus of Ar.
There was everything needed to make the Gor novels the top of the sword and planet adventure books food chain...but...
If it just wasn't for all that female slavery bollocks.
Sad, very sad.
Norman could have been right up there with ERB.
Added note: When I was a boy the covers issued at the beginning of the 70's in the UK were great.
They captured the Gor spirit very well.
Those were the Tandem issue covers.
As the years went by the covers took a downhill turn as well.
Ah...Gor...what might have been...
Cheers: Jaq.
If John Norman (John Lange) had stuck with the sword and planet scenario then his Gor novels could probably have become the best sword and planet adventure series ever written.
Take out the endless 'kajira' scenes and Nomads and Assassins of Gor are superb stories.
Plenty of descriptive passages about native Gorean life and culture.
Plenty of humour.
Plenty of action and suspense.
The way Norman writes about Gor you'd swear it was a real place.
A few others in the series like Marauders/Tribesmen/Beasts of Gor...all great, well written and descriptive tales.
The Kurii are a great foe. The mountains are grey and stark, the desert scenes make you feel the unremitting heat, the artic scenes make you shiver from the cold...if only...if only...Norman had not gone down that 'kajira' path and his endless ravings about females in bondage.
It's a crying shame, it really is.
Because all that female slave stuff just mires down the entire series and brings undone the superb story telling that is what the books should really have been about in the first place.
I have re-read many of the Gor books many times...getting used to skipping twenty pages of 'bondage' rubbish at a time.
Norman's first person writing style is one of the most evocative you will read. A lot of people fail to realise that.
His first person past tense style is streets ahead of other first person authors.
There's a real fluid, lyrical flow to his writing.
His descriptive passages are a treat to read.
And his vision and descriptions of Gorean life/scenery/people/cities/clothing/accouterments/history and lifestyle is so meticulous.
Tarl Cabot was a great creation and so were many of the secondary characters. Like Kamchak and Harold. Pa Kur the Assassin. Ivor Forkbeard. Haroun. The Kur. The Priest Kings. Elisabeth was a great addition in Nomads. Lana of Trieve was also a wonderful, spirited character. And who can forget the Panther Women and Marlenus of Ar.
There was everything needed to make the Gor novels the top of the sword and planet adventure books food chain...but...
If it just wasn't for all that female slavery bollocks.
Sad, very sad.
Norman could have been right up there with ERB.
Added note: When I was a boy the covers issued at the beginning of the 70's in the UK were great.
They captured the Gor spirit very well.
Those were the Tandem issue covers.
As the years went by the covers took a downhill turn as well.
Ah...Gor...what might have been...
Cheers: Jaq.
