Tarnsman of Gor

by John Norman

Book Overview

Tarl Cabot has always believed himself to be a citizen of Earth. He has no inkling that his destiny is far greater than the small planet he has inhabited for the first twenty-odd years of his life. One frosty winter night in the New England woods, he finds himself transported to the planet of Gor, also known as Counter Earth, where everything is dramatically different from anything he has ever experienced. It emerges that Tarl is to be trained as...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345302842
• ISBN13: 9780345302847
• Release Date: September 1981
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 219 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

enthralled by it, but it's still not the perfect book ;)

I've never heard of GOR until one of my readers mentioned it in a review, saying that GOR is similar to my books. I felt very excited to read it, and I must say: I was not disappointed :) The first 53 pages were a struggle (it really dragged on) but I understand that this is the nature of most books, especially when the author wants to introduce you to "the world" and just "get it out of the way" so I didn't let that bother me much, but i did allow myself to skip many pages. ;) After that, the adventure was fascinating and I rarely put the book down :D The story is thrilling, packed with anticipation, and one could hardly foretell what's going to happen next. This is especially thrilling to me, since I don't like predictable plots. Whats more, the story picked up heat whenever Talena and Tarl are together. Her mood is unfathomable. Things that I found to be annoying are not uncommon: over-description, lengthy sentences, and a rushed up ending. I also disliked that Tarl sometimes show super-human strength for no apparent reason, when in fact he is a visitor who had only just arrived to this savage world from a much more peaceful planet, and had only received minimal training in arms. This didn't seem logical to me. I also disliked that he had shown gentleman-like behavior when he captured Talena, and even when she officially became his slave. This seemed weird to me, especially that he had no problem going to the taverns with company and pay slave girls to please him, by the hour, and had a good sense as to what each woman "worth" money-wise. Finally, I failed to see the similarities between Gor and my novel. Other than both are work of fantasy, barbaric, and contain much struggle, the two books have totally different plots.

The Beginning of A Journey

Tal Free and greetings slaves! The beginning of a journey always starts with an eye opening realization. Tarl Cabot has lived the years looking for something. Aiming here, then there, but so many questions have plagued his mind, body, and soul, that he has had trouble finding his true self. That all changes on a raining night while hiking and camping. There, there he finds a message from his father...a father who had disappeared. Soon, soon he is brought to the wonderful and mysterious world of Gor. A world that demands that you have no masks, that is, lies and false ideas about yourself. A world that demands honor and respect and a warrior's code, instead of some PC idea that everyone must be appeased due to appeasing and not due to skill or their own respect. Tarnsman of Gor goes through a simple quest education for Tarl in the world of Gor, between his home city of Koroba and the powerful city of Ar. He learns along the way what it means to be a real man, something this country (the real world) lacks, as a warrior, as a thinking person, as a soul who can either grasp destiny or bow to one's own weaknesses. In the end Tarl is brought back to Earth, away from Gor and those he has learned to love, but as they may say on Gor, the Priest Kings know what the future will hold for Tarl the Warrior. As someone who has studied history, philosophy, and sexuality, I have found that the Gor series has it all. John Norman is probably one of the most intelligent and in my eyes respectable writers in today's society. John Norman is honest, brutally honest, and demands that the reader places himself and herself in a realm of honesty. You must not hold unto some politically correct notation toward what a man or a woman is. Instead, you must strip away pleasantries, etiquette, and be whom you are meant to be standing on your own two feet...or bowing as the slave girl you know you are meant to be. That isn't sexism. That isn't misogyny. It is honestly. But I myself, as you might see from my other reviews, have a religious ideology and point of view. True. There is sexuality in Gor. But. I look at it and I see that a man CAN stand on his own too feet as JN points out. That even in this weak society we have today, one can fight for what he loves, thus my respect for those in the military (as I myself have had loved ones fight and die in wars). What I also like about John Norman, as he begins in this book, Tarnsman of Gor, is that he pushes firmly away from the Lord of the Rings style of fantasy novels. Goodkind, Brookes, so many of them try to have a dark and sinister bad guy force that lurks over the world. Magic. Elves. Cliches. Gor, on the other hand, has almost real world physics even with such creatures as tarns and the Spider-People. You understand these societies from Ar to Koroba to Port Kar because you see how they are styled by the history of the Greeks and Romans and Native Americans (as seen in the Tribes far to the east and

Still in print after 38 years

Norman's books continue to draw interest because they are unique. I concede that most people seem to HATE them beyond reason. However, I'm drawn to them for the very fact that they are so absolutely politically incorrect. I find Norman's writing style and views refreshing because so many Historical and SF books are written from the safe perspective of 20th century sensitivities. My main purpose in writing this is to say that after first reading his books 30 years ago I haven't found another author who creates the same sort of reading experience as Norman (Lange?). Also, it's true that in the later books you can skip whole chapters and not miss anything.

Great Start

This slightly shorter work sets the stage well for the world of Gor. It doesn't have the detail/philosophy of some of the later books but enough to give you a sense of a fascinating barbaric world.The action is fast, the slave girls are few, notably this is perhaps one of the few books with a strong female character. And the thought of Talena follows us and Tarl Cabot himself throughout the books. It is a pity they do not meet again within the first twenty books.In this book, as in the first 5, Tarl, though probably the mightiest and bravest swordsman on the planet, is still deep down an earth man, which makes the first person writing more palatable. In the later books he is much harsher- ie. a true Gorean male, though his cleverness and exploits are no less brave and amazing.

A great start to a series that could have been the best ever

This being the first novel in the Gor series, it is suprisingly short on detail, and high on action. As some other reviewers have stated, it is almost comicbook like it its writing. But, don't let that detract you from what is a fantastic story.John Norman's first 6 books are fantastic, with a hero (Tarl Cabot) that seems to survive incredible odds with flair. But that 6th book starts a dark slide, one which gets worse as the series evolves. Many of the rest of the novels still brim with action, once you learn to recognize that there are sections you can just skim over, as they have nothing to do with the plot. The man has created a very real world, that I can immerse myself into for hours and weeks at end.The books about the females (7, 11, 19, & 21) can be skipped, without any real lose of plot. And, they will save your eyes from his senseless drivel about female domination...something Norman can't seem to shut up about.But, if you don't mind skimming over his pages of that drivel, some wonderful stories come out of it. And I for one will snap up a 26th novel about the Counter-Earth in a second....because I really want to see that reunion with Talena fleshed out. It seems bizzare to wait 25 novels to see a "romantic" (for lack of a better word) plot to finish...but I have to know!Read them, and enjoy them...and know that it is fantasy, and the man DOES have some sick and twisted thoughts. As another reviewer did state...reading his books would sometimes influence the way I behaved towards women...I would be shorter with them...especially when I was younger, and didn't know how to work in a relationship Never any physical violence, or S & M desires, but I would act differently. Now that I am older an more mature, it doesn't affect me.Oh, and Norman did write some books for another publisher that had nothing to do with Gor after he stopped writing these books...don't waste your money...more of the slave drivel, with characters you couldn't care less about.

Fantastic

This book was the first Gor novel that I read. It was very intriguing and I couldn't put it down. The way Norman describes Tarl Cabot and his progression from Earth man to Gorean Warrior was amazing. Many of the readers are correct in saying that the first several books of the series are based more on action, I enjoyed all of the books, especially Mauraders of Gor. Most of the earlier books focus on one group of people on Gor that are based on Earth cultures. This makes for interesting reading as the customs of Gor are well thought out and impeccably written. Tarnsman of Gor is a great starting place for the fantastic adventures of Gor.