John Norman (1) (1931–)

Possibly the best Gor novel, and rather ambitious in its plot and worldbuilding. The theme of sexual slavery, which was not so central in the first three books, became more so in the fourth and fifth novels, but still this is a very reasonable sword and planet novel, rather than the soft porn the series will become later. Pulp fiction that reads like fantasy, although it's actually science fiction. Quite enjoyable, this one, and the only reason I don't give it five stars is the frequent digressions that make the story slower and longer than it needed to be.… (mere)

Another strong novel in this sword-and-planet series. It's not Tolstoy, obviously, but within the limitations of the genre it offers solid action, wordbuilding and, in this case, even character development.

Of course, the series is infamous for the inclusion of the spicy themes of sexual slavery. We are not quite yet at the point where that theme dominates the story, but this novel prepares the terrain for that.

Regarding the character development, at some point of this story the until now untouchable, James-Bond-like main character Tarl Cabot chooses humiliation and dishonor over death. This shakes him completely and demolishes his self-image. Therefore he abandons his old ideas of honor and basically turns into a rogue without principles (or at least that's what he repeatedly tells us, although in reality he does not go all the way to villainy).

Other reviewers have complained, quite rightly, that this is out of character for Tarl as the character had been established. He always laughs and is defiant in the face of death, so why not this time, except because the story required it? Even in this same book, he is back acting in the davil-may-care way he always does, and insults his enemies when they have him captured and seem about to kill him. So are we to believe that he did the complete opposite thing when threatened by a bunch of rural bumpkins? I can't really buy it, but I accept it because it brings about welcome character development, making Tarl more interesting than he had been.

I suspect this is going to pave the way for more slavegirl eroticism, unfortunately. Nothing against eroticism, but Norman's interpretation often tends toward dull, extensive lectures on how it's the natural way of things. Anyway, we'll see what happens, but for the moment this gives Tarl more depth and makes him more interesting.

I would give this book five stars (understanding that I judge it within the standards and conventions of the genre), but I'm taking one away for the weary habit of the author to give us long worldbuilding infodumps. The worldbuilding is actually interesting, but these infodumps slow down the story too much.… (mere)

Sword-and-sandal story in the pulp tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Good worldbuilding. Barely adequate writing. This series is of course (in)famous for the weird BDSM-like slavery, but in these first few books it doesn't play that much of a role.

This third book changes the style, and we get a more science-fictional tale about the alien race of the Priest-Kings, who control the counter-Earth. More interesting because of this than the rather standard adventures of the first two books, but a bit duller at times.… (mere)

Sword-and-sandal story in the pulp tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Good worldbuilding. Barely adequate writing. This series is of course (in)famous for the weird BDSM-like slavery, and in this fourth book it starts playing more of a role, although it's still not the whole focus.

In this fourth book we go back to pulp fantasy adventures after the science-fiction detour of the previous book. It's fine, but Norman is gradually spending more time with philosophical disquisitions and conversations about how women are only truly free and happy when they submit to a strong male master and all that. Extremely non-politically correct, of course, but my main problem with it is that those passages are so dull and long-winded. With this worldbuilding, there is a quite enjoyable story to be told here, with or without the BDSM themes, but Norman doesn't quite get there. He is just not that good of a writer and would seriously need to submit to a strong editor, male or otherwise, who would streamline his storytelling.… (mere)