Assassin of Gor

I read a lot. And the Gor series stands out. Great, great, great. If you like fantasy, it is obligatory to read the first five. Nomads and Assassins are the best. You can get reading copy sets off Ebay of these five for $25. I cannot imagine $25 better spent. If you have not done so, go for it, you'll not be disappointed. Raiders(6) is also good and has scenes that'll be with you for a long time, skip Captive (7) unless you really dig the slaving/SM side, Hunters (8) is a bit weak but has a couple of memorable moments, and Marauders (9) is also acceptable and has great action scenes. Tribesmen (10) is acceptable, you can skip Slave Girl (11), and Beasts (12) is very very good. Go for this set after you've done the first 5; your call, the first 5 I guarantee!!! After that, you'll probably be hooked. "Honor is important to Goreans, in a way that those of Earth might find it hard to understand; for example, those of Earth find it natural that men should go to war over matters of gold and riches, but not honor; the Gorean, contrariwise, is more willing to submit matters of honor to the adjudication of steel than he is matters of riches and gold; there is a simple explanation for this; honor is more important to him."

Clearly "Nomads of Gor" is the most popular of the Gor novels by John Norman, but I would still argue that "Assassin of Gor" is far and away the most ambitious in the series. For that reason, I consider it the best of the Chronicles of Counter-Earth series. Certainly Norman never tried anything of this scope, either in terms of the size or the complexity of the novel, and there is a sense in which this is the last Gor book in which Tarl Cabot is more an Earthman on Gor than a true Gorean. "Assassin of Gor" begins with the title character, Kuurus, being hired to avenge the assassination of Tarl Cabot, a warrior of Ko-ro-ba. The trail leads to Glorious Ar where he finds political intrigue in the House of Cernus, agents of the Priest-Kings, spaceships arriving from Earth with new female captives, a dramatic auction of pleasure slaves, a thrilling tarn race, a climatic battle of gladiators, and a couple of intriguing games of Kaissa (the Gorean version of chess). As with the best of Norman's books, "Assassin of Gor" is full of vivid characters. Elizabeth Caldwell is back as Cabot's chief ally in finding out why the House of Cernus wants him dead and how they are involved in the endeavors of the Others, the galactic foes of the Priest-Kings. There is also the return of a major character from earlier in the series and a brief flashback involving the fate of the last egg of the Priest-Kings. However, the depth of the book comes out in terms of the new characters, including Mip the Tarn Keeper, Sura the house slave, the new slave girls Phyllis and Virginia, the young warriors Relius and Ho-Sarl, Scormus the young Kaissa champion and Qualius the blind player, and Hup the Fool (my favorite). We also meet a major supporting character for future Gor novels, Samos the slaver of Port Kar. The emphasis is still on the action and adventure in "Assassin of Gor" more than the Gorean philosophy that would come to dominate the later volumes in the series. Even by this fifth book in the series the principle that only by totally submitting to a master could a woman find true freedom, pleasure, etc., was pretty clear. I never really wanted a woman chained to my sleeping furs, so I tended to ignore those elements, especially as they became a repetitious mantra. For me the best Gor books were those that took the tradition of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars books with John Carter and upped the ante on the action. That is why "Assassin of Gor" is the best of the lot and why Norman never really tried to do anything this monumental ever again. In fact, the rest of the series would always suffer in my mind because of how far short the remaining volumes fell of the plateau of "Nomads" and "Assassin."

I think Assassin of Gor is the best book in the entire series. Its not as exciting or adventurous as Nomads, but it has a deeper, richer plot. Its the pinnacle of the Gor series. It was Norman's first big step into the BDSM thing and it doesn't go too far with it like (God forbid) some of the later books in which it makes up half the story.

assasins really does develop the tarl cabot character. i felt that it was a timley installment in the gor series. as usual, norman dives into the natural male/female dominance/submission theme, but i like his opinion.

This, the 5th book in the Gorean series gives a much needed refinement to the character of Tarl Cabot, and a much more realistic, heavily borrowed from Roman History, depiction of the Gorean World. This is the 3rd re-issue of the series and is truly a classic in every sense of the word. For far too long has the sci-fi/fantasy world been without the Gor books in print! If you haven't read any of the Gor books, you really must. In this day and age of "political correctness", these books are a refreshing reminder of who and what we are as human beings in our most natural state. Far beyond any of the "standard" sci-fi/fantasy fare, these books delve deeply into the very essence of human existance, and reflect the hidden truths within each of us.