Priest-Kings of Gor: #3

Tal and welcome to the third book of the Gorean Counter-Earth series. Or Counter-Urth as some might say. Again we find ourselves with our hero Tarl, he has headed out from Tharna and is in the Sardar Mountains looking for the dreaded, feared, and mystical beings called the Priest Kings. The reason he has done this is because he wants to know why his city is in ruins, why his loved ones are gone...and he finds this out, and he finds out much more than he bargains for. Here in the lair of the Priest Kings he finds friends and enemies, he finds the meaning of honor, of friendship, and an almost cosmic realization of how wide the universe truly is. The Priest Kings, he finds out, are a dying race...yes they hold unbelievable powers (something one might akin to the Time Lords of the Doctor Who series, if one is familiar with that series) but they are definitely not gods as the usual Initiative or Gorean Free for that matter believes. They are an ancient race that has knowledge of manipulating time and space and distance and gravity. What I love about this is how well it develops the concept of the Priest Kings and how they are similar (in some small respect) and different than the known Goreans... which is Tarl, as an example in the novel. By the end of the book, as noted in another review, one sees how Tarl's relationship with the Priest Kings will develop His own relationship with Himself and Gor through Nomads of Gor, Assassin of Gor, and Raiders of Gor... What is interesting about this novel is how well developed the concept of social darwinism is by comparing the society of the Priest Kings to that of humans, in this case, Tarl, and the other Goreans. The meaning of caste, of order, and of respect and honor, is spliced and dissected and integrated in how the heroes (PKs and human heroes) bind together to fight against the villain and those whom...social darwin speaking...follow him because of his standing in what is called the Birth Order from the Mother (mother of the Priest Kings). While social darwinism has always had a problem, most notably when you see how it is worked out in Russia and in Hitler's Germany, the SD of Gor is quite different. And in some respects, is above that of our politically correct, postmodern society. The idea is that a Man is meant to truly be a Man, one of Honor and Dignity. This isn't one race above others, such racism is meaningless and pointless and wicked, instead you are divided by castes...a caste system that is strict, yes, but a Free can be moved up and down depending upon His or Her skills and abilities and willingness to work hard for His/Her future. There is no room for haughtiness, for such people are taken down quickly by their own falseness. There is no room for laziness, for such people are showed to be the fools they are. Both ways, rightly so, end with these such peoples tripping over themselves and falling victim to their own poor judgement. You and I must do what is right, we must

This is the first Gor book that I have read. I have known about them for decades but had dismissed them as trash without ever having read one because of their reputation for misogyny and the promotion of bondage. During a recent trip to a used book I came across a copy of Priest-Kings of Gor with a cover by Boris Vallejo that intrigued me. It showed a barbarian standing over a slave girl with what I took to be a golden idol of a gigantic insectoid creature in the background. (As it turned out, the "idol" was a living Priest-King!) I was in the mood for "guilty pleasure" so I bought it. I expected to get slam-bang action, lurid writing, a no-brainer story, and lots of politically incorrect pornography. Boy, was I wrong! The story has its share of action but it also has a fair amount of exposition and character development. The writing is far from lurid. It actually has a somewhat stilted feeling to it that I associate more with Victorian prose than with modern writing. The story was reasonably complex and the cultural background was surprisingly detailed. What impresses me most about this book, however, is the convincing presentation of an alien with a truly ALIEN perspective, the Priest-King of Gor, an intelligent creature whose sensorium is based on olfaction rather than vision. I've been reading science fiction for more than 40 years and I can't think of a book that has done it better. Oh, yeah, the bondage stuff. It's there but not as prominent as in the other Gor books, I'm told. And there is no pornography...whatever sex there is in this book (I don't remember any!) occurs offstage. Nevertheless, anyone with feminist views is advised to stay as far away from this book as possible. For everyone else it's a hell of a good read!

I have known about the Gor books for ages but dismissed them as trash without ever having read one. At a recent trip to a used book store I came across Priest-Kings of Gor with a cover illo by Boris showing a giant golden insectoid creature (a Priest-King, as I later found out) and bought it because I was in the mood for "guilty pleasure". To make a long story short, I got the pleasure without the guilt! Is the book offensively sexist? Yes, and if you have feminist leanings, I suggest you stay as far away from this book as possible unless you want to be outraged. (I understand the later books in the series are even worse.) Frankly, I found Norman's ideas on sexual relationships to be too ludicrous to take seriously. Anyway, if you can get past the gender issues, what is left is a rather entertaining book that demolished all of my preconceived ideas. What I expected was non-stop action that was luridly and perhaps poorly written, pandering to male power fantasies, perhaps, but certainly nothing to appeal to the intellect. In fact the writing is far from lurid. It has a detached, somewhat stilted feel to it that I associate more with Victorian prose than with modern writing. There is plenty of action but there is also a considerable amount of exposition and even character development. What impresses me most about the book, however, is Norman's depiction of an intelligent but totally alien creature, the Priest-King, whose world view is olfactory-based rather than visually-based, and their society which is presented in considerable detail. I have been reading science fiction for more than 40 years and I can't think of a book that has done it better than this one. I recommend this book highly, especially if you are in the mood for a little political incorrectness!

In this, the 3rd episode of the Counter-Earth saga, Tarl Cabot has determined to enter the forbidding Sardar mountains where the Priest-Kings, legendary rulers of Gor are believe to reside, and demand an accounting from them for the destruction of his beloved city Ko-Ro-Ba.Cabot learns the true nature of Priest-Kings, and becomes enmeshed in their machinations as a not-unwilling paladin in a power struggle between factions of the Priest-Kings. He eventually learns of the reason for the destruction of Ko-Ro-Ba, and how his own choices may doom or save the Counter-Earth.As of this writing, I just recently re-read this novel, and enjoyed just as much as the first time. Some may pooh-pooh Norman's writing as appealing only to adolescents, and deride his themes and pseudo-psychological theorizations as perverted or denigrating, but Norman's work is pure, unadulterated escapist fiction, where evil receives its just desserts, and you can lose yourself for a time.

In this, the third book of the Tarl Cabot Saga, Tarl is still searching for his lost love, Talena. But before he has any chance of finding her, he must first follow through with his threats to find the Priest Kings and make them atone for what they did to his city of Koroba, and all those he loves. He follows his heart to the Sardar Mountains, the home of the Priest Kings, only to find that they are not the monsters he thought them to be. At least those he befriends are not monsters. He leads a revolt against those who want to destroy human life on Gor. This book has everything one could want in any fantasy/sci-fi storyline, adventure after adventure, action upon action, and yes, even a bit of romance thrown in. This book is a must read on any fantasy lovers list.