Raiders of Gor

Raiders of Gor is by far one of the best of the early books in the counter-Earth series of books brilliantly penned by John Norman. The story was quite interesting and diverged from what was usual up to that point. Having Tarl Cabot be stripped of his honor and thus humiliating him- although an ends to a means- (Concerning The Subsequent Books) may well have been detrimental to the overall texture of the series. Previous to this book Cabot had worked directly for the Priest-Kings; subsequent to this book he only worked indirectly for them through his handler Samos. Although his most harrowing adventures came during the latter period, this took the series into uncharted realm, an arc which included heavy bondage and many other ridiculous theories. The books had originally been Sword & Planet Space-Operas, but diverged into something quite different between the time book #6 started and books #8 were completed. Many fans of the series were turned off by this tangent. What turned me off was not so much the B & D but the utter lack of description when it came to sex. Norman almost never described sex between his characters and when he did it was either lacking in detail or abstract. John Norman would have done well to have hired the late great Chris Bunch to pen some of his books. That man knew how to write a love scene! See and read The Demon King, The Seer King and The Warrior King to understand my points! Despite the above criticisms, Raiders of Gor takes the series to a whole new level by showcasing Port-Kar, heretofore only alluded to in some of the previous books. The naval battles could have been better described, but were enjoyable nonetheless for their uniqueness in the Gorean pantheon. Yes, please read this book. You will not be disappointed. A. Nathaniel Wallace, Jr.

Raiders of Gor is one of the best books of Norman's Gor series (right along with Magicians of Gor). First of all it features all the expected ingredients of a Gor novel: A lot of bondage situations and non-consensual sex amidst the typical Gor-like setting with adamantine warriors dominating their submissive female slaves. Plus an elaborately carved fantasy world with unique flora, fauna and complex human (and non-human) societies.But as a welcomed change, our hero Tarl Cabot doesn't wander through this world like the invincible and unaffectable symbol of virtue, law and order he had become in the first 5 books of this series. Instead we discover a darker side of our ideal warrior that Norman exploits to create an intelligent story of downfall and rise-back to power. For the first time I found myself really rooting for Tarl as he first succeeds in establishing himself as a competent swordsman in the anarchic pirate city of Port Kar, to finally become the savior of his newly chosen hometown, when he wards off a large-scale attack on Port Kar by rival seaports.The only reason that kept me from giving Raiders even 5 stars was the usual exaggeration of Tarl's achievements, like defeating a small armada of war barges with just a longbow and a huge quiver of arrows. Or the flight with his warbird across miles of open sea through a severe thunderstorm. But those minor flaws aren't too crucial to spoil the fun, and whatever you can say of Norman's idiosyncratic and maybe sexist fantasy setting, Raiders of Gor is one exciting fantasy book featuring strife, passion and a fallen hero set to become a morally stained yet emotionally matured elite warrior in a wild and dangerous archaic world.

I read this book because a man wanted me to understand his fantasy of women. Of all the Gor books, this particular one is the most fun becuase Tarl becomes a man of Port Kar. Port Kar is the center of evil in this world. He was forced to sacrifice his dignity and his freedom, and once freedom was regained, he no longer felt compelled to do what is good and right but to do what suits him. I am a women and I didn't find their treatment of women appalling. In fact, I relished the idea of being a good woman and have since tried harder than ever to be a good Kajira for the man who wanted me to read Raiders. I have been enslaved by Jakob and by Gor. I have been marked with a K. I am happy living in my own private Gor fantasy, although most people would never go that far. I would highly reccomend at least reading Raiders, and the other Gor books, and perhaps incorporating it into a little role playing in the bedroom.

This is one of those odd books that I picked up off a rack in the 70's because of the cover art, and was pleasantly surprised to find a great story, too. This was the first book of the series that I read, but as a measure of it's quality, you do not really need to know anything about the rest of the series to enjoy it. While Tarl of Bristol is an agent of the "priest-kings" it is not really necessary that you know who or what they are. Perhaps it is better that you do not. Briefly, this is the story of a great warrior who is captured and enslaved while on a mission for his patrons. He is famed in story and song as that world's greatest warrior. Yet, he finds that rather than accept a clean excecution, he instead submits to the fate of slavery. This decision comes as a surprise to him. It totally destroys his self image and his honor. He truly thought that he would accept death before dishonor. Only one small boy shows compassion to him during his enslavement. When pirates attack the village where Tarl is a slave he manages to escape while his captors are enslaved. While returning to the burned village to recover his weapons and supplies he finds the boy's dead body. The rest of the story deals with the vengeance of what was once the world's greatest warrior against the raiders. Yet Tarl of Bristol knows that, once lost, honor can never be regained- it can only be "recollected."

The actual title of this book is "RAIDERS OF GOR". It is sixth (6th) in a saga of 25(+?) novels about the planet Gor, the Counter-Earth, which co-orbits with Earth around our sun (Sol). It is never visible to us because the sun always blocks it. In this volume, Tarl Cabot ventures to the villainous city of Port Kar on the delta of the great Vosk river on Thassa, the Gorean sea. It is filled with great intrigue, sword fights, and a lot of interesting maritime description of ships similar to those that sailed on Earth in distant times (e.g., classic Greek). Like all Gor books, this volume is filled with vivid descriptions of the flora and fauna of an alien world populated with Terran abductees and their descendants. It continues to explore the psyche of the protagonist, Tarl Cabot, who becomes Bosk of Port Kar. Norman explores in "Raiders" the core of Tarl's being by exposing him to a fate which inexorably alters his character but not his supposedly not his ultimate destiny with the Priest-Kings.