# I just read a Gor novel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859 "2004-06-17T14:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/21 "2004-09-16T01:20:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Graded only among themselves: > > \*Tarnsman of Gor \* - B > \*PriestKings of Gor \* - B+ > \*Outlaw of Gor \* - C > \*Nomads of Gor \* - A > \*Raiders of Gor \* - B+ > > After _Raiders_ the series seriously started to go downhill for me. I managed to slog through the next 4 books, maybe, then gave up in disgust. But _Nomads_ is an excellent travel book. Interesting, action-filled, and you don’t mind throwing it away at the end of the trip! 😃 Wow! You summed up my experience with the series perfectly! I really liked _Nomads_. After _Raiders_ it just got majorly weird and tedious. ---
**Author:** ![\_xiao\_wenti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b782af/32.png) [@\_xiao\_wenti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_xiao_wenti)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/22 "2004-09-16T01:24:35Z")
I cut my teeth on ERB (Edgar Rice Burroughs) and the first handfull of the Gor novels had a lot of the same feel. I lost interest after about number 10. Later, I actually re-read some of them – the first five translated into Spanish and published in Argentina. Bondage and the vos form. You have to have a strong stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/23 "2004-09-16T02:49:33Z")
Well, aren’t WE special? Norman had to have SOMETHING going on, after all, his series ran to 25 books. Granted, you don’t have to be a GREAT writer to create a popular series, but you do have to have SOMETHING going on. I think Norman hit on a good formula that no one has yet been able to imitate. A better writer could go a lot farther with the same kind of stories. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/24 "2004-09-16T08:58:57Z")
And of course, there was the one written for the youth market: _Harry Potter and the Wizards of Gor_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/25 "2004-09-16T11:42:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, aren’t WE special? > > Norman had to have SOMETHING going on, after all, his series ran to 25 books. Granted, you don’t have to be a GREAT writer to create a popular series, but you do have to have SOMETHING going on. Sex sells. ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/26 "2004-09-16T18:09:31Z")
I remember a boxed set of the first few Gor novels. It got passed amoung my friends and I, alway with the same ominous warning: “Here, you can keep these, I bet that you can’t get rid of them”. The challenge was to find somone who had no prior knowledge of Gor, and get them to take them off of you. They were then stuck with the horrid things untill they found some other “sucker” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/27 "2004-09-16T21:34:13Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Sex sells. If that’s so, why didn’t Randy Andy Offut and Philip Jose Farmer do a lot better? Are they worse writers than John Norman? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/28 "2004-09-16T21:44:11Z")
> [@Sweetums](#): > > I remember a boxed set of the first few Gor novels. It got passed amoung my friends and I, alway with the same ominous warning: “Here, you can keep these, I bet that you can’t get rid of them”. > > The challenge was to find somone who had no prior knowledge of Gor, and get them to take them off of you. They were then stuck with the horrid things untill they found some other “sucker” > > 🙂 Then this is gonna unmake your day – a few cut and pastes from Ebay GOR (19) JOHN NORMAN (KAJIRA OF GOR ) 1ST HTF Item number: 6926287996 You are signed in Watch this item in My eBay Go to larger picture Current bid: US $17.50 * * * ``` Kajira Of Gor (#19) By John Norman (FIRST) Item number: 6926347499 ``` You are signed in Watch this item in My eBay Go to larger picture Current bid: US $17.50 Time left: 17 hours 48 mins * * * ``` Gor Saga, Vol 1-25, John Norman, sci-fi fantasy series Item number: 6926442668 ``` You are signed in Watch this item in My eBay Go to larger picture Current bid: US $150.00 (Reserve met) Time left: 4 days 2 hours 10-day listing Some of those Gor novels have stood up rather well in terms of value. Course with people like you just dumping them, it’s easy to see why they might be a little hard to get nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/29 "2004-09-16T23:33:53Z")
> [@](#): > > If that’s so, why didn’t Randy Andy Offut and Philip Jose Farmer do a lot better? Are they worse writers than John Norman? Philip Jose Farmer hasn’t done well? What World of Tiers are you living in? And his Essex House erotic books are still in print. Not familiar with Offut, but if he’s not doing well – well, it’s possible to write bad porn, too. Sex sells. Especially if it’s not directly sold as that, to an unsuspecting audience. I figure the Gr books slipped in under the radar. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/30 "2004-09-17T04:18:12Z")
[Now this is just priceless](http://www.gor-on-earth.com/lib.htm). > [@](#): > > “I do not kneel before men because I am weak. > I kneel because I am strong enough to accept myself.” > -kaylee, 2001 Insert-barfing-smiley-here ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859/31 "2004-09-17T04:32:36Z")
Yes, well, I may not know much about bondage, but I would up flipping through one of the later off the rails books and the sex seems to be all of the “I’ll rape you till you love me” variety. Serious ick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-gor-novel/250859.md?page=1)