Gor () is the fictional setting for a series of
sword and planet
Sword and planet is a subgenre of science fantasy that features rousing adventure stories set on other planets, and usually featuring humans as protagonists. The name derives from the heroes of the genre engaging their adversaries in hand-to-ha ...
novels written by philosophy professor John Lange, writing as
John Norman
John Frederick Lange Jr. (born June 3, 1931) is an American writer who, as John Norman, has authored the '' Gor'' series of science fantasy novels. Norman is also a philosophy professor.
Early life and education
Lange was born in Chicago, I ...
. The setting was first described in the 1966 novel ''Tarnsman of Gor''. The series is inspired by
science fantasy
Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...
pulp fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...
works by
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
, such as the ''
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...
'' series. It also includes
erotica
Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
content. The Gor series repeatedly depicts men abducting and physically and sexually brutalizing women, who grow to enjoy their submissive state. According to ''
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...
'', Norman's "sexual philosophy" is "widely detested", but the books have inspired a
Gorean subculture
Gorean subculture is a fandom based on the philosophy espoused in John Norman's long-running sword and planet novel series '' Chronicles of Counter-Earth''.
Background
Gorean subculture developed independently of Norman's involvement, particul ...
.
The series has been variously referred to by publishers with several names, including ''The Chronicles of Counter-Earth'' (
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...
), ''The Saga of Tarl Cabot'' (
DAW Books), ''Gorean Cycle'' (
Tandem Books
Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd was a United Kingdom paperback publishing company established in the early 1960s as Tandem Books.
History
The company's principal imprint was Tandem. The hyphenated name Universal-Tandem was adopted as a corpo ...
), ''Gorean Chronicles'' (Masquerade Books), ''Gorean Saga'' (Open Road Media) and ''The Counter-Earth Saga'' (DAW Books, for novels with a protagonist other than Tarl Cabot).
Series description
Background
In an interview with the speculative fiction anthology ''
Polygraff
''Polygraff'' was a quarterly anthology of short stories in science fiction, fantasy, horror, pulp, cyberpunk, and other genres of speculative fiction. It was available in print since 2009. As of July 2010, ''Polygraff'' had completed its first ...
'',
John Norman spoke at length about the creation of the Gor universe and his influences.
"The Counter-Earth
The Counter-Earth is a hypothetical body of the Solar System that orbits on the other side of the solar system from Earth.
A Counter-Earth or ''Antichthon'' ( el, Ἀντίχθων) was hypothesized by the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Philola ...
, or ''Antichthon
''Antichthon'' is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the Australasian Society for Classical Studies. The focus of the journal is ancient Greece and Rome, however, its scope is broadly defined so as to embrace the ancient Near East and the Medi ...
,'' is from Greek cosmology. Speculation on such a world, you see, is ancient. One of the premises of the Gorean series is that a race of aliens, whom we might speak of as the Priest-Kings, have a technology at their disposal compared to which ours would be something like that in the Bronze Age."
"I think, pretty clearly, the three major influences on my work are Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
, Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...
, and Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, Prose poetry, prose poet, cultural critic, Philology, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philo ...
. Interestingly, however obvious this influence might be, few, if any, critics, commentators, or such, have called attention to it."
In the same interview, he said "one of the pleasures of writing science fiction is the development of, and characterization of, alien life forms".
Setting
Gor is described as a
habitable planet
Planetary habitability is the measure of a planet's or a natural satellite's potential to develop and maintain environments hospitable to life. Life may be generated directly on a planet or satellite endogenously or be transferred to it from a ...
in the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
that shares the same orbit as
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
, but it is
linearly opposed to Earth and consequently always hidden by the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
, making direct observation of it from Earth impossible. The flora, fauna and customs of Gor are intricately detailed. Norman populates his planet with the equivalents of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Native American,
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
,
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
and other cultures. In the novels, these various population groups are transplants from Earth brought there by spacecraft through the behind-the-scenes rulers of Gor, the Priest-Kings, an extraterrestrial species of
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
oid appearance. The Gorean humans are permitted advanced architectural, agricultural and medical skills (including life extension), but are forced to remain primitive in the fields of transportation, communication and weaponry (at approximately the level of Classical Mediterranean civilization) due to restrictions on technology imposed by the Priest-Kings. The most advanced form of transportation is the riding of large predatory birds called ''tarns'' by masterful men known as ''tarnsmen''. The limitation of technology is imposed to ensure the safety of both the Priest-Kings and the other indigenous and transplanted beings on Gor, who would otherwise possibly come to harm due to the humans' belligerent tendencies.
The planet Gor has lower gravity than the Earth (which allows for the existence of large flying creatures and tall towers connected by aerial bridges in the cities) and would have an even lower gravity if not for the technology of the Priest-Kings. The known geography of Gor consists mainly of the western seaboard of a continent that runs from the Arctic in the north to south of the equator, with the Thassa ocean to the west, and the Voltai mountain range forming an eastern boundary at many latitudes. There are also offshore islands in the ocean and some relatively sparsely settled plains to the east of the Voltai. The word "Gor" itself means "home stone" in the Gorean language, the native language of the "northern civilized cities of known Gor" (which resemble ancient
Greco-Roman
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...
city-states
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
in many respects), and a widely spoken ''
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
'' in many other areas.
Plotlines
Most of the novels in the series are action and sexual adventures, with many of the military engagements borrowing liberally from historic ones, such as the
trireme
A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...
battles of
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
and the castle sieges of medieval Europe. Ar, the largest city in known Gor, has resemblances to the ancient city of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, and its land empire is opposed by the sea-power of the island of Cos.
The series is an overlapping of
planetary romance
Planetary romance is a subgenre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place ag ...
and
sword and planet
Sword and planet is a subgenre of science fantasy that features rousing adventure stories set on other planets, and usually featuring humans as protagonists. The name derives from the heroes of the genre engaging their adversaries in hand-to-ha ...
. The first book, ''Tarnsman of Gor'', opens with scenes reminiscent of scenes in the first book of the
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...
series by
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
; both feature the protagonist narrating his adventures after being transported to another world. These parallels end after the first few books, when the stories of the books begin to be structured along a loose story arc involving the struggles of the city-state of Ar and the island of Cos to control the Vosk river area, as well as the struggles at a higher level between the non-human Priest-Kings and the Kurii (another alien race) to control Gor and Earth.
![Bosk-Port-Kar-ship-flag-Norman-Gor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Bosk-Port-Kar-ship-flag-Norman-Gor.svg)
Most of the books are narrated by transplanted British professor Tarl Cabot, master swordsman, as he engages in adventures involving Priest-Kings, Kurii, and humans. Books 7, 11, 19, 22, 26, 27, 31, 34 and parts of 32 are narrated by abducted Earth women who are made into slaves. Books 14, 15, and 16 are narrated by male abductee Jason Marshall. Book 28 is narrated by an unknown Kur, but features Tarl Cabot. Book 30 and parts of 32 are narrated by three Gorean men: a mariner, a scribe and a merchant/slaver.
The series features several sentient alien races. The most important to the books are the insectoid Priest-Kings and the huge, sharp-clawed, predatory Kurii, both spacefarers from foreign star systems. The Priest-Kings rule Gor as disinterested custodians, leaving humans to their own affairs as long as they abide by certain restrictions on technology. The Kurii are an aggressive, invasive race with advanced technology (but less so than that of the Priest-Kings) who wish to colonize both Gor and Earth. The power of the Priest-Kings is diminished after the "Nest War" described in the third book and the Priest-Kings and Kurii struggle against each other via their respective human agents and spies.
Early entries in the series were plot-driven
space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...
adventures, but later entries grew more philosophical and sexual. Many subplots run the course of several books and tie back to the main plot in later books. Some of these plots begin in the first book, but most are underway in the first 10 books.
Publication
DAW Books, which published the Gor series from the 8th volume (''Hunters of Gor'') through the 25th volume (''Magicians of Gor''), subsequently decided to cease publication of the books, citing low sales;
Norman attributes the decision to
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
influences, saying in 1996:
''Tarnsman of Gor'' was published in late 1966. It has been reprinted 22 times...I have recently signed contracts for fresh French and German sales, and have recently been published for the first time in Czechoslovakia. There have been recent Spanish and Italian sales. There's no evidence that my books no longer sell...After DAW refused to buy any more Gor books, I sold a three-part Telnarian series to Brian Thomsen of Warner Books. The first book, ''The Chieftain'', had a 67 percent sell-through Sell-through refers to the percentage of a product that is sold by a retailer after being shipped by its supplier, typically expressed as a percentage. Net sales essentially refers to the same thing, in absolute numbers. Sell-through is calculated ...
. The second, ''The Captain'', had a 91 percent sell-through, which is the sort of thing that would make Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
rush over to shake your hand...Brian Thomsen, my Warner editor for the Telnarian series...was replaced by an editor from one of the blacklisting presses, one that ''explicitly'' informed my agent they would not consider anything by John Norman. That new editor canceled the series despite its success and without waiting to see how the third book, ''The King'', would do. That way things are made nicely clear...
"Unfortunately for me, only about seven or eight publishing houses maintain a mass-market paperback line in science fiction and fantasy; this small, knit group effectively controls the market. With such a group, a blacklist need not be an explicit, formal written or oral agreement subscribed to by a gathered cabal pledged to secrecy. It is an understanding that a certain individual is to be ostracized, excluded, methodologically overlooked or such."
Starting in 2001, John Norman's books were published by E-Reads as
ebooks
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
and print copies. According to their website, "they are among E-Reads’ biggest sellers".
Open Road Integrated Media
Open Road Integrated Media or ORIM (stylized as OR/M and also called Open Road) is a digital media company in New York City that was created by Jane Friedman and Jeffrey Sharp in 2009 with a focus on publishing ebook editions of older works of li ...
acquired E-Reads in 2014.
Bibliography
Adaptations
Two films have been made,
''Gor'' in 1987 and ''
Outlaw of Gor
''Outlaw of Gor'' (also known as ''Gor II'') is a 1988 adventure fantasy science fiction film directed by John "Bud" Cardos. A sequel to '' Gor'', it is loosely based on the '' Gor'' novel series by John Norman, but has strong plot and qualitative ...
'' in 1989 (also known as ''Outlaw'').
While not officially connected to John Norman's work, ''
Fencer of Minerva
is a five episode borderline hentai anime series released in the U.S. by Central Park Media in two DVD volumes.
Plot summary
Set in a world reminiscent of John Norman
John Frederick Lange Jr. (born June 3, 1931) is an American writer wh ...
'' is a Japanese animated series containing many of the elements and ideas discussed in Gorean philosophy.
During the mid-1990s, an attempt was made to publish an authorized
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
adaptation of the Gor series under
Vision Entertainment. The project collapsed under a combination of financial issues and the nature of the imagery, which violated
Canadian law
The legal system of Canada is Legal pluralism, pluralist: its foundations lie in the English common law system (inherited from its period as a colony of the British Empire), the Napoleonic Code, French civil law system (inherited from its New Fra ...
, where the printer was located.
A Gor sim was established on ''
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
'' in July 2012. In it, characters interact in standard Middle Age scenarios, combat, and sexual situations. The Tavern at the City of Thentis is a popular attraction.
Kajira
![The Gor Project 1 by mjranum stock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/The_Gor_Project_1_by_mjranum_stock.jpg)
In
John Norman
John Frederick Lange Jr. (born June 3, 1931) is an American writer who, as John Norman, has authored the '' Gor'' series of science fantasy novels. Norman is also a philosophy professor.
Early life and education
Lange was born in Chicago, I ...
's ''Gor'' novels, a kajira is a female slave or slave girl. The phrase "''la kajira''" is said to mean "I am a slave girl" in the Gorean language, the most widely spoken ''lingua franca'' in the known regions of the planet Gor (this is one of the few complete Gorean-language sentences given in the Gor novels). The word is usually seen in the feminine form "kajira" (
pl. "kajirae"), as most slaves in the Gorean lifestyle are female; the masculine forms are "kajirus" and "kajiri" (with endings taken from the nominative forms of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
first and second
declension
In linguistics, declension (verb: ''to decline'') is the changing of the form of a word, generally to express its syntactic function in the sentence, by way of some inflection. Declensions may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and ar ...
nouns, as also seen in words such as "alumna"/"alumnus", etc.). The construction "kajiras" is incorrect, but is occasionally seen in third-party writing.
There exist various techniques in Gorean culture to teach Gorean slaves' corresponding conduct. Slave tasks may include not only sexual slavery, but also the ability to maintain a household, possess artistic skills, wear an appealing outfit and address the master in a certain manner.
Marking
To indicate a slave as a particular owner's property, a collar with the owner's name is placed upon the slave (male and female slaves are both collared).
Gorean slave women are usually branded, which means they are marked with certain signs burned into the flesh on being enslaved. The most common is the kef brand: "about an inch and a half in height, and a half inch in width. A rather simple, delicate, graceful, almost floral mark, in cursive script. Appearing slender, more vertical, more like a stem with floral, cursive curled loops. A rather severe, straight line staff, with two, upturned, frondlike curls, adjacent to it, joined where they touch the staff on its right. It bears a distant, remote resemblance to the printed letter K."
Classifications
Kajirae have a plethora of types of varying prestige depending on various characteristics, including the following:
;By virginity status:
*Red silk girl: A kajira who is not a virgin.
*White silk girl: A kajira 'not yet opened to men' (i.e., a virgin), a case which is depicted very rarely in the novels as a virgin kajira will usually be deflowered shortly after her enslavement.
;By origin:
*Barbarian: The term "barbarian" usually refers to those who do not speak the main common language of known Gor and/or who are unassimilated to typical Gorean city-state culture. In the context of kajirae, it can refer to those who were brought from Earth by a journey of acquisition. Since they have never had any home stone, barbarian girls are often considered natural slaves, occupying the lowest rank and considered the most sexual.
*Gorean-born
**Passion slave: A kajira who has been bred through selective breeding for particularly desired physical or psychological traits, as opposed to other native Gorean kajirae who were usually born free.
;By employment:
*Flute girl: A kajira versed in playing the flute. They are employed at feasts and may also serve sexual tasks.
*Kettle girl / Kettle-and-mat girl: A kajira employed exclusively for domestic works is referred to as a kettle girl or pot girl. If the kajira's function is divided between household task and sexual service, she is known with the comparatively more prestigious moniker kettle-and-mat girl.
**State slave: A kajira owned by a particular polity and used for the domestic needs of citizens.
**Tower slave: A kajira owned as a maid in a private household.
*Message girl: A kajira who delivers secret messages.
*Paga slave or paga slut: A kajira who serves the alcoholic drink ''paga'' at a tavern. Their service usually includes sexual tasks.
*Pleasure slave: A kajira whose main function is providing sexual services. However, her training also includes broader skills, such as dancing and cooking.
**Prostitutes: Kajirae employed in prostitution by their masters.
***Coin girl: A kajira used by her master as a streetwalker.
***Camp slave: A kajira rented out for satisfying sexual needs during military campaigns.
***Bath girl: A kajira who works as a prostitute and masseuse in a bathhouse.
***Feast slave: A kajira rented out at feasts as a pleasure slave.
Kajirus
Kajiri (male slaves or slave boys) also exist on the planet Gor, but they are far fewer than kajirae, since Gorean men can only rarely be effectively "tamed", so that most male slaves are considered inherently slightly dangerous, and have little value other than as unskilled hard labor in work gangs which must often be kept under continual armed guard. Men conquered in war who are not left free are more often than not killed than enslaved, while women in the same situation are almost always enslaved (since kajirae are a readily-negotiable commodity, among other reasons).
A male slave kept by a woman owner for bedroom duties is a "silk slave" (while most male slaves on Gor are used for unskilled hard labor in work gangs). When a free woman makes use of a kajirus sexually, he is often chained so that he is unable to hold her in his arms — since allowing this would be considered to add a note of male domination to the lovemaking. Some free women carefully avoid kissing a kajirus when making sexual use of him, since they would consider it degrading to soil their lips by touching them to the body of a mere slave. Note that only a small minority of rich free women on Gor own silk slaves and (in contrast to the usual situation with free men and kajirae) it is often not very easy or convenient for a free woman to obtain the sexual use of a kajirus whom she does not personally own (in the city of Ar, the largest city of known Gor, it is strictly forbidden by law).
The phrase "lo kajirus" is said to mean "I am a slave boy." Silk slaves are generally despised by free men on Gor and their type of slavery is often considered to be rather unnatural. Kajiri do not usually wear locked collars; rather, they wear a band of iron.
Reception
The ''Gor'' novels have been criticized for their focus on relationships between
dominant men and
submissive women, the latter often in positions of slavery. ''
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scott R ...
'' has stated that the first several books are "passable exercises" of
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
-style fiction while "later volumes degenerate into extremely sexist, sadomasochistic pornography involving the
ritual humiliation
Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned pun ...
of women, and as a result have caused widespread offence".
Science fiction/fantasy author
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...
has suggested that the ''Gor'' novels should be placed on the top shelves of bookstores, saying, "I’m not for censorship but I am for strategies which marginalize stuff that works to objectify women and suggests women enjoy being beaten."
See also
*
Gorean subculture
Gorean subculture is a fandom based on the philosophy espoused in John Norman's long-running sword and planet novel series '' Chronicles of Counter-Earth''.
Background
Gorean subculture developed independently of Norman's involvement, particul ...
*''
Imaginative Sex
''Imaginative Sex'' is a non-fiction book by John Norman which includes a list of male-dominant/ female-submissive heterosexual BDSM-type sexual fantasy scenarios, and suggested guidelines as to how a couple can act them out in order to improve t ...
''
*''
Story of O
''Story of O'' (french: Histoire d'O, link=no, ) is an erotic novel published in 1954 by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage, and published in French by Jean-Jacques Pauvert.
Desclos did not reveal herself as the autho ...
''
*''
Telnarian Histories
The ''Telnarian Histories'' are a series of five space opera novels by American writer John Norman; the first three were published between 1991 and 1993.
The setting of the novels is a galactic realm closely parallel to the later history of t ...
''
*''
Time Slave
''Time Slave'' is a 1975 hybrid of historical fiction and science fiction by John Norman. In this book, Norman presents his personal theories of human evolution, exemplified by the case of a modern 20th century woman sent back in time 20,000 years ...
''
References
External links
*
John Norman's Chronicles of Gor current semi-official site
{{Authority control
BDSM literature
Fantasy worlds
Fictional planets
Fictional universes
Planetary romances
Portal fantasy
Science fiction book series
Science fiction erotica
Series of books
Novels set on fictional planets
Works published under a pseudonym
Counter-Earths
Del Rey books
Book series introduced in 1966