Nomads of Gor (Chronicles of Counter-Earth, Vol. 4)

by John Norman

Book Overview

Join celebrated tarnsman Tarl Cabot in his latest adventure on the parallel planet of Gor, with its exotic lifestyle and social norms. Tarl has dedicated his life to ensuring that the Priest-Kings... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345224884
• ISBN13: 9780345224880
• Release Date: January 1973
• Publisher: Ballantine
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One of my favorite books EVER

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."

Far and away the most popular of John Norman's Gor novels

I have always considered "Assassins of Gor" to be John Norman's magnum opus in his Counter-Earth series, but there is no more enjoyable novel than the novel that comes before it "Nomads of Gor." After bonding with the Priest-King Misk, Tarl Cabot is sent from the Sardar Mountains to find the last egg of the Priest-Kings, which has been hidden among the Wagon People. Unfortunately, the Wagon People are probably the most xenophobic on Gor and will not take kindly to Cabot just walking up and joining them. "Nomads of Gor" has two great strengths, both of which are rather unique to the series. First, Norman does a masterful job of creating the civilization of the Wagon People, which consists of four tribes. I suppose he might be basing his research on some nomadic tribes of Earth, but I did not sense any strong parallels as I did, for example, with the "Viking" like "Marauders of Gor." We get a sense of the culture of the Tuchuks, one of the four tribes that Cabot stays with as he searches for the egg, which goes well beyond what we have seen up to this point in the series. The customs, especially the competitive games the Wagon Peoples play, are much more detailed than what we had seen in the towered cities of Ar and Ko-ro-ba. Second, this is the funniest of the Gor books, with the humor coming mostly from conversations that involve the character of Harold the Tuchuk, although Kamchak, also of the Tuchucks, has his moments as well. It is not far fetched to say that these are two best-developed supporting characters in the Gor series, and I would contend that this is due in large measure to their sense of humor. But the humor is clearly Norman's, who has this style of using short sentences to develop his droll wit. This is character driven humor, where who says what in which situation makes all the difference; none of the lines that tickle your funny bone would ever evoke a laugh by themselves, because context is everything in Norman's humor. I always wondered why Norman did not return to the Tuchuks later in the series, but maybe he did not think he could pull off a return visit that equaled the success of this effort. This is also the novel that introduces Vella, the former Elizabeth Caldwell of Earth, who becomes one of the key continuing characters in the Tarl Cabot novels. Of course, this opens up the giant can of worm regarding Norman's Gorean philosophy that "slavery" is the natural state of women, who can only be truly "free" when they totally submit to a master. I have to admit that I never took this idea beyond the fictional level and that as the series progressed I flipped through the long philosophical discussions between masters and slaves in later novels (Norman is the pseudonym of philosopher Professor John Lange). I also know that there are people who take the Gorean lifestyle very seriously. I could quote Abraham Lincoln in response to this topic, but I would probably be closer to the mark if I just said different st

A dilemma

I was so surprised at how good Priest-Kings of Gor, my first Gor book, was that I decided to try another one, Nomads of Gor, the next in the series in which Tarl Cabot attempts to carry out his mission for the Priest-Kings. The strong point of Priest-Kings was the depiction of a truly alien culture. The culture in this one is not quite so alien...the lifestyle of the Wagon Peoples is based on that of the Mongol hordes of the 13th C. In all other respects this book is even better than the first. I'd even go so far as to say that it has all one could ask for in an action-adventure story: plenty of action, delightful characters (especially Kamchak and Harold), a richly detailed society, humor, intrigue, surprises (but I did guess most of them before they were revealed), and even one of the most bizarre monsters I've ever read about. Particularly delightful was the sequence where Tarl Cabot and Harold go to the walled city of Turia on their separate missions. Fast-paced and humorous, it reads like something out of the Arabian Nights. There is one other aspect of the book that needs to be addressed: the issue of slavery and abusive behavior towards women. It's much more prominent in this book than in Priest-Kings. There is no doubt in my mind that the kind of actions depicted here happened in the real world of the Mongols but I don't think he has quite gotten the psychology of the situation right, at least for most people. There are three women in this book who come to be dominated: Aphris of Turia, Hereena of the First Wagon, and Elizabeth Cardwell of New York (yes, New York!). The first two are haughty, even arrogant, and despise the men who come to dominate them, the third is simply terrified of the situation she finds herself in. Yet, when given the opportunity to escape slavery and go back to their former lives of power and luxury, they choose not to because they have become so fulfilled by the domination of their Masters. Nonsense! Well, there are submissive personalities out there (male and female) and if that is what they want for their lifestyles who am I to say no, but that certainly does not fit the profile of Aphris or Hereena. Norman seems to be saying that slavery is the "natural" lifestyle for all women and that is just wrong. So here is my dilemma: John Norman is obviously a master storyteller but if the reviews of his other books on this website are any indication, he hasn't even hit his stride yet on the slavery theme. I feel conflicted. There are lots of Gor books out there that I would probably enjoy immensely if it weren't for the gender issues but then they wouldn't really be Gor books without the gender issues, now, would they? I like what I've read so far but don't like where I think this series is headed. What to do, what to do?

Nomads of Gor is filled with action and laughter.

This has got to be the *BEST* of the 25 novels of the GOR series. Tarl Cabot and his adventures with the Tuchuks Kamchak and Harold, the little barbarian Elizabeth Cardwell and the beautiful Aphris of Turia not only kept me entertained by laughing constantly. Kamchak, by far, is the best character in any GOR book I have seen.. even moreso than Tarl Cabot, himself. If you read any of the GOR Novels, read this one. On a scale of 1-10, its a 20!

Argueably the best book of the 25 (soon 27) book series.

Jumping right into action, the reader may be a little confused for the first page or two, but this is short-lived, as John Norman supplies abundant descriptions and footnotes to edify the reader. The book follows a great story plot of the Wagon People of the great prairies of southern Gor. Tarl Cabot, main character in most of the series, visits the Wagon People, who bear some historical paralells to the Mongol tribes under Ghengis Khan in the early 1200's, questing for an item for the mysterious Priest-Kings. In the course of this search he helps the Thuchuk tribes in a war forced upon them by their neighbors. Of all the books of the Gor series, this is the one that probably has the greatest fan following. I have personal knowledge that at least two groups, with around 300+ members between them, have existed since the 1970's as fans of this book only, ignoring to some degree the rest of the series.