Most of the plots that play out within the Gor series are of an action and sexually charged nature, adventurous yet erotic, typically drawing upon historically accurate military engagements to drive each novel.Ī number of the initial books feature a voice narrating the protagonist’s journey to a different world, though Norman drops this motif in later novels as a loose plot arc begins to emerge within the many individual novels. The belligerence of mankind is such that, in Norman’s world, they cannot be trusted with weapons of great power.īecause of the planet’s lower gravity in comparison to earth, Gor is home to a number of creatures capable of flight as well as considerably tall towers connected by bridges that span the skies. Ruled by extraterrestrial beings known as priest kings, the human communities that populate Gor have made various strides in the fields of agriculture, medicine and architecture, even as their progress in the arenas of communication, transportation and even weaponry has been restricted to the level of classical Mediterranean Civilizations by the priest kings, an act designed to ensure the safety of not only the priest kings but the indigenous life forms of Gor.

Inspired by John Norman’s career as a classical scholar and philosopher, the planet of Gor is populated with cultures not unlike those of the Roman, Viking Greek and even native American, this presence of Earth-like cultures explained by the occasional transplantation of entire population groups from Earth to Gor. Within John Norman’s story, Gor is a habitable planet linearly opposed to the sun (essentially hidden by the sun) even while sharing the same orbit as earth. The renown and popularity of the Gor series is such that it has inspired a Gorean subculture, with the terminology and customs utilized in the series playing a central role in the lives of many an individual online and offline, in their attempts to manifest the world and culture of Gor.

Often categorized as philosophy and erotica as well as science fiction, there are many names by which the Gor series is known, including the Tarl Cabot Saga, Chronicles of Counter earth and Gorean Saga. Gor is the name of John Norman’s long running series of science fiction novels it is also the name of the parallel universe Counter-Earth, the setting within which Norman’s story plays out.

Tarnsman of gor series