Personally, I found the Priest-Kings to be somewhat disturbing (I won’t go into details so as not to spoil things), so I didn’t enjoy spending so much time with them, but other readers are likely to feel differently. In fact, they’re a different species altogether and Norman gives a lot of attention to their language, culture, sensory systems, and lifestyle. In Priest-Kings of Gor, we finally meet the Priest-Kings who rule the planet, and they are not at all what we were expecting. John Norman has created a fully detailed alternate world which is fun to explore. The best aspect of the books, “to my surprise,” is the world building. (But generally I appreciate Lister’s spirit and recommend the audio version if you want to read the Gor books.) This may be more noticeable with the audio version, because the narrator, Ralph Lister, reads vivaciously, so these expressions of enthusiasm seem a little overdone. The quality of the writing is quite good except for the overuse of phrases such as “to my amazement,” “to my surprise,” “I found it strange that,” “I marveled,” “I was astonished,” “I looked at him dumb-founded,” “I was thunder-struck,” etc. After finishing book 3, Priest-Kings of Gor, here’s my take so far: I guess it’s partly because Brilliance Audio has kindly sent them to me (they are nice productions), but it’s also largely because these books have been maligned for years as poorly written sexist-BDSM-erotica, so I can’t help but want to see for myself before dismissing them as such.

I’m not sure why I’m still reading the Gor books.

Tarnsman of gor