shane's review against another edition
4.0
This, the 3rd in the Chronicles of Gor series, very nearly got 5 stars, and perhaps it should still get those 5 really. One of the main reasons it didn't is because of the sheer alien-ness of the Priest Kings, great insectile creatures that immediately had me attempting to look away even as I continued to read about them. This wasn't at all unexpected since there's a nice colour piccy of one of them right there on the cover. Still, I had a little difficulty empathizing with them to quite the extent I would have liked.
The story continues where the last left off with our hero(?) Tarl Cabot venturing into the nest of the Priest Kings in a bid to find his lost love Talena and rescue her. As usual for Tarl, he gets more than a little sidetracked and ends up instigating a civil war within the nest and ultimately destroying it. This however, turns out to have been planned by the Priest Kings all along. He has in fact been used not just by one side but by both in turn, each with their own agenda.
Of course, in amongst all this waring and excitement he still manages to both enslave a girl and become enslaved by the very same girl himself. This also turns out to be part of her plan to help him though and as is only appropriate in these circumstances, she falls in love with him and is promptly rejected(albeit nicely) by Tarl because of his enduring love for Talena.
So, this, like the first two in the series was both frustrating and enjoyable at the same time. Frustrating because of the way Tarl treats the girl he's enslaved at times(he really is a bit of a sadist when all's said and done, but maybe the nicer kind of sadist if such there is!) and enjoyable because of the sheer pulpiness of the story and it's unfailing ability to make you sit up and gasp at the sheer delightful nonsense of it all.
I love these novels. Make of that what you will...
The story continues where the last left off with our hero(?) Tarl Cabot venturing into the nest of the Priest Kings in a bid to find his lost love Talena and rescue her. As usual for Tarl, he gets more than a little sidetracked and ends up instigating a civil war within the nest and ultimately destroying it. This however, turns out to have been planned by the Priest Kings all along. He has in fact been used not just by one side but by both in turn, each with their own agenda.
Of course, in amongst all this waring and excitement he still manages to both enslave a girl and become enslaved by the very same girl himself. This also turns out to be part of her plan to help him though and as is only appropriate in these circumstances, she falls in love with him and is promptly rejected(albeit nicely) by Tarl because of his enduring love for Talena.
So, this, like the first two in the series was both frustrating and enjoyable at the same time. Frustrating because of the way Tarl treats the girl he's enslaved at times(he really is a bit of a sadist when all's said and done, but maybe the nicer kind of sadist if such there is!) and enjoyable because of the sheer pulpiness of the story and it's unfailing ability to make you sit up and gasp at the sheer delightful nonsense of it all.
I love these novels. Make of that what you will...
reasonpassion's review against another edition
4.0
I have come to expect a certain flow to these books and this one doesn't disappoint. While the world gets expanded, especially down the path of a larger scifi element, with the Priest-Kings and their technology representing the worst of technological excesses, there still exists the fundamental story of stereotypical masculine bravado with a dedication to strength, loyalty and an abiding desire for love.
markjdevries's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
namulith's review against another edition
1.0
I had given up on the Gor series, because, well, it's pulp. And not my particular kind of pulp. Somebody suggested that the third book is better and I gave it another go. I must say that it is better than the first two. I love myself a good alien overlord background. But I just cannot get over the main character. It's not only the treatment of women in the Gor universe, but he has no character traits I could enjoy. That is what makes me abandon the series for good.
morvrun's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
joelshults's review against another edition
3.0
In my opinion, this one was better than the first two. It felt a lot more like one of Burrough's Barsoom novels. I'm still not a big fan of the whole slave girl thing, but I'm hanging in there for now.
purplemoonmyst's review against another edition
4.0
I DID IT!! I finished another book! That seems to be a constant refrain of mine this year. Anyway took me two weeks, but I read this book. It is not a bad book at all. It just my brain is funny these days, and I have no idea what is wrong with my attention span. Maybe I use it all up doing freelance client work then by the time I am done with that for the day my brain don't wanna focus anymore. Who Knows?
A word of caution: If you are in in way a feminist then you would want to avoid the Goran Saga. I am a Bad Feminist so even though it offends me I just let it slide.
Even though there is a LOT of info dumping here and world building if you haven't read the first two books in the series, then you will be lost with this one. So I highly recommend you start with the first book Transman of Gor and then proceed from there.
So for this book, our man Tarl is going to the Sardar to face off the Priest-Kings and to find out why they have destroyed his family and city Ko-Ro-Ba. I am not sure what I had in mind when I envisioned a Preist-King, but it sure wasn't a giant wasp. After reading the description that John Newman provides for some reason a Giant Wasp came into my head and refused to leave. I honestly thought they would be fearsome humans but nope.
Now I can't unthink the Giant Wasps. How Tarl keep from shitting his pants the first time he saw one I have no idea. I mean if I came face to face with a giant wasp then I probably die of a heart attack right then and there.
The book sloooowly takes us through the process of getting to know thePriest-kings and their ways. It felt slow but probably wasn't the book is not long at all, but all that info dumping was not done seamlessly. It seemed that info dumping would take pages before anything would happen. I was like come on you are face to face with a giant wasp then u info dump for five pages... Just TELLL me what happens next damnit.
The world building as always in the Goran Saga in fantastic. John Newman was brilliant when he created Gor. I have yet to come across an author who has built such worlds as the early sci-fi people. I mean sure you can world build in 300 pages but to keep it up for 20 somethings novels. THAT takes skill. I sometimes wonder at the people behind the early Sci-Fi and how they came up with the ideas in their heads.
Yes, there are slaves in this book. Human slaves. Women mostly. So like I said if you are in any way offended by a woman being pleasure slaves then stay far far far away from this series. I found it quite fascinating how Newman was able to keep it all consistent across all of his novels. I have found with a series sometimes the author will slip and you will find inconsistencies in the story. Not so with this one.
Overall I enjoyed this book despite taking so damn long to read it.
This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land
shane's review against another edition
4.0
This, the 3rd in the Chronicles of Gor series, very nearly got 5 stars, and perhaps it should still get those 5 really. One of the main reasons it didn't is because of the sheer alien-ness of the Priest Kings, great insectile creatures that immediately had me attempting to look away even as I continued to read about them. This wasn't at all unexpected since there's a nice colour piccy of one of them right there on the cover. Still, I had a little difficulty empathizing with them to quite the extent I would have liked.
The story continues where the last left off with our hero(?) Tarl Cabot venturing into the nest of the Priest Kings in a bid to find his lost love Talena and rescue her. As usual for Tarl, he gets more than a little sidetracked and ends up instigating a civil war within the nest and ultimately destroying it. This however, turns out to have been planned by the Priest Kings all along. He has in fact been used not just by one side but by both in turn, each with their own agenda.
Of course, in amongst all this waring and excitement he still manages to both enslave a girl and become enslaved by the very same girl himself. This also turns out to be part of her plan to help him though and as is only appropriate in these circumstances, she falls in love with him and is promptly rejected(albeit nicely) by Tarl because of his enduring love for Talena.
So, this, like the first two in the series was both frustrating and enjoyable at the same time. Frustrating because of the way Tarl treats the girl he's enslaved at times(he really is a bit of a sadist when all's said and done, but maybe the nicer kind of sadist if such there is!) and enjoyable because of the sheer pulpiness of the story and it's unfailing ability to make you sit up and gasp at the sheer delightful nonsense of it all.
I love these novels. Make of that what you will...
The story continues where the last left off with our hero(?) Tarl Cabot venturing into the nest of the Priest Kings in a bid to find his lost love Talena and rescue her. As usual for Tarl, he gets more than a little sidetracked and ends up instigating a civil war within the nest and ultimately destroying it. This however, turns out to have been planned by the Priest Kings all along. He has in fact been used not just by one side but by both in turn, each with their own agenda.
Of course, in amongst all this waring and excitement he still manages to both enslave a girl and become enslaved by the very same girl himself. This also turns out to be part of her plan to help him though and as is only appropriate in these circumstances, she falls in love with him and is promptly rejected(albeit nicely) by Tarl because of his enduring love for Talena.
So, this, like the first two in the series was both frustrating and enjoyable at the same time. Frustrating because of the way Tarl treats the girl he's enslaved at times(he really is a bit of a sadist when all's said and done, but maybe the nicer kind of sadist if such there is!) and enjoyable because of the sheer pulpiness of the story and it's unfailing ability to make you sit up and gasp at the sheer delightful nonsense of it all.
I love these novels. Make of that what you will...
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