Rebels of Gor (Gorean Saga)

Although no overt spoilers appear in this review some minor ones do.For those who haven't read REBELS OF GOR please proceed with caution.REBELS OF GOR overflows with a wow factor absent from the series for almost 40 years. First, and most noticeably, the usually predominant theme of slavery is almost nowhere in sight, only about 40 of the 644 pages of the novel are given over to it, approximately 5% of the book. That leaves over 600 pages of action-filled plot happening and John Norman crafts a story as serpentine as the one in ASSASSIN OF GOR. Read REBELS and you'll find out that's not just hyperbole. It truly is like the days of yore on Gor again, swordplay, political intrigue, large cast with character reversals, confronting/eluding the bad guys, breaking out of (and into) locked rooms, hand-to-hand combat with Kur, and more. After a couple of hundred pages of little or no slavery discussion at all I thought it so odd I asked myself had Norman written this book, as have other reviewers. He wrote it all right, it's just he hasn't written a Gor novel like REBELS since Ballantine published his books. And, aside from a few insignificant loose ends, the series could conclude with this 33rd volume.REBELS ends a six novel arc where, among other things, Tarl Cabot finally sails across mighty Thassa in a giant ship that's been spoken of since the sixth book of the series. The voyage takes up nearly all of MARINERS OF GOR, another engrossing read. The big boat finally docks on foreign shores and Cabot integrates into a samurai culture, gets in the middle of some shogun/daimyo warring factions, outsmarts not only the 'men of two swords' but the Priest-Kings and Kurii too. A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and YOJIMBO are two movies inspired by, but nothing like, Dashiell Hammett's RED HARVEST; for a while I thought Norman was going to turn REBELS OF GOR into his own version of Yojimbo, but he did not. Even though I saw a few things coming chapters before they happened that did not lessen the reading experience for me.The author John Norman turned 82 in 2013. In the last six years he wrote well over a million words, most of it stands with the best of what he published through Ballantine and Daw Books. Hopefully he'll continue adding to the series, but if he doesn't the Gor chronicles are a fantasy milestone as is.

First, I am a John Norman fan. I have been reading this series for 30 some years now. So you can judge as you will.This is the wrap up book of the current story line. (No spoilers) Tarl (main character) is in the equivalent of Japan in this twin world to Earth. He's been there in the last few books, so no surprise there. Plus, over the years Mr. Norman has take Tarl from region to region, people to people around the planet. What has changed is that in the past all that took place in a single book. You could pick up ALMOST any book in the series (1-33) and have a good read that mostly started and ended between the covers. However, in the last few books the entire story has been on a much larger scale and only now after several books do we get to where this saga in Tarl's life wraps up. I believe many readers of the last few books will be very happy to see all (mostly) of the story threads of late wrapped up very nicely. Good job Mr. Norman. But for anyone grabbing their first Gor Saga, well this would not be the best starting point.I remember my first book was #8. I was able to enjoy that book by itself without knowing more about the world or the main characters. I went on to read them all, with them all together painting a far more complex and larger story, but each book being like bricks in a building. Each one, each brick/book separate from the others, but when stacked together something else. Not all books focused on the main character and some go more SciFi than sword and brawn, but all are Gor. Of late however there has been a more serial nature to the stories. Each is separate with clear start and end, but these have been more tightly linked together.This last book mostly closes this thread in the far east. It also closes (?) a long time question from far back in earlier books. All in all a very enjoyable book for fans and something to look forward to for those just starting out in the series.

When I originally wrote this review just after reading the book in 2013, I was convinced that it was intended to end the lengthy series of the "Chronicles of Counter Earth." I thought the author who was in his eighties, had decided to finish the story of Tarl Cabot and Gor on an adrenaline high. For those who read John Norman for the heroism and adventures rather than the "slave girl" material, to say that this book is considerably better than most of the recent books in this series would be an understatement.I was however wrong about it being the last book in the series, and it was followed by "Plunder of Gor" in 2016.This is the 33rd book in the lengthy "Gorean saga" of novels, set mostly on the planet Gor which supposedly shares the orbit of Earth but on the opposite side of the sun so that our astronomers cannot detect it.This book is about battles and intrigue, repeatedly pitting honour and courage against treachery, ambition and tyranny, and about the fate of a world. It goes right back to the style of the first six books. Because it is narrated in the first person by Tarl Cabot you know he is going to somehow survive all the impossible situations in he and his comrades repeatedly find themselves, but John Norman keeps you thinking "How on Gor do they get out of this one?"If you like "swords and heroism" fantasies this book is quite exciting and hard to put down.It finally concludes the story arc which began in book 29 in the series, " Swordsmen of Gor: Gor Book 29 " when the central character, Tarl Cabot, returned from the asteriod belt to Gor and joined an expedition to the previously unknown side of the planet on a new ship, the largest ever seen on Gor, known as the "Great Ship of Tersites." It also fills in some of the loose ends which have been hanging around for more than a quarter of a century.The original 25 books of the "Gor" saga were first published between 1969 and 1988. Then after a long gap, John Norman started publishing again in the 21st century, and the nine books published since then are an amazingly mixed bag. Four are adventure novels featuring Tarl Cabot as a major character and three of those definately have some good moments, particularly this one. Four are "Kajira" novels - that word means "slave girl" in the main Gorean language - and are variants on the story of a woman from earth who is kidnapped, brought to Gor and enslaved and grows to accept that condition in what amounts to Stockholm syndrome, e.g. "How I learned to stop worrying and enjoy being a slave girl." the other book, "Smugglers of Gor," is half and half - with alternating chapters narrated by a slave girl and by a Gorean male, each of whom is evidently obsessed with the other.As I wrote above, this book, Professor John Lange (John Norman's real name), who was 82, appears to have decided to finish the series, and to go out on a high note by making the last book as exciting and memorable as possible. He also develops another side to Tarl Cabot's character, which I'm not going to describe as to do so might be seen as a "spoiler." It would not be impossible for Lange to add another book himself or commission someone else to write one; however, at the end of "Rebels of Gor," none of the remaining massive loose ends feel as though they ought to be tied up and have not been; and for the first time in about 25 years I consider that if the series ended there it would not feel incomplete.The solution the main characters adopt to the mission which began with the launch of the "Great Ship" provides a surprise ending which I did not see coming until very near the end of the book, and is cleverly done.To understand what is going on in "Rebels of Gor" you should ideally have have read some of the previous 32 books in the series. This one is not a good starting point. To get full value out of some of the references in this book, and indeed for me to describe an outline to you, requires some understanding of a number of places, characters and races on the planet of Gor, e.g.PLACESAlexandra - navigable river in the north of the main Gorean continent, on which the ship of Tersites was launchedAr - the greatest city on Gor, which has recently thrown off foreign occupation after losing a war against the island powers of Cos and TyrosBrundisium - a major commercial port city on the coast of Thassa, which has a slave marketCos - an island nation, which recently defeated and briefly occupied Ar but subsequently failed to retain control of it's much stronger rivalPort Kar - a coastal city: main "industries" are piracy and slave tradingTreve - a city in the Voltai mountains and traditional enemy of ArThassa - a large ocean to the West and North of the main Gorean continentThe Islands - a previously unknown archipelago on the far side of Gor from the main continent, inhabited by the Pani, who are obviously of Japanese descent.Victoria - a market town on the Vosk river, which is home to - guess what - the major slave market on the Vosk.Voltai - a wild and lawless mountain rangeVosk - a major navigable river not far from Ar.World's End - another term for "The Islands"CHARACTERSTarl Cabot, (which should be pronounced "Cabbo" with the final t silent as he grew up in Bristol, England and that's how Bristolians pronounce that surname,) narrator and anti-hero of the majority of books in the series, including this one. Adopted Ko-Ro-Bar on Gor as his home for the first five books of the series. Also known as Bosk of Port Kar, where he made his home from books six to twenty, but was an outlaw for a time after that because someone apparently persuaded the Priest-Kings (see below) that he had betrayed them. The Priest-Kings dropped all charges against him and gave permission for his return to Gor at the end of book 28. At the start of this book he is commander of the Tarn cavalry in the service of Lord Temmu.Marlenus - Ubar (Emperor) of Ar. Erstwhile father-in-law, sometimes ally, somtimes bitter enemy of Tarl Cabot who helped to depose him in book one and restore him to office in book five. (He's been deposed and restored again since then.) Currently back in power.Talena - Daughter of Marlenus. Former free companion (wife) of Tarl Cabot. Was briefly Ubara (Empress) and titular head of the puppet government imposed on Ar by the army of Cos after the war but disappeared when her father regained power. Wanted as a traitor in Ar and there is an enormous price on her head.Lord Yamada - Shogun of the majority of the Pani lands and seeks to conquer the restLord Temmu - Shogun of the remainder of the Pani lands, at war with Lord Yamada. Employer of the mercenary army in which Tarl Cabot commands the tarn cavalry.Nodachi - Pani swordsman and weapons instructor of legendary skill, who in the past has trained some of the finest warriors on both sides of the current war.SPECIES and RACESPriest-Kings - reclusive rulers of the planet. In this book it is stated that Gor is a world in a natural condition with an unharmed environment, but in earlier books it was sometimes suggested that Gor might be an artificial world and inferred that the Priest Kings had created it. Their nest is underneath the Sardar mountain range. Rarely allow themselves to be seen by humans. Have promulgated laws banning certain forms of technology, for example "forbidden weapons" such as guns. Worshipped as gods by most of the human population of the planet. Some others wrongly assume that they are mythical: if this leads them to break the laws of the Priest-Kings by using forbidden technology, this can often be the last mistake they make.Kurii or "Others" - another space travelling race, who are large, furry and extremely fierce carnivores, a bit like 600 pound sentient bears. Cruel and bloodthirsty but obsessed by their version of honour. All Kurri believe themselves to be highly honorable: some really are, at least on their own terms, but others are not. Constantly plotting to conquer Gor, but often divided among themselves: for example, one Kur, at the cost of his own life, worked with Tarl Cabot to frustrate a plot by others of his kind to blow up the entire planet in book ten.Tarns - giant and fierce birds which can be trained to carry a warrior on their back. "Tarn cavalry" consisting of such warriors and their mounts are the air arm and the most elite units of armies on the main continent of Gor, but were not known in "The Islands" where this book is set until the "Great Ship of Tersites" arrived.Pani - a race of Goreans who appear to be descended from Japanese Samurai. Both the Pani and the part of Gor they inhabit, which they call "The Islands" and Tarl Cabot calls "World's End" were unknown to any of the characters in the series until they first appear in book 29, "Swordsmen of Gor." One side in a war between two Pani shoguns commissioned a brilliant shipwright called Tersites to build them a "great ship" for a voyage across the Thassa ocean to attempt to turn the tide of that war. It is almost certain that Priest-Kings, or Kurri, or most probably both, helped them to do this. There is a lot of speculation by Tarl and other characters in previous books, and much more in this one, about why these two advanced races might be taking an interest in the war between the Pani, which I will not describe further to avoid "spoiling" the ending.If you don't follow the references in this review, don't buy the book because you won't understand "Rebels of Gor" either. I would advise anyone who is thinking of reading any of John Norman's "Gor" books to start at the beginning with " Tarnsman of Gor: Vol 1 In The Chronicles of Counter-Earth " and work through until you reach this one, lose interest, or lose your temper. And there is a good chance that it will be the latter.For me the first book was good, numbers two through six were excellent, but then the series gradually went downhill. To get to the flashes of imagination and excitement which made the first few books fun to read, you had to wade through ever more interminable male supremacist lectures calling for the enslavement of all women.Yes, you really did read that correctly. And the endless repetition of the case for making women slaves eventually gets quite boring and almost made you wonder if Norman actually meant it.Until this book. "Rebels of Gor" is a strong contender to be considered the best book in the entire series. It's at least 85% action and adventure, and although there is a certain amount of "women belong naked in a slave collar" material, there are none of the huge indigestible slabs of it, dozens of pages at a time, which in most of the recent books would bore to death those who read the "Gor" series for the battles and adventures. The main catch is that to fully appreciate this book you have to have waded through some rather poorer ones!The series up to 2016 consists of1) "Tarnsman of Gor" - Tarl Cabot of Bristol first comes to Gor2) "Outlaw of Gor" - Tarl returns to Gor to find his home city on that planet destroyed3) "Priest-Kings of Gor" - Tarl meets the alien rulers of the planet4) "Nomads of Gor" - a search for the stolen last egg of the Priest-Kings5) "Assassin of Gor" - a plot to restore Marlenus as Ubar of Ar6) "Raiders of Gor" - Tarl Cabot becomes known as Bosk of Port Kar7) "Captive of Gor" - Elinor Brinton from Earth meets an alien monster (k)8) "Hunters of Gor" - Tarl hunts for his lost love Talena in the forest9) "Maurauders of Gor" - of Viking raiders and the monstrous "Others"10) "Tribesmen of Gor" - of a Doomsday weapon in the deserts of Gor11) "Slave girl of Gor" - with a warning of invasion hidden in her head (k)12) "Beasts of Gor" - of an invasion base at the North Pole of Gor13) "Explorers of Gor" - Tarl Cabot explores the equatorial jungle14) "Fighting Slave of Gor" - part one of a trilogy in which Jason Marshall is the main character15) "Rogue of Gor" - part two of the Jason Marshall trilogy16) "Guardsman of Gor" - part three of the Jason Marshall trilogy17) "Savages of Gor" - the Kurii stir up trouble on the plains, part one18) "Blood brothers of Gor" - trouble on the plains, part two19) "Kajira of Gor" - an earth woman called Tiffany is brought to Gor to impersonate a queen (k)20) "Players of Gor" - of Gorean chess, drama, and war between Cos and Ar21) "Mercenaries of Gor" - an invasion force from Cos moves against Ar22) "Dancer of Gor" - a librarian from earth is caught up in a war on Gor (k)23) "Renegades of Gor" - Ar's war against Cos begins to go badly wrong24) "Vagabonds of Gor" - Ar's soldiers meet disaster in the Vosk Delta25) "Magicians of Gor" - Ar has been conquered, but resistance begins.26) "Witness of Gor" - narrated by an earth girl who has been planted in Treve to look out for a prisoner (k)27) "Prize of Gor" - Cos's puppet regime in Ar starts to look shaky (k)28) "Kur of Gor" - Tarl Cabot visits the Steel worlds in the Asteroid Belt29) "Swordsmen of Gor" - Tarl trains an army, Tersites finally gets to build his ship!30) "Mariners of Gor" - continues the voyage of the great ship of Tersites31) "Conspirators of Gor" - Allison Ashton-Baker is enslaved on Gor (k)32) "Smugglers of Gor" - another perspective on the outfitting of the great ship of Tersites (M/k)33) "Rebels of Gor" - a Tarl Cabot book full of battles and heroism which ties up almost all the lose ends.34) "Plunder of Gor" - two girls from Earth find themselves pawns on opposing sides of a strange power struggle (k)The eight books with a "k" in brackets after the description are told from the perspective of a kajira or slave girl, while "Smugglers of Gor" has "(M/k)" for Master/kajira as it is narrated in alternating chapters by one of each.From the viewpoint of those who read John Norman for the adventures, there are many exciting passages in "Rebels of Gor," most of which I don't want to describe for fear of spoiling the story. Some of them describe incredible feats of skill with the sword or the bow: others depict characters showing courage and honour in circumstances where they face the near certainty of death, but often get out of it, and others depict a war between two sides both of whom feature some people who are honorable and loyal and others who are traitors - and it is not always obvious who is who.In previous Gor books many of the characters were a bit like a fantasy stereotype of a warrior from the Roman Republic or Ancient Greece, (in some cases a viking saga or a "noble savage" view of native americans.) In this book half the characters appear to have stepped out of James Clavell's " Shogun: A Novel of Japan ." It is a measure of how much more sophisticated this book is than most of the recent Gor books that some of those in this book who appear at first to be bad guys turn out to be much less stereotypically evil and two-dimensional than the bad guys in previous volumes.Norman re-uses some plot devices from previous books in the series, but not enough to spoil this one.A year before "Rebels of Gor" was published I wrote an Amazon review of the immediately preceding book, "Smugglers of Gor" which concluded as follows:"Norman has been keeping us waiting for several volumes now for the next major installment" (of the Pani expedition story arc) " so I will have to hope that it comes in the next book. Ideally with a bit more of the exciting fight scenes, imaginative description of a beautiful planet, and meticulous world-building which used to characterise the series, and a lot less repetition of ludicrous arguments for enslaving women. It would thus be a much better book."That's exactly what "Rebels of Gor" delivers. Swordsmen of Gor: Gor Book 29Tarnsman of Gor: Vol 1 In The Chronicles of Counter-EarthShogun: A Novel of Japan

It has been a long road following the adventures of Tarl Cabot but this book finally brings the series to a very satisfactory ending.It is the best Gor novels for many years and any aficianados who lost the faith with this series after about the 10th book can be reassured that this is a great adventure story - thankfully not interrupted by endless pages of monotonous,repetitive slave/master dialogue that used to spoil many a potential good book and frustrate many a reader who enjoyed reading the Tarl Cabot story arc.I would recommend to anyone intending to buy this book, that it would be advisable to read the previous 3 volumes - Kur of Gor, Swordsman of Gor and Mariners of Gor, ( at the very minimum Mariners of Gor), as these books provide the main background to this story.Anyone who has enjoyed any of the Gor books will not be disappointed with this brilliant finale.

I have always thought the first few books, say up to Marauders or Tribesman were excellent. This was followed with a falling away as the books got bigger. Indeed I welcomed the break, and was pleased that when he resumed with Witness they were good, not excellent, and again they have fallen away.This book defies that sequence and compares favourably with Marauders, he has even cut the padding I was well into the book before I found any.The book finishes the Pani business and opens a new twist in the story as it concentrates on the main Kur/Priestkings clash.Overall I really enjoyed the book and hope the next few maintain the standard he has now set.

would like it if more were written but if this is the last i must say i have enjoyed reading each of the 33 books over many times and still will

Good book to the collection