Book Review: 'Fighting Slave of Gor' by John Norman
I was in the mood to read something vapid. Thus it was, that recently I reached for 'Fighting Save of Gor' (384 pp.), published as DAW Book No. 376 in March, 1980. The cover art is by Richard Hescox. 'Fighting Slave' is the fourteenth Gor novel, of a total of 36 (issued as of 2021).
This easily is one of the worst 'Gor' novels I've ever read...........
The book's premise is another variant on the theme of having an Earth woman or man kidnapped by Gorean slavers, taken to Gor, and there kept captive until such time as they achieve emancipation into Gorean society.
The protagonist of 'Fighting Slave' is a man named Jason Marshall. In the opening chapters, set in New York City, we learn that Jason is a thoroughly modern guy who suffers considerably from sexual frustration, as his desire to ravage delectable young women wars with the need to be a 'sensitive' and caring man, who panders to them in the hopes of eventually acquiring some nookie.
Jason soon finds himself transported to Gor, where he winds up as a slave to a succession of domineering women who laugh at his Terran notions of the equality of the sexes.
'Fighting Slave' is essentially an R-rated BDSM novel with a thin coating of Gor sociology. It's devoted to chronicling the degradation and humiliation of our hero at the hands of beautiful and imperious Gorean women. Early on, it's Mistress Gina, and a little later, the Mistress Tima, and after that, well, Mistress Florence. None of these Gorean dominatrices deploy clothespins, as of course, clothespins don't exist on Gor. But the mistresses do wear black leather, and wield the Gorean 'slave whip'. You get the idea..........
Even as he endures abuse by his sexually charged mistresses, Jason discovers that he can gain respect from these women by fighting in the arena, and the novel laboriously showcases this development as a necessary step in Jason's psychological and spiritual evolution into being a Real Man. Fewer than 25 pages of the novel actually deal with Jason's fighting endeavors in the arena. I won't disclose any spoilers about Jason's fortunes in the arena, save to say that the novel ends on an inconclusive note suggesting that some of the lead characters will participate in further intrigues on Gor.
Norman's prose is, if possible, even more stilted than that of the early novels in the franchise. For example, I encountered the phrase 'neuteristic personhood', which was so remarkably inane that I actually stopped reading for several moments to ponder how Norman could have come up with such nonsensical jargon. As with the other Gor novels, the action regularly is put on hold while Norman uses protracted internal monologues to showcase his theories about gender relations and sex roles.
I finished 'Fighting Slave of Gor' with my desire for vapidity satisfied. At the same time, I was amused to realize that, ever since the publication of 'Tarnsman of Gor' in 1966, Norman has been vilified by feminists (and enlightened male sci-fi fans) for promoting BDSM......and yet, in 2011, Erika Mitchell (aka E. L. James) published 'Fifty Shades of Grey', which essentially canonized Norman's concepts. 'Fifty Shades' became a best-seller, and was hailed in some circles for suggesting that modern, emancipated women might enjoy some bondage and domination every now and then. Go figure !
Taking everything into consideration, I'm going to give 'Fighting Slave of Gor' a score of 0 of 5 Stars. Only the truly desperate need seek out this entry in the franchise...........
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