| AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF GOR - WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT HAS BECOME |
The answer to that question is really simple in and of itself, but the years have come to develop it into something more complex, resulting in responses which vary depending upon the person who is asked. Gor is the center of a science fiction series, a fictional world of alternate reality, and the model for a collected philosophy. It is one or all of these things, and even more, to the thousands of fans which have come to be somehow involved in this imaginary land and its ways.
Gor itself was created by a man named John Lange, a university professor holding a doctorate in philosophy, writing under the assumed name of John Norman. In a series of twenty-five books, the first of which was published in 1967, he developed and defined the world of Gor and the cultures which populate it. Though fictional, this land and its peoples carry the influence of their creator and his profession, expressing the writer's thoughts and assertions in a form of allegory in which he explores the existence and purpose of men and women, their relationship to one another and their world, and the development of society and culture. The backdrop for this is a savage counter-Earth, whose people can be likened to many ancient cultures of our own world's past, predominantly those of the Greco-Roman age. They are the descendants of people transported to Gor from Earth's classical times, left to develop their own history down a line diverging from that of our own civilization's growth. This fictional setting is utilized not only as a medium for storytelling, but also the environment within which the author develops clearly considered philosophical and sociological assertions, demonstrated through the actions of the characters within the stories and their lives on Gor. Barbaric by the standards of contemporary Earth, these people live in a highly developed and refined society of city-states, whose only true "barbarism" is a life contrary to what is acceptable to our own civilization's current beliefs.
"It is not necessary to burn a book, if one does not permit it to be published."These science fiction novels, comprising the twenty-five volume "Saga of Gor," have sold well over twelve million copies world wide, with future editions, continuing the tales, long being considered for publication in response to a consistent and ever growing demand. The first in the series, "Tarnsman of Gor," was published in 1967, and the last Gorean novel to be released, "Magicians of Gor," had a single press run in 1988 before the publisher abruptly ended its contract with the author. This event was said to be in reaction to the controversy the less than politically correct series had invoked, spurned on by certain special interest groups who wished to see the Gorean novels removed from the commercial market, and any future publication ended. The rise of the "politically correct" age, followed with the bowing of apologists, and overall changing attitudes towards just who and what is entitled to freedom of speech, resulted in a seeming end to the progression of the series, and the resignation of the Gorean novels to used book store shelves. Two other finished manuscripts, numbers twenty-six and twenty-seven of the series, respectively entitled "Witness of Gor" and "Prize of Gor," have awaited publication since then, but the continuing effects of blacklisting and not always subtle censorship has so far kept these novels from ever being published and released. With the coming of the Internet, the hold of censors and the media influencing minority has been temporarily held somewhat at bay. Hand in hand with this, the Gorean novels have seen a great resurgence of popularity, drawing together old fans and adding many new ones to the fold. The medium has not only allowed these people to gather together and with others who have enjoyed the series, but has enabled them to share thoughts and ideas on the deeper philosophical and sociological issues presented in the novels and develop upon these suggestions. This continuing growth of activity has also brought with it the returning interest of potential publishers, these recognizing the product's viability as a direct result of the fast growing attention the novels have received online. But regardless of past successes and an again growing fan base, the commercial publishing "powers that be" continue to shun the series for its perceived politically incorrect concepts and theories, even if they are a proven commercial success. This reaction is said to largely be the continued effect of the blacklisting the author has been put under, along with the ever-vigilant attention of groups wishing his books and ideas to be silenced. Such has also reared itself in recent times in the form of magazine articles and essays doing "exposes" on the Gorean phenomena, casting a skewed light on the series and its fans while claiming impartiality, again using the power of the media to try to excite and shock the unknowing, and impress upon them the biased opinions of particular interests. These efforts and others have yet to stop fans from seeking out the novels, nor have they curbed the growth in interest. They have not even been entirely successful in stopping small publishers from attempting to respond to the demand for the series, though they have thrown their obstacles before these companies and limited their success. In 1996, Masquerade Books began the first abortive attempt to reprint the series, seeing the first ten novels returned to the commercial market in a redesigned package with the original text layout. Though the reprints quickly sold-out in the bookstores that carried them, and the demand for a greater pressing and wider circulation was made obvious, these chains suddenly stopped placing restocking orders. The reason for this was said to involve protests and petitions made by certain groups who used their influence to pressure the chains into stopping distribution. This resulted in Masquerade being forced to end its association with the novels due to the resulting difficulties in marketing them commercially. Rumors exist suggesting that the company has since gone out of business, or at the very least had some financial problems, and while this may be true, Masquerade is known to have ended its involvement with the science fiction genre soon after leaving its association with Gor. Shortly after this there began talk of the publication of a "Gor Magazine," a monthly graphic novel developed from the books and presented by Vision Entertainment. This company also sought to release the long awaited book twenty-six, along with a "world bible" intended to provide a graphical showcase of the fictional world's denizens. Little more than talk of any intention ever transpired since first mention in 1996, with said company having a series of economic and logistic difficulties preventing the release of any promised products, though production had begun on them. In 1997, the planned partnership the company had with Random House publishers, for marketing and distribution, suddenly ended when the other firm withdrew from the deal for unknown reasons. These problems finally culminated in 1999, with John Norman deciding to terminate his agreement and contract with Vision Entertainment, thus ending the possible publication of future Gorean works and material through that venue. Recently, a new venture has yet again begun down the path where others have failed. This company, known as "New World Publishing," has gone into partnership with John Norman to see the series become available again in a new commercial form. Though the company itself is very small and the odds may well be against them, they have started releasing the earlier novels and promise to continue through with the entire series. They have also stated that they will see to the publication of those novels which have yet to be released, along with any future editions the author may be considering. These re-releases are promised to be the "unexpurgated" versions of the novels, printed in the original form the author intended with portions of text that were previously removed by editors finally included. It is also said that the author is going over each novel making changes and additions to the text that he has long wanted to see occur. This partnership is still in its initial phases, with the books themselves only available through direct contact with the small group responsible for production and sale. While not a larger, commercial concern, and seemingly brand new to the publishing business, the fact that this small private company is in somewhat direct contact with the author, and appears to have been started with the sole interest of producing merchandise involving Gor, may well remove it from some of the detrimental effects of those who seem so intent at stopping the continued release of the novels and the censorship of the author's words. (2003 - So far, this partnership seems to be working out and "New World Publishing" has not only been keeping its promise of seeing the series re-released, but has printed the 26th novel in the saga - "Witness of Gor.")- John Norman
"The Internet, happily, at least for a time, gives us an opportunity to do an end run around the blacklisting. Whereas this may be distressing to the blacklisters, who have attempted to destroy my writing career, as it fails to conform to their political requirements, some other folks may have better things to do than wring their hands and gnash their teeth, such as enjoy the books."The series itself is not an easy one to acquire in its entirety. The first seven books have been reprinted many times and the first ten are available in recently republished form, so these should be easy enough to find or order. The last fifteen books of the series become harder to come by as the numbers progress, with books twenty-one through twenty-five being particularly hard to find as publication was limited to only one or two printing runs of each. Prices in used book stores and online auctions range from a dollar to fifty dollars or more, making the novels, especially those harder to find, sought after collectors items. English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and French editions have also been published, including some in hardcover. Fictional World- John Norman
The current twenty-five novels of the Gorean saga present a highly developed and vividly realized world full of richly defined peoples, cultures, creatures, and landscapes. It is this depth of description that, though somewhat laborious and repetitious at times, provides the reader with such a detailed vision of what Gor and its peoples are like. Gor exists on the opposite side of the sun from Earth, shielded from view by the fiery center of our solar system, and all but unknown to the peoples of our own planet. It shares not only the same orbit, but the same general geological and ecological makeup as the world we know, differing only enough to have its own character and wealth of indigenous organisms. It is a planet that is alive with natural beauty, left for the most part unexploited and unpolluted by the men whose cultures thrive across its lands. The air there is clean, the skies and waters are clear of poisons, and man exists in relation to his surroundings, not in spite of them. It is a world where men can still dream and explore, where great adventures are a possibility, and man is not subject to chains forged through the overgrowth of civilization and technology. Humanity as found on Gor is reminiscent of those peoples seen on Earth during our world's ancient times. Cultures resembling the Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Native Americans, Eskimo hunters, African jungle tribesmen, the Mongols, Huns, Tartars, and Arabian desert peoples, are all to be found on Gor, along with variations on these and others of a similar vein. These people all live in societies particular to their own cultures, ranging from tribes of nomads living across great plains, to sprawling city-states whose towering walls and cylinders reach high into the sky. These centers of humanity are by no means backward and primitive, but boast populations sometimes in the millions, representing highly developed social systems which date back thousands of years since inception. Their societies are refined and sophisticated, possessing a depth of custom and tradition the like of which is fast being lost to the peoples of our own world. Created to compliment the nature of man and developed as a manifestation of this, these "heroic/master" cultures seek to promote an environment embracing humanity's natural instincts and unconcious drive for individual fulfillment and strength. This is in direct contradiction to more industrialized "herd/slave" cultures of modern times which have grown to be the antithesis of this nature, confusing progress with the intent of sterilizing instincts and replacing them with a dependence on society's constructs and the safe banality of sameness and conformity deemed as correct. Gor's denizens were transported to that planet long ago, taken from their own time periods on Earth by the alien Priest-Kings, a race of advanced, inquisitive creatures who are the true masters of this Counter-Earth. Though the most powerful beings on the planet, the nature of "the Sardar" (as they are also known) is one of resignation and observation, they leaving humanity to inhabit the world with almost no outside interference, while remaining hidden away in the depths of a single mountain range, unseen and unapproachable. From here they study mankind, much in the same way our own scientists might examine the habits of a lower life form, remaining apart from these creatures and providing little interference that might pollute the experiment and its natural conditions. It is they who manipulated the geography of Gor, and through the use of unfathomable sciences altered the position of the planet itself, moving it to its current location and keeping it within its selected orbit, providing a stable ecosystem for their research and own safety. Though they leave man to develop and exist for the most part on his own, the Sardar do enforce certain limitations on the technological advancements that can be made and resulting devices that can be produced. Forms of mechanization, explosive or advanced weaponry, industrialization, communication, and transportation are all limited to the most basic levels, this ensuring that man will neither destroy his world, or seek conflict with the Sardar themselves. This also effectively protects man from himself, keeping his own ignorance from leading to ecological and sociological lessons learned the hard way, possibly even too late to correct. While many forms of technology are greatly limited, others are left to progress freely, resulting in extra energies invested in them. Agriculture and medicine are far more advanced on Gor than on Earth, along with alternate forms of genetic manipulation and construction. Death itself, seen as a disease, has long been overcome by Goreans, who are capable of stabilizing the aging process, though "unnatural" forms of death are still very much an obvious threat to existence. In all, the world of Gor is something of an experiment, a study created and set in motion by the Priest-Kings, with man left to his own direction and development. What little outside influences that are placed upon him by the Sardar, are enacted not to alter his nature, but to compliment it and insure the continuation of natural selection in a manner unadulterated by unnatural technology and overly simplistic, overly destructive weaponry that not only takes no skill to employ, but detaches the wielder from direct exposure and accountability. On Gor man is left to his own innate talents and abilities, with indigenous technology seeking to add to the glory of life and humanity, not replace nature and man's own skill with the impersonal ministrations of the machine. This experiment by the Priest-Kings seems somewhat fitting when considering the actions of the author himself who, in a fashion somewhat suggestive of the cosmic sciences of creation employed by the Sardar themselves, has envisioned a world and brought it into realization through the medium of fiction. Like the Priest-Kings, Norman has fabricated an entire planet and populated it with a cross section of humanity drawn from our own world's "Heroic Age." Through the words he writes describing the resulting lands and cultures, he depicts an ongoing study of humanity and society within the confines of a particular environment and subsequent philosophy. The author portrays man as he once was and resultingly might have become, making no excuses for the actions of those populating his fictional land as he allows their nature to take its own course upon a world where it can thrive, devoid of influence which would seek to contradict or pervert it. Philosophy and Lifestyle
What constitutes the philosophy of Gor is basically that collected foundation of reasoned thought upon which John Norman developed his fictional world and the cultures populating it. Though his intentions do not seem to have been the production of a structured philosophical treatise, he did present a series of clearly considered ideas on humanity and society, and through his stories showed these ideas in practice. In this way the novels take on the dimension of an allegory, fiction which suggests certain ideas and concepts, further encouraging the reader to consider these suggestions in relation to his own experience. Some who read the books recognize these assertions and agree with them, finding a line of thought that is in keeping with their own beliefs. The ideas and scenarios expressed in the novels challenge these people to examine themselves and their society, to question why things are as they are, and to determine for themselves just what is correct and what is "truth," instead of simply accepting what they have been taught. This examination can have a profound effect, one that leads to those so involved incorporating what they have discovered into their own personal outlook on the world and understanding of how it works. The result of this is a marked influence upon one's individual lifestyle choices, sometimes even going so far as to develop into an adherence to a particular lifestyle itself, one that is based upon what has been found. The Gorean lifestyle involves the practical application of these suggestions to one's life and one's relationship with the world. The word "lifestyle" indicates a particular way of living and the word "Gorean" defines just what particular way that is. There are many different ways a person can actually lead a Gorean lifestyle, but what is held in common are the beliefs and values which constitute the philosophy at its base. The intent in this is not to pretend Gorean society is real, or to refute one's own world for the delusion of a fictional one, but to take the examples and ideas the author presents at the core of these things, and distill the basic views that are suggested through them. The characters in the books, and the tales which are their lives, present a series of events and conditions. How these characters interact and what system of thought motivates their activities and resulting behaviors is what defines the system of values which constitute what "Gorean" is.
"How rare is the truly dissenting voice, and how perilous the consequences of its utterance."- John Norman
