tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post4250797094626846424..comments2024-03-28T00:41:13.514-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Tarnsman of GorJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-86095935338494470642012-03-05T10:30:19.052-08:002012-03-05T10:30:19.052-08:00I believe the Kurii show up in the first novel fro...I believe the Kurii show up in the first novel from a kajira's POV (book 7 or 8, I forget which.) But it isn't identified as a Kurii in that book.<br /><br />Kurii are basically beefier berserk bugbears.Talysmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02162328521343832412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-85532890873431464472012-03-05T07:17:01.471-08:002012-03-05T07:17:01.471-08:00@JB: the Kurii are definitely NOT like halflings....@JB: the Kurii are definitely NOT like halflings. Maybe they aren't in the first book, though. Like I said, I was 11 or 12, so my memory isn't exactly crystallineThe Iron Goathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15839364742884404019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-23087992978855665092012-03-04T23:45:50.021-08:002012-03-04T23:45:50.021-08:00If only I had time for drinking games...
; )If only I had time for drinking games...<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-29369687353421738102012-03-04T23:45:02.012-08:002012-03-04T23:45:02.012-08:00I'm actually only interested in the first thre...I'm actually only interested in the first three books (I picked up both Tarnsman and Outlaw at the used bookstore the other day, and would like to read #3: Priest-Kings of Gor). We'll see if I'm totally turned off by the end of #2.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-87861425175092952422012-03-04T23:42:55.778-08:002012-03-04T23:42:55.778-08:00Yeah, I can totally buy that. There's a passag...Yeah, I can totally buy that. There's a passage 'round about page 130 where the characters go to the slave market to observe how the ladies try to make themselves more attractive for potential masters. Without the context of Norman's later work, it could simply be interpreted as "oh, what strange people these Goreans are." Knowing what happens later one can get a hinky foreshadowing from the text.<br /><br />I don't know what kurii is...is that like a halfling?JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-89039311882687027442012-03-04T14:11:30.031-08:002012-03-04T14:11:30.031-08:00I'm going to add to the chorus. First 3-5 book...I'm going to add to the chorus. First 3-5 books aren't awful. Then it's like a little light went on in Norman's head, and he started concentrating on the BDSM in favor of everything else, including plot and story. The last few books in the series are so unintentionally howlingly awful you could make a pretty fun drinking game (cause I have) having someone read a paragraph and everyone else taking a drink if they laugh out loud (the room will be drunk sooner than you think).Badmikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06199830751033032585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-86299516553262141712012-03-04T13:09:01.040-08:002012-03-04T13:09:01.040-08:00Do a search for 'Houseplants of Gor', http...Do a search for 'Houseplants of Gor', http://www.rdrop.com/~ wyvern/data/houseplants.html a parody that pretty much sums up what you are getting into after the SF & fantasy elements are exhausted.eldersprighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03794777421402082044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-27537196726523636182012-03-04T10:26:18.783-08:002012-03-04T10:26:18.783-08:00Yeah, that's my experience, too. Book Two gets...Yeah, that's my experience, too. Book Two gets a little stronger with suggesting that even free women should be or want to be treated like a slave -- a *pleasure* slave, specifically -- every once in a while, and Book Four has an Earth woman treated as a slave against her will, with one entire chapter where the plot and the setting disappear so that Tarl Cabot can teach her to be a true pleasure slave.<br /><br />But it's Book Six where the misogyny really kicks in. It's not just that he starts expressing the philosophy of "all women are slaves", but that we are first introduced to Tarl being humiliated by a woman, an incident that seems to reflect something in John Norman's life, because it surfaces again and again in later books; every book from then on has at least one incident where a woman attempts to humiliate or enslave a man, and the man has to show her that all women are pleasure slaves. There's also a couple books in the series told from a woman's point of view, almost entirely consisting of her internal monologue as she is forced to see that she is a slave.<br /><br />It's not just the description of how women are treated, but also the frequent text-blocks of ridiculous philosophy that make the later books a bad read for anyone who doesn't buy into John Norman's fantasies. There are some interesting cultural descriptions, though, so I stuck with the series for 13 books, skipping over the second book from a woman's POV and sampling Book 20 (Players of Gor) to see if the series changes later on. (Spoiler Alert! It doesn't.) I actually wouldn't even recommend the 5th book, or anything after it. Priest-Kings of Gor is pretty good, though.Talysmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02162328521343832412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-38743572898053468802012-03-04T10:03:10.401-08:002012-03-04T10:03:10.401-08:00IIRC (I was twelve or so), the guy got much braver...IIRC (I was twelve or so), the guy got much braver with his kink as the series went on; it gets pretty much unbearable after a while. He also got lazier with his cultures (hmm...I'll just transplant the Apache whole-cloth, but change the names). That said, the Kurii were one of the first creatures I wrote up stats for as a young DM.The Iron Goathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15839364742884404019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-53132149342255186722012-03-04T06:27:48.263-08:002012-03-04T06:27:48.263-08:00The first 5 are, IMO, not bad reads, with the best...The first 5 are, IMO, not bad reads, with the best reads being 3 & 4. The stupid crap didn't become to much for me until after that.jgbrowninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16274622778419965618noreply@blogger.com