Fighting Slave of Gor

Gorean Saga, Book 14

By: John Norman

Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur

Emotionally lost, Jason Marshall finds himself thrust into a lengthy struggle to save his beloved from slavery on an Earth-like world called Gor. Kidnapped and helpless, Jason begins a life on Gor as a slave and becomes a prominent warrior. He must battle his way to freedom, if only to liberate his love from the clutches of the alien slave emporium. Will Jason overcome the numerous obstacles he encounters? Will he ever reunite with the girl he loves? Can he survive the trials and tribulations he must endure on Gor?

©1980 John Norman (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Love all things Gor

It is another awesome read. I loved it. Looking forward to the next book in the saga.

great

Awesome story easy to followawesome story easy to follow the narrator has an easy listening voice

Ninety-seven percent satisfied

I have listened to all of the Gorean Saga audiobooks narrated by Ralph Lister as Tarl Cabot in most of them, as a mariner on the great ship in Mariners of Gor, and as an anonymous Kur chronicler in Kur of Gor. I have not bothered with any of the books with female narrators, not because I have anything against female narrators in general, but just that I found their voices in the samples irritating.

This, then, along with the other two in the Jason Marshall trilogy (Rogue and Guardsman of Gor) is the only non-Ralph Lister-narrated Gor audiobook I own. It is not badly done. Jeremy Arthur doesn’t possess the broad repertoire of character voices that Lister brings to his narrations, but he does a decent job.

With one exception. I really, really wish that Audible had ensured that all its narrators were consistent in their pronunciation of Gorean terms. After listening to eleven books by Lister, getting comfortable with his pseudo-Bristol-inflected pronunciation of Gorean words, it was a bit jarring to hear those same terms pronounced in Arthur’s broad American accent.

It was not a huge thing, but my teeth were set on edge every time the word “tharlarian” (thar-LA-ri-an) was rendered “thar-LARRY-un”, “kaissa” (ka-IS-sa) came out “KAY-suh”, and most egregiously (and most prolifically) “Gorean”, properly with the accent on the first syllable (“GOR-e-an”), is alway rendered by Arthur “go-REE-un”, as if what is referred to is not the Counter Earth, but the Land of the Morning Calm.

Again, not a big thing, but it does detract from the excellence of the overall narration, and it could have been easily avoided with just a little closer oversight by Quality Control at Audible Inc.

In all fairness, Ralph Lister is not blameless. In the “Pani Trilogy” (Seordsmen, Mariners, and Rebels), Lister mangles one Japanese name and term after another, rather reminiscent of his work in Shōgun, one of the first audiobooks I ever bought, and the first of Lister’s I had ever heard. As a longtime resident of Japan, and fluent in Japanese, I get a tiny bit irked when I hear the language mispronounced.

Also, in the last two books narrated by Lister, one gets the impression that Tarl Cabot has trouble remembering the pronunciation of the name of his own former companion, Talena. In every book prior to Avengers and Warriors, the name of the daughter of Marlenus is pronounced “TA-le-na”, but starting from Avengers, it has suddenly become “ta-LE-na”.

Perhaps I am picking nits, but one of the pleasures of listening to a good audiobook is when the narration is in accord with the narration inside one’s head. Even when the voices are on point, if the pronunciation of names and terms are not what one knows they should be, it is like the occasional sour note asserting itself in an otherwise fine musical performance.

again

I'm still interested in the series. takes a lot to keep my attention. loved it

Different narrator, different protagonist.

Any additional comments?

The story starts off pretty slow having to introduce a new protagonist (Jason) but stick with it, I enjoyed the second half of the book most.

Jeremy Arthur needs to work on a few of his side characters a little, overall his youthful voice suits Jason well.

its a gor book

loved it as i love all gor books 2d best book so far priest kings remain my #1

What a journey.

I still have 8 hours left and this is probably my favorite book of the series so far.
I am usually drawn more to the stories with females as the main character but the journey of Jason finding himself has been exhilarating so far.

Lots of Culture Shock

Most of the book is poor Jason's culture shock at ending up on such a foreign world. Still, watching him grow stronger and learn to put himself first was satisfying. Fighting shows up a few times in the book, but there is far more emphasis on his relationships.

I miss Ralph Lister so much.

The story is of the same high quantity as all of the previous novels by John Norman, but the performance by Jeremy Arthur is just grating. After listening to, and learning about the world of “Gor” in the voice of Ralph Lister, the way that Jeremy Arthur pronounces many of the names and Gorean words grates on my nerves. The biggest example of this is his pronunciation of “Gorean as go-Re-an when for so long it has been Gor-ian. He seems to be trying to make his mark on the audiobook series by making often used Gorean words new by putting emphasis on a different syllable than long time listeners are used to. I am putting this review on the first book that he has read, in story order, but I could have just as easily put it on any of the three that I have fought my way through so far. I don’t know if I’m going to keep trying. I love this series and Jeremy Arthur has a good voice for the series. He has shown that he has the talent to do the series a lot of credit, if he would learn how to “speak Gorean”. On this I would recommend that he listen to Ralph Lister, read his notes, or something to that effect since he has become the “Voice of Gor” for many if not all of the long time listeners.