Kur of Gor

Gorean Saga, Book 28

By: John Norman

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

John Norman's epic Gorean Saga is one of the longest-running and most successful series in the history of fantasy. It is also one of the most controversial. Over the course of more than 30 books produced over a span of six decades, the series has sold millions of copies and built legions of fans unrivaled in their devotion. You are invited to rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire.

©2009 John Norman (P)2013 Audible Inc.

In which Tarl Cabot learns much of the Kurii

In which Tarl Cabot learns much of the Kurii and obtains a Kajira and a sleen.

Wow, so much story, so little rhetoric. One does not need to read “Prize of Gor” to enjoy this book. I can’t review “Kur” very well without spoilers so I’ll just do brief “book jacket teaser”

Kur of Gor, in which we hear a tale told by an unknown, probably Kur, narrator: Tarl Cabot runs afoul of agents of the Priest Kings who have outlawed him for his rescue of Half-Ear the Kur War General in the Gorean North. As is expected of those who once shared Paga, the favor is returned and Tarl learns much of the Kurii, obtains a slave, a sleen, makes friends, and has many grand adventures.

The narration style is coherent, not head-hopping 1st to 3rd confusion like “Prize,” and justified because Tarl could not have written this story down. The “Narrator” allows Tarl to tell most of the story in his usual style, but he tells the story and influences it with his viewpoint. It does occasionally cross the line where the Narrator knows what Tarl is thinking, something he could not know, but it is done well enough that it doesn’t bother me at all.

“Kur” is mostly adventure, and a real delight. This was written in 2009 long after the blacklisting issue was behind the author. He returns to his main character in all his introspective, brooding self-analysis, and introduces many new characters and ideas.

NOTE: He does attempt, rather stumblingly in my opinion, to address the RAPE issues in “Prize.” In his (via Tarl) own words, “One can not refute nonsense.“ He fails to make any real rhetorical point but does not re-offend and drops the subject much to my relief. I’m apposed to censorship. “Prize” must stand as it is, but one does not need to read it to continue. “Prize” can be skipped or skimmed if you have hard copy or one can jump from chapter to chapter in the audio book. It is torture and other then buying a copy to own the entire series, there is nothing to recommend one bother with it at all. If you skip “Prize,” and I recommend that you do, the issues one needs to know are hardly spoilers. I suggest that one skip listening to Prize and continue with this book, but buying “Prize” to complete the set would not be a mistake. If you are going to read “Prize,” please DO NOT READ the final paragraph.

“Kur of Gor” is a return to Tarl Cabot’s adventures, well written, and with more adventure then rhetoric. I really enjoyed it. *Stop Here if you are going to read “Prize of Gor.”

***** Not Spoilers, but if you are going to read “Prize of Gor” you may want to stop reading here. **************************************************************

We learn in “Prize” that: The Priest Kings are once again active and in control of their technology. The Delta Brigade continues their partisan operations in Ar with little assistance from the “Large Peasant with Amnesia.” They have begun to attempt to use financial leverage on the Mercenaries who compose a great deal of Cos’ forces occupying Ar. Janice is happy and living in Ar. A Kajira is still masquerading as Ubara. There are Kurii now involving themselves with the Cos/Ar conflict on Gor.

Our of Gor

Narration was good, as a fan of the series. story means little to performance, ever try to have ensamble recordings?

Goreans in S-s-s-pace.....

Since 1977 I stumbled into Gor. Love it, hate it, accept or reject Mr. Norman's constant kink rhetoric, the book still contains true gems of story lines, characters and plot twists. Fast forward thru the rants and its still an enjoyable addition to the Tarl Cabot saga. Who knows where this story line may lead.

what happen on a new world

Would you consider the audio edition of Kur of Gor to be better than the print version?

its about the same

What was one of the most memorable moments of Kur of Gor?

the saving of the sleen

Have you listened to any of Ralph Lister’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

yes..just as good

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no it took more then one sitting

Best review I've given so far.

I've been going through the entire series and hope Audible produces the rest of the books in the series in audio book format sooner rather than later.

If you've been going through them all like I have, you've noticed a couple changes along the way. In the very first book, he wound up back on earth. The book was so popular that he had to do another and thus find a way to get him back on Gor. The slave aspects of these books was a bit more in the background until about the 10th book in the series or so. Again, that part was popular, so it got fan serviced into the books more. Personally, I found that a little annoying. It was better off in the background. The main story progressed very little at times because of it.

Now to this actual book. Finally the greatness has come back to the series!!!I won't ruin anything for you, but you'll probably notice little mini arcs throughout this book. The invasion of Ar for example. Depending on how you want to look at it, this book either continues the main arc or starts a new and very interesting one that's related to the main one. Easily my favorite book in the series. I'm a couple chapters into the book that follows this and you'll definitely want to get them together. So far, these two books are very much linked. I'm still fairly early on in the next book, Swordsman of Gor, but liking it just as much as this one.

If the slowness of the story or side arcs have driven you away or made your interest fade, don't give upcompletely before you get to this book. Finally everything that makes this series great comes together in one book in all the right amounts.

Finally

This book was everything you could want…..almost. Intriguing, planning, battles and lots of action right up to the end . The last 4 or 5 chapters had no value and could be skipped, but until that point……Wow

again to much slave

same crab over and over about slave crap, just want the story line. rather like Tarol

yuck

boring,writing worse,couldn't get this it will never read another by this author . bad reaf

Horrible writing

I want to like these books, but they disappoint more often than not. I had hoped there would be less of the sexual politics and more story in this one as it takes place on artificial, alien worlds. Alas, the author found a way to make at least 2/3 of the book repetitive, boring talk about domination and submission. If you have a VERY specific kink it’s probably good, the rest of us find ourselves hitting the :30 forward button a lot. The story itself was serviceable but nothing I haven’t read before. Couple that with the obtuse writing and I can not recommend this book.