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| Cover art: Boris Vallejo |
Tal!
This girl had forgotten just how exciting Tarnsman of Gor was!! Reading the novel again felt as if this girl had come home! It was like visiting old friends...Tarl, Talena, Nar of the Spider People,(whatever happened to Nar?), Kazrak, Mintar of the Merchant Caste, Marlenus, Matthew Cabot, The older Tarl, Torm of the Caste of Scribes, Pa-Kur the assassin, Ar, Ko-ro-ba, that great river the Vosk, the Voltai Range, and the great tarn, Ubar of the Skies! This girl always chuckles when Tarl first meets his savage mount. There is so much humor in this novel. One of this girls favorite characters is Torm the scribe. This girl delighted in poor Tarl being struck over the head repeatedly with a scroll when the warrior didn't get something right. Norman truly made each character in the book memorable, at least to this girl.
This girl also remembers eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Eager to find out what happens to Tarl and when he returns to the planet will he find his beloved Talena? Norman brought the world to life, and can one blame this girl, truly, if she wished that she too could travel to Counter-Earth and experience the wide open spaces, the soaring cylinder cities, perhaps tread upon one of the high bridges and see a tarn in flight with a warrior on his back? It is hoped that a girl is forgiven for wishing such a foolish thing. Someone, in this girls opinion, should make a video game out of these novels.
In the first novel the institution of slavery is briefly mentioned but one accepts it as part of that world. Tarl is nothing like he later became. But then he also went through the ringer in the later books. In the first novel a slave was praised for her "spirit" but in later novels it seemed, at least to this girl, that the slaves spirit must be broken. Or perhaps it is just the Earth womans spirit that must be crushed and subdued. For this girl, ironically enough, the novel that started the series was TO short. She wished it had been longer and in more detail in regards to the culture that Tarl finds himself becoming a part of.
This girl has read that John Norman wasn't much of an author, to this she disagrees. He writes very well and with Tarnsman, had her entranced from the very first page. Even after all these years she could not put the novel down (though she had to to tend to every day things) until she finished it.
On a scale of one to five stars, this girl would give it a full five. For the humor, the adventure and of course the romance that is between the pages of this fantastic novel.
This girl has added the cover (one of many different ones produced for the series) from her collection. This girls favorite artist has always been Boris Vallejo and his Gor covers are some of his best work. But then perhaps this girl is just a little biased due to the nature of the books themselves.
When next we 'meet' this girl will give a review of Outlaw of Gor, which she is half-way through and should finish soon.
Until then...
I wish you well.
Talender
A passage from the novel...
"I drew back on the one-strap and, filled with terror and exhilaration, felt the power of the gigantic wings beating on the invisible air. My body lurched wildly, but the saddle belt held., I couldn't breathe for a minute, but clung, frightened and thrilled, to the saddle-ring, my hand wrapped in the one-strap. The tarn continued to climb, and I saw the City of Cylinders dropping far below me, like a set of rounded children's blocks set in the gleaming green hills."...TARNSMAN OF GOR...Page 56
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