John Norman's Gor Series

[Timewalker]

Yeah, I don't remember any of that. I have no idea which volumes I read at this point. Or much else about the series. I remember the creepy pool and something about each clan or caravan having a special home stone or something. And, speaking of slaves, I seem to remember Cabot being made a slave and having to change his name.

The creepy pool was in the second book. The Home Stone is a concept appearing in every Gor book; basically every city and village has one (except Port Kar; it didn't get one until the sixth book), and it's a symbol (emotional and legal) of citizenship. I'm not sure which clans you mean, unless you're referring to castes (professional associations).

The Wagon Peoples in the fourth book are organized into clans, though, so that might be what you're thinking of. And yes, Tarl Cabot is enslaved in the sixth book and decides to keep the name he was given after he regains his freedom: Bosk. So one of his identities becomes Bosk of Port Kar, though his close friends and acquaintances still call him "Tarl" or "Cabot."

 

[Zaku]

I'm afraid to ask buuuuuut....
What is a "creepy pool"..?

 

[Timewalker]

A pool that's creepy. Basically, it's a pool that's highly acidic and there's a creature living in it that dissolves and digests anyone who falls into, or is thrown into, the pool. In short, it's a torture/execution device.

Of course Tarl Cabot manages to escape it, but the villain isn't so lucky.

 

[Zaku]

Of course, what I was thinking...

 

[Kor]

See RJDiogenes's post above in reference to the pool...

I think I found the first couple Gor books OK, before they starting getting more "out there," if you know what I mean.

Kor

 

[RJDiogenes]

The creepy pool was in the second book. The Home Stone is a concept appearing in every Gor book; basically every city and village has one (except Port Kar; it didn't get one until the sixth book), and it's a symbol (emotional and legal) of citizenship. I'm not sure which clans you mean, unless you're referring to castes (professional associations).

Well, I read these books almost 45 years ago and haven't thought about them much, so details are fuzzy.

The Wagon Peoples in the fourth book are organized into clans, though, so that might be what you're thinking of. And yes, Tarl Cabot is enslaved in the sixth book and decides to keep the name he was given after he regains his freedom: Bosk. So one of his identities becomes Bosk of Port Kar, though his close friends and acquaintances still call him "Tarl" or "Cabot."

Yes, wagon people. I remember them now. I remember a scene where a hail of arrows falls on some wagon people and kills them all. So this means I read the second, fourth, and sixth books. Probably not much more than that.

A pool that's creepy. Basically, it's a pool that's highly acidic and there's a creature living in it that dissolves and digests anyone who falls into, or is thrown into, the pool. In short, it's a torture/execution device.

The thing I remember is that he was in the center of it and if he tried to move to the edge it would grow more more and more solid-- it was only liquid if he stayed in the middle.

 

[Ovation]

I have a vague recollection of reading a few of these in the late 70s (likely borrowed from the local library--though I was a bit younger than the presumed target audience, at 12-13). Didn't make much of an impression, though, as I didn't seek out any other volumes beyond the few at the library. Doesn't seem like I missed much.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

In those days you could actually read all the SF/F that was available. Yes all of it. You could run out of this genre. Which probably accounted for a decent amount of folk who picked up Gor.

 

[Timewalker]

I have a vague recollection of reading a few of these in the late 70s (likely borrowed from the local library--though I was a bit younger than the presumed target audience, at 12-13). Didn't make much of an impression, though, as I didn't seek out any other volumes beyond the few at the library. Doesn't seem like I missed much.

The target audience was somewhat older than 12-13, or at least I hope so. That said, I was 14 when I started reading them, though I might have been 13 when my grandmother brought Nomads of Gor into the house. I don't remember now, as this was nearly 40 years ago.

Some libraries refuse to have the Gor books in their collection. I know my local library did, as I found out by overhearing the conversation between one of the librarians (someone I knew through the local SF community who had read some of them) and a member of the public who asked about them. He said flatly that the Gor books would never be available at the library. I told the person that the book she was looking for was available at one of the nearby second-hand bookstores, so I presume she found it. The librarian wasn't happy that I'd mentioned this, but my take on it is that it's not a library's business to censor peoples' reading.