I have all the first editions that I collected Ballantine, then DAW, but have never read them, your copes are in nice condition. John Norman, actually was a college professor, in Queens NY several miles from where I grew up, and was teaching there, when I attended college at that time, I did not attend Queens College but friends did, too bad no one that I know of ever had him.. I love those old DAW catologues.
Thanks my friend. I've been lucky to get nice copies of the USA editions over the years, the UK seem harder to find, especially the early ones. Yes, I got those Daw catalogues years ago, very lucky 🙂
I've had many of these come and go from my collection over the years, never actually read them though xD D'Achille's cover work is wonderful, as always. cheers., Tim. P.S. Ken Kelly was Frank Frazetta's nephew (on his wife's side).
Always fun to see Gor books online. I bought maybe a dozen or so of these as a young teenager in the mid 80's, and probably read the first 6 or 7. They were all Boris and yellow Dow covers. I have often thought of re-reading them, but other things always get in the way. I do remember enjoying these as a 14 or 15 year old. I wonder why? LOL.
Wow, didn't realize someone else collected these. I loved these as a kid. Just an FYI, John Norman maintains we was blacklisted around the 25th book. They stopped publishing him and removed everything from shelves, etc.
I bought Tarnsman of Gor and Hunters of Gor a few decades ago - the very first and the very last of the series, Jules, and I have to say the disparity between the two, the last being abominable the first being edge-of-your-seat, could not be more evident. Stark, really. Your assessment that they go down hill after the fourth volume is spot on, because I had occasion to read the others on loan from a friend, way, way back in the day. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, it's top-shelf. Cheers!
I used to see the Gor books in every bookshop I went in back in the day. SF was my thing rather than science fantasy(my brother often tried to get me into the Conan books, which he loved, and I did read one!) but it's great to see these Gor books. And those covers!
Hello Jules thanks for sharing your collection, very cool. My friends and I use to collect these books back in my high school days. We shared volumes with each other. You were sure right, these books were everywhere. They held a certain allure with me and my buddies.Like we were reading books that came through the mail in brown paper wrappers. I remember one of my mates making the mistake of bringing one of his books to school and it was confiscated by a teacher .He probably wanted to read it for himself, lol. I can not find my old collection for the life of me, but I just found some at a used book store for a decent price. They were the DAW ones. I just read an interesting thing about the cultural influence of Norman. There is a subculture within a subculture in the S&M/Bondage groups that is based on the Gor novels.
Amazing, they really did make a huge impact of a certain age range of folks as these early books were getting published. Very well remembered. Thanks for the post 🙂
I read the first 5 back in the day. Enjoyed them. Years later, I tried a later one (Kajira?) to see what the controversy was….found it unreadable. At one time I saw an analysis of the UK publications: First were Tandem issues 1-10; then Universal no 11, with reprints of 2-7, 9, 11; then Star 12-18 with reprints of 1-11; then Star 19-24, with reprints of 1-18. Never found anything to contradict that. UK hardbacks were Sidgwick and Jackson, 1,2,3 plus an omnibus of 1-3; then W.H.Allen 14 & 18. The only other series of his that I am aware of is the Tellnarian series - first 3 published by Questar in the USA - I have them, but never read.
Thanks for the breakdown Paul, I'm sure that's spot on. I once owned some of the UK hardbacks and even a boxset. First five are pretty solid reads. Kajira is the sought after one, I wonder why?
It would be interesting to hear the real story, but according to the wikipedia quote, the author stated he was blacklisted by various publishers (not the entire publishing industry).
Interesting. In my much younger , Young days . I saw a few, ( and the covers ) . But SF was more my fancy . Besides my sf&f mates " frowned" on them and any one who dared to mention reading them . An old bias, still on going . As i say sf , horror and fantasy was more my thing . Thanks gor the show 🤣..
Thanks Sylvan! You're right, these are still downed upon today but as a vintage paperback fan, you have to admire some of the incredible artwork to grace the jackets.
I go way back with these books, I started collecting the Ballantine and DAW versions in late 1982 or early 1983, when I was 12 (and maybe a bit too young 😁). I had, and still have all of the original 25. In recent years I have bought the other 13, from 26 to 38, and these are very handsome larger-format paperbacks. I plan to buy the first 25 in the current format too. I have read through book 33, and am reading 34 now, with the last four still to be read. You have to approach them as erotica, more than adventure fiction, and in that sense I enjoy them a lot. The American edition of Dancer of Gor has artwork credited to Ken Kelly, but I believe it is actually by Richard Hescox. He did two of the DAW covers, and now has done the three most recent volumes (36-38). I've watched your previous Gor videos in the past, but I don't recall, do you also collect Sharon Green? Ken Kelly did equally impressive artwork for the covers of her first roughly 20 books. Thanks for showing your collection! Oh, before I forget, I have the 1986 DAW catalog, which mentions Norman had sold 5 million copies of his DAW volumes. He gets a full-page splash, and this refutes the notion that the books had stopped selling.
Great information, thanks so much my friend,that is all excellent information. I've not got into collecting Sharon Green. Jealous of your 1986 Daw catalogue 🙂
and obviously the 190 Hardy Boys are by different authors - so as far as I know the Dray Prescots are the longest sustained Sci-Fi fantasy series by a single author - Henty, the boys adventure author, is at 122. Of course there are over 3000 Perry Rhodan books by a variety of authors.(2 BILLION copies sold to date)
Sexton Blake appears in in more than 4,000 stories by over 200 different authors, but I don't know how many are books, there were a lot of magazine stories.
the boris vallejo covers are great but should have been a larger block in relation to the title and author- the original Robert Foster covers are a bit larger block, pretty good too IMO - not familiar with his work except for these.
I would love to get my hands on a copy of that fanzine Total Fantasy. More for the Conan articles that we could see in there. Lots of great stuff in this one, Jules.
With the 38th Gor book Norman surpassed by one volume the 37 volumes of "Dray Prescot" by Alan Burt Akers (Kenneth Bulmer) available in paperback in English - however, there are still another 14 volumes of Dray available only in German or on e-books! 😆 I read the first ten, they're great fun. As far as I know only the Hardy Boys surpass him with 190 volumes~!
and obviously the 190 Hardy Boys are by different authors - so as far as I know the Dray Prescots are the longest sustained Sci Fi/Fantasy series by a single author - G.A. Henty, the boys' adventure author, is second for any genre at 122. As far as I know🤔 open to correction.
I first read these back in the early- mid- 80's. I've read the entire series up through the 25th book twice, but currently only own the first four volumes. I agree that there is a point they go downhill in quality very quickly.
I remember reading the Gor books when I was a teenager I think. I read up to the 11th or 12th book, but after that I couldn't get past the mysogyny and how EVERY woman character (from what I remember) seemed to revel in her own subjugation as a sex slave. I kept hoping that the women would eventually organize themselves and revolt against their male owners (and the patriarchy) of this world.
A little of Gor goes a long way with me. Norman pontificates like a professor trying to hold his students attention with PAINFUL information dumps. I liked the second one, in parts, The big problem is that the protagonist , Tarl Cabot is a superman who can never fail, even when it's obvious he can't win. In short a really, really BORING hero! Norman is not bad at action sequences but EVERY novel in the series can be trimmed by at least a third with no loss to the plot at all. I won't go into his sexual conceits but I dare you to tell a woman in your life that she needs to be a collared and pierced naked slave of a he-man to be the woman she was called to be and see what kind of response you get.
I have all the first editions that I collected Ballantine, then DAW, but have never read them, your copes are in nice condition. John Norman, actually was a college professor, in Queens NY several miles from where I grew up, and was teaching there, when I attended college at that time, I did not attend Queens College but friends did, too bad no one that I know of ever had him.. I love those old DAW catologues.
Thanks my friend. I've been lucky to get nice copies of the USA editions over the years, the UK seem harder to find, especially the early ones. Yes, I got those Daw catalogues years ago, very lucky 🙂
I've had many of these come and go from my collection over the years, never actually read them though xD D'Achille's cover work is wonderful, as always. cheers., Tim. P.S. Ken Kelly was Frank Frazetta's nephew (on his wife's side).
Thanks my friend, I had no idea of the connection, how amazing! I still recommend at least the first one, just to try them out🙂
Always fun to see Gor books online. I bought maybe a dozen or so of these as a young teenager in the mid 80's, and probably read the first 6 or 7. They were all Boris and yellow Dow covers. I have often thought of re-reading them, but other things always get in the way. I do remember enjoying these as a 14 or 15 year old. I wonder why? LOL.
I wonder why too!? You are certainly not alone there...
Wow, didn't realize someone else collected these. I loved these as a kid. Just an FYI, John Norman maintains we was blacklisted around the 25th book. They stopped publishing him and removed everything from shelves, etc.
I think I have an article on it somewhere, I'll try to find it.
Thanks, it would be good to know the true story behind the series stopping at 24 in the UK an 25 in the USA.
Thanks!
I love it when your videos have books with great artwork on the cover. Many thanks 🤩
Thanks my friend!
I bought Tarnsman of Gor and Hunters of Gor a few decades ago - the very first and the very last of the series, Jules, and I have to say the disparity between the two, the last being abominable the first being edge-of-your-seat, could not be more evident. Stark, really. Your assessment that they go down hill after the fourth volume is spot on, because I had occasion to read the others on loan from a friend, way, way back in the day. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, it's top-shelf. Cheers!
Great stuff, thanks Rick!
Interesting!
Say no more Bob🙂
I used to see the Gor books in every bookshop I went in back in the day. SF was my thing rather than science fantasy(my brother often tried to get me into the Conan books, which he loved, and I did read one!) but it's great to see these Gor books. And those covers!
Thanks my friend 🙂
Hello Jules thanks for sharing your collection, very cool. My friends and I use to collect these books back in my high school days. We shared volumes with each other. You were sure right, these books were everywhere. They held a certain allure with me and my buddies.Like we were reading books that came through the mail in brown paper wrappers. I remember one of my mates making the mistake of bringing one of his books to school and it was confiscated by a teacher .He probably wanted to read it for himself, lol. I can not find my old collection for the life of me, but I just found some at a used book store for a decent price. They were the DAW ones. I just read an interesting thing about the cultural influence of Norman. There is a subculture within a subculture in the S&M/Bondage groups that is based on the Gor novels.
Amazing, they really did make a huge impact of a certain age range of folks as these early books were getting published. Very well remembered. Thanks for the post 🙂
I read the first 5 back in the day. Enjoyed them. Years later, I tried a later one (Kajira?) to see what the controversy was….found it unreadable.
At one time I saw an analysis of the UK publications: First were Tandem issues 1-10; then Universal no 11, with reprints of 2-7, 9, 11;
then Star 12-18 with reprints of 1-11; then Star 19-24, with reprints of 1-18. Never found anything to contradict that.
UK hardbacks were Sidgwick and Jackson, 1,2,3 plus an omnibus of 1-3; then W.H.Allen 14 & 18.
The only other series of his that I am aware of is the Tellnarian series - first 3 published by Questar in the USA - I have them, but never read.
Thanks for the breakdown Paul, I'm sure that's spot on. I once owned some of the UK hardbacks and even a boxset. First five are pretty solid reads. Kajira is the sought after one, I wonder why?
Strange indeed to watch through this one and see at least a couple of French titles that you bought when I was on holiday with you in Brest!
Ah yes, I remember that well Will!
There are 38 books in the series, according to Wikipedia... so much for the "blacklist"!
Indeed, evidently still very popular 👍
It would be interesting to hear the real story, but according to the wikipedia quote, the author stated he was blacklisted by various publishers (not the entire publishing industry).
Right!
Interesting. In my much younger , Young days . I saw a few, ( and the covers ) . But SF was more my fancy . Besides my sf&f mates " frowned" on them and any one who dared to mention reading them . An old bias, still on going . As i say sf , horror and fantasy was more my thing . Thanks gor the show 🤣..
Thanks Sylvan! You're right, these are still downed upon today but as a vintage paperback fan, you have to admire some of the incredible artwork to grace the jackets.
I go way back with these books, I started collecting the Ballantine and DAW versions in late 1982 or early 1983, when I was 12 (and maybe a bit too young 😁). I had, and still have all of the original 25.
In recent years I have bought the other 13, from 26 to 38, and these are very handsome larger-format paperbacks. I plan to buy the first 25 in the current format too. I have read through book 33, and am reading 34 now, with the last four still to be read. You have to approach them as erotica, more than adventure fiction, and in that sense I enjoy them a lot.
The American edition of Dancer of Gor has artwork credited to Ken Kelly, but I believe it is actually by Richard Hescox. He did two of the DAW covers, and now has done the three most recent volumes (36-38).
I've watched your previous Gor videos in the past, but I don't recall, do you also collect Sharon Green? Ken Kelly did equally impressive artwork for the covers of her first roughly 20 books. Thanks for showing your collection!
Oh, before I forget, I have the 1986 DAW catalog, which mentions Norman had sold 5 million copies of his DAW volumes. He gets a full-page splash, and this refutes the notion that the books had stopped selling.
Great information, thanks so much my friend,that is all excellent information. I've not got into collecting Sharon Green. Jealous of your 1986 Daw catalogue 🙂
Don't know if it's already been mentioned but there was a movie adaptation of Gor and a sequel, the first had Oliva Reed in it
Yes, I didn't mention it in the video. I hear they are both pretty bad though...
and obviously the 190 Hardy Boys are by different authors - so as far as I know the Dray Prescots are the longest sustained Sci-Fi fantasy series by a single author - Henty, the
boys adventure author, is at 122. Of course there are over 3000 Perry Rhodan books by a variety of authors.(2 BILLION copies sold to date)
Indeed, long running but not the longest by far!
Sexton Blake appears in in more than 4,000 stories by over 200 different authors, but I don't know how many are books, there were a lot of magazine stories.
Most I think were digests.
the boris vallejo covers are great but should have been a larger block in relation to the title and author- the original Robert Foster covers are a bit larger block, pretty good too IMO - not familiar with his work except for these.
I agree, the artwork is not treated well on the Daw books, such a shame.
I would love to get my hands on a copy of that fanzine Total Fantasy. More for the Conan articles that we could see in there. Lots of great stuff in this one, Jules.
I hear it's available on eBay but you need to keep an eye out for it.
@JulesBurt Thank you!
My pleasure!
With the 38th Gor book Norman surpassed by one volume the 37 volumes of "Dray Prescot" by Alan Burt Akers (Kenneth Bulmer) available in paperback in English - however, there are still another 14 volumes of Dray available only in German or on e-books! 😆 I read the first ten, they're great fun. As far as I know only the Hardy Boys surpass him with 190 volumes~!
and obviously the 190 Hardy Boys are by different authors - so as far as I know the Dray Prescots are the longest sustained Sci Fi/Fantasy series by a single author - G.A. Henty, the boys' adventure author, is second for any genre at 122. As far as I know🤔 open to correction.
Thanks!
Thank you!
I first read these back in the early- mid- 80's. I've read the entire series up through the 25th book twice, but currently only own the first four volumes. I agree that there is a point they go downhill in quality very quickly.
Thanks David. I really enjoyed those early volumes, maybe I should give the later ones a try again? 🤔
Treasure of Gor #38 came out earlier this year. Norman's still going strong.
Incredible. Pleased to hear he's still going and still writing, amazing at his age
I rememɓer buying a closet full of them at an estate sale once. Didnt pay much, by now the mice are probably nesting in them in the garage.
Ah yes, probably 🙂
I remember reading the Gor books when I was a teenager I think. I read up to the 11th or 12th book, but after that I couldn't get past the mysogyny and how EVERY woman character (from what I remember) seemed to revel in her own subjugation as a sex slave. I kept hoping that the women would eventually organize themselves and revolt against their male owners (and the patriarchy) of this world.
It's impossible to go wrong at that price!
I can imagine some ftenchman reading gor books as jerry lewis movies play in the background.
What an image!🤣
A little of Gor goes a long way with me. Norman pontificates like a professor trying to hold his students attention with PAINFUL information dumps. I liked the second one, in parts, The big problem is that the protagonist , Tarl Cabot is a superman who can never fail, even when it's obvious he can't win. In short a really, really BORING hero! Norman is not bad at action sequences but EVERY novel in the series can be trimmed by at least a third with no loss to the plot at all. I won't go into his sexual conceits but I dare you to tell a woman in your life that she needs to be a collared and pierced naked slave of a he-man to be the woman she was called to be and see what kind of response you get.
Thanks James, I don't think there's any real reply to that!
Le Tarnier de Gor - hilarious, translation of phony English into phony French.
🙂You said it!