41 years ago, philosophhy professor John Frederick Lange, using the pen name John Norman, published a science-fiction novel called Tarnsman of Gor, a sexed-up emulation of adventure in the Edgar Rice Burroughs vein set on a planet where, in the most notorious element of the long string of sequels that followed, men are men and women are slaves and they love it. Sales of the Gor books flourished in the 1970s and early ’80s, no doubt spurred by lurid Boris Vallejo cover art, until objections against what many perceived as Norman’s misogynist spin on evolutionary psychology drove the books underground—though a passionate fan base still remains, if by “fan base” you mean “hardcore bondage & domination enthusiasts.”
As comics publisher Dark Horse prepares to relaunch the series this fall with an omnibus edition of the first three novels, early reactions have echoed the complaints lodged against the books the first time around. “Swaggering male stereotypes, rape disguised as sex, with women begging for more,” says fantasy author Tamora Pierce. “And Dark Horse wants to perpetuate this. Dark Horse wants to make money with this.” To forestall that outcome, she’s calling for an active boycott: “Protest, write, scream, review, and don’t buy.”
Meanwhile, Kalinara of Pretty, Fizzy Paradise recalls discovering her first Gor book at 12. “I do remember there was a lot of sex. As a 12 year old, I rather paid attention to that,” she reflects (which was pretty much my reaction when I discovered the series during the total plunder of my public library’s SF section during junior high). “To be fair, I’m not sure how much of the actual situation I’d really understood. I was twelve and at the stage when pretty much ALL graphic descriptions of sex had me snickering.” Although she’s come to be disgusted by the stories as an adult, she’s not that concerned about the reprinting, viewing the books as long since outpaced by other, better erotic fiction. “I simply don’t see what this sort of thing will offer a newer fanbase,” she observes. “I definitely sympathize with people who are upset by this, but in this case, I’m personally unbothered. I’m actually kind of interested in seeing how this will turn out.”
(“There’s a HUGE market for those books,” an industry insider countered via email shortly after this item first appeared. “All you have to do is log onto AOL and look in the special interest chat rooms.”)