THE ENDLESSNESS OF GOR

Since 1966, American academic Dr John Lange (writing under the name of John Norman) has published thirty fucking three novels set in a parallel universe on a 'counter-Earth' called Gor. 

Gor has been seeded with people, most of them abductees, by a technologically superior insectoid master race who allow their pets / prisoners advancements in some areas (medicine, farming, architecture) but keep strict controls over the elements that could lead to their overthrow as rulers (transport, weapons, communications). The resulting world is a strange hybrid of science fiction and ancient history, a place of sandals, slaves and space ships, a mythical dystopia permanently under the scrutiny of detached but jealous alien grasshopper Gods.

As you might expect from thousands upon thousands of accumulated pages, the fictional world of Gor is extremely involved, with every aspect of their geography, plant and animal life, society, law and infrastructure documented in often mind-numbing detail. The stories themselves tend to be a mixture of cosmic space opera, war, romance, philosophy, local politics, racism and phallocentric wish fulfilment, endlessly narrated by a number of different voices across many, many, many years.

Most controversially, the novels espouse a master/servant dynamic between the sexes, with women subservient to men in all regards, particularly sexually. The books themselves are often erotic in nature, assuming, of course. that you find slavery, misogynistic violence and rape erotic. 

A lot of people do, it seems, as a Gorean subculture has developed around Norman’s teachings, with several thousand followers in the so-called real world, including a small group operating out of a semi in Darlington. ‘The Master’ of this particular household is banned from the local Butchers for leading a young lady around on a dog leash. 

Norman further cashed in on his reputation as a bit of a shagger by publishing an ‘Imaginative Sex’ guide, naturally with an emphasis on the female slaves doing exactly want their male masters want. 53 detailed scenarios for sensual fantasies? On a once a month basis, that’s going to take ages! The scan isn’t ours, by the way: TOMTIT have dangerously low standards, but even we draw the line at second hand sex manuals. 

Since 2001, the changing attitudes of publishers and the public towards the glorification of sexual assault have meant that Norman’s Gor books have effectively been self-published, most recently as e-books. On paper or i-pad, however, they still manage to do the difficult job of being both offensive and boring, and for that, and his relentless devotion to this pointless cause, and his chauvinistic fuck book, we half-heartedly salute him. 

Oh, they also made a couple of 'Gor' films. Oliver Reed is in one of them. You can guess what's coming next, no doubt.