Priest-Kings of Gor

Gorean Saga, Book 3

By: John Norman

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the third installment of John Norman's popular and controversial Gor series. Tarl Cabot is the intrepid tarnsman of the planet Gor, a harsh society with a rigid caste system that personifies the most brutal form of Social Darwinism. In this volume, Tarl must search for the truth behind the disappearance of his beautiful wife, Talena. Have the ruthless Priest-Kings destroyed her? Tarl vows to find the answer for himself, journeying to the mountain stronghold of the kings, knowing full well that no one who has dared approach the Priest-Kings has ever returned alive....

The saga continues: listen to more in the Gorean series.

©1968 John Norman (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Into the Sardar

Tarl Cabot enters the realm of the priest-kings, where he finds a hive of creatures that are highly technologically advanced conducting their own personal earthlike experiment on the surface of Gor. The Master/slave dynamics are further reinforced herein as the priest-kings maintain humans as their personal servants.

In this edition, John Norman delves into sci-fi. With many unusual machines and technological advancements, culminating in an all-out hive war that nearly destroys Gor. Quite a fun ride.

Full-disclosure, I read many of the Gor books back in the 1980's, and was quite pleased to see them arrive on Audible. My wife is now listening to them for the first time, having heard of the series before, and is actually enjoying them. This tells me that the age-old series still has some life in it, and my own enjoyment doesn't stem solely from a nostalgic bias.

The Priest Kings

This is the 3rd novel in the 34 sagas of the Counter-Earth called Gor. It answers many of the questions that arise about the mysterious Gods of Gor called The Priest Kings. The narration is great as is the story. Read it to answer your questions about The Priest Kings of Gor.

A wonderful performance!

I have endeavored to reread these books again. but have little time to sit and do so. The audiobook option has proved invaluable to me and Mr. Lister prodices marvelously diverse accents and voices for each of the characters. I was very impressed with how he even added subtle differences in the robotic voices so that you can distinguish them. The book and series are a bit dense in some parts and a bit repetitive in the controversial sexual and gender philosphies, but the underlying adventure of the stories are satisfying in the way junk food is. I absolutely love them. Looking forward to 'reading' the next.

A challange to the imagination

This is as much as a new experience to the imagination as was the first volume. IN the first we learned the nature of Gor on the surface, both literally and figuratively. Now we get to the inner workings. This volume has a focus on more action and less face and body stripping. Well worth the read, and a focal point of the whole series.

They're Giant Arthropods?!

Priest-Kings of Gor makes an excellent third volume in the Gorean Saga. This particular book in the series is much more sci-fi oriented, with high tech alien battle scenes and alien-created synthetic humans. If you’re like me, you didn’t see the revelation that Priest-Kings were giant arthropods coming. I expected them to be human-like in appearance, which made for quite an interesting twist in the story.

Priest-Kings of Gor picks up right where Outlaw of Gor left off. Tarl Cabot arrives at the foot of the Sardar Mountains, releases his tarn, and enters through the gate that allows access to the domain of the Priest-Kings. Once inside, he’s held captive for some time in a special type of prison cell with a slave girl named Vika. Unbeknownst to Tarl, Vika has been tasked by the Priest-King Sarm to woo him in an effort to convince him to kill the Priest-King’s brother, Misk. Vika fails in her task and Tarl is taken in by Misk, where he learns all about Priest-Kings.

Priest-Kings are a technologically advanced race of large insects that brought Gor to our solar system over two million years ago when their sun began to die. Priest-Kings are primarily concerned with technological advancement, particularly as it relates to increasing their longevity. Ironically enough, this has caused their species to dwindle to less than a thousand. Most Priest-Kings in the Nest on Gor are sexless. There is only one female in the Nest, the Mother, and she has supreme authority. That authority, however, is being usurped by her first-born, the Priest-King Sarm. Sarm wants to prevent new male and female Priest-Kings from being born so that he can maintain his political power in the Nest. Human slaves assist the Priest-Kings in their various tasks and are considered part of the Next, that is, easily dispensable parts. It’s not really revealed why the Priest-Kings have populated Gor with various species. What is explained is that they intentionally limit the humans’ technological advancement out of fear for their own safety.

Misk informs Tarl that he was brought to the nest of the Priest-Kings in a secret conspiracy between himself and the Mother to overthrow Sarm. That’s why his city was destroyed and his people scattered, to keep Sarm in the dark about their true intentions. He wants Tarl’s help finding a female egg that was hidden among the Wagon People. Tarl reluctantly agrees, which Sarm suspects, resulting in a war between the two. The human slaves in the Nest revolt during the confrontation and join Misk’s rebellion against Sarm. Sarm is killed and Gor and the Nest are nearly destroyed in the process. With the Priest-Kings temporarily out of commission, Tarl sets out on a new journey to find the egg among the Wagon People.

John Norman is an excellent science fiction writer and the battle scenes in this book leave nothing to be desired on that front. I was on the edge of my seat throughout much of the story as the plot just kept getting more and more interesting. Norman’s humor really shows when he introduces us to pair of synthetically created twins and details their secret shenanigans within the Nest. The low ratings this series has received are simply unmerited and probably socially/politically motivated. Some people just can’t wrap their heads around the concept of fantasy. I’m looking forward to the next book. I also recommend purchasing the audiobook narrated by Ralph Lister. He does an excellent job narrating the various characters and really makes the story come alive.

Gorean Saga

The Gorean series is basically Conan the barbarian meets a smut novel on another world. There's lots of violent battles and vicious giant man eaters with a dash BDSM. The series gets a little repetitive as the books go on but not to badly for a 20 plus book series. If you liked the John Carter in 'A Princess of Mars' series most likely you'll enjoy these books there very similar. I prefer the Gorean series myself, except the ones narrated by women which I haven't bought so don't know if there good or not I personal dislike women narrates.

I am HOOKED

If there was a literary equivalent to "crack"... this series is it. I need more!

Hi

Hi all good book and I liked it from beginning to the end,
and all the others

decent but annoying character voice

I hate his robotic voice for the mechanical translators. it was hard to listen to so much of it.

great story preformed well

enjoy loved it reminds me of GOT but diffrent. do you beleive? i do. magic happens