Tal Goreans,
Greetings visitors,

Welcome once again to the Booknotes column.

The new book we are about to begin continues the events of the last, Savages of Gor, in which Tarl Cabot ventured to the Barrens. This region of Gor is home to many transplanted American Indians and is also the location where Zarendargar, the disgraced Kur general known as Half-Ear, is being sought by his fellow Kurii. At the conclusion of the previous volume Tarl, happening upon a young man who had been staked out on the prairie, freed him and thus broke a taboo of the Red Savages, and was accordingly made slave by Canka, the minor chief who had staked out the young man (known as Cuwignaka, or “Woman's Dress,” and Canka's own brother). But this, it seems, was Canka’s way of taking Tarl under his protection, and the name he gave Tarl, Tatankasa or “Red Bull,” was a respectful one in acknowledgement of Tarl’s willingness to fight all of his war band one at a time or even, if Canka would have it no other way, all together. Canka even gave Tarl a plain opportunity to run, and not merely in order to kill him attempting to escape; but Tarl refused this, as his business in the Barrens in the first place was to find Zarendargar and warn him of his fate - because they once shared paga.

And now we take up the eighteenth Gor book, which could have been named “A Man Called Red Bull” but instead fits into the usual taxonomy under the name of Blood Brothers of Gor.

Chapter One

We rejoin Tarl in the company of Cuwignaka and Grunt, the mysterious white trader who enjoys a nearly unique licence with the Red Savages. They are all riding kaiila (which gives us a hint that Tarl’s enslavement is far from irksome) and observing the arrival of one of the kailiauk (or “Pte”) herds. Plainly the Red Savages relate to these creatures much as the Indians did to the buffalo, and there are some similarities, including the propensity to travel around in monstrous herds that are miles long in each direction. Tarl briefly reiterates the details of his capture and enslavement, and also remarks that the herd is very early in its arrival, an event the like of which Cuwignaka has never heard.

While this is going on, they are looked over unfavourably by one Hci, “Scar,” a young man who was once vain and dandyish until a facial wound marred his exceptionally good looks. Hci now occupies a position of importance in the Sleen Soldiers, a special brotherhood in the Isbu (“Little Stones”) Kaiila tribe, and devotes himself to his duties with a joyless intensity that reflects his bitterness at being disfigured. He speaks scornfully to Cuwignaka and victimises Tarl, who accepts the abuse philosophically; the insult is aimed more at Canka than himself, and besides, it came with the territory when he once accepted Canka’s collar. Grunt for his part urges Cuwignaka not to make too much fuss about the insult, for Hci is the son of Mahpiyasapa, the chief of the Kaiila, and Canka already has some trouble in that quarter.

Chapter Two

Later, Tarl is relieving his male imperatives with the slave girl Pimples (who, per last month’s Booknotes, actually has perfectly clear skin), and we can see that his slavery carries many privileges indeed. Pimples belongs to Grunt, but of course Tarl could use her only with Canka’s approval. But Cuwignaka urges him not to be over-long about it, as some other Kaiila tribes are arriving for festival and there is much to see. This includes the procession of the Isanna or Little-Knife Kaiila in all their finery, men, women and children alike, with the most exotic and valuable of their female slaves, the blondes, as part of their conspicuous display of wealth.

The chief of the Isanna, Watonka, is greeted by Mahpiyasapa, and many other meetings take place, including that of Cuwignaka with a young Isanna woman named Bloketu and her serving-maid Iwoso. Both affect not to know him and to hold him in contempt, which is particularly aggravating given that Iwoso is technically a slave, though she is extended the unusual liberty of being uncollared. Watonka also speaks poorly of Cuwignaka, who is testily ordered to make himself scarce by an embarrassed Canka. Canka himself is the subject of discussion betweeh Mahpiyasapa and Watonka over Canka’s misdeed in helping himself to the slave Winyela, whom Grunt had intended for Mahpiyasapa. Plainly Canka is unwilling to give her up, though Watonka gives his opinion that Mahpiyasapa should teach him some manners and Hci, who is nearby, volunteers to do the teaching.

Although ordered away from the meeting of the chiefs, Cuwignaka is not wholly downhearted. There is still much to see, including the preparation of the great medicine pole. On Earth such a totem might be regarded as having a faint element of sexual suggestiveness; on Gor, where they mostly go in for the single entendre, there are no bones about the phallic symbolism, and the preparation is to include the services of a slave girl, a suitable one already having been selected.

Chapter Three

This slave is none other than Winyela, Millicent Aubrey-Wells, the girl thoughtfully “opened for the use of men” by Tarl in the last book as a favour to Grunt. Initially she is bedecked in finery that would not have disgraced even a wealthy free woman of the Red Savages, but this will soon change. Cancega, the medicine man in charge of the proceedings, leads the assembly to a tree previously chosen for the occasion and already the focus of some rituals, such as a kaiila race for the young men. After some preparatory chanting, Winyela is given an axe and made to cut it down; fortunately it is not a huge tree, a few moments’ work for a strong man with a stout axe and, even for Winyela, not an impossible task.

Then, as the felled tree is shorn of branches and bark, the ritual changes tone as Winyela is forcibly stripped and painted, and made to dance for the pleasure of the symbolic phallus, and as Tarl and Cuwignaka observe, one would think that the pole would be pleased. Indeed, a modern “pole dance“ is not too much unlike what Winyela is made to perform, save that the pole is the focus of attention and not a mere accessory for the display of the female. When she has finished, Winyela is slightly ashamed of what she has done and of her own dusty, sweaty condition; but Canka, her master, not only is not repelled but announces his intentions for when he takes her back to his tent.

Chapter Four

Some little time later the tribes are making ready to go hunting, which is the primary purpose of this festival, and a great occasion it plainly is too. Cuwignaka is excited, and so are a great many other people; we see a bantering exchange between a young man and woman who plainly know each other already, and their mutual teasing ends in an apparent offer of marriage. Unfortunately for Cuwignaka’s aspirations, however, Hci comes by and orders him not to hunt, this being denied him for failing to fulfil the other obligations of a man of his age (refusing to go on the war trail against the Fleer tribe, on the grounds that he had no quarrel with the Fleer). Cuwignaka is angry, but there is nothing for it; Hci is acting within his authority in issuing the ban. He can still, as can Tarl, make himself useful at the butchering, this work being open to women and slaves.

Canka stops to greet his brother, the embarrassment at the meeting of the chiefs already forgotten, and in discussing where his own slaves and Cuwignaka are to go, he tells Cuwignaka to beware of Hci, and reminds him that he, Canka, will not be about to keep an eye on him. He also asks if anyone has seen one of his hunting arrows, as he is missing one; but nobody has. The hunting party then moves off; and if Cuwignaka is unhappy not to be actually hunting, he is still elated at taking part in “making meat.”

Chapter Five

At the butchering, Tarl and Cuwignaka are helping Winyela and Wasnapohdi (“Pimples”), the latter girl knowing how to do it and the former learning from her with a mixture of reluctance, nausea and smug confidence that Canka loves her too much to punish her for doing bad work. This is quite possibly misplaced, as most students of these books could guess.

Cuwignaka for his part is butchering quickly and well, and has already sent back several travois-loads of meat to the camp. This is a rather better effort than Bloketu and Iwoso, who have been working nearby and who take the trouble to come and pester Cuwignaka. Woman’s dress or not, Cuwignaka has no intention of taking any lip from Bloketu, and goes so far as to say that it would be pleasant to enslave her. At this Iwoso looks up with a strange expression on her face, before lowering her head again; and the reader may wish to file this away for future reference.

When Hci happens by a short while later, Bloketu complains to him, but although we already know that he does not have much time for Cuwignaka, he stands on his dignity and refuses to interfere in “the squabbles of females.” He does, however, find fault with what Tarl and Cuwignaka are doing, and sends them to work on a dead bull in a nearby draw, though he gives them some peculiarly specific instructions while he is about it. Tarl does not understand; but Cuwignaka does, and explains that the travois-load of meat they have just prepared is going to be destroyed.

Chapter Six

Sure enough, as they are working, they hear the rumble of hooves that heralds the arrival of two or three hundred kailiauk, and there is nothing for it but to mount up and make their escape. Cuwignaka remarks that Hci’s orders had been aimed at this; he is plainly out to make trouble for them, but not to kill them. It is only a little time after that Hci arrives and pretends fury at them for having lost meat, making out that this is the result of their disobeying his orders (though, in fact, they did as they were told). On one matter only Hci and Cuwignaka are in accord: that the head of the bull they were working on should be brought out of the draw and placed in the sunlight, as a mark of respect to the creature. This shared belief, Tarl points out, is an indicator that the two young men are, after all and despite their differences, both Kaiila. But Cuwignaka is unhappy, believing that he has disgraced himself, his brother and his tribe again by losing meat, knowing that Hci has witnesses for part of his story and is likely to be believed for the rest. Still and all, he has done a good day’s work nonetheless, and Tarl persuades him to return to camp after all.

Chapter Seven

Is anyone at all surprised to learn that Winyela has indeed been beaten, and richly so, by Canka for her lazy and incompetent butchering? This comes as a shock to her though, and Tarl allows her into his lodge where she can hide her shame for a while, and where he can give her a good talking to. Deep down, the most hurtful part of the beating was the knowledge that she deserved it for the poor work she did and her foolish refusal to listen to good advice when it was offered. But also, as Tarl observes, some slaves find they need to test their limits and the extent of their masters’ control over them, and she now need have no further concerns on that score.

Her very presence at this time and place is part of the punishment. Although Canka plainly likes and respects Tarl, Tarl is nonetheless a slave, and Canka has ordered Winyela to put herself at Tarl’s pleasure for the remainder of the day, making her the slave of a slave. Tarl though, considering the mutual affection between Canka and his slave, and also deeming that Winyela has been punished enough for now, decides to leave her to sleep, and takes his leave of her. Cuwignaka laughs and calls him a fool, with which Tarl does not entirely disagree, but he hopes to find Wasnapohdi and relieve his needs with her.

Bloketu, with Iwoso in tow, comes by to taunt Cuwignaka over losing his meat. Cuwignaka says that he does not understand Bloketu’s hostility, for they were once friends. But Bloketu is interrupted when Hci appears and demands to know who it was that Watonka and the two women met earlier in the day, for he has seen signs of their meeting with some kaiila riders. After a little questioning it turns out that the strangers were Yellow Knives, Iwoso’s former people, and that they were there to discuss peace talks. Cuwignaka remarks that this is good news, but Hci angrily bids him shut up. Hci, whose scar was given him by a Yellow Knife, does not trust them or believe that any peace talks are genuinely meant.

Bloketu deflects this line of questioning by mocking Hci, saying that all this interrogation is a blind on his part so that he can stalk Iwoso, but he angrily denies anything of the sort, and Iwoso seems to find the banter frightening. After Hci has gone Bloketu toys with her, saying that she might permit Hci to court her and order Iwoso to either accept him or reject him as pleases her (Bloketu’s) whim; but Iwoso can see too many downsides in both outcomes. The conversation takes an odd turn when Bloketu speaks of Iwoso as becoming “important,” and though Iwoso explains this as arising out of her helping to prepare peace talks between Yellow Knives and Kaiila, something doesn’t quite ring true to Tarl.

Eventually Bloketu smart-mouths Cuwignaka one time too many, and he takes the offensive first of all in a war of words, in which he trounces Bloketu with a few well-chosen taunts, and then with a bald assertion that she would look well crawling at his feet. She is scandalised, being the daughter of a chief, but his boldness unsettles her and she flees.

All this talk of dominance and collaring and so on has left Tarl somewhat stirred up, and Cuwignaka again urges him to help himself to Winyela, both for his own sake and as a favour to Canka who plainly meant it so, but Tarl decides to go in search of Grunt instead and see if he can borrow Wasnapohdi.

And whether all this noble self-denial over Winyela is going to end in tears, and what Bloketu, Watonka and the Yellow Knives are about, or what has become of Canka’s missing arrow, or whether Hci has finished making mischief for Cuwignaka, let alone where if anywhere the Kurii fit in all this, will have to wait until next month, when I guide the reader once more on our journey through Blood Brothers of Gor.

I wish you well,

Socrates