The Complete John Norman

An Analysis of John Norman's Enhancements to the Chronicles of Counter-Earth.

Introduction

With his statement 'How the Internet can change lives!', published in December, 2000, author John Norman announced his intentions to improve and enhance the twenty-five volumes of the legendary and controversial Gorean Fantasy, the epic Saga of Tarl Cabot, the Chronicles of Counter-Earth.

"I might mention, in passing, that electronic publishing gives me the opportunity to revise, enlarge and improve the books, some more than others. I welcome this opportunity to do better in some cases what I hope I once did pretty well to begin with. Too, won't it be nice to have all the books available in new editions, which are affordable? To be sure, one supposes that the earlier editions of the books will, as classics, early editions, first editions, and such, continue to be of interest to collectors. Certainly they are of interest to me, personally."

After the publication of the first two enhanced volumes - Tarnsman of Gor and Outlaw of Gor, in January, 2001 - several fans of the series approached the World of Gor website - Mr. Norman's representation on the Internet - and asked for details and specifications of the enhancements. Some readers even went so far as to accuse both Mr. Norman and the World of Gor operators of intentional deception, when the changes to the first novels seemed rather syntactical instead of semantically.

At the verge of the publication of yet another four enhanced volumes the issue of the improvements and enhancements of the series might again attract public attention, and therefore the World of Gor presents the following first analysis of John Norman's additions, changes and omissions - Improving the Fantasy.

Restrictions

A new version of a software package is usually initiated by the increase of the number of errors, or bugs, that prohibit the full usefulness of the package. Users of a software program report their problems to the author and the main cause for a new, updated version is to restore the usefulness of the program by correcting the errors and adding new functionality. Mostly, such a new update is accompanied by a bug-list and version history, a detailed specification of previous errors now fixed.

But a book is not a program.

A book is a story, a narrative, build with descriptions, dialogues and thoughts, images and scenes, events and developments, action, adventure and analysis. The book, it seems, is biologically more closely related with the tale, the play, the dance and the movie, than with tool-like software programs and utilities.

In 1977 storyteller and director/writer Steven Spielberg released his movie picture "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Three years later, in 1980, a Special Edition, authorized by the director himself, was released with some tightening of the original version, cutting the scene in which Roy Neary throws dirt into his family's house to recreate his vision of the mountainous mound, and some additional scenes, mostly footage of Neary's entrance into the interior of the giant spacecraft at the film's conclusion, and of course, Douglas Trumbell's visual and special effects of the Mother Ship.

Would any visitor of the cinema really expect to get a free preview of all the new scenes of this Special Edition, before deciding whether or not to see the movie itself? Would any customer of a video rental service really expect to get a free tape with all the new scenes of this Special Edition, before renting the video itself? The answer, obviously, is negative. You either go and see for yourself or you don�t. It would be ludicrous to give away the new scenes, the improvements and enhancements, for two reasons - the enhancements would be presented out of their original context, annihilating their impact and diminishing their worth, and furthermore, it would be commercial suicide. Hence this article will not contain detailed specifications of changes, or lists of enhancements. It will only be an impression, with a couple of examples and some statistics. No bug list.

Analysis

If an author has actually changed his story, and created an enhanced new version, it seems incredibly hard, perhaps, even impossible, to establish a standard for a comparison, a norm of quality, against which the improvements could be measured and valued.

Of course, it would have been much easier if John Norman just added one, single new chapter to each of those twenty-five books, somewhere in the middle, from a new chapter of about twenty pages for Tarnsman of Gor to a fifty page enhancement of Magicians of Gor, all the new ideas, the new images and dialogues packed together in a single chapter, a ten percent growth for each volume, like a candy-bar commercial. Well, he didn't work that way.

These are not twenty-five individual books - this is a story of twenty-five separate chapters, and the next chapters are being written while I speak. The only way to enhance such a story, it seems, is to take a magnifying glass, a microscope, and a fine-toothed comb, and start telling it again, slowly. The first few lines of the tale are exactly the same, and even the first chapter remains similar, but as the story develops, the changes become apparent.

So, let us first look at the kind of changes, the various types of alterations that have been made. Perhaps we might distinguish between fixed errors, cosmetic changes, scenic changes and overall differences.

Fixed errors.

The correction of minor errors, such as incorrect capitalization, forgotten points and starting capitals, unwanted indention of lines, that sort of errors, I guess, are technically layout problems, and could be corrected with every new printing.

But changes in time are intentional.

"Basic information, as you might expect, pertains to language, mathematics, and the sciences, but he is also being taught the history and literature of Priest-Kings, Nest mores, social customs; mechanical, agricultural, and husbanding procedures, and other types of information."
(Priest-Kings of Gor, Chapter 15, page 121)

"Basic information, as you might expect, pertaining to language, mathematics, and the sciences, but he is also being taught the history and literature of Priest-Kings, Nest mores, social customs; mechanical, agricultural, and husbanding procedures, and other types of information."

Too, are those of color.

The Tuchuk now looked at me swiftly. He grinned. He did not expect nor would he receive aid from his fellows. I studied his heavy face, the fierce scarring that somehow ennobled it, the black eyes with the epicanthic fold. He grinned at me. "Yes," he said, "well done."
(Outlaw of Gor, Ballantine 1st Edition, Chapter 4, page 26)

The Tuchuk now looked at me swiftly. He grinned. He did not expect nor would he receive aid from his fellows. I studied his heavy face, the fierce scarring that somehow ennobled it, the dark eyes with the epicanthic fold. He grinned at me. "Yes," he said, "well done."

There are not much of these changes, however, in the first books, but after Priest-Kings of Gor, the number seems to increase.

Cosmetic changes.

Cosmetic changes, for instance adding a couple of extra comma�s could, for one reader, be nothing more than a typographical correction, a fixed error, so to speak, but, to the more poetic mind, the new rhythm of the passage might be infinitely more beautiful than the original sequence and a highly valued addition. Likewise, the addition or omission of noise words, adjectives and so, can alter the dynamic of the passage, intensify the mood or feeling, but this, too, seems highly dependant on the susceptibility of the reader. A few examples.

Comma after gratitude and anticipated.

After her kiss of gratitude which might last a good deal longer than she had anticipated she would find herself forced to kneel and be collared and then, stripped,
(Priest-Kings of Gor, Ballantine 1st Edition, chapter 20, page 162.)

After her kiss of gratitude, which might last a good deal longer than she had anticipated, she would find herself forced to kneel and be collared and then, stripped,

Two words added.

The number of English phonemes, incidentally, is in the neighborhood of fifty.
(Priest-Kings of Gor, Ballantine 1st Edition, chapter 10, page 79.)

The number of familiar, common English phonemes, incidentally, is in the neighborhood of fifty.

Five words added.

Each of the hundred mines of Tharna, at one level or another, opened on this shaft.
(Outlaw of Gor, Ballantine 1st Edition, Chapter 18, page 155)

Each of the many mines of Tharna, perhaps a hundred or more, at one level or another, opened on this shaft.

These kind of changes occur sporadic in Tarnsman of Gor and Outlaw of Gor, partly, perhaps, because of the tight prose used in these volumes, but the amount increases within the following volumes.

Scenic changes.

Scenic changes are the changes that probably are of the highest interest to those fans, that already own the series and who wonder about new content. Scenic changes mean actual new information, new scenes, new images, new thoughts, and new action. And it's there, starting in Priest-Kings. Here is a marvelous example of a scenic change, small but important, if the reader tries to visualize the scene.

I turned from the railing to observe the great ramp which for pasangs in a great spiral approached the platform on which I stood.
(Priest-Kings of Gor, Ballantine 1st Edition, Chapter 11, page 84.)

I turned to the railing to observe the great ramp which for pasangs in a great spiral approached the platform on which I stood.

Questions are answered, sometimes almost without notice.

A moment after I spoke I sensed another set of odors, which emanated perhaps from the device which hung about the neck of what stood before me.
(Priest-Kings of Gor, Ballantine 1st Edition, Chapter 9, page 76.)

A moment after I spoke I sensed another set of odors, which emanated doubtless from the device which hung about the neck of what stood before me.

Some scenes are cut almost entirely.

A panel slid back and the Priest-King stepped into what seemed to be a closed room. I followed him, and the panel closed. The floor seemed to drop beneath me and my hand grasped my sword. The Priest-King looked down at me and the antennae quivered as though in curiosity.
(Priest-Kings of Gor, Ballantine 1st Edition, Chapter 10, page 81)

A panel slid back and the Priest-King looked down at me and the antennae quivered as though in curiosity.

Small thoughts start to occur.

She looked up at me and laughed with amusement. I began to kiss her throat and body and my hands were behind her back, lifting her and arching her, so that her head was back and down.
(Nomads of Gor, Ballantine 9st Printing, Chapter 25, page 299)

She looked up at me and laughed with amusement. One may in an instant show a woman who is master, but I did not wish, though I was tempted, to do so. She was of Earth. I would try to be patient. I began to kiss her throat and body and my hands were behind her back, lifting her and arching her, so that her head was back and down.

And finally, large new scenes are added to the story.

"Now," I instructed her, "with more passion."
"Yes, Master," she said obediently, and kissed me with feigned passion.
I, hand in her collar, turned her about and put her on her back on the rug, her shoulders pressed against the thick pile. She looked at me, a sly smile on her face. I took the nose ring between my thumb and forefinger and gave it a little pull.
"Oh!" she cried, eyes smarting. Then she looked up. "That is no way to treat a lady," she remarked.
"You are only a slave girl," I reminded her.
(Nomads of Gor, Ballantine 9st Printing, Chapter 25, page 299)

"Now," I instructed her, "with more passion."
"Yes, Master," she said obediently, and kissed me with feigned passion.
I was briefly angry, annoyed with this spurious fervor, this obvious counterfeit of ardor. I put my two hands in the Turian circlet, and, lifting it up, against her chin, forcing her head back, thrust her back some inches. For a moment she was frightened, her head up and back. Then I released the collar. It dropped into place. It would not do, of course, to treat Miss Cardwell as a slave girl...
[about a page later] I took the nose ring between my thumb and forefinger and gave it a little pull. Let her remember at least, that she wore it.
"Oh!" she cried, eyes smarting. Then she looked up. "That is no way to treat a lady," she remarked.
"You are only a slave girl," I reminded her.

The number of scenic additions, too, increases with each following volume. Raiders of Gor was enhanced with several new scenes, Captive of Gor received a large new scene and several smaller ones, and in Hunters of Gor, I found, within a single chapter, at least ten new dialogues. The record, for now, is a scenic enhancement in Tribesman of Gor, this scene, originally only 57 words, has been enhanced to 2105 words. Here's a part of it.

"Yes, Slave Girl!" she cried, turning on her back, throwing her body brazenly open to me.
"You seem little of Earth now," I laughed.
She spread her hair back on the straw. "I am only a slut of a slave," she laughed. "Treat me as such. I love you, Master!"
We heard soldiers in the hall outside.
(Tribesman of Gor, DAW 7th Printing, chapter 26, page 361. )

"Yes, Slave Girl!" she cried, turning on her back, throwing her body angrily, brazenly, open to me.
"You seem little of Earth now," I said.
"No longer am I of Earth," she said. "I am now only a Gorean slave girl." And then she added, angrily, "And have not you done your part to bring that about?"
"The slave was within you," I said. "I, and others, have done little more than release her."
"Or command her forth," she said, angrily.
"She hurried forth, gratefully," I said.
"No!" she said.
"Would you conceal her forever?" I asked.
"Probably," she said.
"Why," I asked.
"It is a frightening thing," she said, "to confess to a man that one wants to be a slave."
"That one should be a slave, that one is a slave?"
"Yes," she said.
"And so you would conceal the slave?"
"Yes," she said.
"On Gor it is not permitted," I said.
"No," she said, "on Gor it is not permitted."
"You are a slave, and have always been such," I said.
"Biologically speaking, this is an IRM, an Innate Releasing Mechanism. The slave in a woman emerges in the presence of a master. She has no choice. She can
conceal it, but she knows it is there. It is then only a question as to whether or not she will confess it, and fulfill herself-or continue to starve herself in misery and frustration."
She threw her head to the side, in the chain and collar, on the straw.
"If a woman is truly a slave," I said, "then it would seem best that she not deny this truth, this reality, but rather accept it, and then be joyfully the best slave she can be. It is better to embrace nature and fulfill her than deny her. It cannot be wrong to be what you are. If it is your biological destiny to obey, and serve, and love, then your happiness will not be found elsewhere."
[...]

Overall differences.

Overall differences between the texts of the original editions and the new, improved versions consolidate the authors approach, the first two novels are made somewhat tighter, Tarnsman of Gor loosing 130 words, and Outlaw of Gor 15 words less, then the books start to grow, from Nomads of Gor getting another 96 words to the increase of Marauders with 1,179 words, about 1% of the total text.

Conclusion

Well, it is like a wide screen, surround sound, computer enhanced, and digitally re-mastered, special edition. A director's cut. I could be short about it - you just have to see it.

Of course, it is still the same story, the narrative style and manner, the adventures and development, the thoughts and images are all there, and they have not changed. This is not new, it's the same, old story. If you've read it once - all twenty-five volumes - and you're just waiting for the sequel, well, hold your breath for a couple of month, Witness of Gor will be released this Summer, and we will show you a preview, but for those that re-read some of these books, several times, perhaps, or those that kept searching for that special scene or description, or those that can recite large quotes by memory, the fans, as we might call them, for those this special edition contains everything you would expect from a well edited movie or video version; no changes in the first few opening scenes, then suddenly you notice a minor change, then another, and then within minutes you think you are reading a completely different story, images you have never seen before, and you know you will read them all, again. This is the special edition - the fantasy improved. Don�t miss it!

Acknowledgements

This article is based upon the enhanced and improved versions of the first ten Gor novels, compared with earlier American printings, some first editions, and some later printings. The differences between first and later American printings, or between the different American and British editions themselves, are being researched, but remain unresolved for now. If, during the course of this research, or when the later volumes become available, the needs should rise to update this document, than it shall be done.

This text was previously published on April 16, 2002, at the World of Gor Forum

I wish you well.
Simon

NEXT MONTH - DAW - THE MIDDLE YEARS