Sword-and-sandal story in the pulp tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Good worldbuilding. Barely adequate writing. This series is of course (in)famous for the weird BDSM-like slavery, but in these first few books it doesn't play that much of a role.

This third book changes the style, and we get a more science-fictional tale about the alien race of the Priest-Kings, who control the counter-Earth. More interesting because of this than the rather standard adventures of the first two books, but a bit duller at times. ( )

Tarl Cabot es un intrépido guerrero del planeta Gor, un mundo cruel con un rígido sistema de castas que ejemplifica la más brutal de las sociedades darwinistas.

En esta tercera entrega de las ‘Crónicas de la Contratierra’ Tarl tiene que descubrir la verdad que se esconde tras la desaparición de su preciosa y complaciente esposa, Talena. ¿Acaso los reyes sacerdotes la tienen retenida? Tarl promete descubrir la verdad, aunque para eso tenga que viajar hasta las montañas de los reyes, aun a sabiendas de que nadie que se haya atrevido a poner un pie en el terriotorio de los reyes sacerdotes ha vuelto para contarlo.

This, the 3rd in the Chronicles of Gor series, very nearly got 5 stars, and perhaps it should still get those 5 really. One of the main reasons it didn't is because of the sheer alien-ness of the Priest Kings, great insectile creatures that immediately had me attempting to look away even as I continued to read about them. This wasn't at all unexpected since there's a nice colour piccy of one of them right there on the cover. Still, I had a little difficulty empathizing with them to quite the extent I would have liked.

The story continues where the last left off with our hero(?) Tarl Cabot venturing into the nest of the Priest Kings in a bid to find his lost love Talena and rescue her. As usual for Tarl, he gets more than a little sidetracked and ends up instigating a civil war within the nest and ultimately destroying it. This however, turns out to have been planned by the Priest Kings all along. He has in fact been used not just by one side but by both in turn, each with their own agenda.

Of course, in amongst all this waring and excitement he still manages to both enslave a girl and become enslaved by the very same girl himself. This also turns out to be part of her plan to help him though and as is only appropriate in these circumstances, she falls in love with him and is promptly rejected(albeit nicely) by Tarl because of his enduring love for Talena.

So, this, like the first two in the series was both frustrating and enjoyable at the same time. Frustrating because of the way Tarl treats the girl he's enslaved at times(he really is a bit of a sadist when all's said and done, but maybe the nicer kind of sadist if such there is!) and enjoyable because of the sheer pulpiness of the story and it's unfailing ability to make you sit up and gasp at the sheer delightful nonsense of it all.

I love these novels. Make of that what you will... ( )

This is one of the Gorean canon, written by John Norman who aimed for the repressed male, masochistic, violence imbued market. He hit it bang on, and probably derived a good income for his efforts. The series was one that I did not persist in for long finding that the "Horseclans" series by Robert Adams had more literary merit. You may snicker. However, I am sure there are still fans of this writer out there. ( )

The previous volume (Outlaw of Gor) sets the scene for an exciting clash between our hero Tarl Cabot and the mysterious Priest-Kings. When we get there however it is very flat and disappointing. Very little happens, and what does happen, happens slowly. This is a bulkier volume than the previous two, running to around 300 pages, but much of it is dry exposition. ( )