Gor
From Fan History Wiki
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Gor series of science-fiction books were originally published as 25 paperbacks during the period 1966-1988; additional books in the series have slowly started to come out in the decade of the 2000s. The books were notorious in the 1970s for extolling the merits of female sexual slavery. Since the mid-1990s, there has been an Internet-driven revival of interest in the books, and there are many sites devoted to Gorean discussions, or on-line role-playing loosely based on the books. Since about 2005, Second Life has become increasingly prominent as a forum for visual roleplaying.
[edit] The Author
John Norman is a pen-name for John Frederick Lange, professor of Philosophy. He never uses the Internet. His prose style is famously idiosyncratic (especially after the sales success of the first books in the series, when he apparently was able to free himself from most editorial supervision).
[edit] Fanworks policy and history
John Norman has never permitted fan fiction. However, he does look benignly on fan art, tolerates interactive role-playing, and at one point allowed a licenced RPG based on the series to be created. A fannish rationale for the ban on fan-fiction was that the author was scared that fan writers might be better than he was.
[edit] Terminology
Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan community.
- Roleplayers
- People who use on-line chat rooms to engage in interactive roleplaying.
- Lifestylers
- People who attempt to apply selective elements of Gorean philosophy to how they live their real lives. Tend to look down on roleplayers as not being serious and merely playing games.
[edit] Timeline
Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan community.
- 1996: Original "Silk & Steel Tavern" chat forum created.[1]
- August 12, 1997: Date of the first message posted to Usenet's alt.books.gor newsgroup which is now preserved in the Google Groups Usenet archive.[2] This can be taken as a rough marker of the existence of a significant internet-based Gor fandom. About this time, a number of Gor-related web forums and chat rooms sprung up (most of which are long since defunct).
- July 1998: First issue of The Gorean Voice, a Gorean-related web-magazine appears; this runs until January 2007.[3]
- On October 9, 2000, World of Gor, a website for the then publishers of Norman's Gor books, was created.[4] Until late 2007, this site hosted a forum for public discussions and communiqués received from Norman. [5]
- On May 19, 2002, an article about Gor was created on Wikipedia. [6]
- On January 20, 2003, an article about John Norman was created on Wikipedia. [7]
- On June 11, 2004, the LiveJournal community gor_ne_michigan was created. [8]
- On March 28, 2005, the LiveJournal community gorcommunity was created. [9]
- On September 21, 2005, the Gor LiveJournal community goreancorkboard was created. [10]
- On December 31, 2006, John Norman's Chronicles of Gor, a Gor fansite, was created.[11] In March 2007, it went public as Norman's new quasi-official site. [12]
- On December 11, 2007, Gorean Forums, a Gor message board site, was created. [13][14]
[edit] Kerfluffles
This section needs more information.
[edit] Influential Stories
The most widely famous "story" is probably actually a parody, "Houseplants of Gor", originally posted to Usenet in 1994.[15]
[edit] Fandom Members
See also Category:Gor fans.
[edit] Fandom Size
See also Gor fan fiction community size.
[edit] External Links
[edit] Official sites
- John Norman's World of Gor (old publisher site)
- John Norman's Chronicles of Gor (new semi-official site)
[edit] Fansites
[edit] General information
- Gorean Mind - A reference site containing extensive quotes from the book regarding all imaginable topics.
- Greater Laran Unabridged Encyclopedia & Dictionary Of Gor -- major compendium of Gorean terminology referenced to the books
- Life on Gor - A history of the Gor books and movement.
[edit] Parody and humor
- Houseplants of Gor, a classic Gor parody (the first to achieve wide on-line circulation)
- Gay, Bejeweled, Nazi Bikers of Gor
- Who's On Her First
[edit] Media
[edit] Wikis, Wiki articles
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.
This section needs more information.
