Fighting Slave of Gor

Gorean Saga, Book 14

De: John Norman

Narrado por: Jeremy Arthur

Emotionally lost, Jason Marshall finds himself thrust into a lengthy struggle to save his beloved from slavery on an Earth-like world called Gor. Kidnapped and helpless, Jason begins a life on Gor as a slave and becomes a prominent warrior. He must battle his way to freedom, if only to liberate his love from the clutches of the alien slave emporium. Will Jason overcome the numerous obstacles he encounters? Will he ever reunite with the girl he loves? Can he survive the trials and tribulations he must endure on Gor?

©1980 John Norman (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Ninety-seven percent satisfied

I have listened to all of the Gorean Saga audiobooks narrated by Ralph Lister as Tarl Cabot in most of them, as a mariner on the great ship in Mariners of Gor, and as an anonymous Kur chronicler in Kur of Gor. I have not bothered with any of the books with female narrators, not because I have anything against female narrators in general, but just that I found their voices in the samples irritating.

This, then, along with the other two in the Jason Marshall trilogy (Rogue and Guardsman of Gor) is the only non-Ralph Lister-narrated Gor audiobook I own. It is not badly done. Jeremy Arthur doesn’t possess the broad repertoire of character voices that Lister brings to his narrations, but he does a decent job.

With one exception. I really, really wish that Audible had ensured that all its narrators were consistent in their pronunciation of Gorean terms. After listening to eleven books by Lister, getting comfortable with his pseudo-Bristol-inflected pronunciation of Gorean words, it was a bit jarring to hear those same terms pronounced in Arthur’s broad American accent.

It was not a huge thing, but my teeth were set on edge every time the word “tharlarian” (thar-LA-ri-an) was rendered “thar-LARRY-un”, “kaissa” (ka-IS-sa) came out “KAY-suh”, and most egregiously (and most prolifically) “Gorean”, properly with the accent on the first syllable (“GOR-e-an”), is alway rendered by Arthur “go-REE-un”, as if what is referred to is not the Counter Earth, but the Land of the Morning Calm.

Again, not a big thing, but it does detract from the excellence of the overall narration, and it could have been easily avoided with just a little closer oversight by Quality Control at Audible Inc.

In all fairness, Ralph Lister is not blameless. In the “Pani Trilogy” (Seordsmen, Mariners, and Rebels), Lister mangles one Japanese name and term after another, rather reminiscent of his work in Shōgun, one of the first audiobooks I ever bought, and the first of Lister’s I had ever heard. As a longtime resident of Japan, and fluent in Japanese, I get a tiny bit irked when I hear the language mispronounced.

Also, in the last two books narrated by Lister, one gets the impression that Tarl Cabot has trouble remembering the pronunciation of the name of his own former companion, Talena. In every book prior to Avengers and Warriors, the name of the daughter of Marlenus is pronounced “TA-le-na”, but starting from Avengers, it has suddenly become “ta-LE-na”.

Perhaps I am picking nits, but one of the pleasures of listening to a good audiobook is when the narration is in accord with the narration inside one’s head. Even when the voices are on point, if the pronunciation of names and terms are not what one knows they should be, it is like the occasional sour note asserting itself in an otherwise fine musical performance.

again

I'm still interested in the series. takes a lot to keep my attention. loved it

Love all things Gor

It is another awesome read. I loved it. Looking forward to the next book in the saga.

great

Awesome story easy to followawesome story easy to follow the narrator has an easy listening voice

Different narrator, different protagonist.

Any additional comments?

The story starts off pretty slow having to introduce a new protagonist (Jason) but stick with it, I enjoyed the second half of the book most.

Jeremy Arthur needs to work on a few of his side characters a little, overall his youthful voice suits Jason well.