I had no idea up until a week or so ago that the author of these books was blacklisted by publishers because of them. I don't really see what the problem is to be honest. Oh I can see the rage building on the faces of various people and flame wars springing up all over the place, and that's really what I'd expect with a series of novels like this, but to blacklist the author? That baffles me.

The story itself isn't bad, and the characters are interesting to say the least, I mean, who wouldn't love a girl that begs you to brand her with a hot iron?, and that's par for the course on this planet it would seem,

"Call for the iron," she said. "Brand me, Master."

Fair enough, no need to ask twice. She does though,

"I want to be owned," she whimpered. "I want to belong to you, fully, completely, in every way. I want your brand, Tarl of Bristol, don't you understand? I want to be your branded slave."

To be honest, I'm late to the party with the whole Gorean phenomenon and those internet flame wars that blew up around it, but I'm loving what I've read so far and once again, am just glad there are so many more in the series. I'll be reading them as long as he's writing them.

It's down to you as to whether or not you pay much attention to the nay-sayers and those that seem to delight in tearing the world of Gor apart at the seams at every opportunity(even nowadays), I just think you'd be missing out on a whole lot of fun and something just that little bit different. And it is a fun read. There's no way the writing or the plot can be compared with some of the more modern fantasy series, but then again, there's something to be said for just sitting back and enjoying the ride. I am, and I'm loving it.