SCIENCE FICTION PIONEER JOHN NORMAN IS BACK

Gor, the most elaborately and richly described alternative world in literature, is back in print. After 14 years and millions of books John Norman's controversial and best selling saga of the planet Gor continues with his 26th book 'Witness of Gor'

Gor, the most elaborately and richly described alternative world in literature, is back in print. After 14 years and millions of books John Norman's controversial and best selling saga of the planet Gor continues with his 26th book 'Witness of Gor'.

The 25th Gor novel, published in June of 1988, was the last of the Gor series by DAW books. DAW picked up Norman's Gor series in 1974 at the company's birth, as one of the first authors of DAW, then a new and promising publishing company. Now in 2002, New World Publishers, a young Minnesota publishing company, is releasing 'Witness of Gor', the 26th novel in the Gor series.

John Norman, a pioneer in the science fiction genre', began the Gor series in 1967 with 'Tarnsman of Gor', published by Ballantine Books. Norman saw almost immediate success with his first novel and was commonly compared to Edgar Rice Burroughs due to his writing style. In 1974 Norman was picked up by Donald Wollheim at the birth of DAW books. DAW published the Gor series from 1974 to 1987, enjoying amazing success with the series, reporting sales in the millions of copies. The Gor series has been printed in at least eight languages, with some of the books experiencing as many as 20 printings.

John Norman and his Gor series came under fire in the early to mid 80's by certain political groups because of some of the philosophical ideas presented in his writings. The concepts regarding the relationship between men and women on Gor was considered radical for the period. Due to what was suggested to be political pressure, Norman's Gor series was canceled by DAW in 1988, less than two years after Wollheim's death. This marked the beginning of more than a decade of industry blacklisting.

However, with the birth and growth of the Internet came a growth and outcropping of the Gor fan base, unmatched by nearly any other author. Fans worldwide built web pages and web sites dedicated to Norman's writings. The second hand market for these now out of print Gor books became enormous, with certain damaged paperbacks selling for more than $100 at auction. In spite of the out of print status of the Gor series the fan base continued to grow and flourish.

Now, more than 14 years after the release of Norman's last Gor novel, the saga continues with 'Witness of Gor'. In spite of years of blacklisting and the rarity of some of Norman's books the fan base continues to grow. Spanning the globe, this fan base has been buying the re-edited (by John Norman) Gor novels from New World Publishers for over a year. WorldofGor.com, the official website of Gor, has reported books sold to more than 12 countries.

New World Publishers is proud to announce the release of 'Witness of Gor', Norman's first hard cover novel in North America. 'Witness of Gor' promises to be the best selling Gor novel yet. The Gor series will continue after 'Witness of Gor' with the already planned release of 'Prize of Gor', the 27th novel in the series, in 2003. ###