Episode 38: Raiders of Gor - Home Stone is where the heart is

John Norman's long-running Gor series has a reputation that precedes it. Set on a brutal counter-Earth where beautiful women long to be enslaved by the strong men who maintain nature's moral balance, it would seem that the books have all the trappings of spicy, guilty pleasure reading. Jack and Kate dive into the sixth title, Raiders of Gor, alleged to be the last "good" entry in the thirty-five book series. Listen along as your hosts encounter sexual slavery, drunk crying, and enough tedious agricultural detail to break a lesser reader.

Why have critics neglected to acknowledge Norman's high-minded philosophical influences? Can civic pride transform a hive of scum and villainy into a city of heroes? Where do Home Stones come from? How is series protagonist Tarl Cabot a lot like a startup founder? All these questions and many more will be answered in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.