John Norman

John Norman is the pen name of John Frederick Lange Jr. (born June 3, 1931, in Chicago), an American writer and former philosophy professor.

He studied at the University of Nebraska and the University of Southern California and took a doctorate at Princeton in 1963, then taught philosophy at Queens College of the City University of New York, publishing his academic work as John Lange.

He is best known for the Gor series of science fantasy novels, which began with Tarnsman of Gor in 1966, paused after Magicians of Gor in 1988 and resumed in 2001 with Witness of Gor.

The books, set on a counter-Earth where male-dominated societies keep captive women, drew a large readership and a controversial reputation, and gave rise to a fan subculture he did not take part in.

He has also written the Telnarian Histories science fiction series, standalone novels such as Ghost Dance and Time Slave, the story collection Norman Invasions, and nonfiction including Imaginative Sex.