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Berserker
Fred Saberhagen Berserker Series
- GenresScience Fiction
Paperback
About the author
Fred Saberhagen
336 books508 followersFred Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his ''Beserker'' and Dracula stories.
Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''.
From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.
Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''.
From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 18, 2014
Outstanding sci-fi series.
March 8, 2025
I grade on a bell curve. So this was an enjoyable, good read but not great stuff.
Worth it if you can put on your 1960s SF goggles. Three stars from the 2020s perspective, probably unique and super cool from the 1960s perspective, maybe 4-5 stars.
This is a collection of thematically related short stories and the lead-off for a series that I think was milked for quite a while. But I'll probably put it in park here and not read the rest of the series.
The good: a simple, interesting premise executed well in diverse contexts. Leftover machine intelligence technology from an ancient interstellar war follows its programming to destroy intelligent life and encounters expanding humans. A solution to the Fermi Paradox. Soft SF: no effort to explain FTL travel or AI. What pleasantly surprised me was the intriguing series of twists on that theme presented in these various short stories.
The bad: a little worse than typical for that era of SF, virtually no character development at all. You could put placeholders for all the characters. Women from the are what you'd expect of a writer born in 1930 and writing in the early 60s: neither too awful nor forward thinking. Race might as well not exist. Also, terrible branding. "Berserker" might be the worst possible name for this phenomenon: machine intelligence not frothing nutso guy with a sword. Saberhagen is perhaps most famous for his techno-infused swords and sandals fantasy, so maybe that explains it. But he couldn't take a few walks and come up with something better? Obviously "The Terminator" came along many years later, but that would be much closer. But I want Skynet to send me back in time to put a bug in Saberhagen's ear. Even something cheesy would be better. "Technokillers"? "Robot genocide?" "Humanicide"? Heck, I don't know. That's why he's the writer and I'm the reader.
(A thought: had James Cameron/Gale Hurd read this when thinking of "The Terminator"? They are famous for "borrowing" from classic SF, as did many others in Hollywood for good or ill. In a Beatles sense not a Zeppelin sense.)
Trigger warning: extreme violence in some stories, absent in others. Inevitable I suppose, since Machines Don't Care. But graphic even by modern standards. Imagine a rant here about the disconnect in ratings systems on violence vs. sex vs. biology.
Worth it if you can put on your 1960s SF goggles. Three stars from the 2020s perspective, probably unique and super cool from the 1960s perspective, maybe 4-5 stars.
This is a collection of thematically related short stories and the lead-off for a series that I think was milked for quite a while. But I'll probably put it in park here and not read the rest of the series.
The good: a simple, interesting premise executed well in diverse contexts. Leftover machine intelligence technology from an ancient interstellar war follows its programming to destroy intelligent life and encounters expanding humans. A solution to the Fermi Paradox. Soft SF: no effort to explain FTL travel or AI. What pleasantly surprised me was the intriguing series of twists on that theme presented in these various short stories.
The bad: a little worse than typical for that era of SF, virtually no character development at all. You could put placeholders for all the characters. Women from the are what you'd expect of a writer born in 1930 and writing in the early 60s: neither too awful nor forward thinking. Race might as well not exist. Also, terrible branding. "Berserker" might be the worst possible name for this phenomenon: machine intelligence not frothing nutso guy with a sword. Saberhagen is perhaps most famous for his techno-infused swords and sandals fantasy, so maybe that explains it. But he couldn't take a few walks and come up with something better? Obviously "The Terminator" came along many years later, but that would be much closer. But I want Skynet to send me back in time to put a bug in Saberhagen's ear. Even something cheesy would be better. "Technokillers"? "Robot genocide?" "Humanicide"? Heck, I don't know. That's why he's the writer and I'm the reader.
(A thought: had James Cameron/Gale Hurd read this when thinking of "The Terminator"? They are famous for "borrowing" from classic SF, as did many others in Hollywood for good or ill. In a Beatles sense not a Zeppelin sense.)
Trigger warning: extreme violence in some stories, absent in others. Inevitable I suppose, since Machines Don't Care. But graphic even by modern standards. Imagine a rant here about the disconnect in ratings systems on violence vs. sex vs. biology.
March 20, 2022
I actually stopped reading this in the middle. This is not because the book is bad it's just that the book is made of many short stories which I personally tend to not like as much. There are no characters to connect to or a plot to build over time.
I read about ~40% of the book and I found some of the stories pretty interesting to read but I much prefer to read a full plot as opposed to a bunch of shorter stories
I read about ~40% of the book and I found some of the stories pretty interesting to read but I much prefer to read a full plot as opposed to a bunch of shorter stories
July 17, 2025
I picked up this book on the advice of a friend as I needed a break from the thrillers I've been reading lately.
This was an interesting series of stories, and at times a bit of a challenge to read, but in a good way. I liked the depiction of the berserkers and the fact that they are somewhat nebulous makes them more sinister. A good read!
This was an interesting series of stories, and at times a bit of a challenge to read, but in a good way. I liked the depiction of the berserkers and the fact that they are somewhat nebulous makes them more sinister. A good read!
April 25, 2025
I read this in Jr. High, and rereading was really fun. Great, and frightening, concept.
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May 20, 2015Science-Fiction
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews