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Berserker #14
Rogue Berserker
Harry Silver had already had a lifetime of trouble from Berserkers, the automated killing machines which were armed with weapons powerful enough to sterilize a planet and programmed eons ago by a now-extinct race to denude the galaxy of life. After losing his merchant spaceship in a recent battle with one of the death machines, he faced economic ruin.
Then Winston Cheng, one of the wealthiest humans in the galaxy, offered to buy him a new top-of-the-line ship in return for doing a job. While the two men talked, a holograph of a young woman and her child played over and over. The woman was Cheng's granddaughter. She and her son were Cheng's only surviving descendants - and they had been kidnapped from their space yacht by a Berserker. Cheng wanted to hire Silver to rescue them.
The offer would have been tempting if Silver hadn't thought the job was not only too dangerous, but likely to be futile, as well. Berserkers usually killed humans outright, in accord with their programming. When one of the killer machines took humans alive, it was invariably for experimentation, trying to determine what made their human enemies tick and looking for a weakness to exploit. Silver was certain that Cheng's loved one's were dead by now, or, if alive, no longer recognizable as anything human. And Silver had barely survived his previous encounters with Berserkers. So he declined Cheng's offer - until Silver's own wife and daughter were similarly kidnapped by a Berserker, possibly the same one.
Silver now had nothing to live for but revenge. Cheng's offer was still open, and Silver quickly joined the assault team, but not without suspicions which he kept secret. The timing of the abduction of his wife and daughter could not be a matter of chance. Someone on Cheng's team must have leaked Silver's name to the Berserkers somehow. He also thought it suspicious that an old acquaintance with a strong grudge against him was also on the team. Before the mission was over, Silver would find that his wildest suspicions fell far short of the truth. And he would find himself in an alliance he could never have predicted - one which he was unlikely to survive.
Then Winston Cheng, one of the wealthiest humans in the galaxy, offered to buy him a new top-of-the-line ship in return for doing a job. While the two men talked, a holograph of a young woman and her child played over and over. The woman was Cheng's granddaughter. She and her son were Cheng's only surviving descendants - and they had been kidnapped from their space yacht by a Berserker. Cheng wanted to hire Silver to rescue them.
The offer would have been tempting if Silver hadn't thought the job was not only too dangerous, but likely to be futile, as well. Berserkers usually killed humans outright, in accord with their programming. When one of the killer machines took humans alive, it was invariably for experimentation, trying to determine what made their human enemies tick and looking for a weakness to exploit. Silver was certain that Cheng's loved one's were dead by now, or, if alive, no longer recognizable as anything human. And Silver had barely survived his previous encounters with Berserkers. So he declined Cheng's offer - until Silver's own wife and daughter were similarly kidnapped by a Berserker, possibly the same one.
Silver now had nothing to live for but revenge. Cheng's offer was still open, and Silver quickly joined the assault team, but not without suspicions which he kept secret. The timing of the abduction of his wife and daughter could not be a matter of chance. Someone on Cheng's team must have leaked Silver's name to the Berserkers somehow. He also thought it suspicious that an old acquaintance with a strong grudge against him was also on the team. Before the mission was over, Silver would find that his wildest suspicions fell far short of the truth. And he would find himself in an alliance he could never have predicted - one which he was unlikely to survive.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
Fred Saberhagen
332 books503 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 30, 2014
I came away from reading this book with the feeling that there was something wrong with it, and it took me a while to realize what it was: there was a major plot point left unresolved, in that the motivation of one of the characters for doing something really weird was never convincingly explained.
Also, it bothered me that the abilities and information-gathering of the Berserkers seemed to vary at the needs of the story. If the Berserkers are as powerful and ominiscient as some of the scenes imply, mankind would have been wiped out in minutes. If they have the resources to send an entire warship against a single individual whose whereabouts they do not know, and then stumble across him by luck, is that a good sign or a bad sign?
Then, there's the main character's wife. She supposedly inherits a large sum of money while her husband is off trying to borrow cash to replace his destroyed merchant spaceship. Instead of, oh, maybe saving the money for this known need, she spends a large sum of it on travel to random locations, in hopes that she'll catch up with him on the way. WHAT???
That and lots of other annoying minor plot holes interfered with my enjoyment of the book. The only reason it earned a third star was the inclusion of two new variations on berserkers, both quite interesting. They were certainly more believable than most of the side characters in the story.
Also, it bothered me that the abilities and information-gathering of the Berserkers seemed to vary at the needs of the story. If the Berserkers are as powerful and ominiscient as some of the scenes imply, mankind would have been wiped out in minutes. If they have the resources to send an entire warship against a single individual whose whereabouts they do not know, and then stumble across him by luck, is that a good sign or a bad sign?
Then, there's the main character's wife. She supposedly inherits a large sum of money while her husband is off trying to borrow cash to replace his destroyed merchant spaceship. Instead of, oh, maybe saving the money for this known need, she spends a large sum of it on travel to random locations, in hopes that she'll catch up with him on the way. WHAT???
That and lots of other annoying minor plot holes interfered with my enjoyment of the book. The only reason it earned a third star was the inclusion of two new variations on berserkers, both quite interesting. They were certainly more believable than most of the side characters in the story.
June 27, 2025
Harry Silver, who has experience hunting the Berserker robotic race, now meets two new Berserkers--one that is dedicated to killing him personally, and one that, instead of wanting to exterminate all life, wants to experiment on it first. The book was slow to start, with lots of "there's something we're missing" to drag out pages. And when it gets to battling machines that are far better fighters than people are, it's not hard to feel the hand of the writer managing affairs so as not to get all the good guys killed.
July 21, 2017
Slow start, but picked up about half-way through. I would give it 3.5 if I could
November 5, 2019
An interesting twist on the Berserker idea.
October 25, 2021
One of the best samples of Berserker story. Likeable and roguish main character. Twisted machine personalities and lot of intreagues.
October 30, 2025
A pleasant surprise partway through
If you get bored of the plot and characters during the first half, hang on, don’t give up. It gets more interesting.
If you get bored of the plot and characters during the first half, hang on, don’t give up. It gets more interesting.
February 17, 2026
Scifi, military,robots. evil robots Who is more human , people or robots , who makes decisions for the good of the group.
October 15, 2015
It's always fun to read an old-fashion space opera, and that's what this is. There are robotic aliens bent on destroying life, a reasonably likable space pilot, and (other than FTL and a few other things you almost always have to suspend disbelief for in stories of this kind) the science isn't bad. The editing, however, is. The errors aren't simple typos. There were at least three cases of misused words (To paraphrase a line from one of my favorite movies - You keep using that word, but I don't think it means what you think it means). There were also bits of text that appeared to be out of place, almost as if the manuscript had been cut into puzzle pieces and reassembled with some crammed into the wrong spots. Despite such things, the story isn't bad for what it is. This isn't great science fiction. There are no deep thoughts or great insights, but as an action adventure with spaceships, it's not bad.
October 10, 2010
The back cover kind-of gives away the book's big secret so I found it really annoying that the protagonist remained so dense for so much of the book. The constant wondering what it all meant just made him look stupid. Oh, yes, but then he finally starts to suspect and voices his suspicions to another characters. This is done in such a way that we know he has just told the other guy something, but the book deliberately does not tell us exactly what was said. Why? It makes no sense outside of artificially trying to create tension by tweaking the reader's nose. We know something you don't, and we are going to rub your nose in it. Now, if only it ended there, but in the very next scene, another character spills the beans. So, why hide from the reader? And, if only it ended there. But, no, the protagonist then has to doubt the third character. Stupid, stupid protagonist.
April 6, 2009
A fitting end to the Berserker series. I wish there could be more.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews