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Berserker #6
The Berserker Wars
It happened long ago and far away. Perhaps in this galaxy, perhaps in one close by. Two war-maddened races fought -- and though both are gone, their legacy the Frankenstein weapon that destroyed not, only the enemy, but the creator. The Berserkers, robotic, asteroid-sized killers programmed to one to seek out and end life. The death machines have harried their way across our galaxy. Now they have come for us.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
14 people are currently reading
361 people want to read
About the author
Fred Saberhagen
335 books494 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 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 16, 2020
3⭐
A collection of short stories from Saberhagen's Berserker saga; tales of Godless alien killing machines programmed, by design or accident, to wipe out all life they encounter. I've read many of these stories over the years, including some in the pages of Galaxy and Analog science fiction magazines, wherein they first appeared. This particular collection is linked together as historical accounts from a friendly alien observer of humanity's struggle with the Berserkers. The narrative doesn't really add anything to the individual stories, it's just a way of packaging them ( some of which were anthologized in other collections) into a new form.
Many of the stories contain a puzzle or twist, which must be solved or overcome in order to save humanity ( or the portion of it being threatened). Saberhagen's Christianity is on full display in his stories, a number of which are variations on the Judgement of Solomon, in which some terrible choice must be made.
Saberhagen was a competent writer and the collection is, for the most part entertaining.
A collection of short stories from Saberhagen's Berserker saga; tales of Godless alien killing machines programmed, by design or accident, to wipe out all life they encounter. I've read many of these stories over the years, including some in the pages of Galaxy and Analog science fiction magazines, wherein they first appeared. This particular collection is linked together as historical accounts from a friendly alien observer of humanity's struggle with the Berserkers. The narrative doesn't really add anything to the individual stories, it's just a way of packaging them ( some of which were anthologized in other collections) into a new form.
Many of the stories contain a puzzle or twist, which must be solved or overcome in order to save humanity ( or the portion of it being threatened). Saberhagen's Christianity is on full display in his stories, a number of which are variations on the Judgement of Solomon, in which some terrible choice must be made.
Saberhagen was a competent writer and the collection is, for the most part entertaining.
October 17, 2019
7/10 en 2006.
Hay varias novelas de esto de Berseker, que son guerras donde la Humanidad lucha contra máquinas inteligentes robóticas, auto-replicantes y mas malas que Terminator.
Space Opera en la que el Sr Saberhagen se hartó de producir novelas incluso con paralelismos y similitudes con batallas y países reales.
Hay varias novelas de esto de Berseker, que son guerras donde la Humanidad lucha contra máquinas inteligentes robóticas, auto-replicantes y mas malas que Terminator.
Space Opera en la que el Sr Saberhagen se hartó de producir novelas incluso con paralelismos y similitudes con batallas y países reales.
May 26, 2014
I love 60s sci fi! I expected this to be military sci fi but instead the Berserkers are more the backdrop for whatever story Saberhagen wanted to tell. You're never sure what he's going to come up with next.
April 24, 2012
I always thought science fiction really lends itself to the short story-thing. This is a real mish-mash of different stories. Strange and cool. 'The Face of the Deep' was my favourite.
February 21, 2013
Toss up between 3 and 4 stars so I've gotta give it the benefit of the doubt. Especially since one particular story in here titled WINGS OUT OF SHADOW was absolutely incredible. Instant classic right there. It was so good that it made me want to stay up all night writing myself. (Of course I couldn't because of that damn thing called work.)
Anyway, this is my first exposure to Saberhagen's Berserker stories and without doubt I will be finding more of them. I don't know if I would say that this is hardback-spend-thirty-dollars worthy, but if you can get a paperback copy of it to read at a reasonable price make sure you do.
Anyway, this is my first exposure to Saberhagen's Berserker stories and without doubt I will be finding more of them. I don't know if I would say that this is hardback-spend-thirty-dollars worthy, but if you can get a paperback copy of it to read at a reasonable price make sure you do.
August 14, 2025
"He who wins everything... will die owning nothing...."
Seemingly because they didn't have movies like The Terminator, War Games or even some chap telling you be careful what you put out in the universe or you sow what you reap or a million other warnings, an ancient race called "The Builders" create giant robotic monstrosities now known as Berserkers as a weapon to fight in a war against another ancient race. These monoliths inevitably turn on their masters after killing off their foes and then set their sights on destroying all organic life in the universe; even laying dormant until life crosses their path. In their continued expansion of the galaxy, humanity just so happened to be that "life" and these are the stories of those battles.
Not a novel but a collection of short stories, these give little snippets of insight as to the cost of war with an unrelenting enemy. Using the overall battle as a backdrop to tell smaller, more personal stories, The Berserker Wars sometimes falters, but never fails to entertain. Sometimes they feel rushed as if Saberhagen could have spent more time developing the hook like in The Face of the Deep. Sometimes the stories are just quirky and weird as in Mr. Jester and Metal Murderer. Sometimes, however, they play really well with each other as in Starsong, a love story where we see the berserkers breaking people down to their brains and nervous systems in an attempt to better understand them, and then in Some Events at the Templar Radiant we see the humans doing the same thing to the berserkers. Then there are odd but enjoyable stories such as The Winged Helmet, the longest of the stories by far, where we see time travel randomly introduced in a quasi-Terminator story (or more likely a Harlan Ellison riff) as berserkers are seemingly trying to kill a King to find victory in the future so humans attempt to keep him alive to keep the timeline safe.
Overall, the stories in this collection tell a fairly cohesive story from start to finish giving varied accounts of the chaos of war over a long period of time and the lengths each side goes to in order to continue living as they know it and achieve victory, but as we know... "he who wins everything will die owning nothing."
Stone Place
Face of the Deep
What T and I did?
Mr. Jester
The Winged Helmet
Starsong
Some Events at the Templar Radiant
Wings out of Shadow
The Smile
The Adventure of the Metal Murderer (or just Metal Murderer)
Patron of the Arts
Seemingly because they didn't have movies like The Terminator, War Games or even some chap telling you be careful what you put out in the universe or you sow what you reap or a million other warnings, an ancient race called "The Builders" create giant robotic monstrosities now known as Berserkers as a weapon to fight in a war against another ancient race. These monoliths inevitably turn on their masters after killing off their foes and then set their sights on destroying all organic life in the universe; even laying dormant until life crosses their path. In their continued expansion of the galaxy, humanity just so happened to be that "life" and these are the stories of those battles.
Not a novel but a collection of short stories, these give little snippets of insight as to the cost of war with an unrelenting enemy. Using the overall battle as a backdrop to tell smaller, more personal stories, The Berserker Wars sometimes falters, but never fails to entertain. Sometimes they feel rushed as if Saberhagen could have spent more time developing the hook like in The Face of the Deep. Sometimes the stories are just quirky and weird as in Mr. Jester and Metal Murderer. Sometimes, however, they play really well with each other as in Starsong, a love story where we see the berserkers breaking people down to their brains and nervous systems in an attempt to better understand them, and then in Some Events at the Templar Radiant we see the humans doing the same thing to the berserkers. Then there are odd but enjoyable stories such as The Winged Helmet, the longest of the stories by far, where we see time travel randomly introduced in a quasi-Terminator story (or more likely a Harlan Ellison riff) as berserkers are seemingly trying to kill a King to find victory in the future so humans attempt to keep him alive to keep the timeline safe.
Overall, the stories in this collection tell a fairly cohesive story from start to finish giving varied accounts of the chaos of war over a long period of time and the lengths each side goes to in order to continue living as they know it and achieve victory, but as we know... "he who wins everything will die owning nothing."
Stone Place
Face of the Deep
What T and I did?
Mr. Jester
The Winged Helmet
Starsong
Some Events at the Templar Radiant
Wings out of Shadow
The Smile
The Adventure of the Metal Murderer (or just Metal Murderer)
Patron of the Arts
December 18, 2025
I didn't realize this was a collection of reprinted stories from the first 5 Berserker books (or really just the 1st, 2nd, and 5th, because the other two are novels instead of short story collections) until I had already bought and started it, but it had been a while since I read those other collections, so I enjoyed revisiting some of the best stories in the series. It's still worth it to read the full other collections, because there are some really great stories that aren't included here, but if you want a whirlwind tour of the cream of the crop, this is a great introduction to the breadth of the Berserker universe.
Read
February 1, 2022What can you say about a book whose stories have all been published in other books of the series? And every story but one was published in an earlier book release, so that if you are reading the Berserker novels in order, there is only one story / chapter you have not already read.
The stories are quite good, so if you have not read any Berserker books before, I would tell you it is 4 to 5 stars. But I can not give this book a rating, because nearly its entire content I had read in the earlier books.
The stories are quite good, so if you have not read any Berserker books before, I would tell you it is 4 to 5 stars. But I can not give this book a rating, because nearly its entire content I had read in the earlier books.
March 5, 2025
Seems more storyline-focused and less about things that Saberhagen learned about recently than Ultimate Enemy does, which is a bit unfortunate. Still an enjoyable read, although there's overlap between the short stories contained in this volume and the ones in Ultimate Enemy. This one is very obviously supposed to be read first; there's a lot of worldbuilding and setup that makes it feel less like you're searching for the narrative.
February 27, 2024
Entertaining set of short stories. Great read, such creative science-fiction.
September 7, 2024
Most of these stories have been printed in other books. Good stories but not a whole lot new if you've read the other Berserker books.
February 1, 2014
Read this online as a follow up to Berserker #1, not realizing I was going out of order, or that there was at least one overlapping story.
The stories are good old school sci fi. Very entertaining and set in an interesting universe. I don't know if individual stories stand out, but you can do worse if you are looking for classics in the genre.
The stories are good old school sci fi. Very entertaining and set in an interesting universe. I don't know if individual stories stand out, but you can do worse if you are looking for classics in the genre.
August 26, 2012
A compilation of stories from 1969 and 1979 featuring the Berserker universe, it's a very creative assortment. I haven't read about the Berserker saga before, but I'm reminded of the Daleks of Dr. Who - "exterminate!" Which came first?
June 13, 2014
Read the 2 recommended stories( as recommended on goodreads)"The face of the Deep" and "Wings of the shadow".They were both well written, but "wings of the shadow" was definitely the better written,it had more style and the plot was twisted ( made me want to read more of Saberhagen).
June 27, 2016
Good read much better than current sci fire.
The concept of non life forms so well described with Saberhagens spiritual man fighting the good fight in oh so many ways keeps me glued to the pages just as I did as a young man.
The concept of non life forms so well described with Saberhagens spiritual man fighting the good fight in oh so many ways keeps me glued to the pages just as I did as a young man.
April 11, 2012
I liked this the last time I read it, but found it disappointing this time around. The characterizations seemed thin and the plots trite. Perhaps I've outgrown it
April 17, 2013
Excellent collection of short stories set in the Berserker universe.
Read
May 23, 2013Tales from the galactic battle of man versus machine
January 1, 2015
Got a bad printing; chunks of several stories were missing. Put me off. Have to find Berserker #1 and try again.
January 21, 2016
Second read of this one: a series of Berserker short stories.
May 24, 2016
The introduction was quite good but almost all the stories were in a previous volume so that is disappointing.
Read
August 22, 2008Berserker Wars by Fred Saberhagen (1994)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews