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Machines That Kill
Saberhagen, Fred and Martin Greenberg, Machines that Kill
326 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1984
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66 people want to read
About the author
Fred Saberhagen
335 books496 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 20, 2015
My paperback, rescued from somewhere, is not shown among the editions. Ace Science Fiction published in 1984. The lineup of writers is star-studded...
"Killdozer" by Theodore Sturgeon - A classic (long)story by a sci-fi all-timer. I read this many years ago AND remember seeing the TV movie version of it. The on-screen battle between the dozer and the shovel was very entertaining! The plot had been changed and simplified(of course) and updated from its WWII setting. The author either took the time to learn a lot about construction equipment of the mid-forties or had personal experience. It's pretty technical! The story is a definite ancestor to the movie/story "The Car" and "Christine." among others. I just looked at the Wiki page for "The Car" and "Killdozer!" and "Christine" are mentioned. Also very entertaining("The Car") as I recall!
"Alpha Ralpha Boulevard" by Cordwainer Smith - I don't recall this author's name and certainly you didn't see that many female authors in sci-fi back in the day(oops, I goofed - Ms. Emshwiller is the author of the NEXT story - I have heard of this author). But... this was a great story although all the height stuff made me queasy. Yesterday was a great example of why I love reading. First some Nabokov and his funny-sad and superb, crystalline prose and then some wonderful sci-fi imagination stuff. Watch out for that Abba-dingo thingee! Gotta love books!
- I just looked up Ms. Emshwiller on wiki - very interesting! Still going strong at 93...
"Hunting Machine: by (see above)Carol Emshwiller - Short and nasty tale about future sports hunting. It's somewhat prophetic as the field up-techs over time but fortunately the numbers of people who enjoy killing wild animals for fun is steadily dropping(I think... I hope...). But... as food shortages crop up here and there(central Africa) wild animal populations become nothing more than bush meat and extinction becomes a real threat. Too... many... people...
"Auto-Da-Fe" by Roger Zelazny - An amusing fantasy tale. Pretty lightweight but bolstered by the author's renowned over-the-top style.
"Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick - More Paranoia-porn from the master. Vaguely similar to "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."
"Under the Hammer" by David Drake - Another author I don't recall. People(and things) REALLY get killed in this intense tale that brings to mind Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
- So... I'm about halfway through with this collection and report that indeed, people and things to get killed in a variety of unpleasant ways in every story. Plenty of "killing" imagination on display!
- "Lost Memory" by Peter Phillips - Gruesome but amusing. The perils of a first contact. Rings a vague memory bell...
- "Making the Connections" by Barry N. Malzberg - A vague, entertaining tale narrated by a dying robot(he's pretty vague[dying] so the story is vague). Lots of killing vaguely described.
- "Steel" by Richard Matheson - A old tale with a slight variation. The more things change... In this story NOBODY gets killed. Almost, but not quite!
- "The Iron Chancellor" by Robert Silverberg - A funny story about the perils of technology a la the HAL 9000 in "2001: a Space Odyssey." Make your own damned food! Nobody dead at the end of the story.
- "The Wabbler" by Murray Leinster is the oldest story in the collection. It's about a very advanced and deadly weapon with a bit of a brain. Enough to be very nasty. Appropriate for WWII I suppose. I think I read this long ago. Plenty of death implied here.
- "The Cruel Equations" by Robert Sheckley - Who's dumber, man or machine? Cruel but funny... This story is sort typical of that sci-fi genre of story that's both dramatic and funny. Again, nobody dead in this one - almost!
- "Combat Unit" by Keith Laumer - Very well written, though at times confusing tale of robot courage and persistence and human over-programming for valor and never-say-die. And in the end... a nice vacation for our deadly hero! Again with the humor and drama! Plenty bodies here...
- "Fondly Fahrenheit" by Alfred Bester - A story I know I read before, maybe more than once as it has been anthologized many times. A classic... All reet! Dead people? - Yup - including children.
- "Goodlife" by Fred Sabergagen - I wonder if he's related to Brett? Apparently the Berserkers are a series of stories by Fred S. This is another good one.
It's tough to give a genre book a 4* rating and I won't do it here but the stories are plenty good and about half are quite excellent. 3.5* rounds down to 3*
"Killdozer" by Theodore Sturgeon - A classic (long)story by a sci-fi all-timer. I read this many years ago AND remember seeing the TV movie version of it. The on-screen battle between the dozer and the shovel was very entertaining! The plot had been changed and simplified(of course) and updated from its WWII setting. The author either took the time to learn a lot about construction equipment of the mid-forties or had personal experience. It's pretty technical! The story is a definite ancestor to the movie/story "The Car" and "Christine." among others. I just looked at the Wiki page for "The Car" and "Killdozer!" and "Christine" are mentioned. Also very entertaining("The Car") as I recall!
"Alpha Ralpha Boulevard" by Cordwainer Smith - I don't recall this author's name and certainly you didn't see that many female authors in sci-fi back in the day(oops, I goofed - Ms. Emshwiller is the author of the NEXT story - I have heard of this author). But... this was a great story although all the height stuff made me queasy. Yesterday was a great example of why I love reading. First some Nabokov and his funny-sad and superb, crystalline prose and then some wonderful sci-fi imagination stuff. Watch out for that Abba-dingo thingee! Gotta love books!
- I just looked up Ms. Emshwiller on wiki - very interesting! Still going strong at 93...
"Hunting Machine: by (see above)Carol Emshwiller - Short and nasty tale about future sports hunting. It's somewhat prophetic as the field up-techs over time but fortunately the numbers of people who enjoy killing wild animals for fun is steadily dropping(I think... I hope...). But... as food shortages crop up here and there(central Africa) wild animal populations become nothing more than bush meat and extinction becomes a real threat. Too... many... people...
"Auto-Da-Fe" by Roger Zelazny - An amusing fantasy tale. Pretty lightweight but bolstered by the author's renowned over-the-top style.
"Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick - More Paranoia-porn from the master. Vaguely similar to "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."
"Under the Hammer" by David Drake - Another author I don't recall. People(and things) REALLY get killed in this intense tale that brings to mind Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
- So... I'm about halfway through with this collection and report that indeed, people and things to get killed in a variety of unpleasant ways in every story. Plenty of "killing" imagination on display!
- "Lost Memory" by Peter Phillips - Gruesome but amusing. The perils of a first contact. Rings a vague memory bell...
- "Making the Connections" by Barry N. Malzberg - A vague, entertaining tale narrated by a dying robot(he's pretty vague[dying] so the story is vague). Lots of killing vaguely described.
- "Steel" by Richard Matheson - A old tale with a slight variation. The more things change... In this story NOBODY gets killed. Almost, but not quite!
- "The Iron Chancellor" by Robert Silverberg - A funny story about the perils of technology a la the HAL 9000 in "2001: a Space Odyssey." Make your own damned food! Nobody dead at the end of the story.
- "The Wabbler" by Murray Leinster is the oldest story in the collection. It's about a very advanced and deadly weapon with a bit of a brain. Enough to be very nasty. Appropriate for WWII I suppose. I think I read this long ago. Plenty of death implied here.
- "The Cruel Equations" by Robert Sheckley - Who's dumber, man or machine? Cruel but funny... This story is sort typical of that sci-fi genre of story that's both dramatic and funny. Again, nobody dead in this one - almost!
- "Combat Unit" by Keith Laumer - Very well written, though at times confusing tale of robot courage and persistence and human over-programming for valor and never-say-die. And in the end... a nice vacation for our deadly hero! Again with the humor and drama! Plenty bodies here...
- "Fondly Fahrenheit" by Alfred Bester - A story I know I read before, maybe more than once as it has been anthologized many times. A classic... All reet! Dead people? - Yup - including children.
- "Goodlife" by Fred Sabergagen - I wonder if he's related to Brett? Apparently the Berserkers are a series of stories by Fred S. This is another good one.
It's tough to give a genre book a 4* rating and I won't do it here but the stories are plenty good and about half are quite excellent. 3.5* rounds down to 3*
July 23, 2010
Another very good military/war SF book. Great stories by Drake, Bester, Laumer and others.
My cover is different than this one.
My cover is different than this one.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews