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Earth Descended
Saberhagen, Fred, Earth Descended
- GenresScience FictionFiction
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
2 people are currently reading
79 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 26, 2023
I see this book has never received a proper breakdown or detailed review, so let's do that.
Earth Descended, by Fred Saberhagen, is a collection of 12 short stories. These range from fantasy, to sci-fi, to speculative fiction. They also range from terrible, to middling, to "okay, that was kind of interesting".
To sum up this book in a single phrase: "bargain-bin Ted Chiang + dollar-store general Black Mirror"
Let's break 'em down now!
1) Young Girl at an Open Half Door -2/5
It started out like it was going to be a paranormal mystery, and quickly turned into... I don't know. Something else. Space shit? Romance shit? Just shit.
2) The Metal Murderer 0/5
Earth being plagued by murder robots. One murder robot goes back in time. Hero guy follows robot. Robot disguises itself and gets involved in chess game. Some pseudo, poorly done Casablanca-esque dialog happens. Hero guys blasts robot guy.
The Daleks did it better, yeah...
3) Earthshade 0/5
Greek mythology and... um.... stuff. I guess. I don't know. I really don't know.
4) The White Bull -1/5
Literally the retelling of the tale of Icarus from Daedalus's point of view... isn't this plagiarism?
5) Calendars 4/5
FINALLY A GOOD ONE!! This was very Black Mirror.
"What happens when we cure death?"
6) Wilderness 0/5
I'm starting to sense a pattern here... dear author, maybe you should actually CONCLUDE your stories!? Or, at the very least, HAVE A POINT to them?
7) Patron of the Arts 1/5
Started out like it was going to ponder the question; "could sentient cyborgs be sapient?"
But then it leaves that question unanswered, unexplored and the cyberman wanders somewhere off screen... literally. He wanders off.
8) To Mark the Year on Azlaroc TL;DR
Skipped. I read a bit and got bored.
It's probably about something or someone.
9) Victory TL;DR
Fearing this was going to be another cheesy space romp, with bad science and even worse characters, I skipped.
10) Birthdays 3/5
Goddammit, if the author would only give us a satisfying CONCLUSION to his stories!! ..or even just CONCLUDE things!
This started out brilliant. Intriguing. A generation ship, traveling to some far off planetary system... but something doesn't seem quite right, does it? Something strange is going on, surely?
This could have been 60 pages of sheer intrigue, suspense and sense of foreboding... had not the conclusion to said 60-page story been literally HALF A PAGE!
Half a fucking page. Grr!
11) Recessional 0/5
A mysterious body floating in the water for months, but strangely no decay. Forensic science taking leaps and bounds in discovering ways to scan skulls for visual evidence?? Quantum consciousnesses between alternate realities? And through it all, one person on the run who seems very nervous about everything on the news... My, MY! That does sound absolutely Black Mirror, does it not?
How does that all tie in to one coherent plot?
...it doesn't.
The story ends with him sitting on the beach looking at the waves, and uses NONE of the devices previously mentioned to support the narrative.
I guess "quantum mechanics" just sounds too cool not to use.....
12) Where Thy Treasure Is 2/5
If Scrooge had been made conscientious via cybernetic malfunction.
Potential Black Mirror episode that wanted to have a happy ending. Not the worst, I suppose.. But, AGAIN, the ending was half a page long.
Unlike most of the stories though... at least it actually concluded and had a point!
Overall, 1.5 stars.
And most of that rating is only for "Calendars", because it was a genuinely interesting idea, executed well.
Earth Descended, by Fred Saberhagen, is a collection of 12 short stories. These range from fantasy, to sci-fi, to speculative fiction. They also range from terrible, to middling, to "okay, that was kind of interesting".
To sum up this book in a single phrase: "bargain-bin Ted Chiang + dollar-store general Black Mirror"
Let's break 'em down now!
1) Young Girl at an Open Half Door -2/5
It started out like it was going to be a paranormal mystery, and quickly turned into... I don't know. Something else. Space shit? Romance shit? Just shit.
2) The Metal Murderer 0/5
Earth being plagued by murder robots. One murder robot goes back in time. Hero guy follows robot. Robot disguises itself and gets involved in chess game. Some pseudo, poorly done Casablanca-esque dialog happens. Hero guys blasts robot guy.
The Daleks did it better, yeah...
3) Earthshade 0/5
Greek mythology and... um.... stuff. I guess. I don't know. I really don't know.
4) The White Bull -1/5
Literally the retelling of the tale of Icarus from Daedalus's point of view... isn't this plagiarism?
5) Calendars 4/5
FINALLY A GOOD ONE!! This was very Black Mirror.
"What happens when we cure death?"
6) Wilderness 0/5
I'm starting to sense a pattern here... dear author, maybe you should actually CONCLUDE your stories!? Or, at the very least, HAVE A POINT to them?
7) Patron of the Arts 1/5
Started out like it was going to ponder the question; "could sentient cyborgs be sapient?"
But then it leaves that question unanswered, unexplored and the cyberman wanders somewhere off screen... literally. He wanders off.
8) To Mark the Year on Azlaroc TL;DR
Skipped. I read a bit and got bored.
It's probably about something or someone.
9) Victory TL;DR
Fearing this was going to be another cheesy space romp, with bad science and even worse characters, I skipped.
10) Birthdays 3/5
Goddammit, if the author would only give us a satisfying CONCLUSION to his stories!! ..or even just CONCLUDE things!
This started out brilliant. Intriguing. A generation ship, traveling to some far off planetary system... but something doesn't seem quite right, does it? Something strange is going on, surely?
This could have been 60 pages of sheer intrigue, suspense and sense of foreboding... had not the conclusion to said 60-page story been literally HALF A PAGE!
Half a fucking page. Grr!
11) Recessional 0/5
A mysterious body floating in the water for months, but strangely no decay. Forensic science taking leaps and bounds in discovering ways to scan skulls for visual evidence?? Quantum consciousnesses between alternate realities? And through it all, one person on the run who seems very nervous about everything on the news... My, MY! That does sound absolutely Black Mirror, does it not?
How does that all tie in to one coherent plot?
...it doesn't.
The story ends with him sitting on the beach looking at the waves, and uses NONE of the devices previously mentioned to support the narrative.
I guess "quantum mechanics" just sounds too cool not to use.....
12) Where Thy Treasure Is 2/5
If Scrooge had been made conscientious via cybernetic malfunction.
Potential Black Mirror episode that wanted to have a happy ending. Not the worst, I suppose.. But, AGAIN, the ending was half a page long.
Unlike most of the stories though... at least it actually concluded and had a point!
Overall, 1.5 stars.
And most of that rating is only for "Calendars", because it was a genuinely interesting idea, executed well.
December 5, 2014
This is somewhat dated but better than average collection of short stories. I enjoyed most of them.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews