Berserker (Saberhagen)

Infobox Book |
name = Berserker


image_caption = July 1986 Ace 13th printing features cover art by Boris Vallejo.
author = Fred Saberhagen
country = United States
language = English
genre = Science fiction
publisher = Ballantine '67, Penguin '70/'85 (UK), Ace '78/'79/'80/'84/'92
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
isbn = ISBN 0441054951 (Ace '92 edition)The Berserker series of science fiction short stories by Fred Saberhagen (1930-2007) is a variety of space opera in which robotic self-replicating machines intend to destroy all organic life. These berserkers, a doomsday weapon left over from an interstellar war 50,000 years ago, are killer spaceships furnished with machine intelligence, operating from asteroid-sized berserker bases where they are capable of building more Berserkers and auxiliary machines. The name is a reference to the human "Berserkers", warriors of Norse legend.

Background

The "Berserker" stories (published as novels and short stories) describe humanity's fight against the berserkers. The term "humanity" refers to all sentient life in the Galaxy, emphasizing the common threat the berserkers pose toward all forms of life. "Homo sapiens", referred to as Earth-descended or ED humans, or as Solarians, are the only sentient species aggressive enough to put up a fight.

The major ally of the ED humans are the telepathic Carmpan, a subtle and mysterious species incapable of direct aggression. The first stories in the series are related by an individual Carmpan, the 3rd Historian, who seeks to chronicle life in the Galaxy and the struggle against the berserkers.

The first story, "Without a Thought" (1963), was basically a puzzle story, where the protagonist faced a problem of simulating intelligence to fool an enemy trying to determine whether there was any conscious being present on a ship.

Saberhagen came up with the berserker as the rationale for the story on the spur of the moment, but the basic concept was so fruitful, with so many possible ramifications, that he has used it as the basis of many of his stories. A common theme in the stories is of how the apparent weaknesses and inconsistencies of living beings are actually the strengths that enable the machines' eventual defeat.

Later stories introduce "goodlife," traitors or collaborators who cooperate with the berserker machines to stay alive for a while (Berserkers refer to all non-Berserkers as 'badlife'), and the qwib-qwib, an anti-berserker berserker.

Books

* "Berserker" (collection, 1967) collects the stories
** "Without a Thought"
** "Goodlife"
** "Patron of the Arts"
** "The Peacemaker"
** "Stone Place"
** "What T and I Did"
** "Mr. Jester"
** "Massque of the Red Shift"
** "Sign of the Wolf"
** "In the Temple of Mars"
** "The Face of the Deep"
* "Berserker Wars" (collection, 1981)
* "Berserker Blue Death" (1985)
* "Berserker Throne" (1986)
* "Berserker Base" (1987) (Anthology with several guest writers. Saberhagen wrote the connecting interludes.)
* "Ultimate Enemy" (collection, 1987)
* "Berserker Attack" (collection, 1987) (Limited edition collection)
* "Berserker's Planet" (1991)
* "Berserker Lies" (collection, 1991)
* "Berserker Man" (1992)
* "Berserker Kill" (1993)
* "Brother Assassin" (collection, 1993)
* "Berserker Fury" (1997)
* "Shiva in Steel" (1998)
* "Berserker Star" (2003)
* "Berserker Prime" (2003)
* "Rogue Berserker" (2005)

Some of the collections have duplicate stories.

Historical analogy

Some of the early berserker stories constitute a science fiction retelling of the events around the Battle of Lepanto (1571). Fact|date=July 2007

In addition, the novel "Berserker Fury" is a space version of the Battle of Midway. The "island" planet was called 50/50 (halfway or "midway" between two points), spaceships involved were named after the U.S. ships (Stinger for USS "Hornet", Venture for USS "Enterprise", etc.), and the battle used almost the exact same tactics, among other similarities.

Adaptations

A comic book adaptation is being created by Fan-Atic Press. [http://bellsouthpwp2.net/h/r/hrfgf1219/berserker.html]

ee also

*Berserker probe
*Self-replicating machine
*Inhibitors (Alastair Reynolds)
*Starweb
*Mass Effect

References

External links

* http://www.berserker.com/
* http://www.berserkerfan.org/ - The Taj: Official Fan Site of Fred Saberhagen's Berserker Universe