Berserker (Saberhagen)

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Berserker

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 0-441-05495-1 (Ace '92 edition)

The Berserker series is a series of space opera science fiction short stories and novels by Fred Saberhagen, in which robotic self-replicating machines intend to destroy all life. These Berserkers, named after the human berserker warriors of Norse legend, are doomsday weapons left over from an interstellar war between two races of extraterrestrials. They all have machine intelligence, and their sizes range from that of an asteroid, in the case of an automated repair and construction base, down to human size (and shape) or smaller. The Berserkers' bases are capable of manufacturing more and deadlier Berserkers as need arises.

The original Berserkers were designed and built as an Ultimate Weapon, by a race now known only as the Builders, to wipe out their rivals the Red Race, in a war which took place at a time corresponding to Earth's Paleolithic era. The Builders failed to ensure their own immunity from Berserker attack, or they lost those safeguards through an unknown malfunction that changed the Berserker programming, and they were exterminated by their own creation very shortly after the demise of the Red Race. The Berserkers then set out across the galaxy to fulfill their core programmed imperative, which is now, simply, to destroy all life wherever they can find it.

Background

The Berserker stories (published as novels and short stories) depict the fight between Berserkers and the sentient species of the Milky Way Galaxy; Homo sapiens (referred to as "Earth-descended" or "ED" humans, or as "Solarians") are the only sentient species aggressive enough to counter Berserkers.

Allies of the Earth-descended humans include the telepathic "Carmpans", 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, in which the protagonist faces a problem of simulating intelligence to fool an enemy trying to determine whether there was any conscious being present in a spaceship.

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 used it as the basis of many stories. A common theme in the stories is of how the apparent weaknesses and inconsistencies of living beings are actually the strengths that bring about the killer machines' eventual defeat.

The second story introduces "goodlife": human traitors or collaborators who cooperate with the Berserker machines to stay alive for a while. Later stories involve the qwib-qwib, an anti-Berserker berserker.

Historical and literary analogy

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 the edge of Berserker controlled space and the human base of Port Diamond), spaceships involved were named after the U.S. ships (Stinger for USS Hornet, Venture for USS Enterprise, etc.), and the battle used almost exactly the same tactics, among other similarities.

List of Alien Species in the Berserker Novels

1. The Berserkers

The Berserkers are intelligent machines, created by an organic race in the past as the ultimate Doomsday Weapon, a group of robots with one goal: to destroy all organic life.

Physiology

Berserkers come in a multitude of shapes, sizes, and forms. However, the most common Berserkers are large interstellar spacecraft, armed to the teeth, equipped with self-replicating factories, and capable of producing numerous scout craft, foot soldiers, and other weapons of war.

History

Little is known of Berserkers history other than the Berserkers were created to destroy the Red Race, who are now extinct. The creators of the Berserkers are known as the Builders, who were also later destroyed by the Berserkers.

2. The Builders

Little is known about the Builders, other than they created and were later destroyed by the massive death machines known as the Berserkers.

Physiology

Nothing is known of the physiology of the Builders.

History

The Builders created the Berserkers in a life or death intergalactic struggle with the Red Race, in which both races lost since the Berserkers destroyed both of them.

3. The Carmpans

The carmpans themselves are largely a mystery. Little is known of them, but what is known is that they are pacifists and not warriors. Their culture is one of logical reason, pacifism, and philosophy. They lend what support they can to the Humans, but in non-martial forms. They are a patient and peaceful species, incapable of direct aggression, but they do possess one special power, a telepathic ability to speak to other sentients across the stars, a method of communication that the Berserkers cannot spy on...

Physiology

The Carmpans have humanoid bodies very similar to baseline ED Humans.

History

The Carmpans are also a biological lifeform and thus a target for the genocidal programming of the Berserkers. As such, they have allied themselves with the Solarians also known as the ED Humans.

4. The Humans

Homo sapiens, referred to as "Earth-descended" or "ED" Humans, or as "Solarians," are the only sentient species aggressive enough to counter Berserkers.

Physiology

Humans have a standard baseline physiology and exhibit known physical capabilities without cybernetics or trans-humanistic traits.

History

The Berserkers have severally threatened human civilizations and wiped out millions. The remnants of human civilization have learned to be wily in order to survive. Berserker technology is much more advanced than that of any known human society, although the survivors are disparate and lack the ability to act as a united foe to the Berserkers.

5. The Red Race

Little is known about the Red Race, other than the Builders specifically created the massive death machines known as the Berserkers to destroy them in war fought a countless amount of time ago.

Physiology

Nothing is known of the physiology of the Red Race.

History

The Red Race was the first biological race destroyed by the Berserkers in a life or death intergalactic struggle with the Builders, in which both races lost since the Berserkers destroyed both of them.

Adaptations

  • A board game based on the series was produced by Flying Buffalo Inc in 1982.[1]
  • A comic book adaptation is being created by Fan-Atic Press.[2]

See also

Books

  • Berserker (collection, 1967) collects the stories
    • "Without a Thought" (first appeared as "Fortress Ship" in Worlds of If, Jan 1963)
    • "Goodlife" (first appeared in Worlds of Tomorrow, Dec 1963)
    • "Patron of the Arts" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Aug 1965)
    • "The Peacemaker" (first appeared as "The Lifehater" in Worlds of If, Aug 1964)
    • "Stone Place" (first appeared in Worlds of If, March 1965)
    • "What T and I Did" (first appeared in Worlds of If, April 1965)
    • "Mr. Jester" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Jan 1966)
    • "Masque of the Red Shift" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Nov 1965)
    • "Sign of the Wolf" (first appeared in Worlds of If, May 1965)
    • "In the Temple of Mars" (first appeared in Worlds of If, April 1966)
    • "The Face of the Deep" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Sep 1966)
  • Brother Assassin (novel, 1969)
  • Berserker's Planet (1975)
  • Berserker Man (1979)
  • Ultimate Enemy (collection, 1979)
    • "The Smile" (first appeared in Algol, Summer/Fall 1977)
    • "Pressure" (first appeared as "Beserkers Prey" in Worlds of If, June 1977)
    • "The Annihilation of Angkor Apeiron" (first appeared in Galaxy, Feb 1977)
    • "Inhuman Error" (first appeared in Analog, Oct 1974)
    • "Some events at the Templar Radiant" (first appeared in Destinies, May-Aug, 1979)
    • "Starsong" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Jan 1968)
    • "Smasher" (first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aug 1978)
    • "The Game" (first appeared in The Flying Buffalo's Favorite Magazine, May–June 1977)
    • "Wings out of Shadow" (first appeared in Worlds of If, March–April, 1974)
  • Berserker Wars (collection, 1981)
    • "Stone Place" (first appeared in Worlds of If, March 1965)
    • "The Face of the Deep" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Sep 1966)
    • "What T and I Did" (first appeared in Worlds of If, April 1965)
    • "Mr. Jester" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Jan 1966)
    • "The Winged Helmet" (excerpt from Brother Assassin, 1969, a shorter version of which first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, 1967)
    • "Starsong" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Jan 1968)
    • "Some events at the Templar Radiant" (first appeared in Destinies, May-Aug, 1979)
    • "Wings out of Shadow" (first appeared in Worlds of If, March–April, 1974)
    • "The Smile" (first appeared in Algol, Summer/Fall 1977)
    • "The Adventure of the Metal Murderer" (first appeared in Omni, Jan 1980 )
    • "Patron of the Arts" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Aug 1965)
  • Berserker Throne (1985)
  • Berserker Blue Death (1985)
  • Berserker Base (1985), an anthology with several guest writers; Saberhagen wrote the connecting interludes.
    • "Prisoners' Base" by Fred Saberhagen
    • "What Makes us Human" by Stephen Donaldson
    • "Friends Together" by Fred Saberhagen
    • "With Friends Like These" by Connie Willis
    • "The Founts of Sorrow" by Fred Saberhagen
    • "Itself Surprised" by Roger Zelazny
    • "The Great Secret" by Fred Saberhagen
    • "Deathwomb" by Poul Anderson
    • "Dangerous Dreams" by Fred Saberhagen
    • "Pilots of the Twilight" by Ed Byrant
    • "Crossing the Bar" by Fred Saberhagen
    • "A Teardrop Falls" by Larry Niven
    • "Berserker base" by Fred Saberhagen
  • Berserker Attack (limited edition collection, 1987)
    • "Masque of the Red Shift" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Nov 1965)
    • "In the Temple of Mars" (first appeared in Worlds of If, April 1966)
    • "Brother Berserker" (excerpt from Brother Assassin, 1969, a shorter version of which first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, 1967)
    • "Smasher" (first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aug 1978)
  • Berserker Lies (collection, 1991)
    • "The Machinery of Lies"
    • "Masque of the Red Shift" (first appeared in Worlds of If, Nov 1965)
    • "In the Temple of Mars" (first appeared in Worlds of If, April 1966)
    • "Brother Berserker" (excerpt from Brother Assassin, 1969, a shorter version of which first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, 1967)
    • "Smasher" (first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aug 1978)
  • Berserker Kill (1993)
  • Berserker Fury (1997)
  • Shiva in Steel (1998)
  • Berserker Star (2003)
  • Berserker Prime (2003)
  • Rogue Berserker (2005)

Some of the collections have duplicate stories.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1779
  2. ↑ http://bellsouthpwp2.net/h/r/hrfgf1219/berserker.html

External links

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