If you missed the last one…
Before the Death Star, there were Berserkers. I am talking visually, of course. Star Wars‘ Death Star is a human-built and run machine. A very large one, a base armed with a killer laser. Fred Saberhagen gave us the image of the large spherical death machine that can blast a planet, killing all life there. I don’t know if George Lucas had the Berserkers in mind. (He borrowed from Jack Williamson, Frank Herbert and Edgar Rice Burroughs, for sure.) Star Trek did a similar thing with a giant killer ice cream cone in “The Doomsday Machine” (October 20, 1967). That one was written by Norman Spinrad. Then there was The Terminator, which used the image of the man-sized robots. (We won’t get into James Cameron.)
So far no Hollywood producer has thought to make an actual Berserker film or televisions series. They would probably say “That’s been done before.” Which it has. What they would be referring to is the visual again. Death Stars and Terminators. What they would be missing is the entire point. The Berserker series is about the hardiness of humankind. It is about how the humans deal with the killer machines. It reminds me of a line from John Wyndham. “Can you write me stories about airplanes?” “No, you can only write about people.” That applies here too. The machines aren’t the real point. The power of humanity is.
Previously we looked at the short stories that formed the initial Berserker books. This post goes from there, highlighting the many novels Fred wrote in the years that followed. (If you missed the first stories, us the link above.)
The Rest of the 1970s
“Inhuman Error” (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, October 1974)
“The Annihilation of Angkor Apeiron” (Galaxy, February 1975)
“The Smile” (Algol, #29, Summer-Fall 1977)
“Smasher” (Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1978) is probably my favorite of the short stories.
Berserker Man (1979) was Fred’s second novel. The novel will quickly become the format of the Berserkers, after appearing in short story form from the beginning.
The Ultimate Enemy (1979) collection featuring:
“The Game” (1979)
“Some Events at the Templar Radiant” (Destinies, August-September 1979)
The 1980s
“Adventure of the Metal Murderer” (Omni, January 1980) is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche with Berserker.
The Berserker Wars (1981) collection of old stories except for “Adventure of the Metal Murderer”.
Berserker Base (1985) appeared around the time that Thieves’ World was making shared universes popular. Saberhagen wrote some great heroic fantasy but he did not offer anything to Robert Aspirin and Lynn Abbey’s series. He did partake in Larry Niven’s Warlock book, The Magic May Return (1981) with “Earthshade”. Fred also had other authors write in his Swords series with An Armory of Swords in 1995. Fred would not collaborate with other writers again until 2007. This book is also the last of the new story collections.
“Prisoner’s Base” by Fred Sabgerhagen
“What Makes Us Human” by Stephen R. 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 Twilight” by Edward Bryant
“Crossing the Bar” by Fred Saberhagen
“A Teardrop Falls” by Larry Niven
“Berserker Base” by Fred Saberhagen
Berserker Blue Death (1985)
Berserker Attack (1987) a collection with nothing new.
The 1990s
Berserker Lies (1991) a collection with one new story, “The Machinery of Lies”.
Berserker Kill (1993)
“The Bad Machines” (The Williamson Effect, 1996)
Berserker Fury (1997)
Berserkers: The Beginning (1998) omnibus with Berserker (1967) and The Ultimate Enemy (1979)
Berserker’s Star (2003)
Berserker Prime (2004)
Berserker Man (2004) omnibus Brother Assassin (1969), Berserker Planet (1975) and The Berserker Throne (1985).
Rogue Berserker (2005)
Berserker Death (2005) omnibus with Berserker Wars (1981), Berserker Blue Death (1985) and Berserker Kill (1993).
“Servant of Death” by Jane Lindskold and Fred Saberhagen (Man Vs. Machine, 2007) was the final Berserker tale. According to Ms. Lindskold, she wrote the first draft and then she and Fred revised the second. This was a true collaboration and not an unfinished manuscript completed posthumously. (Thanks to Jane Lindskold for this information.)
Conclusion
There must be a great desire on the part of SF publishers to continue Fred’s vision (ala Keith Laumer’s Bolo series, Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles or Frank Herbert’s Dune) but this has not happened. I know fans enjoy continuing series but in this case I am glad the Saberhagens haven’t authorized this. The tales of the Berserker wouldn’t be the same without Fred at the helm. He did try the shared world approach once and collaborated with authors like Lindskold, but the Berserker universe remains Fred’s. There are many books and stories to explore in this series starting back in the pages of IF Magazine back in 1963. More additions seems somehow unnecessary. Fred gave us many gifts of imagination. For that I am thankful.
I read a Berserker book decades ago, but never followed up. Currently, I’m reading my way through the entire run of _If_ magazine — a gift in pdf form from a friend — which has included many of the early Berserker stories. I agree with you: the stories aren’t about the machines, they’re about the human resistance.
On another note: I always thought of the Doomsday Machine as a gigantic cornucopia.