Customer Reviews

Berserker Man

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This was one of the first sci-fi books I read as a kid. I've re-read it many times since then (over the last 20 years) and it always sets my hair on end.

This is more of an "epic" climax than the other beserker books in the series. It has what feels to be an ultimate conclusion that will stay with you for years after reading the book.

At first glance, the title looks like something out of a comic book superhero magazine, but in reality this is part of the continuing series of Man versus Machine.

Well before Star Trek's The Doomsday Machine (a weapon left over from a millennia-old war), Saberhagen wrote about the Berserkers, an armada of war machines left over from a long-ago intersellar war. Their mission: To exerminate all life on a planet. When they "cleanse" a planet they consider it "purified" of life.

Some of Saberhagen's tales were quite gripping to me, Brother Assassin and Berserker's Planet come to mind, as some of his most exciting adventures.

Berserker Man is like that: A person who is unusual and not socially accepted by others his own age, an adoptee, really, is on the colonial planet Alpine, a planet rich in lakes, mountains and forests. I was disappointed that Saberhagen does not get much into describing the planet, its government or anytihng about it. He sticks to the boy, Michel, and develops him instead.

Earth is losing the war against the machines. And pockets of "goodlife" (those who support the Berserkers in exchange for money or power) are making the war that much more difficult.

A new weapon, Lancelot, is formed. It is a series of forcefields and other devices that can be worn by an individual and enhances the wearer's natural instincts. Out of ten billion people, Michel fits the bio. Anyone else wearing it may go power-mad or insane, and Michel's lack of ambition and high IQ make him unique.

What I enjoyed was Michel's own expansion as an individual. Wearing Lancelot made him strong but not invincible (since he was kidnapped by the Berserkers). The space battles are few but interesting. The main characters are really cardboard except for Michel. And the final act leaves a few plotholes and unanswered questions about his parents and his biological mother.

Overall, a decent entry into the Berserker universe. It's been many years since I've read Saberhagen's Berserker universe and I see now what has drawn me towards his fast-paced writing.

The epilogue you can skip. It's an essay written by a Sarah Miesel that attempts to analyze Saberhagen's plots and stories in the Berserker universe and I've never read such boring drivel in my life. Skip that, and enjoy the tale!


Other Enjoyable Saberhagen Novels:

Berserkers: The Beginning
THE BERSERKER ATTACK
Rogue Berserker

Berserker Man is a middling novel in Saberhagen's long running Berserker series. The central idea in the series has proved a popular one in terms of audience reception for the stories based on it that Saberhagen put out.

This particular novel explores one variation, where a human might have within him a Berserker component or controller. And where he is distinct from "goodlife", which are the organic traitors to all life, that work for Berserkers. In all Saberhagen's novels, goodlife are depicted as the lowest of traitors, to the extent that anything is shown about them. A striking contrast to the protagonist here. Whose eventual human side wins out.

Somewhat puzzling that there are no prior reviews. The book has been around since the early 90s. Then again, perhaps this also indicates that it was only a modest success with readers.

As an aside: If you like this series, there is not much more. And certainly nothing new is likely to emerge at this point in 2008, since the author died last year. The most we can hope for is the release of any unpublished manuscripts. Perhaps Saberhagen's estate can let another author take up the Berserker theme? Someone well versed in hard military science fiction. Say Pournelle, Stirling or Weber.

The book seemed slow and un involving unlike the other books in Saberhagam's Berserker series. It was also hampered by the effect of a bad ending that left you thinking "Huh? um, ok.... Let's go read a half-way decent Star Wars/Trek novel." Sorry, but it just wasn't a good book.