Customer Reviews

Berserker's Planet

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The worst of the Berserker books I've ever read, this novel barely has enough meat to work as a short story.

The centerpiece of the book is a tournament where vaguely Norse warriors fight to honor the god "Thorin" and his right hand "Mjolnir", in classic Saberhagen allegory. However, the story instead chooses to follow a weakling who's dragged to the planet on a hunting trip and turns out to be the only one who'll lead the fight against the Berserkers.

...and that description is actually a lot more interesting than the book, which mills around, trying to find something interesting to do for about 200 pages or more, failing the entire way through. As a matter of fact, there was only one mild surprise in the entire story, and it was foreshadowed in the beginning. Go figure.

If you're going to read a Berserker book, put this one at the bottom of your list, then burn the list before you get that far down, then burn it again, just to be sure.

When a group of decadent Earth people set out for Hunter's World, they hope to find some sort of dangerous entertainment that will break the boredom of their spoiled lives. They hear that there is a special tournament being held in the honor of the war god Thorun, a tournament where 64 of the planet's greatest warriors will fight to the death, until one man stands supreme. However, there's an evil lurking on Hunter's World, and the jaded young Earthlings are walking into more excitement then they could have imagined!

I have always loved Fred Saberhagen's Berserker stories. To me, they are the quintessential villains, with no pity and no remorse. In this story, Mr. Saberhagen continues to move in new directions, setting out a very interesting scenario of humans and Berserkers, and evil all around!

Now, admittedly this story is quite different than the original Berserker stories, focusing primarily on the mystery of the tournament and just what is actually happening. As for me, though, I found the story to be just perfect. As an old Dungeon & Dragons player, I loved the 64 gladiators that the story presents, finding them to be fascinating, and I was concerned with their fate. Also, I thought that the two parallel stories of the Earthmen and the Hunterian warriors to be a masterstroke.

Yes, you could say that I loved this story. If you are looking for the old Berserker stories of planet-sized killing machines cruising deep space, then you will be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a fascinating story of people who are locked into a fate that is taking them where they never wanted to go, then this is the story for you. I loved this story, and highly recommend it to everyone!

One of the best novels in the Fred Saberhagen Berserker series. The juxtaposition between an alien culture just entering its Middle Ages and the future of interstellar space travel, mixed with a Berserker on the same planet make for a very interesting read. The book has good momentum and great characters. Though it is out of print I recommend trying to acquire this excellent Berserker story.

I picked up this book on a whim at my local used book store, not expecting too much for my $1.00 investment, but I definitely got my money's worth.

To begin with let me confess that I haven't read any other Berserker books, so take that for what it's worth.

The story moved fairly well. There were a couple slow parts, but overall it was well written action and a real sense of the excitement and desperation felt by the characters, whether they be the gladiators or the hunting party. The end was especially exciting and clever. I really appreciated a workable mixture of sci-fi and fantasy settings.

This book is well worth a quick read, and even a few dollars if you can find it cheap.