Berserker Prime

Rating:
Summary: Total Disappointment
Review: Having grown up reading both Saberhagen's Berserker series and Swords series I was excited to see that the Master had put out yet another Berserker novel. That was where the excitement ended.

This book is beyond bad. It is terrible. I forced myself to finish reading it, desperately hoping that some twist of plot would make the effort worthwhile. There was none.

Flat characters. Full of clichés. Bad stereotypes. Limited plotline. Overall, shallow and uninteresting. But it gets worse - there is one characters that is obviously supposed to be Saberhagen himself.

Like the pro athlete that we watch achieve greatness then stay in the game past their prime and fall quickly below mediocrity before our eyes, I only wish that Mr Saberhagen had walked away from the keyboard years ago so that we could remember him going out with a bang, not this flat fizzle.

Rating:
Summary: solid but typical Berserker tale
Review: The inhabitants of the twin planets Prairie and Timber feel euphoric having defeated the Huvean invasion. However, as Plenitpotenary Gregor prepares to have the Huvean prisoners executed over the objection of his granddaughter Luon who loves a Huvean, the Berserkers invade the twin-planets.

The Twins do not know much about these robots except that they are ancient construct killing machines. Ironically, only the Huvean might be able to stop the raiders, but they are prisoners with death awaiting them. Will the Plenitpotenary negotiate life for life or will he remain stubborn in face of the Berserker assault that means with no help certain Twin pandemic genocide?

Fans of the Berserker series will enjoy this solid but typical ninth book. The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action and the usual Cecil DeMille-size cast. Though the valiant good guys without thought are willing to die for the Twin-Huvean cause, the Berserker robots are as malevolent as ever. An interesting underlying theme throughout the plot is Fred Saberhagan's Laws of Robotics: (1) a simple output is better generated by machine; (2) situations when values should determine outcomes, humanity needs to supersede computers. Though quite predictable as a normal Berserker entry, this still remains a prime space opera.

Harriet Klausner