The Berserker Series (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Fred Saberhagen
- First Published: 1967
- Type of Work: Stories
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—artificial intelligence
- Time of Work: Prehistory to the distant future
- Setting: The part of the Milky Way galaxy settled by humans
- Genres: Short fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: Future, Other worlds, Death or dying, Assassins, hit men, or contract killers, Artificial intelligence, Prehistoric times
- Locales: Space
The Plot
Before humans appeared on Earth, two interstellar races, known to humans as “the builders” and “the red race,” fought a war of extermination lasting for centuries. Hoping finally to win the war, the builders created an ultimate doomsday machine, a spacefaring, intelligent, self-replicating weapon programmed to destroy any life it encountered. The weapon, called a berserker by humans because of the intense and chaotic violence of its attacks, was a success and wiped out the red race.
Unfortunately for the builders (and humans), the ber-serkers realized...
[The entire page is 1475 words long]
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