Long, long ago...two alien races fought a war of extinction. All that is left of either of them are the Berserkers: vast, thinking, space-faring, killer machines whose sole purpose is to destroy all living things. For the first time in all of their history, they have met a life form that has a chance of stopping them. In the cold reaches of space, the Berserkers seize a floating laboratory full of human germ-plasm-stored for retrieval and growth in a future colonization project. But the ship contains millions of human lives. Why are the Berserkers not destroying them? And will the human pursuers manage to find the missing lab, defeat the Berserkers, and save the nascent lives? A major Berserker novel - one of Saberhagen's finest - with one hell of a surprise up its sleeve. In addition to the enormously popular Berserker series, Fred Saberhagen is the author of the bestselling Books of Swords and Lost Swords, as well as the chilling adventures (including A Question of Time) of the gentleman known as Dracula. He is one of the most popular writers in America today.
From Publishers Weekly
Saberhagen's Berserker series chronicles the ongoing conflict between space-faring humanity and the doomsday war machines of the title, programmed to exterminate all life. Emerging from the depths of the Mavronari Nebula, a berserker ship takes human prisoners, steals a research station orbiting the nearby planetoid Imatra--which carries a billion stored human zygotes intended for a colonization effort--and heads back to its Mavronari hideout, leaving Imatrans mystified. Premier Dirac Sardou, believing his newlywed wife may still be aboard the station, assembles a makeshift force and pursues, never to be heard from again. Three centuries later, a new berserker attack demolishes Imatra; another human expedition gives chase, and what they find in the Mavronari dust cloud is stranger than anything they expected. Saberhagen breathes life into the often-arid soil of future-war SF with intriguing characters, neat plot twists, rousing action and no trace of the gung-ho macho posturing that marks much military science fiction. This smart, fast-moving story is edge-of-the-seat reading. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
When an orbiting laboratory containing human germ plasm--the seeds of a future space colony--is seized by a berserker ship, a rescue fleet sets out in pursuit, knowing that it faces humanity's most formidable enemy. The latest in the author's popular berserker series features a cast of nonstereotypical characters as well as an unexpected conclusion. Though familiarity with earlier series titles is helpful, this fast-moving sf adventure works well on its own. A good additon to most sf collections. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
Long, long ago...two alien races fought a war of extinction. All that is left of either of them are the Berserkers: vast, thinking, space-faring, killer machines whose sole purpose is to destroy all living things. For the first time in all of their history, they have met a life form that has a chance of stopping them. In the cold reaches of space, the Berserkers seize a floating laboratory full of human germ-plasm-stored for retrieval and growth in a future colonization project. But the ship contains millions of human lives. Why are the Berserkers not destroying them? And will the human pursuers manage to find the missing lab, defeat the Berserkers, and save the nascent lives? A major Berserker novel - one of Saberhagen's finest - with one hell of a surprise up its sleeve. In addition to the enormously popular Berserker series, Fred Saberhagen is the author of the bestselling Books of Swords and Lost Swords, as well as the chilling adventures (including A Question of Time) of the gentleman known as Dracula. He is one of the most popular writers in America today.
From Publishers Weekly
Saberhagen's Berserker series chronicles the ongoing conflict between space-faring humanity and the doomsday war machines of the title, programmed to exterminate all life. Emerging from the depths of the Mavronari Nebula, a berserker ship takes human prisoners, steals a research station orbiting the nearby planetoid Imatra--which carries a billion stored human zygotes intended for a colonization effort--and heads back to its Mavronari hideout, leaving Imatrans mystified. Premier Dirac Sardou, believing his newlywed wife may still be aboard the station, assembles a makeshift force and pursues, never to be heard from again. Three centuries later, a new berserker attack demolishes Imatra; another human expedition gives chase, and what they find in the Mavronari dust cloud is stranger than anything they expected. Saberhagen breathes life into the often-arid soil of future-war SF with intriguing characters, neat plot twists, rousing action and no trace of the gung-ho macho posturing that marks much military science fiction. This smart, fast-moving story is edge-of-the-seat reading.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
When an orbiting laboratory containing human germ plasm--the seeds of a future space colony--is seized by a berserker ship, a rescue fleet sets out in pursuit, knowing that it faces humanity's most formidable enemy. The latest in the author's popular berserker series features a cast of nonstereotypical characters as well as an unexpected conclusion. Though familiarity with earlier series titles is helpful, this fast-moving sf adventure works well on its own. A good additon to most sf collections.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.