The Ultimate Enemy

The third collection of Saberhagen's Berserker stories, with the Greek mythology pastiche 'Starsong' being the standout, and overall they are of good quality. Ultimate Enemy : The Smile - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : Pressure [Berserker's Prey] - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : The Annihilation of Angkor Apeiron - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : Inhuman Error - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : Some Events at the Templar Radiant - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : Starsong - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : Smasher - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : The Game - Fred Saberhagen Ultimate Enemy : Wings Out of Shadow - Fred Saberhagen Berserker Tyrant artwork. 3 out of 5 Rom, Space Gardener. 3.5 out of 5 Spider strait attack Berserker Galactic Encyclopedia info scam. 3.5 out of 5 Berserker human impersonation star sequence mnemonic save blast decision. 4 out of 5 Berserker recreation interrogation history. 3 out of 5 Even though human brains are really nifty, still won't help that old underworld lookback tragedy. 4.5 out of 5 Space battle watchers get some personal action. 3.5 out of 5 Berserker multiplayer interruption. 3 out of 5 Dream and persona Berserker strategies. 3.5 out of 5

This was my first Fred Saberhagen purchase back in the 1980's. I loved the short stories in this book. His novel length single topic Berserker books are good fun but lack the magic the short stories had. You get a brief novelette here about a general adept at battlling then and a major battle he has after humanity has faced them once and been bloodied, that is tight and tense. You get the story of a diplomat going to negotiate or is that scout a large "wounded" berserker machine. Some of the battles are big and some are small personal stories and there is something to enjoy in all of them.