"Latest saga in the Berserker Universe is great"
As a nearby star explodes, the Space Force evacuates humans
from Hong's World. With that backdrop, Lily Gunnlod asks
renowned or notorious (depending on one's perspective)
pilot Harry Silver to take her to Maracanda, a planet
residing amidst a neutron star and a black hole. There she
hopes to rescue her husband Alan, kidnapped by religious
fanatics. As the Templar tells him not to go there, Harry
soon finds he is an in demand transporter when Mr. Redpath
and Mr. Dietrich claim they need to go there on business
too. Dietrich and Redpath try to take command of Harry's ship
The Witch of Endor, but the pilot thwarts the duo and drops
them off at a remote space station. Harry helps Lily
search for Alan on Maracanda, which proves difficult as
this is no "normal" planet and she failed to explain that
he willingly joined his "kidnappers". Already in danger
from the non-welcoming religious group, now the Berserkers
arrive seeking to kill life whenever they find it and Harry
is a target. The latest Berserker tale is typical of the series and many
space war novels, but the Han Solo like Harry insures a
freshness so that series fans will appreciate the brisk
story line. The action starts from the moment Harry takes
his three passengers off of the doomed Hong's World and
never lets up until the climax. Readers will enjoy Fred
Saberhagen's latest saga in his Berserker Universe. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted May 20, 2003
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Acclaimed author Fred Saberhagen continues his widely
popular and influential Berserker(r) Series, a chronicle of
a war between humanity and the terrifying race of sentient
machines bent on death and destruction. Pilot Harry Silver's name is known throughout the galaxy-
and that notoriety does not always work in his favor. While
he has defeated his share of Berserkers, he has also stolen
a powerful weapon from the Space Force, making him a
fugitive from the life he once knew. Looking for an
adventure, and not one to turn down a lot of cash, Harry
agrees to bring a passenger aboard his ship, Lily, a woman
who is on a quest to retrieve her husband. It won't be easy, as Lily's husband has joined a secretive
religious cult on Maracanda, an almost-planet lodged
between a shifting black hole and a neutron star. While the
landscape of Maracanda is treacherous, so, too, may be the
people around Harry Silver. As the search for Lily's husband deepens, Harry finds
himself investigating a larger mystery and looking for
missing person, almost ending up one himself. And as
always, there is the threat of death from above, in the
path of a machine whose only intent is to kill. . . .
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