Fred Saberhagen

The never-before-told story behind the legend of Count Dracula....

There had been a battle. The berserker had met some terrible opponent, and had taken a terrible wound.

For a game, the gods have given the world 12 Swords of Power so that they might be amused as the nations battle for their possession....

In a sector of the Galaxy occupied by Earth-descended people, one Berserker computer has suddenly and mysteriously developed a tactical strategy unlike anything seen before....

Mark and Ben travel deep into the Blue Temple's hidden horde of treasures in an attempt to recover gold and Swords for Sir Andrew....

Magistrate Wen Chang, famed for his investigative powers, and his young physician assistant, Kasimir, set out to recover Stonecutter and return the stolen Sword to its rightful owner, Prince Mark....

In the distant future, society has crumbled. Dark forces now rule the land, keeping all humans under their oppressive thumbs....

Tom Scheffler knew that this great-uncle, Montgomery Chapel, had made his fortune by selling ancient Egyptian artifacts....

In post-Arthurian England, 10-year old Amby and the troupe of traveling players he belongs to are on the run from a conqueror....

The Southerland family left the old world to start anew in America, but little did they know that a blood-feud, older than history itself, would follow them through the generations to come....

Long, long ago, two alien races fought a war of extinction. All that is left of either of them are the berserkers: vast, thinking, spacefaring, killer machines whose sole purpose is to destroy all living things....

World-famous “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes faces a terrible crisis: a ring of criminal masterminds has threatened to loose thousands of plague-infected rats into the streets of London....

Before George Lucas's Death Star, before Star Trek's Doomsday Machine, came the Berserkers, intelligent, space-faring killing machines whose sole purpose is to destroy all life....

The gods forged the Twelve Swords of Power; now the gods have been destroyed by their own handiwork....

Long ago, the gods forged 12 Swords of Power and threw them on the gameboard of life for greedy mortals to scramble over....

Long ago, the gods forged Twelve Swords of Power and threw them on the gameboard of life to watch men scramble. But they had forged too well: The Swords could kill the gods themselves....

Long, long ago, the Gods forged Twelve Swords of Power, each with a unique and deadly quality....

Now the great Mindsword is in play. Murat of Culm with the help of Coinspinner has located the Blade....

Five hundred years have passed since the combined fleets of humanity met and broke the berserker armada at Stone Place.

This collection of short stories continues the ongoing saga of the berserker wars with “The Machinery of Lies”, “Masque of the Red Shift”, “In the Temple of Mars”, “Brother Berserker”, and “Smasher”....