One of my favourite writers. I am sorry to see him go. >http://www.comicmix.com/news/2007/07/02/in-memoriam-fred-saberhagen-1930-2007/ > >Recent News >Science Fiction/Fantasy Magazine News on Thu Jul 5, 2007 9:59AM >JOHN OSTRANDER: Fireworks on Thu Jul 5, 2007 7:07AM >John Rogers on the Cheney Administration on Wed Jul 4, 2007 3:59PM >Mon Jul 2, 2007 10:50PM by Andrew Wheeler > >In Memoriam: Fred Saberhagen (1930-2007) >American Science Fiction Writer, Creator of the Berserkers >Frederick Thomas Saberhagen is reported to have died at his home in >Albuquerque, NM on the afternoon of Friday, June 29th, after a >two-year battle with cancer. > >Fred Saberhagen was best known for the long series of novels and >stories about the implacable life-destroying thinking machines known >as the Bersekers; the series began with the collection Berserker >(1967) and ran for nearly two dozen books in the years since. The >Berserkers typified the central SFnal conflict of Humanity versus the >coldness of the universe, and Saberhagen rang dozens of changes on >that idea, always championing the impulse of life to go on and thrive >against all odds. He also wrote many other science fiction novels and >stories, beginning in 1961, when Galaxy published his debut story, >"Volume PAA-PYX." > >Saberhagen's fantasy work was centered around the long "Book of >Swords" series, which began as a trilogy in the early 1980s and >extended into a further eight-novel "Book of Lost Swords" sequence, a >connection to his earlier Empire of the East trilogy, and a new series >begun with 2006's Ardneh's Sword. Saberhagen was quoted at the time as >wanting to try a fantasy series with a large number of magical objects >-- the twelve swords -- since most such series had only one or two >powerful items. > >Saberhagen's horror novels were also notable, with his The Dracula >Tape (1975) being a then-modern, very atmospheric retelling of the >events of Bram Stoker's Dracula from the point-of-view of the Count, >in his own words. The series continued for another nine books, >including The Holmes-Dracula File (1978), in which Dracula encounters >Sherlock Holmes. > > >One other claim that Saberhagen had to fame was that, during his >1967-1973 stint as an editor for the Encyclopedia Brittanica, he wrote >that reference work's definition of science fiction: "A literary genre >developed principally in the 20th Century, dealing with scientific >discovery or development that, whether set in the future, or the >fictitious present, or in the putative past, is superior to or simply >other than that known to exist." > >Saberhagen was always an underrated writer, even within the itself >underrated science fiction field; some of his novels, such as The >Black Throne (1990, written with Roger Zelazny), are as good as >anyone's. And the complex metaphor at the heart of Saberhagen's The >Veils of Azlaroc (1978) is also worthy of greater attention. > >His official website is here; his family will announce a memorial >service to be held later in the year and ask that any donations in >lieu of flowers be made to the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund, Doctors >Without Frontiers, Catholic Relief Services, or the John XXIII Church >in Albuqurque. > >ComicMix
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