List of works by Fred Saberhagen
This is complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy author Fred Saberhagen. Works. The Dracula Series. Saberhagen was inspired to write the first novel in the series, "The Dracula Tape", as a result of "re-reading Stoker's original, and being struck by the fact that this titanic character was hardly ever on stage, though of course central to the book. Naturally in my contrarian way I wondered what he was really doing and thinking while the other characters made their plans to hunt him down, and as soon as I  started listening for his voice, I heard it." Saberhagen's Dracula novels are based on the premise that vampires are morally equal to normal humans: they have the power to do good or evil; it is their choice. "The Dracula Tape" is the story of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" told from Dracula's point of view. Saberhagen depicts Dracula as the historical "voivode" Vlad Ţepeş (known as "Drakulya", meaning "Dragon") who, in Saberhagen's stories, became a vampire after being assassinated. According to the character, he refused to die "by a transcendent act of will", but it is apparent that  even he is uncertain how he really became a vampire. Most vampires in the series are created when a human drinks the blood of another vampire, which he claims he never did. In this version, Dracula survives the best efforts of Harker, Van Helsing, and company, who are portrayed largely as bungling fools; Van Helsing in particular is seen as sacrilegious, manipulative, and not as knowledgeable about vampires as he believes himself to be. ("Imbecile is one of the most charitable names that I can find for him.") Dracula is depicted as violent and ill-tempered but nonetheless bound by  his own sense of honor and loyalty to his loved ones. Dracula, in his mortal life, fought the encroachment of the Ottoman Empire into Europe. ("Why, there is hardly a foot of soil in all this region which has not been enriched by the blood of men, patriots or invaders.") In later novels, Dracula interacts with other literary characters, including Sherlock Holmes. This series was often listed in Ace promotional materials as "The "New" Dracula", but the flyleaf of the Tor editions of the books published from "A Matter of Taste" onwards list the other books in the series under  the heading "The Dracula Series". His success with this series was such that he was hired to write the novelization of the 1992 movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula". Volumes 3 & 4 were reprinted in an omnibus version called "Vlad Tapes" (Baen July 2000) The Ardneh sequence. The Empire of the East series. Volumes 1, 2 & 3 were later republished in a heavily revised omnibus version called "Empire of the East" (Ace October 1979) The three volumes were reprinted in an omnibus version called "The Complete Book of Swords" (SFBC/Nelson Doubleday January 1985), later called "The First Swords" (Tor February  1999) Volumes 1, 2 & 3 were reprinted in an omnibus version called "The Lost Swords: The First Triad" (SFBC/Nelson Doubleday September 1988); Volumes 4, 5 & 6 were reprinted in a second omnibus version called "The Lost Swords: The Second Triad" (Tor/SFBC May 1991); Volumes 7 & 8 were reprinted in a third and final omnibus version called "The Lost Swords: Endgame" (SFBC/GuildAmerica Books June 1994) The Berserker series. The Berserker stories tell about an ongoing war between humanity and the Berserkers. Saberhagen's Berserkers are self-replicating war machines programmed with one main objective: destroy all life. After  destroying both their creators and the opposing side in a long-ago galactic war, the self-replicating Berserkers have continued to wipe out all forms of life that they encounter in the Milky Way, which leads to the cooperation and coordination of most of the sentient races in major attempts to defeat them. Humankind, although relatively new to the galactic scene, is a major player because of its aggressive nature. The series spans a large range of both time and space, and so has less plot continuity than Saberhagen's other series. Volumes 1, 2 & 3 were reprinted in an  omnibus version called "The Books of the Gods, Part One" (SFBC December 2000); Volumes 4 & 5 were reprinted in a second omnibus version called "The Books of the Gods, Part Two" (SFBC October 2002) Both novels were reprinted in an omnibus version called "Pilgrim" (Baen December 1997)