F/SF

The berserker fleet has arrived at the planet Sirgol and commenced to irradiate the entire surface. One tenth of the original population survived the initial onslaught and moved into caves deep underground to continue the fight. They were deathly afraid, though - afraid that the berserkers would discover the amazing secret that Sirgol held: time travel. Unfortunately for the valiant human defenders of Sirgol, on Derron's watch, it became apparent that the secret was out.

This is a collection of three stories from three different eras of Sirgol's past. The first is essentially a game of Mechwarrior in which Derron tries to keep a small tribe of humans alive but ends up needing help from one of them to defeat the berserker. The second is a remake of "The Devil can Wait" in which an outsider is dropped in to take the place of a slain king. The third is a story of how pride and humanity can make all the difference in the world. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/187709.html

You have these killer alien robots, right, called berserkers, and they're attacking this human-colonised planet, right, which is, like, unique because it's the only place in the universe where time travel is possible. Apparently. Oh yeah, and because of a bizarre accident with the first spaceship that ever landed there, the locals have recapitulated the whole of the history of European civilisation with uncanny accuracy.

Having set up this slightly pulpish - OK, totally pulpish - background, it turns into rather a good book - actually a collection of three short stories originally published in 1967, the first set in the Stone Age, the second in an equivalent of the Viking era, and the third retelling the story of Galileo. I think I picked it up second-hand for less than a pound, and I've certainly paid more for books I enjoyed less. ( )