BERSERKER BASE

VGSF / Victor Gollancz Science Fiction paperback, 1990.
Cover illustration by Terry Pastor.

"A collaborative novel by seven of the greatest stars writing science fiction today, set in Fred Saberhagen's Berserker universe. 

Created in an ancient war, implacable machines programmed to destroy all organic life, the Berserkers seemed invincible. But at last humans have come upon a Berserker base and they must strive to root out the mechanical killers at their very source."

Contents:

Prisoner's Base by Fred Saberhagen

What Makes Us Human by Stephen Donaldson

Friends Together by Fred Saberhagen

With Friends Like These by Connie Willis

The Founts Of Sorrow by Fred Saberhagen

Itself Surprised by Roger Zelazny

The Great Secret by Fred Saberhagen

Deathwomb Poul Anderson

Dangerous Dreams by Fred Saberhagen

Pilots Of The Twilight by Ed Bryant

Crossing The Bar by Fred Saberhagen

A Teardrop Falls by Larry Niven

Berserker Base Fred Saberhagen

Not really a short story collection...but kind of. Saberhagen weaves the story through those of the guest authors. Many of the stories previously featured in sf magazines throughout the mid 1980s; such as Niven's A Teardrop Falls (Omni), Poul Anderson's Deathwomb (Analog), etc.

BILL, THE GALACTIC HERO...ON THE PLANET OF BOTTLED BRAINS

VGSF / Gollancz paperback, 1991. Cover illustration by
Michael W. Kaluta and Steve Fastner.

"Bill should know that you never complain in the Troopers. But when his new foot looks like turning into something green, scaly and abundantly clawed, a visit to the medics would seem reasonable. But before he can say 'Quintiform computer error' he seems to have got himself volunteered again, this time for a suicide mission on Tsuris - the planet nobody ever comes back from. 

A number, exactly a billion in fact, of Tsurisians have no body to speak of, and reside in bottles, which as Bill remarks, is an awful lot of bottles. And Bill is going to need all the bottle he possesses to get himself out of this one... 

If you want to bravely probe where no one has ever probed before, then join Bill, Splock and Captain Dirk as once again our Galactic Hero investigates new depths in the realms of the science fiction cliche."

MISSION OF GRAVITY

VGSF / Victor Gollancz Science Fiction paperback, 1987. Cover
painting by Tony Robers.

"Never had a journey been so long... 

Never had the stakes been so high... 

Mesklin was a living nightmare for any human explorer: a vast disc-shaped planet with a crushing gravity up to 700 times greater than Earth's. It was a world so cold that its oceans were liquid methane and its snows were frozen ammonia. Yet the planet held secrets of unimaginable value to mankind, mysteries which could only be unlocked with the help of the mesklinites, tiny creatures bizarrely adapted to their surroundings. But it was only at the end of their journey that the resourceful Mesklinite captain laid down his side of an extraordinary bargain."

BERSERKER MAN

VGSF / Victor Gollancz Science Fiction paperback,
first VGSF edition, 1988. Cover illustration by Terry Pastor.

"Rampaging through space, bent on an orgy of random destruction, the killing machines pound all life forms to steam and dust. Humankind, fighting for its life, has devised a terrifying new weapon. But will Michel Geulincx - humanity's new champion - have the psychic strength to wield it? For he is one against many, a precarious synthesis of man and machine, and Michel Geulincx is only eleven years old..."

THE STARS MY DESTINATION

Gollancz SF Masterworks paperback, 1999. Illustration by Chris Moore.

"EDUCATION: none. 

SKILLS: none. MERITS: none. 

RECOMMENDATIONS: none. 

That is the official verdict on Gully Foyle, unskilled space crewman. But Gully has managed to survive for 170 days in the airless purgatory of deep space after the wreck of his ship, and has escaped to earth carrying a murderous grudge and a secret that could change the course of history."

Ten points go to Bill Miller, who spotted that the painting is actually mirrored. According to Wikipedia this was done for aesthetic reasons. So when Gully meets the Scientific People, they tattoo 'DAMON' on his forehead.