I'm trying to remember the author and title of a short story about the Earth in the far future which is visited by an enormous creature (maybe like a continent sized salamander) which devastates the world but is worshipped by the people. It returns periodically with earth-shattering consequences. Any ideas?
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1960's at the very latest.– Wayfaring StrangerFeb 16, 2013 at 16:03
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NSFW the Perry Bible Fellowship comics has a strip "Earth Disorder" where an enormous creature visits Earth and causes much destruction: pbfcomics.com/96– b_jonasFeb 16, 2013 at 18:33
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This question does not have an accepted answer and should be reopened.– MithicalNov 2, 2017 at 17:16
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1 Answer
I believe that might be Brian Aldiss's "Heresies of the Huge God". The story is from the journals of a priest of the Huge God, a giant, many-legged, lizard shaped creature which arrives on Earth (it's described as looking like a gecko on a globe) and causes massive destruction, stomping mountains flat, disrupting the weather and so on. The people worship it, but heretics pray for it to leave. It does at the end of the story, but as it jumps off its weight knocks Earth out of orbit and the people start praying for it to return.
Originally published in 1966, I read it collected in "Man In His Time" ISBN: 0-02-030225-8 [978-0-02-030225-4] and here's a list of other places it was collected: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?52433. You can check it out here and see if it's the same story, although it is terribly formatted it's the only link I could find to the text: http://docs4.chomikuj.pl/2271392519,PL,0,0,Brian-W-Aldiss---Heresies-of-the-Huge-God-(txt).txt
answered Feb 27, 2014 at 19:55
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+1, this is almost certainly it, and one of my favourite Aldiss shorts.– user8719Feb 27, 2014 at 20:30