TY - BOOK AU - Budrys,Algis TI - Firegod T2 - Produced from Rocket Stories, July 1953 AV - PS PY - 2022/// CY - Salt Lake City, UT PB - Project Gutenberg KW - Science fiction KW - Short stories KW - Human-alien encounters -- Fiction KW - Religion -- Fiction KW - Technology -- Fiction N1 - Release date is 2022-07-15; Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net; Originally published; United States: Space Publications, Inc., 1953 N2 - "Firegod" by William Scarff is a science fiction novel written in the mid-20th century. The story revolves around themes of power, deception, and the allure of godhood, exploring how ambition can lead to a person's downfall and the disconnect between perception and reality. The narrative follows D'hai Merssu, who rises from being a revolutionary to the Emperor of All the Suns. As he grapples with rebellion within his empire from Earthmen, Merssu concocts a plan to escape and establish himself as a god on a primitive planet. He travels through hyperspace to bring civilization to a new world while simultaneously setting himself up to be worshipped. However, upon his return, he discovers that his plan has backfired as the inhabitants do not recognize him as the divine being he sought to become. Ultimately, despite his grand ambitions, he is rejected and killed, leaving behind a legacy of worship that persists in his absence, illustrating the ironic nature of seeking divinity through deception. (This is an automatically generated summary.) UR - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68529 ER -