The story is formatted as a test of sorts, worth 3/4 of some final grade. The action is interrupted at points with test questions, some of which do not make sense. Millions of years ago, "The Mad One", also known as Ialdabaoth or God, took over the earth in a sort of cosmic lawsuit. The original creators left behind one last member of their race, Dira, to tell humans the truth about their god, but the dominant traditions throughout the ages denounce Dira as evil. Now, the world is coming to an end and Nathan Stack, the latest incarnation of a long line of humans going back to Lilith’s husband, is revived by Snake (aka Dira) after spending 250 thousand years in an underground crypt to make the journey to the mountain where God lives. He is the only human capable of confronting him and putting the Earth out of its misery through the summoning of what is referred to as the Deathbird. The story also contains a few side plots, presumably about Nathan Stack or previous reincarnations of him. These stories tell of people that have had to make difficult decisions, allowing loved ones to die. In one such story, his mother is partially paralyzed and suffering from cancer which will eventually, slowly and painfully, travel to her heart. She eventually convinces him to inject her with a lethal substance in a hypodermic needle, killing her and ending her pain. This situation is repeated at the end of the story, where Nathan Stack must "use the needle" to summon the Deathbird and end the pain of the planet. [2]
Referencesedit
^1974 Hugo Awards, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 27, 2017
^"Harlan Ellison Webderland: Book Reviews -". harlanellison.com.
This article about a science fictionshort story (or stories) published in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
deathbird, novelette, american, writer, harlan, ellison, 1974, hugo, award, best, novelette, locus, award, best, short, story, originally, published, march, 1973, issue, illustrated, diane, dillon, been, included, author, short, story, collection, deathbird, s. The Deathbird is a novelette by American writer Harlan Ellison It won the 1974 Hugo Award for Best Novelette 1 and Locus Award for Best Short Story The Deathbird was originally published in the March 1973 issue of F amp SF illustrated by Leo amp Diane Dillon It has been included in the author s short story collection Deathbird Stories Plot editThe story is formatted as a test of sorts worth 3 4 of some final grade The action is interrupted at points with test questions some of which do not make sense Millions of years ago The Mad One also known as Ialdabaoth or God took over the earth in a sort of cosmic lawsuit The original creators left behind one last member of their race Dira to tell humans the truth about their god but the dominant traditions throughout the ages denounce Dira as evil Now the world is coming to an end and Nathan Stack the latest incarnation of a long line of humans going back to Lilith s husband is revived by Snake aka Dira after spending 250 thousand years in an underground crypt to make the journey to the mountain where God lives He is the only human capable of confronting him and putting the Earth out of its misery through the summoning of what is referred to as the Deathbird The story also contains a few side plots presumably about Nathan Stack or previous reincarnations of him These stories tell of people that have had to make difficult decisions allowing loved ones to die In one such story his mother is partially paralyzed and suffering from cancer which will eventually slowly and painfully travel to her heart She eventually convinces him to inject her with a lethal substance in a hypodermic needle killing her and ending her pain This situation is repeated at the end of the story where Nathan Stack must use the needle to summon the Deathbird and end the pain of the planet 2 References edit 1974 Hugo Awards at TheHugoAwards org retrieved August 27 2017 Harlan Ellison Webderland Book Reviews harlanellison com nbsp This article about a science fiction short story or stories published in the 1970s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Deathbird amp oldid 1160311535, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
