zachariah
March 27th, 2009, 09:42 AM
Essentials of this short SF story are:
A man is part of an experiment where his consciousness is propelled far into the future. He finds himself a parasitic ghost inside the body of an intelligent lobster, which is taking part in an undersea pilgrimage. They visit a godlike telepathic octopus.
He goes native and resists the people trying to bring him back, but is eventually recalled just as the pilgrims reach the island they were heading for.
I read it in a compilation of short stories a few years ago, though the anthology itself was already very old - probably 70's vintage.
I recall the anthology was themed around the subject of gods. Other short stories in it that I remember are one where a man found himself in a realm populated only by old, forgotten mythical gods (and was saved from drowning by a sad Jesus) and one where a man wins an unlikely road-duel against the country's top duellist, only to find himself forced to take on all comers, eager for the crown.
Thanks!
A man is part of an experiment where his consciousness is propelled far into the future. He finds himself a parasitic ghost inside the body of an intelligent lobster, which is taking part in an undersea pilgrimage. They visit a godlike telepathic octopus.
He goes native and resists the people trying to bring him back, but is eventually recalled just as the pilgrims reach the island they were heading for.
I read it in a compilation of short stories a few years ago, though the anthology itself was already very old - probably 70's vintage.
I recall the anthology was themed around the subject of gods. Other short stories in it that I remember are one where a man found himself in a realm populated only by old, forgotten mythical gods (and was saved from drowning by a sad Jesus) and one where a man wins an unlikely road-duel against the country's top duellist, only to find himself forced to take on all comers, eager for the crown.
Thanks!