William R. Doede 25 min read

An Earthman treats himself as a god among the ruins of a dead alien city, and a webfooted native watches back.

William Doede's 1962 story crouches with Mr. Michaelson in an ancient doorway on a world of Alpha Centauri, gazing over spires and dwellings emptied of their builders, idly deciding whether to bother with the lone Centaurian far down the street. A moody piece about arrogance, archaeology, and the assumptions colonizers carry, with a quiet menace beneath its ruins. Read it for atmospheric far-future exploration and a pointed look at who gets to feel like a god.

In its time

Published in 1962, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

25 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

West