This award-winning science fiction classic explores a far-future world inhabited by intelligent canines who pass down the tales of their human forefathers. Thousands of years have passed since humankind abandoned the city—first for the countryside, then for the stars, and ultimately for oblivion—leaving their most loyal animal companions alone on Earth. Granted the power of speech centuries … speech centuries earlier by the revered Bruce Webster, the intelligent, pacifist dogs are the last keepers of human history, raising their pups with bedtime stories, passed down through generations, of the lost “websters” who gave them so much but will never return. With the aid of Jenkins, an ageless service robot, the dogs live in a world of harmony and peace. But they now face serious threats from their own and other dimensions, perhaps the most dangerous of all being the reawakened remnants of a warlike race called “Man.”
In the Golden Age of Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, Clifford D. Simak’s writing blazed as brightly as anyone’s in the science fiction firmament. Winner of the International Fantasy Award, City is a magnificent literary metropolis filled with an astonishing array of interlinked stories and structures—at once dystopian, transcendent, compassionate, and visionary.
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I am the wrong audience for this book. The old curmudgeon is not a character that I find at all appealing. The idea that big corporations taking over family farms, then the land was cheap for city people to move to the country has proved way wrong and I can not get past that. That dogs are peaceful, even human level intelligent dogs, in their natural state is also not something I can suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the stories. Other people obviously cherish and enjoy these stories, I found them dated and uninteresting.
Abstract concepts in the finest science fiction tradition. A classic worth reading.
A little slow but very interesting twist on how the world ends. Fun reading slang from so long ago.
I was not impressed
Clifford Simak is an old fashioned sci-fi writer who knows how to turn a phrase and keep your interest. This is an oldie, but a goodie and well worth a read.
A very good prospective and thought provoking …
It certainly makes you think about the human species and what really makes us tick.
I didn’t like anything about this book. It was slow, boring and went no where. It was science fiction in the barest sense of the word.
A classic from the golden age. This is a collection of linked short stories that were originally serialized in the 1940s, dealing with the demise of cities as technology allows people to live in the country and commute if needed. Over generations enhanced dogs and robots inherit the earth as mankind leaves for space. The civilisation they forge is very different from what you would expect. This is one of my favorite books.
Couldn’t get past the first chapter in this one.
Classic
it is listed as a classic and It was. Simak iWas a great writer of fantasy type Sci-Fi
In spite of being somewhat dated, I thoroughly enjoyed City. The characters are engaging and the stories are interesting. It was a quick read.