City by Clifford D. Simak
"City" is a notable work of speculative fiction that won the 1953 International Fantasy Award for best fiction. This narrative is comprised of eight interconnected stories written between 1944 and 1951, framed as a collection of tales narrated by dogs, reflecting a future society shaped by remarkable technological advancements and the evolution of humanity. The central theme revolves around humankind's gradual abandonment of urban life for a simpler, pastoral existence, beginning with John W. Webster, who builds a house in the countryside in the 1990s.
As the stories progress, they explore the consequences of this shift, including the development of a communication technology that allows dogs to speak and the transformation of humans into new life forms on other planets. The narrative spans thousands of years, illustrating the fate of Earth after humanity’s exodus and the rise of animal civilizations, including dogs and robots. Ultimately, "City" examines themes of evolution, technology, and the interplay between humans and other species, making it a thought-provoking exploration of potential futures. The work concludes with reflections on existence and the continuity of life across dimensions and civilizations.
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Subject Terms
City
First published: 1952
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Science fiction—future history
Time of work: From the 1990’s until thousands of years in the future
Locale: Earth, Jupiter, and another dimension
The Plot
Winner of the 1953 International Fantasy Award for best fiction, City is assembled primarily from eight stories published between 1944 and 1951. Framed by an “Editor’s Preface” and “Notes,” these tales are presented as a future ethnographer’s collection of “the stories that the Dogs tell.” After the death of John W. Campbell, Jr., in 1971, Clifford D. Simak wrote a ninth story for editor Harry Harrison’s Astounding: John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology (1973); in 1980 this last story was added to a revised version of City, along with an “Author’s Note.”
The first three tales in City chronicle humankind’s abandonment of its cities for a pastoral existence made possible by advanced technology. In the first story, “City,” set in the 1990’s, John W. Webster flees to the country and builds a house. Much of the rest of City focuses on that house and Webster’s descendants.
“Huddling Place,” the second story, is set in 2117. Jerome A. Webster has written the first reference work on Martian physiology. He is needed to save the life of the Martian philosopher Juwain. Jerome’s robot, Jenkins, fails to notify Jerome that a spaceship has arrived to take Jerome to Mars; the robot believes that its agoraphobic owner would not leave the house. Juwain therefore dies before he can reveal a secret mental concept that supposedly would solve many of humankind’s problems. More than sixty years later, in “Census,” Jerome’s son Thomas perfects the technology needed to take humankind to the stars. Thomas’s son Allen pilots the first spaceship to Alpha Centauri, and another son, Bruce, has given dogs the ability to speak through a genetic engineering technology called “boosting.”
The next two stories, “Desertion” and “Paradise,” depict humanity’s abandonment of its native planet. More than a century has passed when astronaut Kent Fowler and his dog Towser are genetically transformed into “lopers,” the native life-form of Jupiter. As lopers, they discover that Jupiter is a veritable paradise that they are loath to leave. Only after five years does Fowler return to his base to report his findings. On Earth, president Tyler Webster, afraid that it would mean the end of humankind, tries unsuccessfully to suppress Fowler’s information. His fears are warranted: Once Fowler’s report becomes known, most of humankind leaves Earth to live on Jupiter as lopers.
The remaining stories illustrate the fate of Earth after humankind’s exodus. Almost two millennia later, in “Hobbies,” a few humans still live in Geneva, “wild robots” have gathered in the countryside, and dogs have begun efforts to “civilize” wolves and have discovered the existence of other dimensions. To allow the dogs to develop unhindered by humans, Jon Webster seals off Geneva before putting himself into suspended animation. Another five thousand years pass before the events in “Aesop.” Most of the world’s animals can talk and live in harmony; unfortunately, killing is reintroduced to the world by an other-dimensional being and descendants of humans who were not sealed in Geneva. After the other-dimensional being is stopped, Jenkins the robot takes the unsealed humans to another dimension, where he remains for five thousand years.
Returning to Earth in “The Simple Way” (originally published as “The Trouble with Ants”), Jenkins discovers that ants, “boosted” thousands of years earlier, are erecting an enormous, continuously expanding building. As available living space becomes scarcer, the “wild robots” travel to the stars and the animals leave Earth to live in other dimensions. “Epilog” takes place untold millennia after Jenkins’ return. He is the only robot on Earth, pondering the mystery of the ants as a spaceship lands near Webster House. Some of the wild robots who had left Earth millennia earlier have returned to invite Jenkins to assist in the work to be done on other planets.