A scientist is accompanied by Towser, his tired and flea-bitten old dog. (This story, first published as Desertion in 1944, was one of the first stories about pantropy.) Simak's version of Jupiter is a cold, windswept, and corrosive hell where only advanced technology allows the station to exist at all. The ants ignore this setback and build bigger and more industrialized colonies.Ī later tale tells of a research station on the surface of Jupiter. The amoral Joe, tiring of the game, kicks over the anthill. Eventually, the ants form an industrial society in their hill. A mutant called Joe invents a way for ants to stay active year-round in Wisconsin, so that they need not start over every spring. The breakdown of civilization allows wandering mutant geniuses to grow up unrestrained by conventional mores. Bruce Webster surgically provides dogs with a means of speech and he gives them contact lenses for better vision. As mankind abandons the cities, each family becomes increasingly isolated. Themes familiar to Simak readers recur in these stories, notably the pastoral settings and the faithful dogs.Įach successive tale tells of further breakdown of urban society. The name Webster gradually becomes "webster", a noun meaning a human. The tales primarily focus around the Webster family and their robot servant, Jenkins. In the beginning, the driving force for dispersion is the fear of nuclear holocaust, but eventually humans discover they simply prefer the pastoral lifestyle. Hydroponic farming and decentralized power allow small communities to become self-sufficient. There is no positive answer to any of these questions.Īs the tales unfold, they recount a world where humans, having developed superior transportation, have abandoned the cities and moved into the countryside.
Each tale is preceded by doggish notes and learned discussion.Īn editor's preface notes that after each telling of the legend the pups ask many questions: The fixup novel describes a legend consisting of eight tales that the pastoral, pacifist Dogs recite as they pass down an oral legend of a creature known as Man. Starting with the 1980 edition, some (but not all) editions of City include "Epilog". Simak published a ninth City tale in 1973 called "Epilog". The book was reprinted as ACE #D-283 in 1958, cover illustration by Ed Valigursky. These notes were specially written for the book, and serve as a bridging story of their own. Campbell between 19, along with brief "notes" on each of the stories. The original version consists of eight linked short stories, all originally published in Astounding Science Fiction under the editorship of John W.
City is a 1952 science fiction fix-up novel by American writer Clifford D.
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