City Quotes
| Title | Rating | # of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| I Can't Go Back | 3.3 | 16 |
| Juwain Philosophy | 3.9 | 27 |
| Man Had Changed | 3.4 | 21 |
| Tank Farming Has Ruined Us | 3.3 | 24 |
| The City is an Anachronism | 3.6 | 21 |
| There Had Always Been Mutants | 3.4 | 27 |
Review of City
City is a unique science fiction novel. It is composed of eight short tales, all inter-related and in chronological order. The tales are being shared in some distant future by talking dogs. That may come across as very corny, but as is typical of Clifford D. Simak, the stories speak to mankind's direction and desires.
City is an entertaining read. It introduces several ideas which cover a lot of science fiction spectrum: differences between human and extraterrestrial life, the impact of new technology on mankind, interstellar travel, mutations, robotics, and several other topics. Some of the ideas are obviously unscientific (that is, they are not feasible); nevertheless, they are enjoyable to consider and not so crazy as to destroy the story.
The overall themes of City deal with new technologies' impact on mankind and mankind's strengths and weaknesses. The story presents a scenario regarding mankind's future and is related by a future race of dogs that have learned how to talk and read. Since the story involves dogs, it discusses dogs' perspective relative to humans. Similarly, the novel includes robots who essentially think for themselves. Clifford D. Simak does a good job showing humans from different perspectives, and it gives a deeper theme to the science fiction novel than what is apparent from the rather silly story (of talking dogs). I personally am not a "dog lover", but I appreciated City.
City reminded me of Way Station, also by Clifford D. Simak, to a large degree due to its discussion of the human race and the tendencies of mankind (although the plots are very different). While I preferred Way Station, I certainly enjoyed City and I would recommend it to any science fiction afficionado.
City
City is an entertaining read. It introduces several ideas which cover a lot of science fiction spectrum: differences between human and extraterrestrial life, the impact of new technology on mankind, interstellar travel, mutations, robotics, and several other topics. Some of the ideas are obviously unscientific (that is, they are not feasible); nevertheless, they are enjoyable to consider and not so crazy as to destroy the story.
The overall themes of City deal with new technologies' impact on mankind and mankind's strengths and weaknesses. The story presents a scenario regarding mankind's future and is related by a future race of dogs that have learned how to talk and read. Since the story involves dogs, it discusses dogs' perspective relative to humans. Similarly, the novel includes robots who essentially think for themselves. Clifford D. Simak does a good job showing humans from different perspectives, and it gives a deeper theme to the science fiction novel than what is apparent from the rather silly story (of talking dogs). I personally am not a "dog lover", but I appreciated City.
City reminded me of Way Station, also by Clifford D. Simak, to a large degree due to its discussion of the human race and the tendencies of mankind (although the plots are very different). While I preferred Way Station, I certainly enjoyed City and I would recommend it to any science fiction afficionado.
City