City - Clifford D. Simak Book Review

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Review Summary

CITY was first published in 1952.

In a distant future, Earth is ruled by dogs. They are able to speak and they like to study the old legends describing a world ruled by Humans. These legends, that cover thousands of years, are about the Webster family who produced an impressive number of scientists and politicians during the course of time. They are also about Jenkins, a robot who served all the Websters who lived in the family home.

After having found a way to produce food for the entire population and master the atomic energy, Humans had started to leave the cities and to live without central governments. Later, when the first pioneers found out that life on Jupiter, after the necessary and adequate physical conditioning, was way better than on Earth, the whole population left the Earth, leaving it to mutants and homeless robots. Anticipating the inevitable decline of the human race, the scientist Jon Webster modified then the vocal cords of the dogs, trained them and asked Jenkins the robot to look after them in the future in order that the dogs avoid making the errors the human civilization did.
Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of City

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 50%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%

Tone of book - depressing/sad
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying - info about lifeform(s)/society/phenomena
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Animal Story Yes
Kind of animal - dog

Main Character
Identity: - Robot
Profession/status: - servant
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - can read emotions
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Main Adversary
Identity: - an entire race
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can read emotions
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Terrain - Planet surface, need spacesuit
Which planet? - Jupiter
Earth setting: - distant future
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Not Earth, in Solar System? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to City
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The Visitor by Sheri S. Tepper

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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