Dogs take charge

The dogs had to have their chance. Had to be left unhampered to try for success where the human race had failed.

Clifford D. Simak, City

In City, Clifford D. Simak’s classic sci-fi novel from 1952, the world has gone to the dogs, quite literally. Educated dogs like Bounce and Rover aren’t even sure that Man ever existed. He may have just been a mythical creature. Nevertheless they ponder the meaning of a series of eight tales that describe the gradual disappearance of humans and the emergence of dogs as the dominant species.

Sometimes thousands of years pass between these stories, so great changes sometimes take place between tales. Mankind does not become extinct exactly. Most humans choose to relocate to Jupiter, where existence is possible only by taking a radically different form, thus becoming something other than man. This new form somehow alters the mind in a way that makes it becomes to the human mind. Those who do not migrate elect instead to "take the sleep," or hibernate, for long periods, forever in some cases.

They leave behind their dogs, who have learned to think and speak like humans, and robots, which can do all the things dogs can't do, lacking thumbs. This new world seems like an ideal one, for there is a strong moral code forbidding violence against other creatures. Dogs won't even harm their fleas, though the fleas don't seem to live by the same code.

Yet trouble is brewing in this Eden. The world is becoming seriously overpopulated, and killing may be the only solution.

Simak maintains a serious tone throughout a relatively short novel that could easily turn comic. He tackles some tough issues and poses some intriguing situations. He also, in a book published 66 years ago, offers a perceptive look into 21st century living: "It was all here. By simply twirling a dial one could talk face to face with anyone one wished, could go, by sense, if not in body, anywhere one wished. Could attend the theater or hear a concert or browse in a library half-way around the world. Could transact any business one might need to transact without rising from one's chair." Except for that "twirling a dial" part, that's a pretty accurate picture of the Internet.