City
by Clifford D. Simak · first published 1952
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short, beautiful sci-fi story collection about humanity's decline and what inherits Earth, with dogs and ants figuring in. Suits readers wanting quieter, less mainstream SF that avoids spoilers-worthy twists.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
[Comment by John Clute][1]: We know better now, of course. But they still entrance us, the old page-turners from the glory days of American SF, half a century or so ago, when the world was full of futures we were never going to have. In the mid-1940s, when he began to publish the episodes that would be assembled as City in 1952, Clifford Simak, a Minneapolis-based journalist and author, could still carry us away with the dream that cars and pollution and even the great cities of the world – "Huddling Place", the title of one of these tales, is his own derisory term for them – would soon b
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Quite a few of my faves already mentioned in this thread so let me throw in a couple of relatively lesser-known ones: - City by Clifford Simak - Everything by M.A.Foster, but Waves and the Transformer Trilogy in particular - You Must Remember Us...? by Leonard Daventry - The Green Man and Other Stories by Rand B. Lee…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗"City", by Clifford Simak. I highly recommend reading it, so won't post spoilers. But one thing for sure - we don't trade with ants there too :) .
on “We don't trade with ants and why hypothetical AI:s won't, either (2023)” ↗Given this is about dogs, City by Clifford D. Simak really is missing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_(novel)
on “Some dogs can classify their toys by function” ↗If you haven't read the scifi classic "City" by Clifford Simak, please do so! (But your comment hints that you have already).
on “I'm helping my dog vibe code games” ↗City by Clifford D. Simak Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗I remember a beautiful sci-fi stories written by Simak, collected under book called "City". It also talks about ants that will inherit us on Earth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_%28Clifford_D._Simak_novel...
on “Ant mega-colony takes over world ” ↗This reminds me of City by Clifford Simak, nice story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_(novel)
on “Evolution: The Curious Case of Dogs” ↗…"air conditioned" universe, and (b) it's unethical or boring or pointless to colonize a universe full of new potential civilizations. Folks need to read some less mainstream SF. I like Clifford Simak's "City" where the vast majority of the human race emigrates to Jupiter to live as hunter-gatherers (because Jovian life is so much more pleasant than human life) leaving Earth to the dogs, robots, and ants.
on “When Are the Intelligent Aliens?” ↗My favorites: Childhood's End by Clarke: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood%27s_End Foundation series by Asimov: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Foundation_Series City by Simak: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_(Clifford_D._Simak_novel)
on “Ask YC: What's the most inspiring sci-fi book you've read?” ↗…going to guess absurdly high. The reason US cities are sprawling messes is that they were built as the cost of mobility dropped off a cliff (cars and trucks replaced horses). Go read Clifford Simak's "City". People will live in self driving cars and commute in their sleep. It's going to be nuts.
on “Tesla Passes Ford by Market Value” ↗If you're interested in the opposite sort of story, check out City by Clifford Simak
on “A New Origin Story for Dogs (2016)” ↗I suggest anyone who is impressed by these findings reads Clifford Simak's "City". It is a very short novel. I won't spoil it for you. I'll just say that it's one of the best and most beautiful sci fi stories I've ever come across.
on “The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth” ↗This was "City" by Clifford Simak. Great book. The Jovians were called "lopers".
on “Vacuum Airship” ↗Samuel Delaney - Nova, Babel-17 Clifford Simak - City Alan E Nourse - The Universe Between
on “Sci-fi books that you may never have heard of, but definitely should read” ↗A bunch of William Gibsons. Philip K. Dick's Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, and Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said. Clifford D. Simak's City. Classics.
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗