Clifford D. Simak (1904–1988)

I liked certain aspects of this book, principally the connecting parts where it is clear that the book is a collection of tales published by the dog civilisation which have been handed down and which fuel an ongoing debate as to whether the legendary creature called man ever existed. The tales themselves illustrate particular stages in which humans at first abandon the cities - the original short stories were published in science fiction magazines mostly between 1944 and 1947 with a later one in the early 50s - and then eventually die out through a process that involves abandoning the planet for a idyllic existence as Jovian lifeforms or languishing in a stagnant and decaying enclave at Geneva in Switzerland. Before doing so however they had abandoned war and other forms of aggresssion, produced sentient robots, and engineered dogs to have enhanced intelligence and the power of speech. And a mutant form of humanity with no sense of community had thrown various spanners into the works which eventually affect even the dogs' residence on the Earth they know.

The author certainly did not forsee the process by which urbanisation has become more a fact of life since the 1940s but the stories still have some interest and involve philosophical questions such as what is the nature of humanity and why aggression and the necessity to struggle might be necessary for humans to have the urge to progress. One thing is the title is a bit of a misnomer since none of it is set in a city, and the cover of the edition I read was really misleading - there are no spaceship or other flying vehicle chases whatsoever. A 3 star read overall.… (mer)