After bringing Earth to ruin, the age of humans is over. It is a blessing for some in this tender and tragic cautionary fable from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres.
Now the Congress of Animals is in control, unforgiving, and debating the fate of the planet's most reviled species. The popular ruling: exterminate humankind without exception. But a curious mare, coming of age, is making a case for a seemingly gentle person she longs to save-a wish for mercy that could once again unbalance the new and righteous nature of the world.
Jane Smiley's The Hillside is part of Warmer, a collection of seven visions of a conceivable tomorrow by today's most thought-provoking authors. Alarming, inventive, intimate, and frightening, each story can be read, or listened to, in a single breath-taking sitting.
[When the day of the inquiry arrived, the humanadvocate was a grey-haired female that High Note had seen often, always steadyand determined in her pursuit of food or her instructions to the other humans] [When the day of the inquiry arrived, the humanadvocate was a grey-haired female that High Note had seen often, always steadyand determined in her pursuit of food or her instructions to the other humans]***
(AmazonOriginal Stories, 30 October 2018, ebook, 20 pages, Prime Reading)
***
WTF? Another tale in the Warmer collection which has tenebrous links to climate change and completely misses the point. I'm sorry but this story was awful, just awful. I'm glad it took about ten minutes to read and I didn't waste much time on it. Nothing about this story worked for me. It's not clear why the animals are now in charge and I couldn't care less. I love talking animals (uber-Narnia fan here) but this doesn't work with The Hillside. I'm sorry but the story fell flat on its face for me. It's a good idea that doesn't work.
