A Choice of Gods by Clifford Simak, summary

This book is a panoramic chronicle of the distant future, detailing the division of Earth’s humanity into distinct civilizations following a sudden planetary devastation. The plot focuses on the spiritual evolution of the mind beyond machine control. The science fiction novel was published in 1971.

The Great Desolation and Five Thousand Years of Silence

In the twenty-second century, a mysterious event occurred: eight billion people on Earth vanished without a trace in a single second. The planet suddenly became empty. Among the deserted cities, only small groups of settlers and a Native American tribe survived. Sixty-seven residents of the Whitney stone estate completely escaped this unknown fate during a celebratory evening that found the extended family gathered in the ancestral stone nest above the river. Human aging ceased. Jason Whitney and his faithful wife, Martha, celebrated their eight-thousandth anniversary in pristine natural tranquility, maintaining robust health and the appearance of mature owners of the house.

Time flowed measuredly.

The chronicler Jason kept detailed handwritten records on durable sheets, meticulously noting the rare events of patriarchal life, the corn harvest, the milling of wheat flour, the seasonal migrations of flocks of birds, and the visits of wandering metallic wanderers. Young Whitney’s kindred mastered the psychic ability of astral travel, leaving their cradle to settle in distant star worlds. Martha maintained telepathic communication. The mechanical butler Thatcher skillfully managed the vast household of the deserted estate. In the library, a wall clock counted down the centuries.

Inhabitants of the deserted Earth

The monastery was occupied by robots.

Brother Hezekiah donned a rough brown robe, having dedicated centuries to the study of Christian theology. The mechanical monks combed ancient tomes for nuggets of absolute truth, tormented by questions about their own pride and the permissibility of serving the Creator without an immortal soul. Hezekiah tended the garden.

David Hunt approached the river.

A young man from the Pacific West wore a necklace of grizzly bear claws. His tribesmen had wandered the coast for centuries, fleeing the nocturnal apparition of the Dark Walker and a mysterious attraction to perilous ocean rafting. A ravine hid the stranger. A strange, rainbow-colored tangle of writhing worms had come to distant Earth in search of the immortal human soul. The chief’s young great-granddaughter, Evening Star, came to the Whitney Library to read books, maintaining a mysterious spiritual connection with a mighty forest oak.

Return from the depths of the galaxy

Suddenly John Whitney returned to the estate.

Jason’s brother spent millennia in the depths of space, exploring star clusters near the galactic core. The traveler sensed the Principle. A cold, cosmic superintelligence indifferently guided the fundamental laws of the universe, keeping star systems in their proper orbits and instilling a chilling awe in the casual observer on Earth with its absolute analytical perfection. Among the central suns, John discovered a lost humanity. Billions of vanished Earthlings had repopulated three neighboring planets, completely restoring their former machine infrastructure and industrial industries.

The technological race has rejected the spirit.

Gifted engineers spent centuries perfecting self-propelled vehicles, spaceships, and industrial complexes, creating a unified interplanetary superculture based on the undivided conquest of matter. The Earthling starship had already set its course for return. Jason Whitney was deeply horrified by the inevitable threat of a repeat of the merciless industrial plunder of the Earth’s laboriously restored biosphere.

The Mechanical Monument in Minneapolis

The delegation arrived in Minneapolis.

Amid the ruins of an ancient city, thousands of free robots erected a colossal metal tower, reminiscent of a fantastical monument, gradually expanding toward the top. A gleaming robot, Stanley, greeted the guests. For centuries, the builders had been loading the treasures of the university libraries into the structure, creating a self-evolving Project of unlimited scope.

The machine spoke to space.

The electronic giant independently established a direct mental link with an unknown galactic Principle, far surpassing the capabilities of its mechanical creators. The project was rejected by earthlings. The paper printout declared biological humanity a transitory factor in evolution.

Healing and the Dissipated Ghost

David Hunt discovered a hidden gift.

The touch of his inner power restored the harmonious evening sound to the fading grove of alien musical trees. In the hollow, the youth healed the worm-like alien. Standing nearby, Evening Star suddenly experienced a stunning cosmic revelation, instantly grasping the harmonious, orderly structure of the universe, the hidden connections of all living things, and the true meaning of the library treasures accumulated by humanity.

The dark ghost disappeared.

Near the grounded metal shuttle, David came face to face with the colossal, striding shadow of the Dark Walker. A mental impulse dispelled the illusion. The freed youth cast aside the bear claw necklace forever, no longer dependent on the bow or superstition.

The Verdict of the Principle and the Choice of Paths

At dawn, two messengers, Reynolds and Harrison, emerged from the canoe.

The guests demanded that the planet be ceded. Jason Whitney categorically rejected the uninvited guests’ demands, confirming the impossibility of instilling telepathic skills in a society of aggressive machine consumption. The Indian chieftain promised to defend his native land. In the midst of the tense argument, Stanley’s brilliant messenger suddenly appeared on the library’s threshold.

The envoy brought an ultimatum.

The latest printout of the Project contained a categorical order from the Principle: leave the planet immediately. The planet was officially recognized as the sacred control site of a grand cosmic experiment that had divided the once-united human species into several distinct evolutionary branches. These disparate branches of intelligence were granted full rights to free, harmonious development.

The envoys left the planet.

John Whitney bid farewell to his brother, darting with the power of his mind into the depths of the star systems. In the cold, nighttime monastery garden, Brother Hezekiah struggled agonizingly with the terrifying realization of the inseparable identity of the impersonal Principle and the universal Creator.