A Choice of Gods is a "What the hell happened to everyone?" story, where a handful of survivors wander a mysteriously depopulated Earth. (Other examples that jump to my mind are Joe Haldeman's recent Forever Free and The Quiet Earth by Craig Harrison, the basis for a quirky but interesting low-budget film from New Zealand, but I'm sure there are many others. Heck, they even used the idea in Star Trek.)
In A Choice of Gods, the disappearance of most of mankind occurred in the year
2135. After an introductory chapter, however, Simak quickly advances us five thousand years, to show us what has become of the sparse remnants of humanity. These folks have enjoyed some nice perquisites from being left behind. For one thing, their life spans have inexplicably lengthened to near immortality. For another, all of the robots people had built by 2135 remain here, so there are plenty of robot servants happy to take care of all the holdovers' needs if they wish it. Finally, people have developed surprising new abilities, including being able to communicate telepathically and to teleport themselves to other planets.
Most people have taken advantage of these new talents to go off exploring. Left on earth are: (1) The main protagonist, Jason Whitney, and his wife Martha, who are just too fond of the ol' homestead (not to mention Bowser and Rover) to think of leaving; (2) a tribe of native Americans who have chosen to revert to the old ways, and have no interest in robot assistance or space travel; (3) a peculiar fellow named David Hunt, perhaps the last remaining member of a band of West Coast survivors, who has traveled to the Midwest on a strange quest; and (4) a whole mess of robots. The robots include a handful who tend to the Whitneys, a group that has established a monastery to carry on Christianity (the remaining humans have lost all interest in religion since the disappearance), and a large number engaged in some mysterious project (although it turns out it's only mysterious because no one was ever curious enough to go ask them what they were doing).
Several things happen nearly simultaneously to shake up this peaceful, static existence. Evening Star, one of the Native Americans, and David Hunt begin developing unexpected abilities to affect living things around them. An alien, whose appearance resembles "a can of worms," arrives inquiring about this strange earth phenomenon known as a "soul." Most importantly, Jason's brother John returns from a visit near the center of the galaxy. He confirms earlier reports that a being of such awesome power and intellect that it defies human comprehension inhabits the galactic core. What's more, he has also located the rest of mankind inhabiting three planets near the core, and has learned that they have launched an expedition back to earth that is likely to arrive soon.
It seems that the rest of mankind has followed a different path from those they left behind on earth. They have not developed skills like telepathy and teleportation, but instead have continued to devote their energies to technological advancements. Jason strongly disapproves, and begins to wonder if there is anything he can do to prevent the ecological destruction he anticipates if much of mankind returns to earth.
As always, Simak's writing style in this novel makes for pleasant reading. He moves the story along at a rapid pace without seeming hurried, always allowing time to show us the beauty of the peaceful rural settings he loves. There are some aspects of his old-school writing that might annoy SF readers of today. For example, important developments frequently occur offstage, and the reader learns of them only through later conversations. On the other hand, Simak experimented with his writing more than he is often given credit for. For instance, in this book he peppers the narrative with journal entries that are taken out of chronological sequence, the relevance of which is not always immediately apparent, to very nice effect. There's also a strong flavor of mysticism that Simak carries off well.
My only complaint about this book is that Simak's anti-technological bent seems too heavy-handed. Simak goes beyond just showing the advantages of a rural lifestyle, to tell us expressly and at length the problems he sees with modern culture's desire for ever greater material gains through technological advancement. To me these lectures lack Simak's usual subtlety, nor did I find them terribly persuasive. It's easy to do well without technology if you live forever and have an army of robots to take care of you. Try convincing me it's worth it to give up the advantages of technology even if it makes your life harder and shorter!
But the other issues addressed in the novel work well. I especially enjoyed watching the various groups of confused robots try to come to grips with their solitude. They face a "choice of gods" different, and in some ways more profound, than the choice the humans have to make.
Even though his popular and critical success continued well into the 80's, as far as I am aware none of Simak's works have been in print in the U.S. since 1996, when Over the River and Through the Woods, a retrospective of his short fiction, was published. It is unfortunate any time an outstanding writer's voice fades from memory. It is an especially great shame in Simak's case, since his valuable, markedly old-fashioned perspective is unlikely to be duplicated in these modern times.