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Warmer #7

The Hillside

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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 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 breathtaking sitting.

16 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2018

467 people are currently reading
356 people want to read

About the author

Jane Smiley

133 books2,711 followers
Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar. From 1981 to 1996, she taught at Iowa State University. Smiley published her first novel, Barn Blind, in 1980, and won a 1985 O. Henry Award for her short story "Lily", which was published in The Atlantic Monthly. Her best-selling A Thousand Acres, a story based on William Shakespeare's King Lear, received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992. It was adapted into a film of the same title in 1997. In 1995 she wrote her sole television script produced, for an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. Her novella The Age of Grief was made into the 2002 film The Secret Lives of Dentists.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel (2005), is a non-fiction meditation on the history and the nature of the novel, somewhat in the tradition of E. M. Forster's seminal Aspects of the Novel, that roams from eleventh century Japan's Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji to twenty-first century Americans chick lit.

In 2001, Smiley was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters.

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5 stars
261 (15%)
4 stars
467 (27%)
3 stars
581 (33%)
2 stars
284 (16%)
1 star
121 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
Profile Image for Thibault Busschots.
Author 6 books206 followers
April 7, 2025
Human greed and selfishness has killed so many animals and destroyed so many plants, that the animals want to put all humans on trial. Even though the few humans that survived are now trying to live in harmony with nature, the animals feel that the damage is done and they should be punished for it.


Such a strong premise, with the animals being humanity’s judge and executioner in the future. But it fails a bit in the execution. It first of all lacks some nuance. In this story, only female horses and humans come across as good. Even the poor dogs didn’t stand a chance. Second, the story tries to raise some interesting questions, but the story spends so much time focusing on the characters that there’s not enough room left for the plot, or to properly tackle any of its many interesting themes. Maybe this story just isn’t for me. So if you like the premise, don’t be afraid to check it out. It’s well written. And if you like horses, you might like this story.
Profile Image for Barbara .
1,844 reviews1,521 followers
January 13, 2022
Thank you GR friend Tania who reviewed Jane Smiley’s “The Hillside”. It’s a 40 minute audio narrated by the wonderful Bahni Turpin. I’m a huge fan of both Smiley and Turpin.

Smiley’s “The Hillside” is part of “Warmer” which is a collection of seven visions of a conceivable tomorrow if our world continues in the current fashion. Of course, anyone who is familiar with Smiley knows she is a huge fan of horses. No other author can get inside the brain of a horse like Ms. Smiley. For those who love horses, you MUST read Smiley’s “Horse Heaven”.

Smiley’s idea of the future world is that animals become in control. There is a Congress of Animals who debate whether humans are worthy animals. This is a thought-provoking short story. Are humans worthy of existence?
Profile Image for Julie.
2,004 reviews632 followers
December 6, 2018
Another DNF for this Amazon Originals collection from me. Just......yuck.

The entire Warmer Collection was really just not for me. I don't DNF stories very often, but this was just not working for me.

Not every story is for every reader. I tried multiple times to finish this. Couldn't do it.

Moving on.....
Profile Image for Gerhard.
1,310 reviews886 followers
May 26, 2020
I have never read Jane Smiley before, so this is another sterling writer that Amazon’s Warmer Collection has introduced me to. Here we have an Animal Farm take on climate change. Humanity is on the verge of extinction, and the animals that have inherited a dying earth pronounce judgement on our fate. Smiley avoids melodrama or pathos, which only adds to the impact of the stark writing and a truly indelible ending.
Profile Image for Tania.
1,452 reviews358 followers
January 5, 2022
A very quick but well-written, thought-provoking little dystopian. I liked that the whole story was understated with no drama and no perfect endings. Bahni Turpin narrates, and as always she does a brilliant job.
Profile Image for TL *Humaning the Best She Can*.
2,347 reviews166 followers
January 13, 2019

*Read for free with kindle Unlimited*

Quote from the story:

When the day of the inquiry arrived, the human advocate was a gray-haired female that High Note had seen often, always steady and determined in her pursuit of food or her instructions to the other humans. She positioned herself in her designated spot on the floor of the valley; the animals and humans stood in groups nearby, the animals to the north and the humans to the south. A raven perched on the human advocate’s shoulder and cawed into her ear. The animal representative was a wolf, Long Ears, who was generally thought to be eloquent and alert. So many of the animals had discussed not even attending the inquiry—who cared what might be the fate of the humans?—

4.5 stars.. this was really good and different for me.

Seeing a small taste of what it would be like if animals ruled the world instead of us was fun to read:)
Profile Image for ♥ Sandi ❣	.
1,642 reviews71 followers
March 4, 2024
3.5 stars

A short dystopia novella where the animal kingdom is superior to the human race. The horse, High Note, tries to bond with the female human, Plunky, however the superior Central Congress, made up of the foxes and wolves, determine that the humans must go. High Note eventually trades one Plunky for another.
Profile Image for Henry.
876 reviews76 followers
August 5, 2022
This series saved the worst story to last.
Profile Image for aPriL does feral sometimes .
2,201 reviews541 followers
April 1, 2023
‘The Hillside’ by Jane Smiley, #7 in Amazon’s Warmer short story series, reminded me of the Disney movie Bambi. However, Disney would never make a movie based on this book.

Like in Bambi, the animals talk, live their lives in the wild. The narrator of ‘The Hillside’ is a horse named High Note. She is one of the watchers who guard and control a small band of humans. The horses, along with birds, cats, and wolves, make sure the humans don’t disobey the rules wildlife have imposed on them. Ravens translate the language of the humans to the animals.

An apocalypse of some kind has happened a long time ago. Whatever it was, it has decimated the human race. Humans live in small tribal groups, naked, eating only the dead animals they find. The animals won’t let them hunt the living, unless it is another human.

However, bad news about the humans is spreading among the animals. A tribe some distance away made a fire! This is forbidden. A Congress of Animals is convened to decide the fate of the remainder of humans.

I have copied the book blurb:

”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 breathtaking sitting.


High Note, despite herself, has a favorite human female she has named Plucky. High Note is careful to not let the other animals know she favors one of the humans.

The Congress decides they will kill all of the humans, but they delay the culling. The winter is coming. It is probable the humans won’t survive the environmental change. Besides, High Note has seen the male humans killing the females every once in awhile since it got cold. She worries a little about Plucky, who has separated herself from the diminishing tribe, hiding in the forest. She has a smaller human with her. But High Note has her own problems during the winter. She is sluggish, without much energy. Perhaps she will learn what has happened to Plucky in the spring.

Profile Image for Richard.
2,315 reviews196 followers
March 13, 2019
I am sorry that I did not get this fine author’s work in this series. Her short story is post apocalyptic where the animals; not forced into extinction by humans hold sway.
In a pristine valley the central committee wonder at a show trial if human beings have served their purpose. They contribute nothing, seek to push boundaries and want to return to the old ways.
Elsewhere humans have paid the ultimate penalty and been eradicated by predictors who value their meat.
This is no animal farm. Avian species seem to have power and horses due to their association with humans in the past are held in suspicion in some quarters.
The story has some quality about the relationship between a young female and a horse but it never seems focused enough for me. The lack of fight in the humans also seems to be misplaced in internal disagreements rather than survival techniques.
The story meanders along and then seems to fade from view like a stream through limestone country.
I take very little from the story other than in terms of our stewardship of the planet humans are guilty and without the co-operation of natural resources are doomed to become another extinct species.
Profile Image for Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder.
2,710 reviews251 followers
December 13, 2020
Planet of the Animals
Review of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook edition (October 2018)

Post-apocalyptic fable where the animal congress rules the planet and the pesky humans are monitored in order to ensure they don't discover fire and wreck the planet all over again. One of the mare horses takes a liking to one of the human females who she admires for her pluckiness. "Planet of the Apes" meets "Quest For Fire" meets "Dr. Dolittle" (the animals can talk to each other).

The Hillside is one of the 7 short stories included in the Warmer Collection, a series of climate-related fiction released October 30, 2018 from Amazon Original Stories. Fear and hope collide in this collection of possible tomorrows. What happens when boiling heat stokes family resentments; when a girl’s personal crisis trumps global catastrophe; or when two climate scientists decide to party like it’s the end of the world? Like the best sci-fi, these cli-fi stories offer up answers that are darkly funny, liberating, and all too conceivable.
Profile Image for TraceyL.
990 reviews161 followers
November 29, 2021
Meh. A future where humans had almost become extinct and are living wild Now they have animals as their overlords who keep an eye on them and make sure they don't learn any skills that might give them power again. Kind of like the groups of humans living in the Planet of the Apes.
Profile Image for Altivo Overo.
Author 6 books19 followers
January 13, 2022
Short story, part of the Warmer series, tells of the larger surviving animals in their attempt to keep humans under strict control as a consequence of the humans' ecological devastation and species destruction in previous eras. An interesting idea, cleverly thought out, well written. I liked it for the depiction of the various animal groups: horses, wolves, cats, ravens, and so forth. Whether the conclusion pleases you will depend in part on your own view of the subject matter.
Profile Image for Sarah.
23 reviews1 follower
November 28, 2018
I'm enjoying every piece in the Warmer series so far, but I particularly like this one. As a new legislative or bureaucratic attack on the Endangered Species Act, in the interest of human greed and/or blood-lust, now pops up what seems like every day, I quite enjoyed seeing the script flipped on the brutal disinterest in the survival of a species.
Profile Image for Kandice.
1,652 reviews354 followers
December 31, 2020
I didn't care for this story. I feel as if Smiley was trying to emulate Pierre Boulle and his Planet of the Apes, but instead of using apes which is at least somewhat believable she uses all animals and focuses on a horse. I didn't see this as cautionary and was certainly not able to suspend disbelief which is something an author has to make me do if they aren't going to give me straight narrative fiction.
Profile Image for Taylor McKay.
50 reviews10 followers
March 10, 2024
I don’t even know what I just read…my mind hurts
Profile Image for Lucinda.
600 reviews15 followers
April 1, 2022
One of the better short stories in the collection. People, but from a different point of view.
Profile Image for Rachel.
166 reviews7 followers
November 9, 2018
This is a heavy-handed parable about the ways in which humans indiscriminately exterminate non-human animals (and each other, for that matter). The cast of animals is so anthropomorphized that the story’s central argument — that we must decenter the human — is essentially moot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for saradevil.
395 reviews
November 10, 2018
Never have I wanted a short story to end as badly as I wanted this one to be over. I don't want to call it unreadable, as I clearly read it, but it was a mistake. If I could take back the brain space these words occupied for far too many minutes, I would.
Profile Image for CYIReadBooks (Claire).
846 reviews121 followers
November 30, 2019
Humans have destroyed the earth and now the animals have control. The humans are declared a danger to the planet and must be destroyed.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Lanaghan.
1,135 reviews4 followers
August 2, 2022
Book Review: The Hillside by Jane Smiley

Rating: 🐾🐾🐾🐾
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 10/30/18

Review: This was a cute story, kind of, told in the POV of the animals. They all felt that the humans were destroying the world and needed to be eliminated. So that is what was going to happen, but not by killing them. Just by letting them die of natural causes. The main horse created a bond with one of the humans and was reprimanded for it, but she wanted to protect this human, so watched from afar. It was an interesting and short read for sure.

Summary: 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 and 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 breathtaking sitting.

#mybookfeatures #bookstagrammer #bookstagramit #bookstagram #bibliophile #booksaremylife #bookasthetic #booktalk #readingtime #booklove #bookphotography #bookrecs #bookish #readingcommunity #readaholic #instabooks #bookcollector #bookcollection #bookhaul #bookcommunity #bookstack #bookaholic #booklover #bookaddict #readinglife #bookshelf #bookrecommendations #bookreview #thehillside #janesmiley
Profile Image for Maria Vargas.
633 reviews56 followers
November 3, 2024
This gave us a glimpse of how things would be when the animals take control, and the humans are closely monitored to not do anything stupid.

There's a Congress of Animals who are currently debating: Are humans worthy of their existence? Could anything bad happen if they eliminate every single human?

“It’s not merely that humans cannot keep themselves from using fire and sticks, it’s also what they have done to us—would human males like to be universally gelded, as horses and ‘dogs’ once were? Would humans like to be imprisoned and bred over and over, and then slaughtered, as chickens, hogs, and cattle once were? Would humans like to be shot out of the sky, as birds were, or pulled from the water with sharp hooks, as fish were?”

For some reason, I could only think on the groups of humans from the movie Planet of the Apes. But otherwise, this collection was bad, and they decided to leave the worst story to the end.
Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books178 followers
August 29, 2022
2.5 Stars

I just didn't care for the "Warmer" collection. This volume was interesting in that it took place in a post climate change world where most humans had died out and animals were in control. The story was told by anthropomorphic animals, mostly a horse. The animals decide the humans need to be exterminated because of what they've done to the world, and what they may do again in the future. The only creature sympathetic is the narrator, a filly.

Overall it was enjoyable due to the post apocalyptic vibe, but still wasn't much.

I guess I was expecting a more overt message regarding climate change in the "Warmer" series, but I suppose if the series had been preachy it could have been even worse.
Profile Image for Debora Santo.
302 reviews8 followers
June 4, 2023
Headline: What if animals decided on our extinction?

Plot: In a world where animals rule together and are deciding whether human are worthy to survive or let go extinct, we follow High Note, a horse, who gets close to a human she names Plucky, that she should observe and follow to make sure she doesn't break the rules.

Likes: This story is placed in a creatively imagined post-human-ruled world and I felt this was quite a fresh perspective. I also liked the connections developed among characters and the impactful ending.

Dislikes: None.

Recommended audience: Those who enjoy short stories, fiction, and distopian worlds.

Rating: I give this 5/5 stars, as it is one of my two favorite stories in the Warmer Collection.
Profile Image for Jeff.
535 reviews8 followers
February 22, 2020
Amazon has a couple collections of short stories that you can read free with Prime. This collection is called Warmer and the stories are based on the ramifications of climate change. This story, by Smiley is about humans have been knocked off their pedestal at the top of the food chain. The Congress of Animals is debating on what to do with the remaining pesky pests. This story is told thru the eyes of a horse who monitors a tribe and has taken a liking to one of the females. A trippy little tale.

8/10
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