I have read three episodic science fiction novels this year, including this one:
City,
Dandelion Wine (Bradbury), and
Foundation (Asimov).
I found City to be much more like Foundation than like Dandelion Wine. And the comparison is not entirely favorable. I found both somewhat two-dimensional. The best stories were the first when man was still struggling to survive in a society we recognize. I really appreciated the contrast between the city folk and the mountain folk as it feels much like the dichotomy between urban and country people today. This did not carry the same political implications, but the similarities were striking.
As the stories continued, I felt less and less connected to them. The time and generation jumps were just like those in Foundation, and I didn't care for it those either.
Jenkins the robot was by far the best character for me.
Quote:
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“He stood and watched his friend hobble around the house, felt the cold claw of loneliness reach out and touch him with icy fingers. A terrible loneliness. The loneliness of age—of age and the outdated.”
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He was, it seemed, a robot-become-man who had achieved immortality and had to watch everythign else around him die.