Monday, October 22, 2012  We the Underpeople, by Cordwainer
Smith   This collection includes five short stories and one
full-length novel by Cordwainer Smith, all of which take place
in his Instrumentality of Mankind universe and involve
'underpeople'--humanoid creatures derived from animals for the
purpose of completing various menial and/or skilled tasks. These
underpeople look like human beings, more or less (some retain
certain animalian features--noses, whiskers, unusual size, etc.)
and have enhanced mental abilities, but at root they are still
dogs, cats, bulls, birds, and so on and think accordingly. They
are also treated accordingly--that is, treated like animals. And
in many cases, worse than animals, for there are rules against
caring for sick or injured underpeople; it is easier--and more
economically sensible--to just destroy them.  This universe,
then, is peopled by true humans, who now have pretty much
nothing to do other than run the political worlds (and even that
is done only by a few powerfu