Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (downloadable audio)

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
by Kate Wilhelm [Downloadable Audio from both OverDrive and Hoopla] 

Classic science fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic near future.


The survival of the human species seems in doubt, as both ecological and genetic disasters have lead to massive die-offs of the majority of the population, most of which has gone sterile. In an isolated scientific enclave, a group of desperate survivors believe the only solution is to clone the next several generations of human beings, in the hopes that the sterility gene can be bred out, and humans can return to normal biological reproduction.

The problem is…the clones don’t think the same way that we do…and what survives may not truly be human after all.

My science fiction club read this for a group discussion and there were strongly divergent opinions about the book. But most of us agreed that it was a fairly good example of early-to-mid-1970s “New Wave” science fiction, by one of the most prominent authors from that time period. I did enjoy this, and recommend it for most fans of “social science fiction” as opposed to “hard SF”.

[ Wikipedia page for Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang ] | [ official Kate Wilhelm web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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