The novel “Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang” by Kate Wilhelm was published for the first time in 1976. It won the Hugo, Locus, and Jupiter Awards for best science fiction novel of the year.
The collapse of the ecosystems caused by massive pollution also causes epidemics, among other things. The Sumner family has the economic and professional resources to isolate themselves in a small community where its members can work to keep human civilization alive.
The Sumners’ initial plans must be replaced when they realize they have been struck by a form of sterility. The only hope comes from the development of a cloning technique, including human cloning. The project is successful, but the clones prove to be connected to each other in unexpected ways. A side effect of this deep connection is that they’re unable to go far from the group without developing mental disorders, which can become profound if they don’t quickly return to the clone collective.
“Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang” was written at a time when scientific studies already offered very dire predictions about the consequences of pollution. Estimates of the consequences of rising carbon dioxide levels already predicted global warming. Kate Wilhelm drew inspiration from those studies to describe a world that reached ecological collapse. It’s a world that, at the beginning of the novel, is already suffering from the problems that existed at the time, with part of the population suffering from hunger and various diseases.
The author was interested in a post-apocalyptic world, so the phase of global collapse—first ecological and then political and social—is described quite quickly, condensing years of events into a few chapters. For this reason, there are only hints at the problem of radiation released into the atmosphere by nuclear tests conducted by various nations.
The development of the first clones is also used to show the contrast between humans, now on the brink of extinction, with their individuality and creativity, and the clones, who form a sort of gestalt in which they are interconnected in an almost telepathic way. For this reason, physical violence between them is nonexistent because it would be like harming themself. However, violence can exist in various forms.
In the brave new world where the clones may be the sole survivors of all humanity, the consequences of the choices they make are explored. Abandoning sexual reproduction to perfect cloning means that their almost telepathic way of perceiving others will remain the only one in existence, barring anomalies.
The clones must maintain near-constant physical proximity to avoid going mad, but at the same time, they need to venture outside their small community to scavenge all resources that are still available because they aren’t self-sufficient. How can these two needs be reconciled when the clones react like fearful children even at the prospect of entering the woods near their community?
The comparison, often in the form of contrast, between these two versions of humanity is used by Kate Wilhelm to explore human nature, with its strengths and weaknesses. Within the clone collective, there’s very little diversity of thought, and this poses one of the challenges to the community’s survival. Mark is an individual and is rather mean toward the clones, but over time, he develops clear ideas about what’s necessary for humanity’s survival.
Despite the importance of cloning in the plot, “Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang” is a strongly humanistic novel in which Kate Wilhelm explores various facets of humanity, such as identity and belonging, including the contrast between individuality and collectivity. I recommend reading it for all the food for thought it offers. You can find it on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
