Rating: 
Summary: Memorable
Review: "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" chronicles the post-holocaust attempts of humanity's remnants to combat sterility through cloning. The author, Kate Wilhelm, posits that multiple and simultaneous cloning of an individual prevents the development of separate egos in the clones, and results instead in the formation of a group identity. She argues this point and the consequent deterioration of the clone society quite convincingly. The successful execution of this idea would alone make a fine novel. When supported by Wilhelm's lush, vivid imagery and gripping drama it becomes a masterpiece.Damon Knight (Wilhelm's husband and himself a famous author) claimed that the best SF evokes in the reader a "sense of wonder", a reverence of mankind's potential- and engenders despair in the bosom of the aspiring writer who can never hope to duplicate this feat. The inspiration of this awe is the greatest virtue of "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang", and entitles it to a position among the genre's highest achievements.
Rating:
Summary: Memorable
Review: "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" chronicles the post-holocaust attempts of humanity's remnants to combat sterility through cloning. The author, Kate Wilhelm, posits that multiple and simultaneous cloning of an individual prevents the development of separate egos in the clones, and results instead in the formation of a group identity. She argues this point and the consequent deterioration of the clone society quite convincingly. The successful execution of this idea would alone make a fine novel. When supported by Wilhelm's lush, vivid imagery and gripping drama it becomes a masterpiece. Damon Knight (Wilhelm's husband and himself a famous author) claimed that the best SF evokes in the reader a "sense of wonder", a reverence of mankind's potential- and engenders despair in the bosom of the aspiring writer who can never hope to duplicate this feat. The inspiration of this awe is the greatest virtue of "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang", and entitles it to a position among the genre's highest achievements.
Rating:
Summary: The best CLONE NOVEL ever written.
Review: I am not a big Kate Wilhelm fan, but she poured her heart and soul into this book. Although the book deals with the subject of Cloning, it is really about the triumph of individualism in a clone society. The story revolves around a little boy that was raised in secret by his rebellious mother, and the efforts of the clone society to make him fit in. Once discovered he becomes a big problem for the clone society, but the clone society also needs his unique talents. And as he grows into a man, the situation becomes worse and worse, until it comes to a head in the end. As a book about individualism, this book is even better than Ayn Rands Anthem. Anthem will leave the reader sing praises of individualism. While this book leave the reader with a heartfelt appreciation of individualism and a deep understanding of the tension between of individualism and collectivism. It will touch your heart, your soul, and you mind. I've read a lot of books, very few of them I'd rate as good, but this book is far better than good. Find this book, and read it today.
Rating: 
Summary: Sensitive soft sci-fi. really says something.
Review: An excellent book about what it means to be human , about indeviduality , about human spirit , and about the Sumner family. THE STORY : Fertility is lost - both in human beings and animals. The Sumners are ready and have laboratories for genetic expariments. Over the years they reproduce by cloning , until the protagonist can't stand it anymore - he's an indevidual. That a REAL summory since there's a lot more to it , but it does'nt matter. what does is what Kate Wilhelm has to say about social-structurs and the human-spirit , and she says it beutifully. A soft book , for quiet thinkers , writen with a gentlesness you don't find anywhere. I , myself , am a hard sci-fi reader , but I enjoyed the depth of the story.
Rating:
Summary: shows what can happpen due to reliance on technology
Review: Brillaint book especially when you consider when it was written. A great indicator of what can happen to society as the result of its dependence on technology. We should all use this book as a warning - use it to set up preventative plans in the event we are faced with something similar. I couldn't put the book down until I had finished reading it. Excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but beware
Review: Great book, and everyone else who's reviewing here is right. However, the reader should be warned: This book does not delve into characters very well. Many are introduced, very few are explored. In hindsight, that was part of the whole point, that individuality is lost, but while reading, it was a little hard to get into. Still, I raced through the book and found it really wonderful once I got past the unusual technique.
Rating:
Summary: Find a copy!
Review: I searched high and low to find this book, and considering that it won the 1977 Hugo, I'm surprised it was so hard to find. I hope that word-of-mouth spreads for this book and that it is republished again soon. The book deals with many different themes and issues, and at times is reminicient of "1984" and "On the Beach" but at its heart it is a book about a society of clones. And as usual, in matters of new science frontiers, of what society fears and Congress outlaws, science-fiction bridges the gap and asks and answers the questions of ethics and morality that arise. Doomsday comes and mankind's only hope for survivial is to resort to cloning as its form of reproduction. But a society of clones becomes an almost entirely different species, who live as a collective. But among the clones emerges an individual who challenges the society that he lives in, and exerts his freedom to live and think as an individual. And the battle of collective minds against the individual quickly becomes the battle for the survival of mankind, once again. Considering the attention that cloning has been getting lately, I urge all fans of sci-fi to seek out old copies of this book, or to encourage the publishers to release a new printing. The book earned its Hugo Award, as twenty years ago it was raising the same questions that are being asked today. The first third of the book seems rushed, and is more of a long prologue than anything, but the last two-thirds of the book are as challenging a subject as any novel in the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking!!
Review: I went into the reading of this book as a dreaded high school assignment some time ago, and came away with a haunting image of a society losing individuality and imagination. I was infuriated by the idea that the loss of the characteristics which make us unique was acceptable, expected, and desired. It made me think of what my own ideas of cloning really were, at a time when the subject was just becoming feasible. Have you ever pondered what a society of, say, ten people created over and over into hundreds would be like? This book gives just one view of that situation. As limited as that view may seem, it really opened my mind, and helped me to understand where I want to be in this issue. I HIGHLY suggest reading it, especially if you have followed any of the latest developments in regards to the subject of cloning.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I'V EVER READ
Review: I'll never forget this book as long as i live. this was the best written most haunting book i'v ever read. in just a single parigraph it will seem like you have read a whole chapter it will fill your mind and captivate you. I think i'v already put a review on for this book so ill just shut up now
Rating:
Summary: Seriously Provocative
Review: Kate Wilhelm describes in this story a clone society, which some authors might make out to be a utopia, but which she makes it clear is far from being one. She employs beautiful, descriptive passages describing a range of experiences which derive much of their value from being experienced in solitude: a walk in the woods, drawing a picture, dreaming a lazy dream... Her story leaves one with an experience of the importance of privacy, of having an alone place in your life, and of turning, sometimes, away from the quotidian world of other people and even of sensory input, and finding out how to be still and centered. She seems to be implying that, in some paradoxical ways, the most powerful common experience we can share as human beings is the experience of reflective solitude. She sets all of this in the context of a society of clones. I should say that this society reminds me a lot of the "Borg" from Star Trek, while noting, of course, that Kate Wilhelm's story was written long before the idea of the Borg occurred to anyone. The clone society concept lets her do all kinds of complex, intriguing things with her ideas, but these actual ideas are quite simple in and of themselves. Simple, important, and worth reading. This book is terrific. Two thumbs up.
| 
