Hunting Sweet Birds

Finishing the Sweet Birds

I finally finished Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm and I can definitely say I enjoyed it. The final section deals with Mark, the son of the outcast Molly, who actually is integrated as best as possible into the clone society. He too is an individual among the group and both he and the clones have a difficult time relating to each other. The main difference for this last part of the story is that some of the clone leadership recognize that they need Mark if they’re going to survive into the future. With the clones scared of venturing into the forest and the necessity of gathering resources from the old cities, Barry, one of the leaders, tries to get Mark to help out, but while it works temporarily, the cloned children just can’t understand or deal with someone who is so different from them.  

In the end, Mark realizes that the only way for humanity to survive is to break from the village. He leads/kidnaps a group of the clones that are able to breed and takes them to another valley where he starts a fresh society from the ground up rather than relying on the technology of the old world. Years later, when he goes back to the clone village, it has reverted back to wilderness, but humanity has survived in his new valley.

On the whole, I really liked the story. One particularly good section talks about how society is “living on the top of a pyramid” and “if the pyramid crumbles and returns to dust, there is nothing we can do to prevent it”. I find this a chillingly scary statement, but one that is probably true. How many of us could start a fire or build a shelter if the water, gas, and electricity stopped? I look at the 10 people who challenge themselves in the Alone television show and they even have issues and they’re survival experts.  

People talk about first world problems, I often get upset about people who don’t know how to play their champ in League of Legends, or how the stupid road construction makes my commute to work take 5 times as long as it should, but this book brings a much harsher reality into view. How strong – in reality – is the base of that pyramid?  
In any case, before I ramble on too much more on this, I loved the book and highly recommend it. Give it a read and think about what it says about society, but then go back to contributing to that pyramid at whatever level you’re on…we’ve got to keep that thing strong and everyone has a part to play.

Leveling my Hunter

I ran through Kezan with my Goblin Hunter and made it to level 6. There’s not much in the starting area that requires much effort in terms of the abilities you learn, but you do get a few…

These two pretty much set you up through level 6.
And you get a pet to start out with.  

I got a crab and named him RedTide because we’ve had a rash of red crabs washing up on the beaches around here lately. I guess it’s something that happens periodically over the years, but it was noteworthy and in the news so I thought it a cool name for my new pet. I actually like the fact that you start out with a pet these days. Previously, a hunter had to wait to level 10 I think before getting a pet and it really made for a change in play style once you reached that level.  

Morning Ramble 2.100