The Songs of Distant Earth

Clarke, Arthur C. The Songs of Distant Earth. New York: Ballantine, 1986. Toronto: Random (Canada), 1986. New York: Del Rey-Ballantine, 1987 (paperback). New York: Del Rey-Ballantine, 1987 (hardback with different pagination), n.d. [S. F.] Book Club Edition. See Bibliographical Note in SDE's backmatter for details of genesis of SDE as a short story and movie outline.

"Man" goes to the stars in seedships—mechanical wombs carrying first embryos and then DNA codes—and then in a final Exodus of survivors in quantum-drive spaceships, with the passengers in deep hibernation. Hard SF, with the technology positive but mostly just there; note imposition of the mechanical upon the reproductive. See C. Simak's "Target Generation," V. Vinge, "Long Shot," and J. Williamson's Manseed.

RDE, Title, 6Aug19