Rating: 
Summary: Read and ponder
Review: Mary Doria Russell's debut novel is a fascinating blend of science fiction and theological reflection. It tells the story of a Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat, its tragic outcome and its impact on the only survivor, Father Emilio Sandoz. Sandoz had served faithfully as a priest for many years without, as he puts it, "feeling" God or experiencing faith "as a thing of the heart". The build-up to the mission and its initial success transform him to the point where his co-travellers report that he "has seen the face of God". But then everything goes horribly wrong and a mutilated and humiliated Sandoz has to try and make sense of God, faith and life.
"The sparrow" is not a great book. The writing is uneven (oscillating between beautiful and pretty ordinary), several of the characters are too clever to be believable, and it is hard to belief that life on earth will change so little in the next sixty-odd years. But it nonetheless remains well worth reading. Not only does it tell a good story with panache; above all, it challenges readers to reflect on the nature of God and on the meaning of faith in a world saturated with suffering and hardship. These are old issues, but they are as pertinent as ever in an age when more and more people either forsake belief in God altogether or close their hearts and minds to the paradoxes of faith. Mary Doria Russell poses these questions starkly, but does not provide answers. It could be argued that her failure to resolve the issues discourages belief, but I found her approach honest and courageous. For me, this book represents a more powerful statement of and a more compelling invitation to faith than many dedicated apologetic writings. It powerfully reminds us that God is unfathomable and sovereign, and confronts us with the crucial question: What does it mean to believe in and entrust your life to such a God?
In closing, it should be pointed out that the book is written from a Jewish perspective. As such, it is silent on an issue that is of great importance to Christians, namely the implications of the life and suffering of Jesus Christ for our understanding of human suffering and the nature of God. But in the final analysis this is not a book for adherents of any specific faith or, for that matter, for unbelievers. It is a worthwhile read for all of us who try to make sense of life and suffering.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-realized characters and a very moving story.
Review: Mary Doria Russell has created some of the most well-rounded, realistic characters that I've ever seen in this novel. Her protagonist, Father Emilio Sandoz, especially stands out. I have to admit to a certain fondness for this sort of religiously-themed novel--Graham Greene is perhaps my favorite author--and I loved the moral questions/problems/debates, etc., that Russell deals with in the book. It is often quite brutal and gruesome, but then life is like that. A film I saw once, called _Black Robe_, had a similar feel, with Jesuit missionaries working (and subject to brutality/misunderstandings) among Indian tribes in early America/Canada. This is a book that truly deserves all the superlatives which have been written about it. A perfect introduction to science fiction for those who might not normally read in the genre (and I'm not going to nit-pick the scientific details--they just didn't matter that much in the face of the truly human characters Russell presents us). Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Dont waste your time
Review: I found this book to be very dissapointing. The whole premise of the story is preposterous, many of the characters are highly annoying, and the ending is weird and disgusting. The first 100 or so pages are OK, but after that the story goes off the deep end and really bogs down, and it's hard making it all the way to the end.
Rating:
Summary: An imaginative treatment of cross-cultural misunderstanding
Review: This is an imaginative and well-written "first contact" novel which vividly illustrates the limitations of good intentions in a cross-cultural encounter. Russell has created a fully realized alien culture on the planet of Rakhat, and credibly charts the escalating missteps which her human characters make in exploring it. Sponsorship of the Rakhat mission by the Jesuits is perhaps a bit implausible, but the thought-provoking parallels with the "discovery" of the Americas justify the slight suspension of disbelief. The post-mission interactions among the earthbound Jesuits who are trying to make sense of what happened are also fairly gripping.I have only two complaints about the novel. First, I was irritated by the evident authorial expectation that I should hold the character of Anne Edwards in high regard; it was (alas) not surprising at all to read in interviews that Russell had based this figure in large part on herself. Second, a "key" revelation at the end of the book smacks of cliche- Russell all but states "now the healing process can begin"- and is artificially delayed in a way which seems oddly out of character for the person who makes it. But these are minor quibbles about an otherwise terrific read!
Rating:
Summary: JESUITS IN SPACE!!!
Review: This was a refreshing science fiction book. Mary Doria Russell is an good writer. I was most pleased that Russell avoids the overuse of "techno babble," so often found in science fiction works. Instead, Russel builds up characters and constructs an extraterrestrial society, from the ground up. Relying on years of experience and expertise as an anthropologist, Russell constructs a believable and exciting narrative of what a first contact situation between humans and a new race of people would and could be like. She begins with the problems of communication which any first contact situation would obviously bring, and wisely chooses linguists to be main characters in this book. Nevertheless, there are some expected miscommunications, some with disasterous results! Father Emilio Sandoz, the hot Puerto-Rican Jesuit priest (aka Father "What a Waste!")is a brilliant character -- lovable and believable. The other characters are equally good. I especially liked the idea that Russell would choose to send a team of Jesuits and other social misfits off into space. Anyone familiar with the history of New World "discoveries" would especially appreciate the sweet irony of this choice, and revel in yet another failed attempt to successfully find some lost children of God. (But, for that, see her sequel!) Russell weaves into the story line subplots of the dangers and affects of so-called first contact encounters, reminding us how simple and subtle changes introduced to any society will always affect that society's political, economic, and social matrix. I appreciate that Russell relies on her own scientific background of anthropology and human evolution to reconstruct the evolutionary trajectory on Rakhat. It makes the book more believable. It will make a great novel to use as an accompanying text in an undergraduate anthropology class! If you are into hi-tech sci-fi, this is probably not the book for you. But, if you are interested in first contact scenarios, Jesuit relations, evolutionary biology, or just a good book to kick back with, this is a fun, roller-coaster of a ride! Sipaj!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining reading
Review: Not exactly sci-fi. Certainly not theology. A study of ethics and lessons of history? A little bit of all of these. Characterizations are a strong point of the novel and the alien culture is nicely imagined. Writing style uneven--mostly it pleases, but there are passages where you'll swear that Russell turned her word processor over to a three-year-old.
Rating: 
Summary: Why dumb down a book about ideas?
Review: Though the ideas behind *The Sparrow* it are intriguing and some of the social developments she describes feel as inevitable as the very best of sci-fi writing, Dr. Russell seems to have been afraid that her ideas would overwhelm the reader. The book is diluted with stereotypical secondary characters (the cruel Austrian, the stuffy Englishman, the colorful Texan, the mothering woman who--though she is a doctor married to an engineer--cannot understand the simplest concepts of physics) and lots of anachronistic pop-culture references along with puerile sexual innuendo, maddeningly repetitive explanations of the Theory of Relativity and insipid conversations. As others have noted, this was a book very much in need of an editor. Some particularly hackneyed or saccharine sections made me wince. While the novel has many good and some outstanding attributes, the quality of its writing is so uneven that I could not ignore it. Unfortunately, like many academics and science-fiction writers, Dr. Russell has wonderful ideas but doesn't express them well in writing. I very rarely find myself wanting to read a book as quickly as possible: usually the work in question is either too bad to bother with or so good that I want to savor it. Because *The Sparrow* is a little of both, I found myself rushing through it in order to get to the interesting sections. In spite of mutual good intentions on the part of both author and reader, I am sorry to say that the experience was not very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: What an amazing book! Though superficially it could be classified as science fiction, this book defies genre. Gorgeous prose, masterfully realized characters, mesmerizing plot, the deepest of themes. I have given copies of this book to many friends, who usually give or recommend it to their friends. One of these is a renowned theologian who told me after reading it that it was the best work of fiction he had read in years - he, too, recommended it to several colleagues and students. I was moved, provoked, and humbled by it.
Rating:
Summary: But the characters are all so stupid
Review: In years gone by the Jesuits travelled far and wide trying to convert civilisations to Christianity. Jesuits were men of considerable learning and they became the friends of Emperors in such places as China and Japan. It is not clear if they actually were particularly succesfull but their travels make interesting reading. This novels pushes the process to a future in which a Jesuit expedition travels to a star which has broadcast radio signals suggesting that it has intelligent life. The book is not linear but starts off with one member returning alive with his fellows killed. His hands have been mutilated and it is thought that he killed an innocent member of one of the species on the new planet. The book is broadly a gradual (some might say glacial) revalation of what happened on the expedition. The writer is unusual in that she was a university academic who turned to writing fiction late in life. As a result the book is poignant with issues. How can a benevolent God create a universe in which there is suffering and so on. The structure of the book consists of intertwining the events as they unfold plus an inquiry which takes place some sixty years later as to whey the expedition fails. The main character who is the Jesuit priest who comes back with the mutilated hands is infuriating. For chapter after chapter one constantly exclaims, why can't you just say what happened. However we have to work to a gradual climax which only really unfolds in the last 100 or so pages of the book. In fact the last 100 pages or so are quite gripping but for the initiall 400 or so one just thinks continually of the main character, let it all out, you will feel better, but for the point of view of dramatic development we are kept guising to the end. The book has other anoying aspects. In reality no one would send off an expedition to a distant planet with people hoping off and talking to new sentient life forms. Look at what happened when the Spanish went to South America and the diseases they transferred to the Indian population killed 80 to 90% of the local population. However the book looks back to the time of when the Jesuits sent missions to China and other places rather than being grounded in the present. The behavour of the main characters is also irrational. They are poor at understanding the nature of their enviroment and its pitfalls. The questions they ask to their new friends are poorly directed and give them no understanding of the problems they may face. History shows that real expolorers were somewhat more robust. The character who survives also wines so much. It is true that he has a rather bad time but many people in life have a hard time. He tends to exhibit maudlin self pity rather than being a person who is truly reflecting on the nature of the universe and its compatability with a benevolent creator.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful in any genre.
Review: _The Sparrow_ has stayed with me since I put it down, and I've found myself thinking about it repeatedly. I read a lot of books, ane few remain with me so long. It isn't a perfect book-- I recognize a lot of the critiques made here by other reviewers. But it's so strong that I prized the read more than many a closer-to-perfect reading experience. I felt curiosity about the new races, empathy and affection for the characters, and sorrow for the events in the novel worth sorrowing for. The writing style is occasionally uneven, but Russell hits her stride by the end of the book and all the little stumbles before that point I willingly forgave. Highly recommended. A good book.
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