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Summary: Deus Veult
Review: Brilliantly plotted and executed. At the heart of the novel is the question of the nature of one man's faith in his religion. He is tested, and changed forever in the course of his experiences as a Jesuit linguist on the first-contact mission to the planet Rakhat.
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Summary: Science fiction for the non-science fiction fan
Review: As someone who usually avoids science fiction because the characters are often one-dimensional characatures, I was thoroughly impressed by this book. The story unfolds in a very interesting way, and the world that the author creates is intriguing; however, it is the charaters that make the book worth reading. Russell is incredibly skilled at establishing relationships and evoking our sympathy for the charaters through as little as a few lines of brilliant, witty dialogue. Rarely have I found fictional characters so genuine and likeable, and never have I read dialogue that made me laugh out loud so consistently. Her sequel, Children of God, is slightly less impressive in this way, but offers a more gripping plot. A trade off, but both are worth reading.
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Summary: The Sparrow- a Jesuit in crisis
Review: Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow is a captivating travelogue into the future. Her extrastellar explorers are none other than the Pope's Soldier's- the Jesuits, joined by a heterogenous band of merry men and women, inspired with the mission of responding to and communing with The Singers heard over radiowaves from the distant planet of Rahkat. She develops three-dimensional characters, providing enough back-story to make them believable, and understandable. The story evolves into the ultimate violence and human disgrace, and the crisis-of-faith plot line is depressing and cynical.
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Summary: Riveting and thought-provoking
Review: author of DREAMING YOUR REAL SELF, DREAM BACK YOUR LIFE, and WHO'S CRAZY, ANYWAY?Mary Doria Russell's THE SPARROW is one of those books that stay with you. Each character feels like a real person and their snappy interactions are entertaining and educational. I loved these people and really cared about what happened to them. I wish I could be at one of Anne's dinner parties. This novel explores how even well meaning, educated, and prudent people can make big mistakes -believing they know more than they do. Masterfully done, it raises questions of ecology, politics, religion, power, faith, and very human desires. Although, as readers, we think we know the outcome of the mission to Rakhat, we are continually surprised at how the events really played out, gradually revealed by Sandoz -as complex a character as any human can be. In the equally riveting sequel, Children of God, he returns to Rakhat to discover the enormous impact the first mission had on the two sentient species there. Books to savor and ponder, to ask ourselves how we each make similar errors all the time - even with the best of intentions.
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Summary: A Crisis of Faith
Review: Mary Doria Russell's novel "The Sparrow" is a wonderfully moving novel -- about one man's crisis of faith and about a doomed expedition to another planet, with the second storyline unfolding through flashbacks and through a grueling "debriefing" of the main character, Father EmiloSandoz. At the heart of this man's crisis is the physical trauma of wounds suffered while on the planet, magnified by the emotional trauma of seeking answers from a God whose ways are not always clear. The story opens with Father Sandoz having returned, alone, from a failed Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat. Wounded, ill, and accused of murder and prostitution, he must accomplish the dual tasks of healing from the physical damage and coming to terms with what has happened to him. Sandoz is one of several people who find themselves in an alien society through circumstances which Sandoz views as the work of God. Father Sandoz and the others must interpret context as well as language in the society they find themselves in, and misunderstandings lead to tragic consequences for the mission. I had the advantage of having read the book's sequel, "Children of God," before this one, having found it in my local library and not having realized at the time that an earlier volume existed (this speaks well, by the way, of "Children of God" for being a very readable and complete story in its own right). Father Sandoz' abuse seems inexplicable and surprising in "The Sparrow", but the sequel reveals that it was the result of miscommunication between Sandoz and his alien host Supaari VaGayjur, and that Supaari actually had good intentions in doing what he did. I found this book and its sequel to be deeply moving and lyrical. It is a skillful example of science fiction at its best and is a wonderful literary work. The book addresses various issues of religion and faith beautifully, and I strongly recommend it.
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Summary: Approaching 2019 AD
Review: With the time setting of this novel drawing near it is satisfying to know the story remains convincing. Ms Russell's extensive research is awe inspiring but I found my acknowledgement of this ran secondary to the plot as I became drawn into the life stories, action and aftermath. This book is a main meal. It is quite long and involved presenting a fascinating plot of wonderful originality. To find the central characters stodgy or unbelievably "good" is to miss the central theme - which is the human drive to explore to the limits of our known world in order to better our collective existence. Thus the main characters are a Jesuit, government scientists and the bondwoman. Who else is going to bother? Not the capitalist. Perhaps that is why this novel will appeal to idealists, left wing thinkers and the altruistic among us. But for a thought provoking novel with a science fiction core I could not recommend a better read.
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Summary: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Review: This was one of the best books I've read. Even if you've never wondered about life on another planet, you can appreciate this brilliant, believable, compelling novel. It was thought provoking long after finishing it. I'm hoping for a sequel.
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Summary: Aging Baby Boomers Shoot the Moon
Review: Set in the near future (early to mid-twenty first century) this tale recounts the efforts of a small group of idealistic, highly liberal and mostly religious aging baby boomers to find extra-terrestrial intelligence (and God) on another world. A magnificent blend of science and philosophical fiction, it's written in two parallel streams which recount, alternately, what happened after and during the doomed expedition to the distant planet of Rakhat, an expedition which grew from the near-miraculous receipt of radio transmissions from that heretofore unsuspected alien world. The basic motivation of the seekers is religious, as much as it is scientific, and it is the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) which undertakes the noble enterprise to reach out and make contact with the originators of the fascinating transmissions received on Earth. The core group of Jesuit-led explorers also contains a number of lay persons, all somehow linked with one another, and with the Jesuits, through the person of Jesuit Father Emilio Sandoz, a brilliant linguist and conflicted priest who is both soul and inspiration to this group. What the explorers find on Rakhat, however, is not at all what they expected and this shock, as much as anything, is the cause of their ultimate failure with regard to the "first contact" they have engineered. They are entirely unprepared for the culture and intelligences they encounter and which lie at the source of the transmissions which drew them, for Rakhat turns out to be a world which is like Earth and yet utterly alien to the ideals and beliefs of those who have gone there; what happens to them shakes the faith of those it does not destroy. And this is the crux of the tale as told by Ms. Russell. It is compelling and thoughtful although, I must admit, a trifle predictable. In addition, I thought the characterizations, while sharply drawn (especially via the clever and thought-provoking dialogue Ms. Russell places in her players' mouths), were ultimately thin and wearing since the characters all seemed to speak and think the same way at their respective cores. There was a tiresome sameness, a homogeneous liberalism, which informed this novel and its characters and which, in the end, left me with a feeling of artificiality, as though I was immersed in a college campus among a number of aging academics somehow sequestered from the wider world. The people at the heart of this tale are all so good and liberal and politically correct that it hurts. One would think there are no other human types in the world (except, of course, for those scheming and distant capitalists who control the resources of society on this twenty-first century Earth). Still, Ms. Russell, in her anti-capitalist, liberal mind-set (I am assuming that the author shares the views of her characters, based on how she has written the tale) has created a fascinating vision of a twenty-first century Earth in which business (especially a dominant Japanese entrepreneurial civilization -- and this especially seems dated, given recent events) has triumphed over nation states. It is a world in which international conglomerates mine the asteroid belt at the edge of the solar system for the financial benefit of the enterprises which dominate the planet and in which human beings become the ultimate source of investment as ingenious entrepreneurs cull the battle-ravaged or impoverished places of Earth to find and train intellectually endowed children in exchange for twenty years of income from the work these children are ultimately set to perform. It's a world of enlightened indentured servitude, driven by the capitalist ethic. And this is the world where our brilliantly idealistic little group finds solace in the good works of service to the poor, while sharing dinners and scintillating conversations with one another about the search and hope for redemption through faith. The characters are clever and enjoyable company and the fundamental problem which seems to draw them together is one which strikes a real chord. And the expedition to Rakhat is intriguingly drawn as is the world they find waiting for them. But in the end I was surprised at how surprised they were at what they found. Perhaps it was their unremitting idealism which blinded them. But it does seem they should have been better prepared for an encounter with aliens and not been quite as credulous and simple as they turn out to be, given the intelligence and sophistication they are given by their author. Still the tale was a good one and worth reading for the intellectual and spiritual puzzle it presents.
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Summary: Powerful and fascinating.
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite books. It's very difficult to categorize, as it combines science fiction, theology, character studies, and sociological/culture studies into a single novel. Russell is a socio-anthropologist, and so the culture that she creates on the planet Rakhat is detailed and believable, and the plot twist about the way the two cultures interact is astounding. In addition, the human characters are warm and interesting -- personally, I'm shocked by the number of people reviewing this book that called them one-dimensional. Finally, the theological trauma experienced by Emilio Sandoz is at heart of the novel -- whether you have personal theological questions or not, you are sure to be moved by Sandoz' struggle. The sequel is also excellent. All of my friends have loved both!
Rating: 
Summary: The Sparrow
Review: I got this book at the airport and was intriqued by the introduction and storyline. More than 75% of the book builds to some "event" which made for suspensful reading. I enjoyed the writing style but I found the end so ridiculous AND distasteful that I felt ripped off for spending my time reading something with such a ludicrous ending. I was surprised that the reviews were so good. I'm an average person leaning on the liberal side of life...so nothing really shocks me; but in this book it seemed superfluous. Perhaps a better title for Sparrow would be "Swallow".
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