Rating: 
Summary: A bird in the hand
Review: This is one title I've known about for years. Intrigued by the book cover and the description, but somehow always steered myself away, most likely by the science fiction element. A huge fan of sci-fi in my youth I've since become immersed in other genres. But alas, ever the student of popular culture, once I heard it was being adapted for the screen I decided to give it a second look. All in all, worth the read and I am anticipating reading Children of God. The scholarship in this book is quite evident. Coherent character development and cogency of plot, less so. Russell takes on a very ambitious project here and she is a talented writer. Now for the quibbling. I had several issues with some of the book's major points. Characters are arguably the most important element of any good story. And these characters didn't seem quite real, more archetypes serving various functions within a cohesive whole. Anne in particular, bothered me. Her gung-ho, outrageously candid den-mother didn't ring true for me. She basically seemed like more of a catalyst for the less frank and more emotionally stunted characters. And what ultimately happened to her and D.W. really seemed to have been inexplicably glossed over for some reason, which I found quite odd as well as frustrating. George was barely developed at all. And certain revelations about other characters, D.W. especially, were way out of left field and generally unnecessary and pointless. But then, of course, there is Emilio. His Job-ian role as a vessel for human suffering is an unenviable one, to be sure. Ultimately I think he pulls it off by behaving in a realistic way, in a fashion anyone who suffered such pain and indignity would behave. The story hinges more on his believability as a character, and his reaction to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, than anyone else's. And toward this end, Russell triumphs. The story itself is still an engrossing read rife with possibility and absorbing detail. And it brings much to bear on what it means to be human. Or humanoid.
Rating:
Summary: A very good, though slightly flawed, book
Review: Reviewed by Richard Gray
http://www.rich-gray.com Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit Priest, is a master linguist who has been ordered by his superiors from place to place, learning languages and helping the poor and unfortunate for the glory of his God. When he is allowed to return to his home town in Arecibo Puerto Rico he befriends Anne Rice, a physician; her engineer husband, George; a young astronomer, Jimmy Quinn; and a former child prostitute turned computer expert, Sofia Mendez. On August 3rd, 2019 a radio transmission is picked up at the Arecibo dish from intelligent life on another planet. Jimmy Quinn is the first to hear it, and, against protocol, Jimmy's closets friends are next. From the instant Sandoz hears the people of Rakhat singing from 4 light-years away he is convinced in the need to meet them for the glory of his God. He and his Jesuit order stop at nothing to put together the first mission to the planet and the crew ncludes himself, three other Jesuits, and his skilled friends from Arecibo. Despite initial success, the mission goes horribly wrong. When a government led mission arrive they find Sandoz with brutally mangled hands, living as a prostitute, and standing over the body of an alien child he had just murdered. Sandoz returns to earth, disgraced, and it is up to his Jesuit superiors to try and find out what happened. The book is written from the point of view of two different time periods, alternating from chapter to chapter. One follows Sandoz as a broken man being questioned about the mission, and the other shows how the mission unfolded and what really happened. This approach to telling the story works perfectly for the plot and everything from chapter to chapter is masterfully paced. The reader is immediately hooked by the question of what made Sandoz go from a devoted priest that believes his God is lovingly guiding his life, to a man who is physically broken and has come to hate God. As the details of the mission are revealed the answer to that question may shock the reader. The writers strength is in creating her characters, their motivations, and in creating the Rakhat landscape and culture. The interaction between the two intelligent species on Rakhat is well thought out. Jimmy Quinn is the perfect characterization of a physics graduate student, and Anne Rice and her husband remind me of people I have met in academia. Though I am no expert on Jesuits, Jesuits have apparently embraced Russell's characterization of them as being accurate. This is all around a beautiful book and among the books that I've read in the last year this is one of my favorite. However, to be honest, despite how much I liked it, there are a number of flaws throughout the book that I think potential readers should be made aware of. These problems include a few spots were the writing becomes unclear, some technical problems in the plot, and that her characters' dialogue can sometimes be a bit annoying. I'll explain below. There are a few spots here and there that aren't written as well as the rest of the book and you'll have to re-read to figure out what just happened. There are only a few of these instances that I noticed, and they only last a paragraph or two, but at least one of them came at an important point in the plot. However, the book is good enough that even really picky readers will probably forgive these bad spells and gladly keep going. There are also technology related problems in the plot that will annoy scientists or people with technical training. For example, Sophia Mendez is supposed to be some fabulously expert computer programmer called a "vulture". "Vultures" supposedly can write computer programs so well that they can replace people at their jobs, and people tend to get nervous whenever a Vulture is hired to study what they do. However, I've done some computer programming in my time, and there is absolutely nothing that Sofia does that regular old hackers like myself couldn't do. It is particularly annoying that Sophia gets called in to write a program that can do Jimmy Quinn's job. As a physics graduate student myself, I can tell you that Jimmy would have written that program himself a long, long time ago without Sofia's help. As far as other technical issues are concerned, I think she handles the Special Relativity well enough in the story, but there are other ideas she puts forth that I don't think are actually physically possible. But, then again, I guess this is science fiction, and in comparison to a Star Trek or a Star Wars novel the science in here is solid Sometimes the Character's dialogue, though I think it is realistic, can get a little annoying. Russell has gone out of her way to try and give her characters interesting backgrounds, accents and dialects. She succeeds. However, reading a passage with a realistic portrayal of a Texan spouting folksy sayings is just as a bad as sitting on a bus next to a real Texan spouting folksy sayings. You may want to strangle them before you get to your stop, and in the book you might want to pop a cork in the character D.W.. Also, when the characters are chatting and joking around with one another it sometimes reads like a transcript of a conversation from a dinner party you weren't invited to. Annoying. Despite the flaws I just mentioned, this is still a very good book. As Russell revealed more and more about Father Sandoz and what happened to him I really couldn't put it down. I read the last hundred or so pages in one day, and added the sequel "Children of God" to my list of books to eventually read. Richard Gray
http://www.rich-gray.com
Rating: 
Summary: Breathtaking and Heartbreaking
Review: I am a science-fiction reader, so I picked this up as a science-fiction reader expecting it to fulfill my taste for a book about exploring new worlds, meeting new species and cultures, and making a human mark upon those new worlds. This book is, indeed, all of these things, but it is so much more. I am also a literary fiction reader. I did not expect this part of my readership to get anything from this book, but I was wrong. This book, about a Jesuit party exploring an unfamiliar planet with unfamiliar peoples from our very own galaxy, is about love, loss, faith, God, testing faith, human flaws, alien flaws...so much more than just exploring an alien planet and alien peoples. This book will test your beliefs in the nature of God, and his role as caretaker of the life He created. It also shows how good people aren't completely good, and "bad" people aren't always as bad as they seem. If you're not a science-fiction reader, you will not hate this book. You will, in fact, look beyond the science-fiction elements (which would not be overwhelming to someone new to the genre) to the greater, deeper story. It is beautiful, breathtaking, heartbreaking and powerful. This was recommended to me by a fellow co-worker, and I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating intriguing novel
Review: This is the best book I have read in quite awhile. It is one of those books you want to share with others but it is hard to describe with the right complexity and character development. Mary Doria Russell makes it clear that she does not intend for there to be evil, scary villains in this book. Horrifying things occur, to be sure, but the from the point of view of Rakhat's people, equally horrifying things occur on Earth as we all bungle through this journey called life. From the life described on Rakhat, to who the explorers are, to the exploration of faith, to the delving into the human psyche, to the meaning of kindness and love and friendship - it is all in this book, and all fascinating and truly thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, But Great Characters??
Review: I picked this up based on the recommendations of friends and reviews on Amazon, as well as the interesting premise of a Jesuit mission to the stars. Granted, it's just following the tradition of a lot of older sci-fi in reimagining the events of the last 500 years of human history on a grander scale, but it's a fairly unique look at contact stories and I was excited to read it. All in all, I wasn't disappointed. The tone, though occasionally melodramatic, is introspective and thoughtful, and there are a great deal of rich observations in the book. The lighthearted tone of the flashback sequences is nicely contrasted to the pain and confusion of the main character's present. Despite the novel's reliance on Christian symbolism, it never feels moralistic or preachy, and indeed is a pretty balanced look at Catholicism. And despite its cerebral aims, the story is quite engaging, as one may well imagine. The characters are fairly well-imagined and likable (though see complaint below). And the plot is interesting and well-balanced, with enough surprises and anticipation to keep one turning the pages rather rapidly. Really, only two things bothered me. One: I was occasionally put off by the way the author ignores what would likely be serious technical and biological hurdles to the mission by simply writing them out of existence(they can breathe the air and eat the food, there are no diseases, the aliens speak a language which actually operates like a human tongue, etc.). However, the aim of the novel is not to describe as realistically as possible a probable attempt at contact but to meditate on real-world anthropology and religion by means of a sci-fi setting, so I suppose this is not really a problem. Two: Despite what others have said, I do not think this novel is populated by a batch of well-rounded characters. There are a few well-rounded characters who have interesting histories and unique personalities. Even some minor characters have, or appear to have, interesting back stories and responses to the central movement of the novel. And among the main characters there are several strong personalities. However, I think there are also several problem characters, even among the main group, and some characters whose personality seems to be simply an extension of the author's. Not that this is a bad thing, but when you have quite a few characters who all make the same sorts of witty comments, it gets a little repetitive. But this is getting a little negative. I wouldn't have even said anything about it if other reviewers hadn't specifically mentioned the great characterizations and perhaps just left me expecting too much. This is a really good book and I highly recommend it, and plan to do so anytime I run across someone who I think would enjoy it. But I just had to say something about those darn cookie-cutter people.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful read for anyone!
Review: This book is so unique! When recommending it to friends and asked what it's about, after several attempts to convey how it's NOT a science fiction book, even thought it involves space travel, I finally came up with this: It's the story of one man's struggle in his search for God. Loved it, though I'm neither a regular reader of science fiction nor religious writing. Uncategorizable!
Rating:
Summary: Not a sci-fi fan and this is one of my FAVORITE books
Review: I have never been a science fiction fan, but I could not put this book down. Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent--Engaging--Masterpiece!!!
Review: I haven't been this enchanted by a book in quite some time. There is a lot wrong with this book but it is indeed a masterpiece. I was completely captivated by the plotting and characters. I will be thinking about its implications for a long time. This book is a triumph for Mary Doria Russell. Random thoughts about the book (which in reality deserves an essay of analysis but...) With the exception of anthropology, there really is no science applied in the book. Those details are either highly simplified (Sophia's expertise) or just plain ignored (the asteroid ship for example). Frustrating for a Sci Fi fan. Another frustration was the shifting points of view. The story was supposed to be told in flashbacks and in real time. Russell gives the reader the points of view of the aliens. It is evident that Sandoz does not have the benefit of that point of view. It was included to help explain the alien's actions but in reality it pulls the reader out of the story. It was distracting. The discussion of the Runa culture through the eyes of Sandoz was very good. They really did seem unlike anything on earth. The Runa came across as disorganized and subservient but intelligent, the Jana'ata came across as very violent, disciplined and highly intelligent. Both came across as strange and in the case of the Jana'ata...frightening. The end of the book seemed rushed in comparison to the rest of the book. The pacing of the last two chapters was off. I felt like the Jana'ata culture was under explored. We learned next to nothing about the singers and that was the entire reason for the expedition. Further exploration of the Jana'ata culture probably would have made Sandoz's plight and loss of faith much more convincing as well. This is first book in a long time to get my mind racing, hence the highest possible rating. It was fabulous, engrossing, thought provoking etc. I highly recommend reading it. Exercise your mind.
Rating:
Summary: wonderfully thought provoking
Review: what an amazing book - the whole idea and concept kept my brain running for hours after I had put the book down each evening. The scientific aspects were fascinating and the moral/religious/human thought provoking. Wonderful - highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A NEW CATEGORY IN LITERATURE?
Review: I just finished two remarkable novels by an incredibly brilliant first time author. The Sparrow was written in 1996 and it's sequel was written in 1998. I feel these two novels would be well served by a third novel in the series. They seem to be perfectly suited to being a trilogy. The author has an outstanding background in anthropology, an incredible mind and a wonderful use of language.
I think I have never read a better novel dealing with the subject of radically alien races and cultures. Her solid academic background,
experience with religion, imaginative intelligence and authentic good sense contribute to a profound reading experience. After finishing the
second book, I felt bereft that it was over: somewhat like the way I felt after finishing The Poisonwood Bible. The titles are: "The Sparrow" and "Children of God" by Mary Doria Russell. They are classified as science fiction but they really need their own classification. Maybe social- science fiction would work.
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