Rating: 
Summary: My most gripping read of 2001
Review: Don't get caught up in the debate over what kind of book this is, just get in to it. This is the first book in ages that has gripped my imagination and got my brain ticking over at the same time. Every time I put it down, I found myself compelled to discuss the theological and philosophical ideas it threw out. I didn't necessarily buy them all, and I really wanted to sit down with the characters and debate their ideas. But this is accompanied by some well-crafted, sometimes harrowing story-telling that kept me intrigued throughout. Put your easy-read books on your side table and delve in to this one to reward your intellect and enjoy the ride.
Rating: 
Summary: An admission Revisited
Review: The first time I jumped in with my opinion regarding this work, I was very negative and even admitted to having not completed it.
I still think it a flawed effort, but it is a first effort, and I should have been more charitable.
I completed the book, and it ended better than it began. I still feel that the characters weren't as well-delineated as they might have been, and that Ms. Russell -- who quite obviously writes well -- has something to learn about fiction and how one goes about it.
I needed to upgrade this (costing myself two helpful votes!) to a three, and recommend it a little more highly.
I will be reading the sequel shortly, because ideas, be they flawed or not, are important, and the novel of ideas very important, and support should be offered and efforts encouraged.
Give this one a try.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Hooked!
Review: Thought provoking and a great read. Moving back and forth in time is a challenge of concentration but worth the effort. Great original thought and study went into the many aspects of the story. Just purchased the sequel today.
Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful, thought-provoking and surprisingly humorous!
Review: I couldn't put it down, and weeks later, I'm still thinking about the situations, characters, and philosophical questions delineated in this unique and compelling tale. The author has the rare talent of being able to bring wit and humor to situations that are so devastatingly serious, I still shudder to recall them.You have to be able to suspend belief just a tad in order to get past the initial premise of how this polyglot assemblage got there, but please try--you will be amply rewarded for your efforts.
Rating:
Summary: "Not One Sparrow Can Fall"
Review: The Sparrow is a novel unlike any other I have read. It is science fiction. science, religion, theology, morality, and adventure all rolled into one. After the discovery of extraterrestrial music coming through space, in the year 2021, the Society of Jesus sent a missionary voyage to the planet Rakhat in the Alpha Centuri solar system to spread the word of God and the Catholic Church. The mission consisted of eight people: four Jesuit priests, a doctor, an engineer, an astronomer and a computer expert, six men and two women. This mixture included believers and non-believers whose personalities meshed in interesting and unexpected ways.
Regardless of the sense of adventure and moments of violence and horror, The Sparrow is basically a story of redemption and the eternal search for God. Father Emilio Sandoz is the main character through whose eyes is revealed a most remarkable story. His own struggle with faith, obedience to God, and to his Jesuit vows makes him the architypical searcher for ultimate reality in a world that is often enigmatic and terrifying. HIs lifelong journey toward faith and belief is at once fulfilling and devastating, and the catharsis he must experience to find redemption is almost beyond human limits.
The novel travels between past and future to reveal the plot and its outcome as the reader becomes acquainted with characters who gradually seem like close friends. The final chapter is open ended, suggesting a sequel which the reader wants at once. The incredible depth of intimacy one feels with the characters along with the soul searching that is personally inevitable, and the suspense that is almost unbearable make The Sparrow a classic in more than one genre. It is a must for all seekers and soul searchers on their own pilgrimages though life and faith.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, Slow and wordy.
Review: A very slow read, with very little payoff if you fight your way to the end. Less Science Fiction than a character study of a group of people and their inter-personal relations (particularly the Jesuit priest), and for all the wordieness, the charachters are not that intresting. The flashback style drove me crazy, because it didn't seem to serve any usefule purpose. Billed as illuminating the conflict of man and religion, but even that is vague and wishy washy. Mary, take a stand, and tell us more about the planet, the trip, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't tell us much about human nature or even alien nature
Review: The Sparrow is a rather peculiar and not completely satisfying novel. The only thing that will keep you turning pages is the element is suspense: what really happened to the main character, a Jesuit named Emilio Sandoz who travels to another planet with a small party (of basically his friends). The first fiction novel by Russell, a published anthropologist, the story is particularly slow and bland. It doesn't really tell us much about human nature or even alien nature for that matter. Emilio's search for God, the real focus of the story, is not really moving and you cannot share his joy and fear as he believe he finds Him. There is also a bit of inconsistency with the characters, for example, the most intelligent among the party is the one that dooms them to be shipwrecked on the foreign planet and then eventually gets most of them killed. Not really very intelligent. I am skipping the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Unusually unique, well-written story of contact with aliens
Review: "It was predictable, in hindsight. Jesuit priests were never more than a year or two behind the men who made intial contact with previously unknown peoples. They went ad majorem Dei gloriam: for the greater glory of God. They meant no harm." That's great stuff. Russell tells the story of how the Jesuits make first contact with an alien world. It's the Jesuits who chase down radio signals to another star and become the first to visit an alien world. It's a very clever premise, and Russell writes well enough to tackle this ambitious concept and succeed. Her primary conceit is that she lets the reader know right away that the mission went horribly wrong. In a series of flashbacks and flashforwards, we see the journey to the alien world of Rakhat unfold even as the mission's lone survivor tries to piece together his shattered body and mind more than 40 years later, back on Earth. The story is more about the personal world and beliefs of that lone survivor, Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz, than it is about aliens and space travel.
Although Russell is not entirely successful in mapping out the soul of Sandoz, her attempt makes for an enjoyable story of alien contact that feels completely believable. It reminds me of Carl Sagan's readable "Contact" in that the book is more about what humans put into the journey and what they take away from the effort, than it is about the aliens they encounter.
It's a pleasure to see a writer like Russell or Octavia Butler take seriously the idea that our beliefs and religions will be important to us in the future, and not just relics of the past. One thing's for sure: Russell must've spent a year writing down late-night conversations over wine and cheese, because the dialogue and banter among characters is the highlight of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the time.
Review: I believe that this book is worthwhile reading. With all the speculation about aliens in our universe, Russell brings to light an interesting new point of view. I really cared about the characters, and their situation. It also struck a chord in my imagination and my fear of being alone. This is a great read for anyone who enjoys works that invoke an emotional response.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful, Captivating Novel. . .
Review: "The Sparrow" is an amazing work of semi-religious fiction that seeks to answer important questions about the nature of the world that we live in. The author, Mary Doria Russell, uses the plot to provoke these questions by investigating the nature of tragedy and the human response to it. In the beginning of the book (set sixty years in the future), the reader is told that there has been a recent mission to a newly discovered planet named Rakhat. A society of Jesuits, independent of government control, had elected to send eight people from Earth to interact with extraterrestrial life on Rakhat. Right away, it is explained that the mission was a failure; seven people died on Rakhat and the one that returned was in very bad condition both physically and emotionally. The Jesuits are faced with an important moral dilemma: how could they continue worship a God that would allow this to happen? Ironically, this is the same question that Americans are asking in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. As the story begins to unfold, Russell offers an answer in the form of "the sparrow," an important symbol in this book. She has one of the characters quote Matthew 10:29, which says, "Not one sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it." Her point, however, is that the sparrow falls nonetheless. The story goes on to explain what happened on Rakhat to cause this tragedy and holds you in suspense as you learn the fate of the lone survivor. Russell leaves you with an important lesson in this book that will stick with you long after you forget the details of the plot. Russell says that even though bad things happen, we shouldn't let them discourage us or destroy our faith. The only danger in faith in God, Russell asserts, is believing in a God that micromanages the world in order to save people from danger. In an interview at the end of the book, she states that one of the things that she's learned from Judaism is that God won't be there to rescue you, especially in light of events like the Holocaust or Sept. 11. Still, Russell challenges readers to continue believing in God long after they've discarded the image of divine protector by maturing to a faith that realizes that God is present even in the midst of tragedy as the force that guides us back to life, love, and wholeness. Once again, I think that's a very timely lesson to learn in light of September 11. I definitely recommend this book because, in my opinion, it has many outstanding qualities. First, the plot is exciting, dramatic, and extremely suspenseful. Also, the characters are well developed and very likable; I know I am going to read the sequel because I'm still thinking about the characters even though I've been done with the book for two weeks. Most importantly, however, the moralistic undertones in this book are priceless. The best works of fiction always contain a lesson woven into the plot; "The Sparrow" certainly has an important one. It is truly a poignant, ethical, and captivating story.
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