Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful to Start Reading, Sad to Have to Put it Down...
Review: As intriguing as the first novel, The Sparrow, Children of God kept me reading, but reluctantly. Why? Because I knew once I was finished, I'd have nothing comparable to read. Mary Doria Russell (a Catholic who converted to Judaism) is an excellent writer who is skilled at creating characters that seem real. Her books raise questions that open the mind and encourage conversation. They are wonderful to read alone, but would be great to read and discuss with fellow readers. The story switches between Naples and Rakhat, and spreads between 2060 and 2096 Earth-Relative years. Three different locations are followed - Earth, Rukhat and the ship, Giardano Bruno. In addition, we follow the lives of Emilio Sandoz, Sophia Mendes (originally thought dead), and members of a Jana'Ata family, Hlavana Kiteri and his descendants. Despite the many viewpoints, and the time-changes, this is an enjoyable, thought-provoking read. Was Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz' original mission to Rakhat a success or a failure? Did God let him down? Is there more to be done before his work is finished? Sandoz is no longer longer judged by the Church's interrogators as a prostitute turned baby-killer. Still healing from the horrors of his experience and doubtful of his relationship with God, he is ready to move on, to make major changes in his life - including giving up his priesthood and marrying. While Emilio is back on Earth, major changes are being made on Rukhat because of the Jesuit sponsored mission that started in the first book. The Runa have slowly begun questioning their sociological position. For centuries they were passive, accustomed to providing the Jana'Ata with everything from childcare to protein. The Jana'Ata have never questioned the morality of their treatment of the Runa. The arrival of the humans, the lives and relationships that are born, the introduction of new world views causes life as the Runa and Jana'Ata knew it to be questioned and changed forever. You could read this book without having read The Sparrow, but I wouldn't recommend it. Start with The Sparrow - if you love it, come back for more. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great way to elaborate and conclude the story!
Review: It's almost not fair to think of The Sparrow and Children as two seperate novels, since their plots tie in so closely and could just as easily be combined into one coherent book. That being said, Children is everything The Sparrow(Also a 5 star book in my opinion) was, and a little more in some places! There is much more background on Rakhati history and culture given here, which certainly helped me make sense of a few lingering questions I had from The Sparrow(which I'll be reading again in a month or two, of course!) Many questions left open about the characters of The Sparrow(particularly Emilio Sandoz) are also answered, which leads to a better understanding of the storyline of both books, although Children won't be nearly as an enjoyable or understandable to someone who hasn't read The Sparrow. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who read The Sparrow and enjoyed it, and I recommend the Sparrow followed by Children of God to anyone looking for an engrossing novel on spirituality, religion, and what it all means.
Rating: 
Summary: consider not reading it
Review: this is not a bad book. however, the sparrow is a great book, and this one does not do it justice. there are some interesting ideas in it, but all in all i would rather have been left at the end of the sparrow than had this addition to the story. the biggest flaw is the way she takes sandoz to rakhat; also, this book doesn't have the moral weight of the sparrow and the resolution is a little too pat.
Rating:
Summary: Not the gem The Sparrow was, but richer & broader in scope.
Review: I read The Sparrow after seeing a few glowing reviews, and it was one of the most remarkable science fiction novels I'd read in a long time. Not only was the alien culture of Rakhat portrayed in a credible way, but Mary Doria Russell also manages to tackle a lot of provocative theological issues without presuming to resolve them neatly. Since the ending of The Sparrow made it obvious that a sequel was in the offing, I looked forward to reading Children of God, and I was by no means disappointed. In a way, Children of God is to The Sparrow what The Vampire Lestat was to Interview With The Vampire, almost surrounding the previous work in a richer, broader sense. The Sparrow was a singular GEM of a book, concisely written and emotionally devastating. Although Children of God is not quite that sort of gem, it is still an entirely worthy follow-up. On the scale of 1-10, I give The Sparrow a 10 and Children of God a strong 9.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended but not as highly as The Sparrow....
Review: I couldn't wait to read Children of God after finishing The Sparrow (which I loved, by the way). However, I was disappointed in the sequel, which I found more confusing and less enthralling than the original. There were too many characters, so that none of them seemed as fully developed as the characters in the first novel. After awhile I was getting the various aliens mixed up with one another. I almost needed to take notes to keep them all straight! And although the 2nd book explains some of the events from the 1st book, at least one mystery remains unsolved - e.g. what DID happen to the party from the Contact Consortium (the guys who found Emilio Sandoz on Rakhat, returned him to Earth on his asteroid, and then disappeared)? That seemed like a real omission to me. Still, I think that if you enjoyed The Sparrow, you HAVE to read the sequel, simply because things were not always what they seemed in the first book, there is at least one really nice surprise, and Children of God fills in many of the missing pieces.
Rating:
Summary: Even better than the first one
Review: I highly recommend The Sparrow. After you've read it, pick up Children of God. Mary Doria Russell's ending of The Sparrow leaves the main character in despair and confusion about his relationship to others and to God. His experiences in the second book (along with those of other major characters from the first) don't give pat answers to his questions but force him (and the reader) to consider how the Lord may be guiding the universe.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine follow-up
Review: Russell continues to grow as a writer in this sequel to The Sparrow. Children of God brings different sets of themes and issues into the milieu of Rakhat. Once again the characters are a strength of the work, and I particularly like the way Russell develops the linguistics angle in her work. The involvement of the Italian underground is far-fetched, and the church politics that were used to justify the return trip and the return of Sandoz to the scene of his humiliation and loss of faith were unnecessarily contrived. But the deft handling of time and the ethical and survival problems that take place on Rakhat are fascinating and engaging. In many ways, Russell is for me like Heinlein--when I think back on their stories I can think of a multitude of things to criticize, but when I am reading their work I enjoy every page. I think this must be a sign that I'm under the spell of an excellent story-teller.
Rating:
Summary: I Love finding a new writer
Review: I brought both this and its prequal The Sparrow second hand on the off chance that if I didn't like it I would not be spending big money. I could not put them down! I read The Sparrow and continued onto The Children of God in quick succession. Russell writes with an easy prose which makes you want to read more. With every situation the reader is dragged further into see what will happen next. The philosophical questions raised in both books have had me thinking since I finished reading them, and my friends and family are now under instruction to read them so I can have someone to discuss them with. I have thought a lot about what similar situation may have existed here at the time when Neanderthal and HomoSapiens shared the planet. A message to May Doria Russell - PLEASE WRITE MORE!!!
Rating:
Summary: Such a BIG story . . . .
Review: I just finished reading this book for the second time, and I'm wowed (re-wowed)! For me, it took two readings (two years apart) to fully appreciate this story. It involves peoples and individuals with a long memory of injustice and cruelties that govern their present relationships with bitterness, remorse, rage, fear, longings for peace, longings for revenge, and longing for the assurance of safety. I was reminded Israel and Palestine as I read it, but another reviewer thought of the American Indians, and the wonderful thing about science fiction is that it can be about any or all of our own stories. Russell delves compassionately into the personal stories of individuals caught in various sides of the "big picture." The first three-quarters of the book is build-up, background to the coming event--the return of humans to Rakhat. Anyone who has read "The Sparrow" will know that this encounter cannot possibly go as planned--and in fact, much of this background is to show how Rakhat has changed in response to its earlier contact with humans--changed in ways that the approaching travellers cannot imagine or be prepared for. Personally, I found the build-up more absorbing than the last quarter of the book, which contains the long-anticipated outcomes that were almost unbearable to face (although ultimately satisfying).
Rating:
Summary: The Sparrow has landed...
Review: The book 'Children of God' is the sequel to Mary Doria Russell's award winning first novel, 'The Sparrow'. In this we take up once again with Father Emilio Sandoz, the only survivor of a doomed expedition to a nearby planet, set in the not-to-distant future. (Please see reviews of 'The Sparrow' for a little more detail about that.) Most of the characters from the first novel have died (in this novel we discover how a few of the missing people from the first expedition met their fates), and due to the effects of near-light-speed travel, many decades have passed on earth while Father Emilio is still relatively young. There are political crises on earth, including a crisis in the church, and there seems to be an urgent need for yet another expedition to Rakhat. In the interim, there have been several attempted journeys, all of which have failed. The church hierarchy decides that the only 'successful' trip was that of Father Emilio, and thus decides (largely without his consent) to send him off again. At the same time, Rakhat has undergone a dramatic change, brought about in part by the arrival of the strangers, but also due to the political schemings of members of the dominant race, the Jana'ata. The Runa, always larger in population, begin to realise their oppressive situation, aided by renegade Jana'ata, and a civil war breaks loose. Into this situation the human expedition re-enters the scene on Rakhat. This story completes many of the unfinished details from 'The Sparrow'. By filling in the blanks while also carrying the narrative forward, Russell's rather dark picture of the nature of God in the universe (as enacted by the creatures on earth and elsewhere) becomes a little lighter, a little more just, a little less doomed. There is, however, no answer to the personal injustices, to Father Emilio's abuse both at the hands of the Jana'ata and the Jesuit order. Russell's development of the characters, both human and alien, deepens and broadens in this second novel; her imaginative history of the alien cultures is quite stunning, and her treatment of the strengths and weakness in human character insightful. Read 'The Sparrow' and 'Children of God' back-to-back if at all possible.
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