The Sparrow

by Mary Doria Russell

This book was...different, I guess. I still haven't completely decided if I enjoyed it or not.

The idea of the book is that life has been found elsewhere. In Alpha Centauri, to be exact. A group of friends discovers that intelligent life from another solar system sings, and so begins the adventure. A team is immediately organized to head out into space, determined to make contact with other sentient beings that God must have created. And the people organizing the mission and footing the bill are none other than the Society of Jesus- also known as the order of Jesuits.

This book is written in a very different style- we get to see the story unfold from two different timelines. One timeline is the one of the people on the mission- and prior to their mission. The other timeline is that of several years later, after one lone survivor returns to earth from the planet Rakhat. The timelines are woven together nicely for the most part, but I didn't care for the blatant foreshadowing that would develop because of it.

I don't know... I never really felt connected with many of the characters- they just felt underdeveloped to me. The dialogue seemed forced at time, and not really believable. What I would have liked is less build-up for the mission to Rakhat, and more of the actual mission. We spent half the book just building up to the historical mission, and then the mission itself was kind of downplayed. What I really wanted to know was what the alien creatures looked like, and we got a really poor description of them- of both of the species encountered.

I liked the concept of this book. Reading a Q&A with the author, what she was trying to do was feed off of the exploration of the Americas. What mistakes did the explorers make way back then, and in retrospect, would explorers learn from those mistakes. Since there was no place left on earth to explore, the exploration headed off-planet, and The Sparrow was the result. What I didn't care for was the blatant blaming of God for the problems, and I also didn't care for the portrayal of the Jesuits themselves. I found it difficult to believe the actions of many of the priests in the novel, and I think they were treated unfairly by the author. (And I'm not even Catholic!)

Evidently there is a sequel, where our survivor has to go back to the planet that haunts his every waking moment, and every single dream. Will I read it? I still don't know the answer to that. The Sparrow kept me turning the page, but I really felt let down at the end, like it was incomplete. Perhaps the sequel will complete it? I'm unsure. I also understand that a movie is in the works...yikes to that. A graphic scene or two in the book will not translate well to the big screen I fear.

So this book is recommended with reservations. It's kind of science fiction, definitely not Christian fiction, but does raise some theological questions... Certainly not recommended for the squeamish, but perhaps those with an open mind will enjoy it- it certainly has great reviews on Amazon!