Even as it employs such
science fiction conventions as a futuristic timeframe and first contact with an alien culture, The Sparrow transcends
the genre, offering general audiences an accessible
philosophical investigation. The plot moves back and forth between two
times in the 21st century, 2019 and 2059, with Father Emilio Sandoz, a
Jesuit priest and linguistic specialist, the main character in both.
In the first period, an astronomy station in Sandoz's native Puerto
Rico picks up singing from around Alpha Centauri. Sandoz organizes a
Jesuit-sponsored space mission to find the source of the first
indication of life on another planet. Forty Earth years later, Sandoz,
the only survivor of the eight-person expedition, has returned in
disgrace. Despite horrendous physical and spiritual aftereffects,
he must face
a Jesuit inquest into why a well-intentioned mission to learn about
life elsewhere deteriorated into murder and degradation.
If, as Sandoz believed, God willed him to launch the exhibition to the
planet Rakhat, how could God have let things go so wrong? After all,
according to the famous biblical passage from Matthew's gospel, "Not
one sparrow can fall to the ground without your father knowing it."
It's not that Sandoz no longer believes in God — but he
doubts God's benevolence. Sandoz doesn't find a conclusive
answer, but in an interview published in the back of the book, author Mary Doria
Russell suggests that we get into trouble when we think God is pulling
the strings.
This ambitious first novel by Russell won several science fiction
awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the James
Tiptree Jr. Award, and the British Science Fiction Association Best
Novel Award. Russell wrote a well-received sequel, Children of God,
that returns Sandoz to Rakhat and explores misunderstandings between
cultures.
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