Sparrow - Hardcover

Russell, Mary Doria

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679451501 ISBN 13: 9780679451501

Publisher: Villard Books, 1996

Synopsis

The Sparrow is a novel about a remarkable man, a living saint, a life-long celibate and Jesuit priest, who undergoes an experience so harrowing and profound that it makes him question the existence of God. This experience--the first contact between human beings and intelligent extraterrestrial life--begins with a small mistake and ends in a horrible catastrophe.

About this title

Review:

This strange, ambitious science fiction novel has already won enough attention for its first-time author to make it a selection by both the Book of the Month and QPB clubs. Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit linguist, heads a team of scientists and explorers on an expedition to the planet Rakhat, where contact has been established with two apparently primitive races, the Runa and the Jana'ata. The narrative shifts back and forth between 2016, when contact is first made, and 2060, to a Vatican inquest interrogating the maimed and broken Sandoz. A palaeoanthropologist, Russell makes the descriptions of the inhabitants of Rakhat both convincing and unsettling.

Review:

"Excerpts from reviews of Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow"
"It is science fiction brought back to the project with which it began in
the hands of a writer like Jules Verne: the necessity of wonder, the hope
for moral rectitude, and the possibility of belief."
--"America"

"Russell's debut novel...focuses on her characters, and it is here that
the work truly shines. An entertaining infusion of humor keeps the book
from becoming too dark, although some of the characters are so clever that
they sometimes seem contrived. Readers who dislike an emphasis on moral
dilemmas or spiritual quests may be turned off, but those who enjoy
science fiction because it can create these things are in for a real
treat."
--"Science Fiction Weekly"

""The Sparrow" tackles a difficult subject with grace and
intelligence."
--"San Francisco Chronicle"

""The Sparrow" is an incredible novel, for one reason. Though it is
set in the early twenty-first century, it is not written like most science
fiction. Russell's novel is driven by her characters, by their complex
relationships and inner conflicts, not by aliens or technology."
--"Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"

"It is rare to find a book about interplanetary exploration that has this
much insight into human nature and foresight into a possible future."
--"San Antonio Express News"

"Two narratives--the mission to the planet and its aftermath four decades
later--interweave to create a suspenseful tale."
--"The Seattle Times"

"By alternating chapters that dramatize Sandoz's tough-love interrogation
with flashbacks to the mission's genesis, flowering, and tragic collapse,
"The Sparrow" casts a strange, unsettling emotional spell, bouncing
readers from scenes of black despair to ones of wild euphoria, from the
bracing simplicity of pure adventure to the complicated tangles of
nonhuman culture and politics.--The smooth storytelling and gorgeous
characterization can't be faulted."
--"Entertainment Weekly"

A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction. TheNew York Times Book Review
Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them. Entertainment Weekly
Powerful . . . The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence. San Francisco Chronicle
Provocative, challenging . . . recalls both Arthur C. Clarke and H. G. Wells, with a dash of Ray Bradbury for good measure. The Dallas Morning News
[Mary Doria] Russell shows herself to be a skillful storyteller who subtly and expertly builds suspense. USA Today"

"A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction."--The New York Times Book Review

"Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them."--Entertainment Weekly

"Powerful . . . The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Provocative, challenging . . . recalls both Arthur C. Clarke and H. G. Wells, with a dash of Ray Bradbury for good measure."--The Dallas Morning News

"[Mary Doria] Russell shows herself to be a skillful storyteller who subtly and expertly builds suspense."--USA Today

About this edition

• Publisher: Villard Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0679451501
• ISBN 13: 9780679451501
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 408