The Sparrow

It was very refreshing to read scifi that trusts the reader. So much of what I come across these days goes for easy reading. Still, this is not a super challenging read. I read it very fast and enjoyed myself. I was frustrated that the aliens didn't show up until more than halfway through, but the perspective was unique. It was so great to have a focus on language, which in a real first contact scenario, would definitely be the primary barrier. Overall a very courageous book about faith and the human condition, and aliens.

The only more serious critique I have is that, while the Jesuits seem very thoroughly researched and accurately represented, I felt like none of them actually had truly solid faith. Maybe that is part of Mary Doria Russel's point, or maybe it is a reflection of her own worldview. There are, of course, many nuanced and deep approaches to faith. And true faith I think will always involve doubt... But the characters seemed so focused on the wordly application of faith in the story, forgetting that following Christ on the mortal plane is only the beginning of following Him eternally. Like one of the character's said, "think of the theology!"

Anyway I'll be reading book 2.

A powerful, but also deeply disturbing novel about faith and the human condition. It's really hard to give a rating to this, but in the end it is moving. The narrative is interesting, but getting to know the characters is where this book really excels. Each of the partial viewpoint characters is deep and believable. The perspective is, at first, a bit hard to follow with Mary Doria Russel using something like a focussing omniscient narrator and the quick changes in focus from one character to another will probably not be to everyone's liking. The description of the alien cultures are engaging and feel real. The author's background in anthropology really shines through.

Two warnings: The blurb ond Goodreads is misleading. The book mainly deals with faith as humanity is concerned, not faith in the face of an unkowable alien. Indeed, despite all their differences, the aliens are understandable. It's also not about humanity acting to bring a theological fall-from-grace. Also there are at least four major trigger warnings for this. Neither of them is uncommon (or depicted in a particularly disgusting fashion), but all of them are spoilery, so be advised to look elsewhere first and make sure you do not suffer from any of these.

I thought the book was fantastic for the first 90%, but the pacing was very off during the last few chapters, which concluded everything unsatisfactorily. I also found it utterly unbelievable that the church thought Emilio enjoyed his life with the singers given the condition in which the second expedition found him. The book's events were so believable until that point and so it really damaged my positive impression of the book.